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rihana
Traveller
7 comments

Posted 14 years ago

I plan to go this summer in Italy & some other(s) country(ies) with a friend (we both 19 & 20s girls) for 3 weeks

1st, we plan to spend around 7/10 days in Italy (from france) to Florence>Rome>Naples>Venice
Then we would like to go to some other Eastern country, but I'm looking for something very particular/unusual/ from Western cities. Would you have any suggestions?

2nd, we'd like to stay only in youth hostels & since Italy is a little bit expensive, would it be a good idea to book all the hostels & trains in advance to have better prices. If so, would you advice us to plan only the 'italian part' which is costly and then just go for the 10 others days where we feel like whithout any plans?

3rd question is about the youth hostels/inter rail spirit. We're both more used to confy hotels & so on, but we're open minded & really want to do it this way!! My only concern is about should we look like typical interrailers or doesn't it have any matter because we'd like meeting people and avoid risks of being stolen ? (silly question but I don't know anything about what to expect).
And eventually, would you advice us taking backpack or usual luggages (I wonder you could be more easily stolen with backpack)?

thanks

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 14 years ago

Hi.

Have a look at Ljubljana, Budapest, Krakow for example. Nice cities.

There are no discounts if you book train supplements or hostels in advance.
It is only recommended to book some days in advance in the summer months - to get a bed or seat in a train as summer time is peak travel time.

There are no typical InterRailers... :)
You have young ones traveling with backpacks and seniors traveling with suitcases. InterRail is just a rail ticket - and most European cities are the same.
Avoid the dark corners, pay attention to your luggage and everything is fine.
You can use hotels (more comfortable) or hostels (easy to get into contact with other travelers). Just find your mix. :)

Peter :)

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rihana
Traveller
7 comments

replied 14 years ago

first of all thanks for your answer -this forum has been so useful to me-

eventually, we decided to add budapest, prague & vienna to our route, but i'm just wondering if it wouldn't be too much in 22 days

concerning hostels, I didn't expected to have any discounts but I thought we have to book a long time before for the cheaper ones?!

and of course, interrail is just a ticket but from what I've read in this forum the human experience is the best part & that's why I didn't want at all to miss it ;)

once again, thanks for your good advice..

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 14 years ago

hi...
why not add these cities to you route - and then decide during your tour to skip them or not.
my experience is: you have a route, but often you make some changes. simply as one hostel or city is boring, in an other one you meet nice people you join.
concerning the cheap hostel: that's right. the good and cheap hostels might be full early. but if you book too much hostels in advance, you will loose your flexibility. so maybe it is even better to spent 3 EUR more for a hostel per night, but stay flexible - at least on some parts of your tour.
only some thoughts of myself. Peter :)