railer10
Traveller
11 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Hi everyone,
This is our first InterRail Tour and we are very excited about it :)
We'll start in [b]Austria [/b]and our first stop will be [b]Zurich [/b](camping @ Seebucht, Zürichsee).
Then we'll drive from [b]Zurich to Paris[/b] and stay there for about 3-4 nights (camping @ du Bois de Boulogne).
Next stop is [b]Calais [/b](camping @ Calais for 1 night -- camping site still has to be found out).
On the next day we'll drive to [b]Dover [/b](via ferry) and want to drive to [b]London [/b]directly.
In London we want to camp again, for about 4 nights (haven't found a suitable camping site yet).
The next aim is to go to [b]Dublin[/b]. We have no route yet but from then on it is more spontaneous.
How do you like that route?
We've planned to buy a ticket for 22 days (global pass).
Regarding money: How much do you think we'll need per person? We'll camp most of the time (only a few stopovers in youth hostels) and operate economically.
How early should we make reservations for the TGV? (Zurich - Paris)
Thank you!
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Hi.
A good route.
Calculate between 30-40 EUR per day per person traveling in Western Europe.
As you know your exact travel days at least to Paris, buy the reservation for the TGV as early as you can at a station in Austria. Shouldn't be a problem.
Have a sunny trip, Peter :)
railer10
Traveller
11 comments
Thank you, Peter - very encouraging :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Some things to add. ;)
- As you are travelling quite far away from Austria (including two ferry trips), check an emergency schedule for getting back home - ie a route from London that get's you back within the validity of your pass. You never know what happens during a trip, if you miss a train, get stuck somewhere etc,.. so it helps to know that you have a way for getting back home fast and easy. ;)
- If you want to save some money, you could maybe think about getting a 10in22 ticket...but then you'd probably have to plan your trip a little more detailed and I dont know if that's what you're after.
- In Calais you can sleep at the ferry station - at least I did several times from 2006 - 2009. SeaFrance doesnt take foot passengers at the moment, but as P&O still does it should be a problem either. :) And in the unlikely case that you get kicked out (happened once to me when returning from Dover) you can stil search for a quiet place somewhere in Calais. We stayed at the park just beside Calais Ville train station.
- London - Dublin: If you want to save some money for accomodation you can use a night ferry from Holyhead to Dublin; we did so last year. :) There are two trains arriving Holyhead at ~1am and ~2am...we took the first one as you have to be there some time before departure. You can go London Euston - Crewe - Holyhead, dep London ~18h - ~19h. The station at Holyhead is litteraly in the ferry terminal so you dont have to walk long, just a few steps and you can check in. :)
- Depending on where you want to then, think of going to Belfast and then with Belfast - Stranraer ferry to Scotland. Then on to Glasgow/Edinburgh and back to London with Caledonian Sleeper...
Flo 8)
railer10
Traveller
11 comments
[quote]Hi.
As you know your exact travel days at least to Paris, buy the reservation for the TGV as early as you can at a station in Austria. Shouldn't be a problem.[/quote]
I was at the train station today but they could not make any reservation for the TGV (they did not know why but there were kicked out of the system); Do you know an alternative?
@flow: Holyhead sounds good - I'll give it a try :)
I've ordered the global pass today because 10 in 22 is too inflexible (I guess it would have been sufficient but also to be on the save side I took the global pass).
Thanks for the tip concerning an emergency schedule :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Where have you been? Meidling, Westbahnhof? Often it helps to go at another station, another counter or try at another day again. Also depends a little on the mood of the person sitting behind the counter. Have you read about making TGV reservations online: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/tgv-sncf/42[/u] - I dont know if it works for international journeys, if it doesnt, you can get to Mulhouse or Strasbourg with regular trains and then change to TGV.
But I'd recommend to try again at the station in Wien. :)
Flo 8)
railer10
Traveller
11 comments
Hi Flo,
Actually I tried it in Graz. Hm... I should go there again, yes. Hopefully there are places left. Thanks for the link - have already read the thread before - very interesting!
The lady at the counter told me that she's quite sure that there are seats left... must have been a problem with the system... hopefully.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
:D
Woah, thought I was confused yesterday... :os
Umm, staff at Graz usually is quite helpful and competent, so if there are places left, they will certainly can get you the reservation. I also sometimes have to go there to get what I want...
Good luck! ;)
railer10
Traveller
11 comments
Yes, she was really friendly and tried everything she could... however, I'll go there again. Thanks! :)