rgrahhar
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 14 years ago
My boyfriend and I are interrailing as of the 21st for 10 days going from
Harwich - Amsterdam - Bruges - Normandy - Paris - London
I am slightly concerned about a few points and don't want to be stranded abroad anywhere!
Firstly, they say you are not allowed to travel within your own country..does that include starting in your country and leaving it? Would we still get the discount from London to Paris / Harwich to Hook Van Holland? If not, that totally throws my plan and is going to cost a lot more on Eurostars and ferries..
Secondly, I am still unsure about the reservation of trains situation.. I have read several entries in the forum but I wanted to be sure - you cannot reserve ordinary tickets online using the ticket? You're best turning up early at the station on the day and just buying the ticket there on the spot? I am just worried about the train being full..
Also, when reserving Eurostar tickets, it doesn't offer the Interrail ticket, so how do you reserve it at the reduced price?
Thanks for any help you can give !!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
- It is true, you cant travel with InterRail in your own country. :| However, you can still get the reductions included - either for the Harwich - Hook van Holland ferry or the London - Paris/Bruxelles Eurostar.
- I wont talk about reservations in general now (maybe read this topic: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u]) but only about the important stuff for your route. ;)
:arr: Hook van Holland - Amsterdam - Bruges: No reservation neccessary! Just show up at the station and enter the train! :) Just pay attention not to enter a Thalys service as they would require an expensive reservation - but there are enough good alternatives available.
:arr: Bruges - Normandy: Up to Lille you wont need a reservation as well, for going to Normandy you probably wont need a reservation either. Where exactly are you going to? Then I could help you a little bit more. ;)
:arr: Normandy - Paris: Most likely you wont need a reservation (as long as you are going to Paris via Lille with a TGV)
:arr: If you're going with Eurostar, read this topic: [u]https://rail.cc/en/paris-london-eurostar/f1806[/u] - there you would also find a link to the ferry alternative Calais - Dover.
Hope I could help you - if you want to support the work here at the forum and website, please buy your official InterRail tickets here at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] . Thank you. :)
Flo 8)
rgrahhar
Traveller
1 comments
So, when I need to book the ferry from Harwich-Hook Van Holland, and the eurostar from Paris-London, I shall not have to pay full price, even though I am in part travelling in my own country?
And as for Normandy, we are travelling from Bruges to Caen/Bayeux.
Is it more important to try and book faster trains (eg. Thalys) or smaller ICE ones? Is it usually enough to leave it a few days beforehand? Ie. Arrive in Amsterdam on the Monday, book a ticket to Bruges for the Wednesday, just 2 days in advance at the station?
Thanks so much for all of your help!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
You will get the discount for the ferry regardless of your British country of residence. Same applies to Eurostar - but it might be cheaper to look for regular online advance fares.
You [b]dont need[/b] a reservation for Amsterdam - Bruges if you avoid the Thalys. You wouldnt spend ~20-30€ on that train when there's a cheap alternative would you? A route example:
Amsterdam Centraal 1054 - 1300 Antwerpen Centraal
Antwerpen Centraal 1316 - 1441 Bruges
Same connection runs hourly.
Bruges - Caen: You can go via Lille - Amiens - Rouen without paying any reservations!
Or (faster connection, 5h vs 8h) go via Paris - in that case you will need a reservation for the TGV which is 3€ or 10€, depending on date and time. You can make this reservation a few days in advance in Amsterdam or Bruges.
Flo 8)