TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Hi,
Me and my girlfriend have decided to make an interrail trip in June 2011. We want to travel mostly Scandinavia, Holland and Belgium. We are thinking about buying 22 -day continuous ticket.
We will start from Berlin and here is the route that we made:
Berlin (No stay)
Cophenagen (1 day)
Stockholm (1)
Kiruna
Rovaniemi (2)
Turku / Helsinki ( we couldn't decide which one to go)
(We don't know which mean to use to go from finland to germany yet)
Amsterdam (2) (
Bruxells (2)
Brugge (1)
Wien (1)
Prag (2)
Berlin (return)
No matter how this route seem to tire us, this is what we decide :) What do you think about this route?? Are these days we stated enough for visit?? By the way, instead of staying outside, we want to stay in hostels mostly. We're planning to spend our remaining time on travelling by train etc..
How much does this kinda interrail route cost to us?? We would be so glad if you help us about this interrailing and give your precious advice on this. :)
Thanks for now :)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
I suppose you are from Germany... right?
If this is the case, you can not travel for free in Germany, as it is your country of residence:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]
There is a nice night train Copenhagen-Amsterdam, for which you would have to pay extra - maybe the best is then to cross Germany by Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket.
The rest of your trip sounds good.
From Stockholm up to the North use the Inlandsbanan. It is really cool trough the middle of the nowhere:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/inlandsbanan/f1333[/u]
To cross the border to Finland, use the free bus service - it is connected to the train schedules:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/sweden-finland-bus-haparanda-torino-kemi/f1286[/u]
If you want to save the money for crossing Germany to get to Amsterdam at this point of your route, think about a ferry Finland or Denmark to Poland.
Travel down to Prague, Vienna, then to Zürich, Brussels and end up in Amsterdam.
For Amsterdam you can book an Europa-Spezial of Deutsche Bahn for EUR 29/39 to get home to Berlin. So you extend your InterRail trip a little bit as you don't need the InterRail pass anymore to get home.
Some examples (much more connections available):
Prague-Vienna: [u]https://rail.cc/en/prague-vienna-night-train/f1677[/u]
Vienna-Zurich: [u]https://rail.cc/en/vienna-zurich-night-train/f1449[/u]
Zurich-Brussels: [u]https://rail.cc/en/zurich-basel-strasbourg-luxembourg-brussels-train/f2916[/u]
Brussels-Amsterdam: [u]https://rail.cc/en/brussels-bruxelles-amsterdam-train/f3994[/u]
Amsterdam-Berlin: [u]https://rail.cc/en/amsterdam-berlin-train/f2346[/u]
For you trip you have to calculate per day:
Food: EUR 10
Accommodation: EUR 20
Extras: EUR 10
Total per day: EUR 40 [multiply] travel days.
Hostel information is here: [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux]
Of course Scandinavia is more expensive than Eastern Europe ... but it is worth. :)
Peter :)
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Thanks for your reply :)
But we're not from Germany, we're Turkish. We will fly directly to Germany indeed. As we don't want to spend much of our time on travelling the south of Europe.
We have another route that seems to be difficult :
Berlin
Prague (2 days)
Vienna (2)
Ljubljana (1)
Bruxelles (1)
Amsterdam (2)
Copenhangen (1)
Stockholm (1)
Kiruna (1)
Rovaniemi (2)
Turku (1)
Stockholm (just to pass)
Copenhagen (just to pass)
Berlin (Last stop)
I know this one looks weird but maybe if we buy continuous 1-month InterRail ticket,in a way this trip can be possible. What do you think about this route?? Perhaps we can be flexible and make some deletions on this list, I don' t know. But especially Amsterdam, Kiruna, Rovaniemi and Prague will be the places that I can't delete, we want to visit them at all costs.
It would be perfect, if you help us about this route too. Waiting for your advice :)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Oh perfect. So no problem for you to travel in Germany for free...! :)
This route is possible in one month.
Ljubljana is a bit fare away - but it's possible.
For Copenhagen - Berlin you have in the summer months this nice connection by cheap night train. The train is using a ferry overnight:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/copenhagen-berlin-train/f2919[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/en/berlin-night-express-sweden-berlin/f1186[/u]
For all other connections:
just use the train schedules: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]
All you need is there.
Peter :)
Wesley
Traveller
25 comments
What exactly is it that you want to do in Kiruna? The city itself is rather tiny (nice atmosphere but no sights worth mentioning apart from the church and the info-mine), and though the nature in Kiruna municipality is awesome, the municipality is vast (over 20,000 km²) so travelling to the natural sites such as Kebnekaise, Lapporten etc. takes quite some time.
In your second route, it seems like a bad idea to skip Stockholm, in my opinion the most beautiful city of Scandinavia - unless you've already been there of course.
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Thanks a lot!! :)
About Kiruna, as we want to go the very north of the world as far as possible, while we go to Rovaniemi we just want to see this place too. We just wonder, that's it. We see Kiruna is the very north place that we want to go (possible by using train at least.)
By the way, if we have enough time we can go to Venice as well. Why not? :D We think one month will be enough for this route, at least we believe so :)
Thanks again. :)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
If you want to go to the North, continue until Narvik. As the route is very fascinating as more you get to the North.
Then turn back in direction of Luleå to switch to the bus in direction of Finland. :)
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
The idea going to Narvik sounds pretty good!, that means we can visit three Scandinavian countries at the same time. Norway is OK for us, would be great to see there. We will think about this and we can cross Slovenia and (maybe Venice too) out on our list to go the very north, Narvik :)
Thanks Peter. :)
Wesley
Traveller
25 comments
I don't know about your budget of course, but if you happen to be in Narvik and have some cash to spare, take a trip to the Lofoten islands... they're marvellous ! You have roughly three possibilities to get there:
- by bus: www.nor-way.no
- by catamaran to Svolvaer (don't know the link by heart, but you're bound to find it if you Google for hurtigbåt Svolvaer)
- renting a car.
Take a look at some images at Google, you'll be enchanted by the islands :D .
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
[u]https://rail.cc/en/bodoe-narvik-hurtigruten-lofoten-bus/f1285[/u]
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Wow! these islands are incredibly beautiful, worth seeing. Thanks!! :) But as I always say, if we enough time and money for that kinda route it's possible for us to visit these places. Especially, my gf is crazy for North as much as me, so further we go on route to North, better it will be, I don't know :)
We will think about the islands because I get that these islands are the the best place for seesighting in Narvik, right?. I keep that in mind. We should reorganize our plan first.
Anyway, what about the weather there in the North in June-August?? Got any experience?? I lived in Uppsala, Sweden for 10 months last year but in summer, it was 20-25! I don't know much about up there. Please can you help us about the weather in the very North?? :) Thanks!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
From Narvik it is about 4 hours (by bus) to Svolvaer, the main city of Lofoten. I've been there with two pals this summer (mid-august), but only for one day... During the night there was quite a storm so we didnt dare putting up our tent, instead we crashed at the ferryport which was quite nice actually. ;)
In general, weather can be quite good in the north (in the summer) but you should be always prepared for bad weather as well... We went with Inlandsbanan and made a photo at Polarcirkeln just with shorts and nosleeve shirts at around 1930 in the evening (and after that quickly sheltered in the train again because of the mosquitos).
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Heh! Great adventure you had there! liked it :D By the way, it's not far away from Narvik by bus, it's OK and we will decide on this when we get to Narvik :) We're thinking about carrying a tent as well but another options sound good!
Well then, while we know we should stick to our plan, we will try to be as flexible as possible. So wait for us Lofoten islands!! lol :)
Wesley
Traveller
25 comments
[quote]From Narvik it is about 4 hours (by bus) to Svolvaer, the main city of Lofoten. I've been there with two pals this summer (mid-august), but only for one day... During the night there was quite a storm so we didnt dare putting up our tent.[/quote]
Seriously? I was in Kabelvåg at a campsite during said storm (we had arrived one day earlier, when the weather was perfectly fine). It had been raining all day, but the storm really arrived around 4 or 5 PM, we had to break up our tents asap and move into one of these campsite cabins they rent out... we were lucky to get the last one available. So we could have met there :D .
Anyway, bad weather is always an option, but so is 30 degrees in Abisko and Jokkmokk... I've had that as well.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
:D
We arrived at around half past seven in the evening in Svolvaer and moreorless didnt really know what to do. Our knowledge of the Lofoten was limited to the fact that it's rather beautiful up there... So we spent some time at the gas station and then finally decided to head into the centre where we finally ended up at the ferry port. We cooked dinner there, watched the Hurtigruten ships come and still without having the faintest idea where to spend the night. We met some norwegian girls who where really nice but on a bachelor party so we didnt ask if we could stay at their's... In the end we decided to stay at the ferry port until closing time (2230 I think) and we eventually were lucky - no one bothered with us, one guy justed locked the doors from the outside but that was it and we had a quite comfy shelter for the night. We even got company by two other travellers who were lucky that we were inside and opened the door.. ;)
The following day was better but we got the boat to Bodo and then the nighttrain to Trondheim... What a coincidence that you were in Kabelvag, it's like 10km away?! :)
Wesley
Traveller
25 comments
Yes it is, just a few kilometres along the westward E10 road. The following day I left the islands as well, but didn't get that far. Travelling by car, our next stop was Rognan near the Saltfjell plateau.
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Hey! :)
We reorganized our route and decided to begin our trip with North countries including The Netherlands and Brussels etc.. and we will visit countries in Eastern Europe later if there is any spare time.
We have two options. We may switch between them. Here are the routes:
ROUTE #1
Berlin
Brussels (1 day)
Amsterdam (2)
Copenhagen (2)
Stockholm (1-2)
Kiruna (1)
Narvik (1-2)
Rovaniemi (2)
Turku (1)
Stockholm (just to pass)
Copenhagen (just to pass)
Berlin
Prague (2)
Vienna (1)
Ljubjana (2)
ROUTE #2
Berlin
Copenhagen (2 days)
Stockholm (1-2)
Kiruna
Narvik (1-2)
Rovainemi (2)
Turku (1)
Stockholm (just to pass)
Copenhagen (just ot pass)
Berlin
Prague (2)
Vienna (1)
Ljubjana (2)
Brussels (1)
Amsterdam (2)
This is our final route, I believe at least :D Anyways.. since North countries are on privilege for us we decided to change our plan in this way, keeping the (other) Eastern European countries for another time, pushing them on the back burner, you know. :) So what do you say about the routes?? Any idea, advice??
Thanks! ;)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi! :)
Some thoughts about both routes:
- One day in Copehagen is enough IMO, but stay two in Stockholm, it's worth it.
- For Narvik itself, few hours a sufficient...not really much to see (except you are a train enthusiast like me...)
- For sightseeing, it's better to spend two days in Vienna instead of Ljubljana. If you dont want to do that much, two days in Ljubljana are fine too, especially if you want to maybe add a short trip ie to Lake Bled..
- Ljubljana - Bruxelles is quite a long leg...I'd recommend the overnight to Munich, ICE to Frankfurt and then on to Bruxelles
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
- Since I've been to Stockholm many times before, one day in enough for us I think, but maybe we can change it, no prob. By the way, what you said about Copenhangen is logical, 1 day is enough for there because we think there is not much to see in this city.
- The reason why we go to Narvik is to see Lofoten islands and we don't know how many hours or days we need there ( including transportation, train, bus) So we decided on 2 days for Narvik just for now, we will see.. :)
-We want to spend our time in Ljubljana more than Vienna, because as you said, Lake Bled especially is a place we want to take a look at, so two days is OK for there.
-Your advice on Ljubljana-Bruxelles sounds quite good and doable, this long trip can be rather boring, I think. A short trip to Munich and then maybe Karlsruhe or Frankfurt would be great, giving us the chance to visit Germany as well.
Thanks a lot! :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Like I've said, it's about 4 hours to Svolvaer from Narvik by bus - and then there's till way to go down to A. This summer there were two daily buses IIRC, so going there might need a little bit planning. To check for correspondance train - bus and so on...
If there were good connections I could alos suppose going Stockholm - Östersund - Trondheim - Bodo and then by boat to Lofoten but there arent...only when going Trondheim - Bodo overnight but then you would miss out the most spectacular part of the route. :|
I think it's best to decide while travelling - if the weather is bad you shouldt really bother including Lofoten..
Karlsruhe is quite nice for a stopover, as is Frankfurt. Make sure to travel Frankfurt - Köln in the beautiful Rhine valley (via Koblenz instead of the direct high speed route). :)
TheLastShadow
Traveller
8 comments
Yes, it's best to decide while traveling like you mentioned. First we plan and organize a route before beginning the Interrailing of course but we will try to be flexible enough to get the best of this long adventure :)
We will take the recommendations you made into consideration, Thanks! :)