georgdings
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hi to all,
a friend of mine and I are planning to go interrailing in July and August (we'll probably start around the 15th of July).
We are planning to buy a 1-month-global-pass and already picked a route:
Graz – Ljublijana (1) – Venice (1) - Milano (1 x) - Barcelona (3) - Valencia (2) - Madrid (2) – San Sebastian (1 x) – Bordeaux (2) - Paris (2) - London (2) - Brussels (1) - Amsterdam (2) - Hamburg (1 x) - Berlin (2) - Prague (1) - Budapest (1 x) - Graz
The numbers in brackets show the amount of days we are planning to stay in a city and the x means that it''s not very important to visit the city and we can leave it out (for example if we are behind our schedule or we decide to stay longer in one city). We'll start in Graz because that's where we live and we also plan to return there ;)
Theoretically, we would spend around 3 to 4 days in trains (alway the fastest route) and with the 25 days of city-sightseeing we would also have a buffer to miss some trains :P
As neither of us has any practical experience, I would like to know from someone (ideally someone with experience) if this route is doable in one month or if we should reroute.
Greetings
George
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
The route might be a little overambitious, but only a little. Maybe cut Ljubljana...it is not far from Graz so you could visit it another time separately; moreover connections between Ljubljana and Venezia are not really good. But if you wanna go, do it!
Milano - Barcelona: There is a direct night train [u]https://rail.cc/en/milan-barcelona-night-train/f1168[/u] but it is rather expensive (reservation for a reclining seat ~46€). However, if you dont want to use this night train, you will have to make a stopover somewhere along the route (I'd recommend Nice). So you would need to spend some money on a hostel there - if you want to see something of Nice (and not only sleep there) you will have to stay two nights...this means your expenses will be roughly the same compared with the direct night train.
Within Spain (BCN - Valencia - Madrid - San Sebastian) you will need to use several trains which require compulsory reservation - I would calculate with ~20€ for that.
Bordeaux - Paris: I'd recommend to take a fast TGV, 6€ reservation. Although San Sebastian is quite nice maybe think about going to Arcachon/Dune de Pyla close to Bordeaux... :)
Paris - London - Bruxelles: As you probably dont want to spend a fortune on the Eurostar (~65€ each way) you will have to go by Calais - Dover ferry [u]https://rail.cc/en/paris-london-ferry-calais-dover/f1442[/u] For each trip you have to calculate with the better part of a whole day...maybe think again if that is worth it.
Bruxelles - back to Graz: No troubles to be expected. ;)
If you have more questions just ask...
Greeting from Graz ;)
Flo 8)
georgdings
Traveller
2 comments
Thank you Flo for your great reply!
Useful tips are always welcome and yours were very helpful! We've taken your advice into consideration and we decided to change our route.
We kicked out Ljublijana and London (saves money and gives us more flexibility) and we decided to change San Sebastian with Archon since we'll be spending one week in spain anyway.
So our current route would be the following:
Graz – Venice (1) - Milano (1 x) - Barcelona (3) - Valencia (2) - Madrid (2) – Archon (1 x) – Bordeaux (2) - Paris (2) - London (2) - Brussels (1) - Amsterdam (2) - Hamburg (1) - Berlin (2) - Prague (1) - Budapest (1 x) - Graz
That should be doable in 1 month, and we have have some days left to spend extra in a city if we like to.
Now some questions came up we'd like to have answered and I very much hope you, or someone else can answer them :)
Firstly: Is it possible to take the Bus from Graz to Venice in combination with the Interrail-Pass (or do you have to pay extra)? I know it's kinda wrong to kick-off a train-journey with a bus ride and I also know that we have to pay for the ticket from Graz to Klagenfurt, but it saves us at least 2.5 hours :!: if we take the bus instead of the train.
Secondly: When and how should the hostels be booked? Since we'll be travelling in the high travel season in July and August I guess that the hostels will be close to fully booked. So I would like to know how many days in advance the beds should be booked and how to book them. I've heard that the hostelworld website is quite useful and I've already bought a prepaid-credit-card to pay a deposit in advance.
So I really hope you can help me!
Greetings
George
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
- Dont underestimate the distance Madrid - Arcachon! If you only want to stay there for one day I'd say it is better to head straight to Bordeaux and only make a day trip to Arcachon/Dune de Pyla. Or stay longer at Arcachon/the Dune and make a daytrip to Bordeaux.
- Do you want to go to London or not? You mentioned you kicked it out, but you mentioned it in your route...confused. ;)
- If you head straight to BCN from Milano you have to use the expensive night train I mentioned - remember that it does not run daily, only three times per week.
Graz - Venezia: You can use both IC bus connections (Graz - Klagenfurt/Villach and Klagenfurt/Villach - Venezia). You will need to buy a regular ticket until the border, Tarvisio. It doesnt matter whether you go by bus or the longer way with the train (via Unzmarkt), price is the same (20,50€). From Tarvisio you can use the InterRail ticket, you need a reservation for the IC bus to Venezia for 9€.
The bus is the only sensible option to go to Venezia during the day, sadly...
The alternative would be going via Ljubljana:
Graz 1036 - 1406 Ljubljana
Ljubljana 1433 - 1624 Sezana
Sezana 1635 - 1727 Nova Gorica
:!: change stations on foot :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/ljubljana-venice-train/f3663[/u]
Gorizia Centrale 1820 - 1840 Montfalcone
Montfalcone 1907 - 2049 Venezia SL
It should be no problem to book the hostels (for 2 persons) one or two days in advance, even in summer. Usually you will find something even then, but for BCN, Paris, Amsterdam I would recommend to book some days earlier to get a good hostel. I always book via hostelworld.
Flo 8)
georgdings
Traveller
2 comments
[quote]
- Dont underestimate the distance Madrid - Arcachon! If you only want to stay there for one day I'd say it is better to head straight to Bordeaux and only make a day trip to Arcachon/Dune de Pyla. Or stay longer at Arcachon/the Dune and make a daytrip to Bordeaux.
[/quote]
Good to know. I think we'll head straight to Bordeax and spend one or two days more there.
[quote]- Do you want to go to London or not? You mentioned you kicked it out, but you mentioned it in your route...confused. ;) [/quote]
Sorry to have confused you ;) - we'll cancel London, I just forgot to delete it from my list.
[quote]- If you head straight to BCN from Milano you have to use the expensive night train I mentioned - remember that it does not run daily, only three times per week.[/quote]
Good to know that it's not running daily, didn't catch that before! Maybe we'll stop over in Nice like you mentioned. I guess we'll keep both options open.
[quote]Graz - Venezia: You can use both IC bus connections (Graz - Klagenfurt/Villach and Klagenfurt/Villach - Venezia). You will need to buy a regular ticket until the border, Tarvisio. It doesnt matter whether you go by bus or the longer way with the train (via Unzmarkt), price is the same (20,50€). From Tarvisio you can use the InterRail ticket, you need a reservation for the IC bus to Venezia for 9€.
The bus is the only sensible option to go to Venezia during the day, sadly... [/quote]
Bus it is!
[quote]It should be no problem to book the hostels (for 2 persons) one or two days in advance, even in summer. Usually you will find something even then, but for BCN, Paris, Amsterdam I would recommend to book some days earlier to get a good hostel. I always book via hostelworld.[/quote]
Alright we'll do that.
Thank you for your suggestions :)
If more questions come up - I'll be back, I promise ;)
George