Karoline
Traveller
25 comments
Posted 13 years ago
TOTAL ROUTE: Oslo-Copenhagen-Hamburg-Brussels-Luxembourg-Strasbourg-(Zurich-Vienna)-Prague-Warsaw-Riga-Helsinki-Stockholm/Gøteborg-Oslo
Hi,
I am 21 years old and I'm thinking of going on Interrail for 22 days. I have tried to set up a travel route that includes cities I wanna go to, and also cities where I know people that I can stay with (Copenhagen, Hamburg, Riga) so I can save money. But I have several questions, and this route is just a very, very rough draft so far.
I really wanted to go to the Baltic countries, at least Latvia (Have a friend in Riga) but I realized that they are not a part of the Interrail system. Have people still gone there, or through there, for example on their way to Finland? That was what I was thinking of doing.
Is this route generally too ambitious? Maybe it is, I feel like it's a huge distance to travel in three weeks, but I don't have to spend a lot of time in all the places, it's mostly just to have a couple of cities as connection points (Like Warsaw). Maybe skip Zurich and Vienna if it's not enough time, go Strasbourg-Munich-Prague instead? So I would really appreciate to hear your comments.. Also, when you search in the European Rail Timetables, if it doesn't say explicitly Subject to supplement, is it then free with the Interrail ticket?
Again, thank you so much :)
EDIT: I originally included Santander, Spain in there but I realized that it's gonna take a lot of extra train time to go there, which I can instead spend in other cities. So I changed the route some.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Karoline!
You are right, it's quite an ambitious route for 22 days. I think it is sensible to cut Santander as it is a rather long trip and far away from the other cities you want to go. However, if you really want to go there, why not - it is certainly a possibility but you might then wont have the time for all other cities.
If I look at your route up to Warszawa, you wont need any reservations when travelling during the day so you can plan really spontaneously.
Hamburg - Bruxelles: Either via the Netherlands (you could even spend two hours or so in Amsterdam if you want) or via Köln. Either way, avoid the expensive Thalys trains! :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/amsterdam-brussels-train-thalys/f3991[/u]
All other connections are as mentioned supplement-free. Dont use a TGV to go from Strasbourg towards Germany or Switzerland, use regular trains instead! If you need help with that, just ask.
Info on travelling through the Baltics :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/from-finland-estonia-latvia-lithuania-poland-train/f2335[/u]
For trains which require reservations, have a look here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u] The subject to supplement term in the schedule planners are not always applicable for travelling with InterRail, so it is better to ask here if you are in doubt whether you will have to pay or not.
Flo 8)
Karoline
Traveller
25 comments
Hi Flo! Thank you so much for the comments and helpful information!
I am gonna look more into Santander, first of all I have to figure out the circa date when I am gonna be there, and if my friend is gonna be there then, since that's the main reason for going out of the way and to that city. :)
Yes I am thinking of going through Köln or Armsterdam when going to Bruxelles. I don't know, I have already been to Amsterdam, but it was only for a day and it's a while ago.. And it's probably more to see than Köln?
I saw the thread about the Baltics - I am definitely going to try and do that! :)
I am thinking of doing night trains when I can - at least where it is free, do you have any idea what legs of the journey that might have free night trains? Or with very cheap/little supplements?
I will definitely ask more questions, this forum seems like great help.
Thank you,
Karoline