carlossss
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hi guys, just turned 18 and thought I would have a gap year from all the studying and what not and finally have some fun!!
I've decided to go interrailing this summer. Hopefully leave around mid July time and go for 22 days. Unfortunately no one I know was crazy enough to come with me so I will be riding solo. :( but :D
So with the ticket on its way....the planning has started. Should I plan absolutely everything from train timetables to the amount if time I'm going to stay in each town and then book hostels or should I just get a general idea of where I want to go and then just go with the flow and turn up to some hostel and try get a room?
I was sort of thinking about maybe having some sort of idea of where I want to go and then get a list of cheap but good hostels where I could spend the night. Maybe get their contact details and phone them up when I'm in town? Would this be viable?
Also...I have a 75 litre rucksack would this be too big or too small?
Should I take a sleeping bag and a tent so if worst comes to the worst and I can't find a room I try camp somewhere?
Many thanks!!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Usually it is good to plan start and end of your trip a little more carefully than the rest.
> I dont know how you want to return home, but it is always good to have one or two days in spare to reach your last destination and then go home from there - so you wont get stuck somewhere with your ticket expired. ;)
In between I'd say you can see where you are going from day to day - especially as you are travelling alone you usually wont have troubles finding a place to sleep/get a reservation for the train you need.
Getting contact details of several hostels is certainly a good idea - many hostels also have some beds available for guest who show up spontaneously.
75 litres is the absolute maximum IMO. I have a 60 litres backpack which serves me well for trips 3-40 days.. ;)
Depending on where you are heading a small sleeping bag should be sufficient - take it with you anyway, it is nice for sleeping on a train for example.
Tent is only recommended if you have fix plans to camp somewhere - dont take it with you only in case, it is too heavy to just lug around. In general camping is a good option to save money, and even many large cities have campsites not too far away from the centre.
Flo 8)
Shakermaker
Traveller
18 comments
I have kind of the same question. :)
Since i'm going alone i don't have intention to book any hostels and trains. But i'm a bit concerned about finding a 'right' hostel. I mean should i just go in the first hostel i see or what. How can you tell if the hostel is ''popular''? I dont won't to be stuck in a lazy and boring hostel.
I'm also a bit worried about what to do when you step out of a train, should i just walk in the center of the city, should i take a bus, tram or whatever. i'm from Ljubljana, which is really small city. Here you can visit ANYTHING on foot :D ...I don't have any experiences about big cities, i hope i dont get lost hahaha :D
Althought i bought a Lonely Planet - Western Europe, so i think that should help me a bit :)
Oh..and question about train reservations. Can I reservate certain train the day i come to certain city, just by going to the main train station and say: Hello i would like to reservate a night train to 'Amsterdam' which takes away the day after tomorrow? :) Another thing, could I buy suppements on train or do i have to go the to station?
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
firstly you have to know that in each train we have only some part of places reserved for interrailes so you can not be sure that you always will find a place in train where you need to have reservation. so you can not wait to the last minute with buying a reservation. also it is not possible to buy reservation in a train. you have to do it at rail station, by internet, etc..
so planning you route look also for some train without reservation to your plan B
when I was in Paris 3 years ago I used underground only because I had not enough time to take a train. so if you like walking all days - you can walking. if you like admiring walls in underground - do it :)
there is no rule, do what you want
is it your first IR trip? don't worry about things like what to do?
always you can go to tourist information and ask about interesting things, you can ask in your popular hostel what to do, and also you will have to listen you stomach sometimes and it will tell you what to do, it's your free time and must be funny :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
[quote]firstly you have to know that in each train we have only some part of places reserved for interrailes so you can not be sure that you always will find a place in train where you need to have reservation[/quote]
That's not entirely true, only few companies have dedicated quota as far as I know. ;)
- Finding the right hostel: Well, you should/could have a look before you go so that you have a list of hostels for each town where you could check if they have rooms available when you arrive in each city. Check out the reviews at rail.shop/hostelworld to see if a hostel suits you.
- If you arrive in a new city try to get a city map at the tourist info (often available at the station) or ask your way to the centre. If you already know where you will be staying, ask your way there at the bus/tram/metro station. Depending on how big the city is you will have to use public transport or not. Difficult to tell since I dont know exactly where you are going.
- Train reservations: Check here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u] whether the train requires a reservation or not. For some high speed trains (TGV in France, AVE in Spain, AV/ES in Italy and maybe X2000 in Sweden it is advisable to get the reservation some days in advance - but there is no general rule. Same applies for night trains - I just got two reservations for Irun - Lisboa night train for thursday evening without problems. :)
Reservations can be generally made directly at train stations (the train for which you make the reservation does not neccesarily has to stop at this station) or for an increasing number of trains on the internet.
Flo 8)
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
[quote]That's not entirely true, only few companies have dedicated quota as far as I know. [/quote]
however, sometimes it's not possible to buy a reservation also because of others reasons. and i always thought that's the reason.