RobertsBelins
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 9 months ago
I'm planning a trip with my friend to Croatia this summer. We would like to take the Interrail from Riga to Split, and maybe see Zagreb on the way.
BUT! Since I'm doing this for the first time - any advice on how to get the tickets and how to plan the trip?
How much time should I plan for travelling from Riga to Split and back?
MisterSteve
Traveller
1089 comments
This is a very difficult journey. The hardest part is getting from Riga to the Polish border. The fastest journey from Vilnius to Split takes either 58 hour or 43 hours depending on which day you travel - but that's only the plan, trains in Croatia are often late. I've given the time from Vilnius because the first part of the journey is a whole new level of bad organisation. There is ONE train per day from Riga to Vilnius operated by LTG Link of Lithuania - so naturally Latvian Railways give no information for it on either of their competing websites, see https://ltglink.lt/en/vilnius-riga-lv The European timetable database held by Deutsche Bahn doesn't include Latvia. Unfortunately there is also only one train per day from Vilnius with a connection to Poland meaning you have to spend the night in Vilnius. This train is sold as a direct train and has been loaded to the European database as such - but it isn't, you have to change trains at Mockava https://ltglink.lt/en/vilnius-warsaw-krakow-vilnius Interrail would be valid . After Mockava things get better organised but not faster or better connected, but you can at least use www.bahn.com to check schedules. You may have to spend a night in Zagreb even if you weren't planning it. Interrail might work but I've no idea how the Riga-Lithuanian border would go as the train isn't recognised by Pasažieru Vilciens, Interrail might be valid on it or you might have to buy a ticket to the first station in Lithuania. Ask at Riga railway station whether they can sell you an Interrail pass, you could even visit the station when the LTG Link train is there and ask the conducotr what their rule on Interrail in Latvia is. You can buy them online https://www.interrail.eu/en but it's less hassle at a railway station if possible.