anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hey dudes!
Me and my girls are tavelling around france- spain- portugal this summer! You can see the citys we visit in the subject and after madrid we will go on to barcelona, nimes, marseille and toulon.
We already read thousands of guides for those cities but they all expect us to have a lot of money :|
So my question is: Do you have some Insider-tips for some of those cities like cheap hostels (or some places where we can sleep for free...) or good hostels (and if yes: do we have to book them in advance?) , things we should see which are not part of those guides or just some good places to get information about the city or to have something yummy to eat hihi :D
and how did your trip go on around those cities? Are there any places to be you can't reach by train but which are worth to pay money for alternatives (Bus, rent a car...etc.)
So as you can see: I'm a beginner and it would be soooo kind if you tell me all of your experiences, tips or anything we could need when travelling this route :)
Greetings
Reisejule :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej Reisejule! ;)
How long do you want to travel? Looking at your route I think a 10in22 flexi pass would be the best solution - enough travel days to get around and enough time to enjoy maybe even one or two extra places on the way.
Do you want to make a round trip my rail (a real InterRail trip) or do you have other plans about how to go there and back home?
Regarding cheap accomodation, have you thought about couchsurfing? It might be more difficult to find a place if you are a larger group but it is certainly worth a try. Also, our own railcc City Host database is growing, have a look here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/travel-partners[/u]
What could also be nice is to take a tent with you. You probably would not use it for all places but it might be practical if you'd use it for instance in Paris, the Dune de Pyla (close to Bordeaux) and somewhere at the Algarve coast between Lisboa and Sevilla.
Some hostel tips:
Paris > Oops or St Christopher
Lisboa > Rossio
Sevilla and Granada > Oasis
Depending on how long you want to travel, think of including the Dune de Pyla in your route (close to Bordeaux) - it is really cool to stay there for two days or so :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/granada-barcelona-th-894/83[/u] and then via the Petit Train Jaune back towards Germany.
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/first-time-interrail[/u]
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Hey :)
Thanks for this quick and very informative answer!!! :idea:
actually we wanted to start our trip in Amsterdam and end up maybe somewhere in austria but we are not yet sure about it! We want to stay a little bit spontanious since we have to make reservations to almost all trains because we want to travel in summer and we might plan in advance to get the right trains! (that's what the guy at the railway station told us, so we reservated almost all trains :'( costed sooo much money)
ah ok the 10 in 22 flexi pass is a good idea, actually we wanted to buy the global pass for 3 weeks but might be more clever buying another one.-- maybe i'll just ask someone at the railway station :)
to couchsurfing: We thought about it but since we are 3 persons (3 girls by the way) we are not quite sure if we can even find someone offering so much space to sleep and we were worring about how safe this is. so do you have already made some experiences? I mean beside this safety-point couchsurfing is the coolest thing ever, meeting people living in a city is more informative then reading thousand guides!
to the hostel tips: I liked especially the oasis-hostles but they don't have any free (and cheep) rooms for 3 persons, but do you think it makes sense visiting them when we are in Sevilla/ Granada and just asking for a room? In general, does it make more sense making reservations? xo i have no experiences and no idea what's cleverer? do hostles always have free beds for the spontanious-ones? 8)
Thanks for all those very nice ideas for daytrips or cities we can have a look at! and of course thanks for all the other tipps as well! i really appreciate such a long and informative answer :)
jule
And if there's someone else out there with some information or any tips: please reply :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej,
it sounds like you have already fixed your route with the reservations? Let's hope you did not pay too much or got reservations which are not 100% necessary. :|
You could calculate how many travel days you will need for the part of the route which is already fixed and then think if you'd need the 22continuous pass.
By the way, you can also purchase InterRail passes online at our partner :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u] to support all the work done here at the railcc project. Prices are the same as at a station and free delivery is possible within a maximum of seven working days. :)
I did not try couchsurfing yet, as it does not really fit my demands; but most reports I heard are very good. Of course you might sometimes end up in a flat more or less resembling a dump, but well, nobody forces you to stay there in the end. ;)
I wouldnt think about safety issues, since your host has to trust you as well that nothing disappears... :D
Many hostels do not put up all their rooms in the online booking systems to have space left if guest just show up without prior reservation - so it is certainly worth a try to check for availability when you are there. But there is no definite rule/answer to that so you'll have to try. But, usually hostel staff are friendly people who will help you to find another place to stay if they are fully booked already.
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
hey (:
jap unfortunately i did :( i was at this railway center just to gain some information and the man there told me i must make reservations as quickly as i can so finally i became nervous and reservated all that stuff (afterwards i found this page here :'( which is much more informative than the man in this center :(( )
but don't mind, it's my first trip and because of this mistake i learned for the next trip to look up my tour here!
I will definetely buy it here....in the end the man in the center sells the most expensive pass ;) so i feel more comfortable booking here ;) thanks for this tip!!!
...ok well that sounds logical :idea: in the end we could rob them and run away with their couch 8)
thanks for this tip. so to keep the trip just a little bit spontanious i will not book all the hostles :D you really helped me a lot!!!!!!
Thank youuuuuuuuu :D