Interrail: Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam - Berlin - Prague...

Andre
Traveller
10 comments

Hi,

In my opinion, the amount of days should be something to take in consideration by yourself and the others that are traveling with you.
P.e. - If you are very interested in staying 4 days in Paris and just 3 or 2 in Amsterdam, but, a friend of yours doesn't pretend to be such long in Paris and want to just look around and go to spend in Amsterdam more days, then you have something to take care.

But assuming that your are all connected so, such situations won't happen, then you need to start thinking what things you wanna do and how much days you wanna spend in a certain city.
In my trips, cities like you mention are cities to stay more than 2/3 days assuming that you wanna see a lot of things and not only sightseeing.

In the cities that you mention i've been in Prague, Vienna, Venice, Rome and Milan.
Prague - I would suggest you to spend at least 5 days - There is a lot to see and the nightlife is awesome.
Vienna - 5 days as well
Rome - 4 days (maybe 5)
Venice - 3 (i think that is enought)
Milan - I would say 1 day. lol (i didn't like the city)

I've read a lot about Paris, Barcelona and Budapest (because i pretend to go there next year) and i think that i would suggest 5 days as well to those cities.

But hey, thats my opinion. When i travel it prefer going to the monuments than go just to drink beer and go out (those kind of stuff i keep to my country). But i'm not saying that i don't go out. I go, but having in mind that next day i will visit the city and not stay at the hostel (or camp, or room) recovering from last night.

So i think that you need to see how much days you wanna spend in some country and doing what.
Normally lonely planet (at least those i've got) have a 24h and a 48h journey at the main city. So it is a start to know how much days you will want to spend at a place.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some cities are much more expensive than others. Vienna and Paris are a way lot more expensive than Prague (p.e.)

And you don't need to buy the pass for the whole month. I think that the 10 travel days in 22 days or the 15 days continuous should be enough. You can check this here: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]

Anything you need just ask ;)

André

CoolHandLuke
Traveller
3 comments

Thanks a lot for getting back to me.

I mainly worried if i had had a bit of an ambitious itinerary, am I including too many places? I think i would be happy staying in 2-3 days in each city, mainly site seeing by day and partying at night! I intend to travel by night train where possible...do you have any other advice about which trains are best/cheapest?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers, luke :D

andrewtrain
Traveller
20 comments

hi, if you don't mind I'd like to make a suggestion: Brussels and Milan aren't that great, personally I hated both... besides being dirty and filthy they don't have a lot to see (touristically). Brugge and Florence are too other cities (near those too) which are much more beautiful and worth seeing.

By the way if your planning to stay 2/3 days on each city the nº of cities is good. 2/3 days will, in most cities, allow you to see the main attractions, as to partying you should consider that if you plan to enjoy the day seeing the city you can't stay in the hotel recovering from the night before :D , so i'd choose some cities where night life is really good and stay there 3 days (eg: Amsterdam and Berlin).

Just another thing: if your using night trains don't go seated, it is not worthed... besides being completely uncomfortable (seriously, you wont sleep a thing...), the price isn't that different.

Hope you have a nice trip,
Andrew

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej Luke...

Your first plan is totally feasible of course. :)

- Bruxelles is indeed a little dull, as Andrew already said...Brugge is a more interesting option, really. Or Antwerpen. And if you want to see Manneken Pis or the Atomium you can do so on a day trip from the other cities as well.

- The route is really straightforward, nothing much to worry about:
Paris to Lille by TGV (reservation!) then continue to either Brugge or Bruxelles or wherever. Do not go by Thalys!
Continue to Amsterdam...do not go by Thalys! Instead use the hourly Benelux IC trains without reservation. Have a look around at Antwerpen Centraal if you happen to change trains there, it is one of Europe's finest stations.
Praha to Krakow. First sensible possiblity for a night train...if you travel during the day, dont forget to get a reservation (as on the night train)
Krakow to Budapest, again a sensible leg for a night train
Vienna to Venice by night train again
In Italy, bear in mind that the fastest trains (AV, ES) need a reservation (10€), the slower IC and R/RV trains are free.
Roma to Milano either the fast way with AV train via Firenze or along the coast via Genova. Or, as already said skip Milano altogether and go to Firenze instead (or Torino which is nice as well).
To Nice, go along the coast via Ventimiglia...and then, the final leg to Barcelona, probably the most difficult part. Have a look at the schedules here (which still need to be checked for changes!) :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/nice-to-barcelona[/u] or make a stop along the route for the Petit Train Jaune :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/villefranche-de-conflent-to-latour-de-carol[/u]


Flo 8)

CoolHandLuke
Traveller
3 comments

thanks a lot for the feedback...clears up a few things.

Going on from what you have said, i'm thinking of swapping Bruxelles with Brugge, also thinking of stopping off at Hamburg while travelling to Berlin as i heard it is quite a good spot. Would you recommend Hamburg?

The journey from Nice to Barcelona may be a bit awkward but i would prefer to finish in Spain. Is there any other easier/better Spanish stops that would be more feasible?

cheers, Luke :D

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi Luke.
Hamburg is definitely worth to stay. Especially on weekends. You have a lot of cool clubs and bars in the area of the [b]Reperbahn[/b] and the [b]Schanzenviertel[/b] (both are close and easy to walk).
Some locations are listed here... but much much more available:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/hamburg/c[/u]

Peter :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

BCN is ok...all other places would be even more complicated to get to. I have updated the routes you can find them now on the railcc site.
What you could do is to go with the Petit Train Jaune from Villefranche to Latour de Carol (have a look at the railcc site in the France section) which is a really beautiful ride although it will require an extra overnight stay.


Flo 8)