c_curran
Traveller
11 comments
Posted 13 years ago
My girlfriend and I plan to fly into Bilbao from Dublin in June. We have been in the area before and we will be making use of the affordable Euskotren service after a few nights in Bilbao to go to San Sebastian/Donostia for one night. We then plan to take the night train service that runs through Hendaye to Nice. After Nice we aren't sure of a good route. I know this is very far in advance but before we book the passes and flights etc we want to have a good idea of the general route we are going to take. Does anyone have any good suggestions? We preferably want to avoid any further overnight train journeys after Hendaye to Nice and would also to prefer to stay central Europe as we want to finish in Paris. Thanks in advance!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
- How long do you want to travel?
- Any preferences? Beach, hiking, culture, going out,...?
Flo 8)
c_curran
Traveller
11 comments
Thanks for replying,
We will be purchasing either the 10 in 22 day ticket or the 22 day continuous one! We were thinking of getting some beach stuff done while in San Sebastian and Nice so from then on in we'd probably be looking for a more cultural experience. After checking out many different routes I have noted this down:
-From Nice head to Milan
-Stay in Milan for one night and then head to Venice
-We hope to stay in Venice for 2 nights and then get the train straight to Vienna as, from there, we can head to Prague then Berlin and eventually end up in Paris for the finale to the trip via Amsterdam and Brussels.
I'm completely new to this and couldn't tell you if this is a viable route? What do you think?
Thanks in advance
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Probably the 10in22 pass will be the best option. You can get them here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-global-pass[/u]
Euskotren opearates to Hendaye, so you can start your pass there and make use of the 1900-rule for night trains. Currently the night train Hendaye - Nice does not operate daily but throughout the summer (starting ~ mid-june) it runs daily...as French timetables usually are published at rather short notice this could be a little annoying since you want to go in June.. :|
Another option could be to go to Biarritz or Arcachon/Dune de Pyla before heading to Nice. The night train stops in Biarritz as well, if you'd go to Arcachon you will have to go to Bordeaux to get the night train.
The Arcachon option is a bit problematic as you would have to either use one travel day extra or get regular ticket to Bordeaux to then use the 1900-rule.
While in Nice, visit also some of the nice places in the area, such as Grasse, Antibes, Villefranche or maybe Monaco.
Then, you have to options:
a) Go along the coast via Ventimiglia and Genova straight to Milano.
b) Go through the mountains via Breil and Cuneo to Torino. From Torino you could either head straight to Venezia (there is a direct train at around 9 in the morning) or go to Milano next day in the morning, have a look around and then leave for Venezia in the afternoon/evening.
From Venezia, night train to Wien (I'd recommend a couchette to sleep), using the 1900-rule again.
Reservations you'd need so far:
- Hendaye - Nice night train (6€ sleeperette, ~18€ couchette). As this is the start of your trip, it'd be sensible to get them online some time in advance.
- Torino/Milano - Venezia. 10€ for the ES City train...regional trains are free but much slower
- Venezia - Wien (9€ seat, 29€ couchette).
From Wien the rest of the trip is pretty straighforward until Amsterdam. From Berlin to Amsterdam you'd have the option to go by night train (reservation needed).
From Amsterdam to Bruxelles, use the free hourly IC service, [b]not[/b] the Thalys for which an expensive reservation is needed.
From Bruxelles, you could go by Thalys (expensive but fast) however I'd recommend to go to Lille first and use a TGV (6€) for the last part to Paris.
Travel days needed: 10 :)
Flo 8)
c_curran
Traveller
11 comments
Hi,
Thanks very much for this information it will undoubtably come in extremely useful, we were also in Biarritz last year so thanks for reminding me that there is an alternative to traveling from Hendaye! This leaves me with one more stupid question to ask. The Venice to Wien night train details on this site say a two bed sleeper compartment would be 69 EUR. Does this price rent that compartment for two people? Or would that be just for a ticket each?
Thanks again!
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Hi.
The EUR 69 is per person in a 2-bed-compartment:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/venice-vienna-en-236/97[/u]
If you and your friend order two reservations, each one has to pay EUR 69 = total EUR 138.
But you have the compartment for your own - no other travellers will be in there.
But the 6-bed compartments are also good - and you will save money.
Peter :)