Big Interrail travel route: Amsterdam to Sziget Festival

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
An interesting trip you planed. :)

Laundries are available at a lot of campsites as well in hostels. You shouldn\'t have a problem. Otherwise just wash by hand with a little bit of shampoo.

Train connections are listed here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]

For Amsterdam to Paris pay attention, avoid the expensive Thalys train. Or buy a special-price offer of Thalys ( [ux]https://rail.shop/beurope[/ux] ) and start interrailing from Paris. Often this is cheaper!
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/amsterdam-to-paris[/u]

Only some information. Maybe someone else can add more...

Peter :)

nigeldupaigel
Traveller
2 comments

Thanks! I've changed this trip due the fact i'm traveling alone.
This is what i've planned so far:

[b]Amsterdam - Pamplona (train, dep 8 july, arr 9 july)

Pamplona - Barcelona Sants (train, dep 10 july)[/b]

Then I make a little walk around Barcelona (have been there before) and Check in at the Grimaldi Lines fairy boat at 20.00.

[b]Barcelona - Civitavecchia (boat, dep 10 july, arr 11 july)
Civitavecchia - Ladispoli (train, dep 11 july)[/b]

From Ladispoli I will go to Rome (also been there before) by train for a full day (12 july) and play tourist :D

Then:

[b]Ladispoli - Bari (train, dep 13 july) Have no clue how? :!:
Bari - Igoumenitsa (boat, dep 20.00 13 july, arr 06.30 14 july)[/b]

This day I keep a rest and maby take a swim in the sea o)

The next day I head up land inwards to Ioannina --- Kampala --- Delphi --- Patras.
This little overland trip will take approximately 5 days. I'm expecting to be in Patras on the 19th on July.

My journey continues:

[b]Patras - Olympia (train, dep 19 july, arr 19 july )[/b]

I couldn't find anything about timetables of the railroad connections IN greece. I know there aren't any international train services.

[b]Olympia - Kiparissia (train, dep 21 july, arr 21 july)[/b]

Also this bit I can't find any information about routes, busses, taxi's, fairs etc.

[b]Kiparissia - Athens (train, dep 23 july, arr 23 july? )[/b]

NO info whatsoever...? :?:

[b]Athens - Thessaloniki - Gevgelija (train, dep 25 july, arr 25 july)
[/b]

Guess what... :P No, train-schedules to be found anywhere... :'(
I will meet some family and make some friends in Gevgelija, haha.

[b]Gevgelija - Istanbul (train and bus :?: , dep 27 july, arr :?: )[/b]

Please help!!?

I would like to leave Istanbul the 30th of july and head for a good reliable railway station in Bulgaria/Serbia. From Bulgaria/Serbia I would like to travel to a nice nature park with beautiful waterfalls or so...

On the 6th of august I have to be in Budapest, Hungary. And there is where my traveling with Interrail stops. :o

Hope you guys can help me with traintimetables, connections and routes 8)
Have I mentioned I'm buying a Global Interrail pass for 1 month?

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

Amsterdam - Pamplona: This is already a bit tricky. In principle you have two options:
a) Travel Amsterdam - Paris (avoid the Thalys, instead use the Benelux IC until Antwerpen, then via Gent - Kortrijk - Lille - Amiens to Paris; if you want you can also get a reservation for the faster TGV from Lille directly to Paris. You have the whole day for this leg, only need to be in Paris in time for the night train to Irun. From Irun I recommend to continue to San Sebastian to spend some time at the beach (you have to keep your backpack with you as there are no lockers at the station..) then continue in the afternoon to Vitoria/Gasteiz (reservation needed) and then by regional train to Pamplona or wait a bit and take the direct train (reservation needed).
b) Travel Amsterdam - Paris as described above, spend the remainder of the day in Paris and stay overnight. The following day take the first TGV to Irun and continue directly by direct train to Pamplona.

For detailed timings have a look at the online travel planners :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u] or ask here. :)

Pamplona - BCN: Twice daily Alvia trains (6,50€ reservation)

BCN - Civitavecchia: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/barcelona-civitavecchia/23[/u]

Civitavecchia - Ladispoli: Twice hourly regional trains which continue to Roma
Ladispoli - Bari: Go to Roma first with the above mentioned regional trains, from there several direct AV (10€ reservation) or IC (3€ recommended reservation) run to Bari. With a ferry departure at 2000 I recommend to leave Roma in the morning already (IC dep 0820 - arr 1431 or AV dep 0845 - arr 1248) as the next direct train would only arrive in Bari at 1848 which would be a bit late for the ferry departure.

Greece. Igoumenitsa - Patras via Ioannina - Kampala - Delphi no railway lines.

On the Peloponnes almost the whole narrow gauge network has been abandonned, only the lines Diakofto - Kalavrita and Katakolo - Olympia should still run but I am not 100% up tp date.
So, you might get a bus from Patras to Katakolo and then go by train to Olympia, continue to Kiparissia by bus (I guess). From Kiparissia again, no train service. Either go to Patras and then continue (first by OSE bus, then by train) or head directly to Athens by bus.
Athens - Thessaloniki frequent trains run; however to Idomeni and on to the border there are no trains to my knowledge.

Gevgelija - Istanbul. Umm..if you want to go by train you have to make a rather big detour via Skopje - Nis - Sofia, moreover the train to Istanbul currently is suspended from the border (Kapikule) to Istanbul due to construction works and a bus replacement service is in action.
Same for the way back from Istanbul to Sofia/Bucuresti. You might think about getting another IR pass that covers only the part until you reach Greece (so that the free ferry is included) and then make your way with regular bus/train tickets.

If you happen to go to Greece despite all the hassle, it would be very nice if you could give us a report here on the current situation.

Oh, and the timetable for Greece is here :arr: [ux]https://rail.shop/ose[/ux] ...


Flo 8)

nigeldupaigel
Traveller
2 comments

Wow! Thanks a lot! Really appreciate it!

[b]For Amsterdam - Pamplona[/b] i've decided to take option A, because staying in Paris is to expensive and San Sebastian looks rockin'! I will arrive the next morning in Pamplona, i've checked this with OBB.

[b]Then Pamplona - BCN[/b] will not be a problem.

[b]BCN - Civitavecchia - Ladispoli - Roma - Bari[/b] In between these cities I'm well prepared now, thankyou! :D

[b]Greece[/b]

[b]Igoumenitsa - Ioaninna - Kalampaka[/b] In when I arrived at Igoumenitsa, I'll rest for one day and take a dip. Next morning early I take the bus to Ioaninna. From there a bus can take me to Kalampaka. I've read this on a blog somewhere, i'll just ask the locals for some advice.

[b]Kalampaka - Delhpi - Patras - Olympia - Kyparissia[/b] Same counts for Kalampaka to Delphi, and from your information it must be possible to travel to Patras and Olympia and then Kyparissia. This will be adventurous haha :!:

[b]Kyparissia - Athens[/b] From Kyparissia i'll head for Athens! And stay there 2 days.

[b]Athens - Thessaloniki - Gevgellia - Skopje [/b] And here is where I've changed my plan, I'm not going to Istanbul anymore. I'll leave that at the back of my head together with cappadocie :P From Athens I travel, if possible :?: , directly to Gevgellija. In Gevgellija i'm staying the night and the next morning I would like to go to Skopje by train.

[b]Skopje - Belgrado - Zagreb - Plitvice Lakes[/b] This I would like to do in 3 days. So I can arrive in Zagreb not that late in the morning. This is because there is a good busline ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/zagreb-to-plitvice-lakes[/u]) to the Plitvice Lakes National Park ([u]https://rail.cc/en/plitvice-lakes/c[/u]), where I will stay from 28th july and leave the 1st of August. I have no idea where if there is a camping, but I will go wildcamping just as everywhere else on my trip if I can't find a camping to put my tent up :) I don't like hostels, because first of all I have a tent, and second of all they all are at a minimum of 10eur a night. o)

[b]Plitvice Lakes - Zagreb - ???? - Budapest[/b] I will leave Plitvice Lakes and head for Zagreb. I'm not interested in that city, so maby if anyone has any tips to see before heading to Budapest. So from the [b]1st of August in Zagreb untill the 5th of my arrival in Budapest[/b] I can go still anywhere!!

Thanks a lot for all your help, this is so exciting! railcc is a really good site! When I travel through greece I will report my travel on a blog and make pictures. Afterwards I'll be able to post my blog, but I expect to upload some pictures underway 8)