anonymous
Traveller
2473 comments
Posted 13 years ago
Hello,
I'm currently planning an interrail trip alone through:
Lisbon (3 days) - Madrid (4 days) - Barcelona (7 days) - Paris (7 days) - London (5 days) - Edinburgh (3 days).
(About a month more or less. The days is just to give an overview and aren't fixed.)
I'm from Denmark and plan on booking a cheap flight to Lisbon (at the end of may), and then use trains from there. I'm planning on taking the direct trains (day or night trains) and staying at standard quality hostels (dorms).
Would one month be enough for all cities? Would it be stupid to book everything in advance?
I would really like ideas, criticism, something I need to be aware of, experiences etc. It's my first time interrailing, and therefore I'm thinking a lot about safety or problems in the different countries, or with the trains.
Thanks in advance.
Flo
Traveller
10725 comments
Hej,
personally, I think that only six cities is far too less for a one month InterRail trip. For me, the basic idea about InterRail is to be able to fit in as many cities and countries as possible within a month. This does not necessarily mean that you have to rush through every place you go to and only spend one day or so there, but normally, two or three days per city are enough for me to see the basic sights and then proceed to a new place. If you want to explore one place more thoroughly, you can of course decide to stay longer (spontaneously, another advantage of the InterRail ticket) or come back another time. :)
Also, I do not really like the idea of flying during an InterRail trip, mainly due to ecological reasons but also since it is rather dull compared to going by train. :)
To give you an idea what I'm talking about here's an idea for a possible route:
Vejle - Hamburg - Zürich - Pontresina - Milano - Nice - Petit Train Jaune - Barcelona - Madrid - Lisboa - Paris - London - Edinburgh and then fly home or with ferry Harwich - Hook van Holland - Amsterdam and then back home by train. :)
I would not book everything in advance...of course you can do but a month is a rather long time and you might change your plans during travelling. Usually you book your accomodation for the next town only but you can also do that when arriving in a new town or, if you want, book accomodation for several places ahead.
Regarding safety issues. Nothing to worry about, as long as you act sensible and do look out for your stuff while being in touristy areas such as Placa Catalunya in Barcelona, Tour Eiffel in Paris and the like. :)
Take a small pouch with you that you put around the neck and wear under your clothes to put money, passport and InterRail tickets in. Also, a padlock might be sensible to use in hostels (often they charge for padlocks to rent) and to fix your backpack in night trains.
Have a look here for more basic infos :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/first-time-interrail[/u]
And if you want to support our work at railcc, please buy your IR ticket at our partner, thank you! :)
Flo 8)
PS: Dont hesitate to ask further questions. ;)
anonymous
Traveller
2473 comments
Thanks for the great response. It help me a lot.
I will definently consider putting in more places.
About the reservation of hostels. During the summer season, is the good hostels completely booked or would it be easy to just book on week at a time? I would love to just have a spontaneous trip but at the time I would hate to be forced to stay at a terrible hostel because everything else is completely booked?
Peter
Traveller
9339 comments
Hi.
There is no general answer available for your question. :)
It always depends on the city, the days you stay there (weekend or not, public holidays or not, ...).
Booking one week in advance should be definitely fine. But don't book too much as you definitely will loose your fun and flexibility.
If hostels are full, take a local train, leave the city and sleep somewhere in a little village in the meadows - also very nice and inexpensive! :)
As most hostels have free Internet access, you can always check hostels during your trip for free beds: [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux]
Peter :)