Interrailing alone: tour for 30 to 40 days in Europe

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

Wheres the love Peter? :D

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
I will answer as soon as I have the time. I also have to work beside to earn some money. Only helping for free doesn't bring me food in my refrigerator. So please be patient! Thank you! :)
There are simply to much users requesting help for free, using the content of the railcc website for free, but buying their tickets at some ticket outlets. If people would buy here to support the project, I could answer much faster. :)
So talk to you later.
Peter :)

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

I was looking to buy my pass here... I will be going travelling in august and would buy soon.

Why is it do you think people do not buy from here?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
It is easy to see by simply comparing the number of users and posts to the number of sales. :)
So bump this topic tomorrow and you will get your reply. :)
Peter

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

Hi Peter,

From reading your previous posts I can tell you know Europe very well. I think you could charge people to create them a custom tailored Europe Tour/Plan that would fit their needs. So they give you their wants and needs, and you plot them a route giving them Train times/ routes, what towns to visit and so on. I think people would be willing to pay for that type of service (I would), you could then also bundle that with the sale of a Railpass and your laughing.

Im not sure how long it would take you to plot such a route with train times/routes, cities to visit, where to stay, advise on what to do there and so on, but i would think a good price for this type of service would be the 99Euro price point. Maybe you could offer different levels of service for people with different budgets. Say for 49Euro you would give them the train routes/times only for the places they want to visit and they figure out the rest. It would be a great service to offer people.

Just an idea buddy, let me know what you think

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
This is a nice idea and I will think about it... :)
I think the most important thing is then to fix the value the customer gets for their money.


[b]But now to your possible trip trough Europe.[/b]
GBP 2500 is really a lot. It is including the ticket?
And you start from the UK!?

As you know, the direct Eurostar train from [b]London to Paris/Brussels[/b] is very expensive (EUR 75 one-way). Better use an inexpensive overnight bus or a ferry or a special fare ticket for Eurostar and then start interrailing in Paris.
Examples for London to Paris: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/london-to-paris[/u]

The option I would recommend you is to first travel to Harwich and the by ferry in direction of Amsterdam (select the schedules saying including a ferry):
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/london-to-amsterdam[/u]

Or like said above, use the Eurostar to special price for Paris to [b]Brussels[/b], then have a trip to [b]Brugges[/b] and continue to [b]Amsterdam[/b].
Attention: never use the expensive THALYS trains in Benelux, use free IC trains (see schedules here on railcc).

Next step from Amsterdam is for example [b]Hamburg[/b], then [b]Copenhagen[/b] (or direct night train Amsterdam-Copenhagen): [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/amsterdam-to-copenhagen[/u]

If you want to have an impression of [b]Scandinavia[/b], think about Copenhagen to [b]Stockholm[/b] ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/copenhagen-to-stockholm[/u] ), and then the [b]Inlandsbanan[/b] trough the Swedish nature:
Stockholm-Östersund (where free Inlandsbanan starts): [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/stockholm-to-oestersund[/u]
Östersund by Inlandsbanan to Gällivare: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/oestersund-to-gaellivare[/u]

From [b]Gällivare[/b] back to Stockholm (it is the train coming from Narvik): [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/narvik-to-stockholm[/u]

Okay, you could do a lot more in Scandinavia, fro example from Gällivare up to [b]Narvik[/b], via the [b]Lofoten islands[/b] to [b]Bodö[/b] and Norway down to the South.

But it is only a short trip to see Scandinavia I am proposing you. :)

Stockholm to [b]Malmö[/b] by day train followed by the night train (train is going on a ferry - stay inside or enjoy the night on deck) to [b]Berlin[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/malmoe-to-berlin[/u]

[b]Berlin - Dresden - Prague[/b] is easy to do.
[b]Prague - Krakow - (Vienna) - Budapest[/b]: also easy and if you like, use night trains. Saving you the hostels and it is always something special. :)

Now in Eastern-Europe, again several options... I personally love this area, as it is interesting, inexpensive and nice cities, also with a good night life.

[b]Budapest - Bucharest - Belgrade[/b] or directly Budapest to Belgrade.

From Belgrade thing about either a short trip to [b]Montenegro (Bar)[/b]. An amazing scenic route! You could travel day train to Bar, night train back.
Or continue from Montenegro by bus to Croatia [b]Dubrovnik/Split[/b] ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/dubrovnik-bar-or-split-bar-by-bus-train/f8337[/u] ) and from there by train.

If you don't want to use buses, think about Belgrade directly to Zagreb and Croatia or Belgrade - [b]Sarajevo[/b] ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/belgrade-to-sarajevo[/u] ) and [b]Mostar[/b] to [b]Ploce[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/sarajevo-to-ploce[/u]
From Ploce by frequent bus to [b]Split[/b] and continue.

Now you should be in [b]Zagreb[/b]. From Zagreb to [b]Ljubljana[/b], there in Slovenia I recommend [b]Lake Bled[/b].
From Lake Bled to [b]Venice[/b] please read here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/u]

In Italy... a lot of nice places... [b]Rome, Florence[/b], ... possible would be [b]Rome - Pisa - Nice[/b] (Southern-France).
Or to [b]Milan[/b] and crossing the [b]Alps to Switzerland[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/the-swiss-alps-by-train/[/u]

If you go to [b]Nice[/b] in France, some day trips could be interesting to the neighbouring cities. Then from Nice either back home via Paris or continue in direction of Spain.
From Switzerland you could either add [b]Salzburg[/b] (Austria) or/and [b]Munich[/b] (Germany) to your trip and then go back to the UK via Paris.

Before crossing the border to Spain, stop in [b]Perpignan[/b] and add the [b]Little Yellow Train[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u]

In Spain, again several options: [b]Sevilla, Malaga, San Sebastian[/b]... or the direct way [b]Barcelona - Madrid - Lisbon[/b].
From [b]Lisbon via Irun/Henday to Paris[/b] ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/lisbon-to-paris[/u] ) and back home.

So you see... there is a lot to see and possible within one month. You can certainly not visit all these places. Skip some, add some ... :)
I hope you have now more ideas and can start planing your trip.
I recommend 2-3 nights per city in general, but as you want to see a lot, sometimes less time in one city is more kilometres on your Interrail pass. ;)
Don't go too much into details, into the smallest cities. Better to get an overview with Interrail - and the places or countries you like, visit again the next years with more time and more into details.

Have a sunny day, Peter :)

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.

I though you would like the idea, give it some thought and let me know what you think. I have a few ideas that may help.

As for my trip :)

I like the majority of the route you have presented to me however I would do it in reverse as I would like to end up in Amsterdam where I should be meeting friends.

How many cities do you think I could visit in 30 days, would 15 be too many?

Also what are your views on Eastern Europe? A lot of people think its dangerous to travel alone but normally these people haven't been there, so can you give me your opinion please

I was also thinking about flying to Lisbon and starting my journey there as the journey from Paris to Madrid/Lisbon is very long and there is not much I want to see in between. From there I would like to go to Barcelona > Cannes > Monaco > Venice and so on.

Ive also seen people travel from the bottom of Italy to Athens via boat, do you think it is feasible? I would really like to go there.

I would appreciate any answers you can give :D

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Yes... 15 cities should be a good value... So you have 2-3 days per city. :)
And flying to Lisbon and starting there: not too bad, as you save the money for Eurostar and so on.

Eastern Europe: I never had problems. And you always have dark corners in every city. Like in London, Berlin and as well Bucharest. So no worries: it is safe, join other travellers from your hostel and you will have a lot of fun! :)

Greece: you can go there by boat. But currently you have to take the bus from Patras to Athens - and there are no international connections leaving Greece due the economical situation of the country. So again bus to leave Greece. I do not recommend to travel their by Interrail this summer.

Peter :)

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

Ok so best to leave Greece out this time then.

Are there any places that you would personally recommend going in Europe, anywhere you have found to be appealing?

Whats Germany like for travelling?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Greece is absolutely nice - but simply difficult to do by train since 2011. Let's hope it will be better in future!

I personally would add the Inlandsbanan and the Little Yellow Train, mentioned above. Two really amazing routes.
As well a crossing of the Alps could be fantastic!
Examples:
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/u]
Or as well this connections if you want to travel for free:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/zurich-to-milan[/u]
Available of course in both directions.
Also amazing the route Belgrade to Bar (Montenegro).

Germany: excellent for train travel! Very frequent connections, good trains, no extra reservation fees!!! :)
Except night trains and ICE Sprinter (won't meet them, as only some for business travellers).

Here is a round trip in Germany - just to get an idea of what could be interesting to do and in which order (start wherever you want): [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-travel-tour-package[/u]

Peter :)

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

Thanks for all your help Peter.

How much on average would it cost to stay in hostel dorms?
How much do you think i should allow for food per day?
What else should I be allocating money for when planning?

:D

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Pleasure to help. :)

Hostels: depends on the country and city and varies a lot. Check this website for details: [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux]

Food: you will save a lot of money cooking by yourself. Most hostels offer kitchens (also a good place to meet other travelers). If you usually stay in hostels, it is not worth taking your own camping stove with you.

Accommodation and food are the two big factors where spending money. So you can save a lot of money if you take care where and what to spent.

To party: better buy some beer in the afternoon in a supermarket, drink it at the hostel if allowed or somewhere in a park, before you go to the pub. Will save money. Or just join some other travelers and sit outside at a nice location in the city.

Train reservations: always have a look at the railcc schedules. You will find detailed information about extra fees and often free alternative routes: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]

Peter :)

jamin91
Traveller
7 comments

thanks again Peter

Do the train routes shown on the railccs Rail Map for Europe require reservations? I read somewhere that they were supposed to be the cheaper routes to take, is that the case?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Some routes require a reservation, some not.
Here you will find the information: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]
There is no map available showing only free connections.
Peter :)