harperbauer
Traveller
3 comments
Posted 12 years ago
22 days, inter rail pass. will do overnight trains, prefer no reservation/extra fees, starting point is switzerland
want to see: amsterdam, brussels, versailles, athens, pisa, budapest, vienna, prague, cologne, munich, frankfurt, black forest
other last places id like to see if possible: madrid, lisbon, morocco (but i think thats pushing it for too much)
i have one more question: with the pass you still have to go to a ticket booth and buy your ticket like normal but it will be free? :S
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Your Interrail pass is your ticket - only some trains require a reservation: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u]
Use the railcc schedules to find free connections: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]
It is really a lot you planed... maybe have a look first at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] and a map to skip some of the places. :)
If I start now explaining routes, I thing it makes no sense as I will leave some cities you might like to have within your tour.
Also, Greece is hard to reach this year due to the economical problems: [u]https://rail.cc/en/greece/xgr[/u]
Only one connection via Skopje (Macedonia) if you want to use trains only: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/skopje-to-thessaloniki[/u]
As an example route:
Lausanne - Geneve - Lyon - Paris/Versailles (possible by reservation free local trains)
Paris - Irun - Lisbon
Lisbon - Madrid - Barcelona - Little Yellow train trough the Pyrenees - Nice - Milan - Pisa
Venice - Munich - Vienna - Budapest - Prague - Amsterdam - Brussels - Cologne - Frankfurt - Black Forest - Switzerland
You see, it's a lot. :)
Connections like mentioned via the given links above.
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi,
with your InterRail pass you can board all trains of the participating companies (basically all state railways plus some private ones) without purchasing an extra free ticket. However, on some trains you will need an extra seat reservation which you can buy either at a train station or for some trains also on the internet.
Regarding your route, I would travel like this:
Black Forest - Paris/Versailles - Bruxelles - Amsterdam - Köln - Frankfurt - München - Praha - Budapest - Pisa
You could use night trains from Praha to Budapest as well as on Budapest - Pisa (night train on the Wien - Firenze section).
Athens is in my opinion to far away from your route...also the international rail connections are suspended currently so you would have to use a ferry from Italy which is quite time consuming.
Madrid and Lisboa are quite a bit away as well and I would only go there if you'd expand your trip to one month. Morocco is not really an option since IR is not valid there anymore.
Have a look here for more basic info for planning your trip :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/first-time-interrail[/u]
Flo 8)
harperbauer
Traveller
3 comments
oh okay! i think i might skip spain/portugal/greece. for me, seems to much time in the train. another trip. but the route seems like a good idea. :) thank you, thank you both! can obviously tell i'm a first time rail pass user! :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Just ask if you have any further questions! And if you like our support, support us and buy your ticket in our online shop - thank you. :)
harperbauer
Traveller
3 comments
okay, how does this route sound?
switzerland, nice-france, pisa-italy, budapest-hungary, vienna-austria, prague- czech, munich, stuttgart, colonge- germany, amsterdam-netherlands, brussels-belgium, versailles-france, ferry to uk. edinburgh -scotland. ferry to ireland. dublin end. fly back to swiss.
i dont know if that is a good plan. but i want to end in ireland so can meet up with my father.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Sounds good. Anyway, I would consider starting at Versailles - you could then travel overnight from Paris to Nice or take a fast TGV. This might be more practical as you could then head straight for the ferry to the UK after you leave Bruxelles and dont have to travel all the way down to Versailles and then back to the ferry.
From Nice to Pisa it is a nice trip all along the Mediterranean. Try to sit on the right hand side of the train if possible. ;)
Pisa to Budapest is a bit long and it is better to go to Wien first: Go to Firenze and take the overnight train to Wien from there. If you happen to leave Pisa on a Saturday you are lucky and could also take the direct night train to Wien :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/livorno-vienna-en-1236/230[/u]
From Wien then go by direct Railjet train to Budapest and finally with direct EC (or overnight train) to Praha.
From Amsterdam to Bruxelles avoid the expensive Thalys and use the free IC Benelux serivce instead.
All the other trips are really straightforward. You will need reservations for the Geneve to Paris TGV, Paris to Nice TGV or Lunea night train, and Firenze - Wien night train. All other trips can be done without extra reservations. On the Budapest - Praha route you might think about a night train - if so, you would have to pay for a reservation in a couchette or sleeper.
Best way to get to the UK would be the Calais - Dover ferry as it is pretty simple to reach from Bruxelles. Another alternative would be the ferry from Hook van Holland to Harwich but it will be more expensive.
To get to Edinburgh I would recommend the night train from London for which you need a free reservation for the regular seats that you can get at a UK station.
To get to Dublin you can either go via Glasgow - Stranraer - ferry to Belfast - Dublin or via Chester - Holyhead - ferry to Dublin
Flo 8)
harperbauer
Traveller
3 comments
Okay I have a route, thanks to you guys. I am just wondering hostels. I am a student so no credit card. Am I going to run into problems with hostels? :S or can I show up and hope it's not full. I know places like London, Paris, Amsterdam tend to fill up or are pricey but eastern europe should i be fine? :S Also, I think I read this somewhere but want to double check, for reservations for trains I can do right at the ticket booth and someone will help me? haha
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Humm...well, as you've said, in the big cities it makes sense to pre book your hostel - usually this is only possible with credit cards, alas. Maybe someone else can do this for you`? At least for the hostels at the start of your trip.
Many hostels also do not put every bed into internet booking machines in order to be able to host travellers who show up without a reservation as well - but this is not a guarantee for a bed. :|
In Eastern Europe you should be fine; in any case it might be a good idea to look for some hostels in each city before leaving so you dont waste too much time looking for hostels after arriving in a new city.
Yup, best and standard way to get reservations is at the (international) ticket counter at a station. Online reservations are only possible for some trains in Europe and is rather complicated to do during a trip. Be careful in BE and NL as you might be charged extra booking fees at stations.