TinaHelen
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hey there :)
me and a friend are planning an Interrail trip for September, and at the moment I'm trying to find out the best, cheapest and most scenic train connections for our route.
Actually we wanna do:
Aachen - Bruxelles - Paris - Bordeaux OR La Rochelle - Santander - Vigo (Islas Cies) - Lisboa - Madrid - Malaga - Milano - Verona - Roma
I already found some good connections for some of the routes, but for others not really.
1. wanted to ask how to come from [b]Paris to La Rochelle[/b] without the expensive TGV, because the journey planner only tells me TGV connections.
2. How do I get from[b] La Rochelle or Bordeaux to Santander[/b]? Is there any possibility to avoid a 17h drive with the expensive TGV and Eurostar? (thats what I found)
3. Nearly the same for [b]Santander - Vigo: [/b]Though it's both in Spain the journey planner says it takes 12-13 hours, via Palencia, besides others with the expensive Avant... Are there other, better possibilities?
4. What was really surprising to me was that the connection from [b]Vigo to Lisboa[/b], which is not a long distance, also should take 7-11 hours, with a regional train, are there better ways to get there?
5. Is there a good connection from [b]Lisboa to Malaga[/b] or something in the South? Actually I didnt find anything human, only again such 16hour connection, and for that reason we though about going to madrid first and then from there to Malaga, but also [b]Madrid - Malaga [/b]I find only very expensive connections with the AVE, are there cheaper possibilities? I also couldn't find the route in the train connections part of railcc
6. Is it possible to get from [b]Milano to Verona[/b] without using the Eurostar?
Thank you for your help!
Tina :)
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Hi.
France and Spain are not Interrail friendly. On long distances you often have no option to use free local trains, especially in Spain.
As I do not have your dates of travel, I just show you some connections, maybe they won't work on weekends.
[b]1[/b]
Paris Austerlitz dep: 0831 - free - [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/intercit%C3%A9s/sncf-ic/108[/u]
Poitiers arr: 1142
Poitiers dep: 1301 - free local train TER
La Rochelle Ville arr: 1439
[b]2[/b] Not really good to reach. You can use a free local train from Bordeaux to the border. Then there is euskotren.es (not included in Interrail, but inexpensive) up to San Sebastian. From there maybe by bus. Never travelled to Santander.
For the other connections maybe someone else can help you, have to leave now ...
Peter :)
Loiseau
Traveller
231 comments
Hi,
that's nearly what i want do to in september. ;) And i'm quite not really sure about.
I think [b]Euskotrain[/b] is going up to Bilbao. From there there is a bus to Santander: [b]http://www.alsa.es/[/b]. I think it costs less than 10EUR. I want to walk this route. ;)
To go from Santander to Vigo there is a possibility to go back to San Sebastian by bus and then take the direct train to Vigo (8h45-20h17) or maybe better to go by bus to Burgos and than take the same train at 12h12 or the night train from Barcelona (but this is just first class and maybe expensive!!! - [b]Does anyone know how much does the upgrade cost?[/b]).
[b]My question is how you get to islas cies and how you will sleep there?[/b] Is it possible to camp there in the wilderness? I want to go there too, but don't know how it works? And how much is the trip by ferryboat?
For the rest - i'm going to think spain isn't good for interrail.
Milano-Firenze - with IC (3EUR Reservation?!) in 3:45 or with local trains in 5hours. :(
EDIT: [b]Bilbao-Vigo: Arco 00238 9h15-20h17[/b]
nltrainer
Traveller
1416 comments
IR is useless for THIS route-as most of it has no state-trains.
BUSes run all along Spain north coast-on some local routes as often as hourly or even more. Buy ticket when there-NOT very cheap-anymore-Spain also has to save on subsidy. You can-if you have enough time+stamina for it, also use the 1 or 2/day FEVE local trains-takes ages, but some parts of its route are very beautiful. ET=eskotren is simpy split of of FEVE for the basque country-some toy for them. You idea is for those who do not believe in things out of the web-very impractical here. Peter/flow have the Cooks timetable-they list those routes and FEVE also has a site, it is simply another Spain narrow-gauge railway that does NOT accept IR, but some say that maybe, god willing and if the seller knows about it, it may give discount=descuento.
For islas cies: sorry- go better to any of the normal tourist fora-like lonelyplanet/thorntree or tripadvisor or virtualtourist and CHECK first if its not on already, or open a guidebook for Espana.
nltrainer
Traveller
1416 comments
and for onward:
there is also a 1/day and not very good train connection along the west coast from ES into PT.
For Lis-Mad-Mlg, IF you can commit to book now- book online via renfe.es for best web-prices- up to 60% discount. IF you cannot get them-then go by bus.
Joost_B
Traveller
4 comments
You can consider taking a bus from San Sebastian to Santander. Or take the Arco from Hendaye to Vigo. The Euskotren from San Sebastian to Bilbao takes 2,5 hours and by bus 1 hour. The Feve train from Bilbao to Santander takes 2:45. The Arco departes from the French border. There is no direct rail connection with Santander from the Basque country.
Greetings Joost
Loiseau
Traveller
231 comments
Milano - Verona goes Regional in aprox. 1h:55 all over the day!