Berthe
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hi there,
First of all I must say I love this website and forum, it has been a great help so far :)
I'm trying to figure out my first solo rail trip, it will be in the summer of 2013. It's still sooooo far away, I know! But I'm really excited, so I have been planning for a couple of weeks now.
My (most recent) schedule is: Prague (CZ) - Cesky Krumlov (CZ) - Vienna (A) - Budapest (H) - Zagreb (HR) - Split (HR) - [ferry] - Ancona (I) - Venice (I) - Innsbruck (A) - Munich (D) - Nuremburg (D) - Prague (CZ). I still have to figure out some of the connections and prices, but (with help of this site) that will be fine. I think I will buy the InterRail 10 days within 22 days as of Cesky Krumlov. I do have some questions about the InterRail ticket, though. Hope you can help me with this, because I couldn't find the answers. I'm sorry if it is already described somewhere.
The InterRail ticket doesn't give free traveling in the country you live in.
1. How do 'they' check what your resident country is?
I live in Prague since half a year, but I'm Dutch and not officially registered in Prague. I've got a Dutch passport.
2. In this case, could I write 'The Netherlands' as home country?
3. Worst case: no, of course not. Okay, Czech Rep. is my home, how does the pay to the border work if you take an international train? Most international trains don't stop on the (mostly small) border stations.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions!
o)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi Berthe.
Just a short answer late at night... :)
That's right, you can not travel for free with Interrail in your country of residence.
If you lived more than 6 months in the Czech Republic at the first day of your Interrail travel, you officially have to buy a Czech Interrail Pass (=country of residence is Czech Rep.)
But sometimes it is a bit complicate within Europe, like in your case: you live in Czech, but you do not have any proof that you lived there the past six months. Like I said, officially following the rule, you will have to buy a Czech Interrail pass.
Now the real life: you sit in a train, the staff is checking your Interrail pass with country of residence Czech, but you only have a Dutch passport with no proof that you lived in Czech all the time ... very difficult to explain this situation - and usually the staff want to see hard facts, not listen to a story ... :|
I think you do not have another choice than to buy a Dutch Interrail pass.
Tickets from the place you live to the border (using a discounted ticket as for the rule of the country of residence - [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u] ) are available at train stations. But often special price tickets are cheaper than these discounted tickets.
Peter :)
Berthe
Traveller
1 comments
Hi Peter, thanks a lot for your quick response, and that at this hour! :P
I guess in that case, buying the Dutch pass is the safest, cheapest and easiest thing to do. Then I don't have to worry about borders, because even Czech Rep. is not my resident country. Cool!
By the way, any experience in / tips on Ancona - Venice? I've heard there is a nice coastal track, but you would need a lot of transfers. Wouldn't mind transfers if the trip is worth it! :D
Gosh, the more I'm making my trip concrete, the more I feel like a train noob.. Don't know anything about trains in the rest of the world! At least, not yet :)