anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hi! So I'm looking at doing the interrail thing in September for one month.
Was thinking of flying to Prague and travelling my way down through Austria, Slovenia and into Croatia. Then along the coast of Italy to Bari to take the ferry out to Greece.
Anyone have any experience with this sort of route? Is a month enough time to see these bits?, I originally considered getting back to Italy after Greece and flying home to UK from Italy or maybe even South of France, but I think that's a bit of an epic trek!
I realise certain parts of that route would involve rather long haul trips (from North to South of Italy and ferry from Italy to Greece).
Is there anywhere along that sort of route anyone would suggest going to see, or even avoiding?
Complete novice to interrail!
Thanks,
Alex :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi Alex,
since you are new to InterRail, you may have a look at the guide with all basic information about InterRail and where to find what on railcc website :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/first-time-interrail[/u]
Have you thought about not taking the plane to go to Prague? Instead you could take the Harwich - Hook van Holland ferry and start your trip there; go to Amsterdam and take the night train to Prague in the evening.
Since you are planning for a month long trip you might also consider making a minor detour to Krakow; then Budapest and finally to Vienna.
From there, to Slovenia (Ljubljana and Lake Bled are the obvious stops there) and if you want to Croatia. Back through Slovenia to Italy :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/u] and by ferry to Greece.
Another alternative would be of course to go to Greece via Belgrade and Skopje, however there are currently no cross border trains to/from Greece so you would have to use a bus or taxi instead (depending on how adventurous you are; buses run for instance from Skopje to Thessaloniki from where you could continue by train to Athens). :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/new-trains-from-thessaloniki-to-skopje-belgrade-and-sofia/f5508[/u]
Also within Greece, the railway network is not as dense as it once was, especially on Peloponnes where the narrow gauge network has been abandoned. Where do you want to go exactly?
Depending on how much places you visit on your way there I think you will need around three weeks to do all this; so you could still go back to Italy by ferry to visit some places there - and if you want to go to France as well, why not, defnitely no problem with the one month pass! :)
Flo 8)
[b]Please support railcc:[/b]
- buy your rail passes and tickets here on the recommended website: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
- add locations of your home-town (bars, nice places, ...)
Thank you! :)
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Hi! Thanks for the message, definitely worth thinking about.
I think flying to Prague is the easiest way to get into Europe for me. The airport nearest home does very cheap flights to Prague. But it would be nice to go to Amsterdam too!
I would like to go to split in Croatia really, or pula if it proves too complicated to get back. From what I've read, it's tricky to get by train from Croatia to north of Italy.
I thought maybe ferry from split to Ancona? Anyone done that?
I'd like to take my girlfriend to Venice though (I've been before) but perhaps I'm a sucker for cheesy things like that!
Greece, I thought ferry into igomenitsa, then I don't know!
I'm still a few months away, so plenty of time to work things out!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Alright...just do a cost comparison flight vs ferry+night train to Prague (of course you will need one/two extra days but since you have a full month this shouldnt be a problem). Another option would be Eurostar to Bruxelles then Thalys to Amsterdam, there are quite cheap advance fares available. Just suggestions. ;)
Split is no problem by train from Zagreb; if you are there already you really should think about Dubrovnik (by bus) too - the return trip via Mostar - Sarejevo (by train from Ploce) to Zagreb is also worth considering. From Zagreb you then could go to Pula or straight to Venice.
There should be at least one topic here about the Split - Ancona ferry. Definitely also worth considering...you could go up to Venice and take the ferry to Greece from there then.
Pula train connections :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/pula/train/c[/u]
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
First: thank you for adding Torquay Strand ([u]https://rail.cc/en/torquay/torquay-strand/l3055[/u]) ! :)
And like Flow said, I recommend as well to start from the UK by train - of course you have to compare prices (flight).
The ferry Flow recommended is really nice.
If you want to travel by train, the Eurostar to Brussels using special fare tickets from EUR 48 ([ux]https://rail.shop/acprail[/ux]) should be your choice.
If you like to continue by Thalys Brussels to Amsterdam, then as well by special price from EUR 36 ([ux]https://rail.shop/beurope[/ux]) - both available as e-tickets via the links above.
Brussels to Amsterdam/Berlin, etc is also possible by free trains using already your Interrail pass.
Then you start by train and you feel the distances you travel right from the beginning. :)
Peter :)