Sebz4n
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Greetings!
Two of my friends and I is planning an interrail trip over the sommer (Probably around 1st of July until the end), and we'll be buying the 30 days interrail pass via DSB (Danish company) which allows travel in pretty much all of EU. But we're having a hard time deciding which route to go, as this is our first interrail trip and I have no idea how long travel time is and how long you wanna stay in one place. My mom has been doing quite a lot of interrail travel 25+ years ago, and I guess much has changed, so I hope you can provide me with more up to date information!
We have two routes in mind, and I've made a map so you can follow: LINK TIMED OUT
[b]1. Green Route[/b]: I really wanna go to [b]Greece[/b] as I've heard it's a very interesting country to interrail through, I've also loved it everytime I've gone there! The issue is that it's pretty far away, so we might [b]fly[/b] (Green line) to [b]Athens[/b] as the start of our trip, stay in the city for an entire day or two and then start our interrail pass and use 6-7 days across Greece to [b]Igoumentisa[/b] where we can take a free/discounted [b]ferry [/b]to [b]Ancona in Italy[/b] (21 hours, second green line). From there we will travel across Italy to [b]Ventimiglia[/b] where we know a person that has a big house we can stay in for a while. From there we'll be traveling [b]through France[/b] with no set destinations (stop where ever we want) and end up in [b]Bruxelles [/b]in Belgium where we know yet another person to live with. From there we go to [b]Amsterdam[/b] to take the edge off having to go home (wink wink) and then [b]back to Denmark[/b].
Depending on dates and flight tickets, we might go to Amsterdam first, end in Greece, and fly home from there. We're flexible as to which way we go around, but we kind of wanna stop the places we can live for free. But maybe we can skip the one in Italy and go to Milano and Geneve and gain some extra time there ([b]Red line)[/b]
[b]2. Orange Route[/b]: Our alternate route goes through [b]Berlin[/b] (interesting city, but I'll be going there later, don't wanna spend too long there - but there is a Waterpark outside we wanna visit), on to [b]Prague [/b](I was there in February, good place to party, but experienced already). From Prague we could go to [b]either Wien or Bratislava[/b] (or both?), but we've been in Austria last year (during the winter though) and from there [b]quickly through Hungary[/b] and to the [b]coast in Croatia[/b], along the coast [b]through Slovenia[/b], over [b]Italy [/b]in a straight line to the apartment we can live in, through [b]France [/b]with no set destination to [b]Belgium [/b]where we have another apartment, and then [b]Amsterdam [/b]and back to [b]Denmark[/b].
So my major concerns:
1. Is Greece worth spending 100 euro tickets on to travel through for about a week?
2. We kind of wanna avoid Austria, but is it an awesome country to travel through when the snow is gone? Should we plan on going straight through instead of Bratislava (Slovakia) and Hungary and go straight to the the coast of Croatia follow that up through Slovenia?
3. My [b]MAJOR CONCERN[/b] is that we have overshot our trip and have to sit in trains all the time, what do you guys judge? Which of these two trips would make better sense?
I hope you can help us out, thank you!
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Some notes...
1) If you use the information here on railcc, you can buy your official Interrail pass as well here on railcc to support all the information we offer, to support the forum and the answers here and to keep the servers running. Thank you. :)
2) Greece: there are currently no international connections from and to Greece: [ux]https://rail.cc/en/greece/xgr[/u]
You will have to use a bus or taxi to cross the border.
Travelling inside of Greece. Don't do it with your Interrail pass. The railway network isn't as dense in Greece - some narrow gauge lines are suspended. So either buy point to point tickets: [ux]https://rail.shop/ose[/ux]
Or use buses to reach places with no railway connection.
3) Austria is an awesome country as well without snow ... a bit funny this question... xo
4) Concerning the routes you want to travel... there are a lot of options ... and traveling one month, you can do it all the way down to Greece and back to Denmark via France.
Example: Denmark - Berlin - Prague - Krakow - Budapest - Bucharest - Sofia - then the tricky part of Greece - ferry to Italy - France - Benelux - Denmark
Schedules are here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]
Peter :)
Sebz4n
Traveller
2 comments
Does the interrail ticket not work in Greece on busses and such?
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Interrail is a TRAIN ticket, not a bus ticket, not a ticket for public transport, not a ticket all inclusive and travel for free in Europe.
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
No, buses are not covered, unless they are replacing a train in case of construction works etc...
Concerning your route; as Peter said Greece is a bit difficult to get through and travel within as well at the moment. If you decide to go to Greece I'd better take a 10in22 or 22 Global Pass which you use starting with the ferry from Greece to Italy. For all travel within Greece just use regular tickets for train or bus which you buy directly there.
As Peter mentioned DSB is just a sales channel for InterRail (as is railcc), so if you think you like the information you get here for free you can support us by purchasing your ticket in our partner. Thank you.
If you want to travel your second route a one month pass makes sense; to get to Greece you then have two options: Either you go there in the middle of your trip, travelling between Skopje and Thessaloniki by bus (or you go to Gevgelija, the Macedonian border city by train, then cross the border by bus/taxi/on foot and make your way to Thessaloniki from there to join the railway again if you are more adventurous); then across Greece and by ferry to Italy to continue your trip. Or you travel to/from Greece both times by ferry from Italy.
Of course Austria is nice in summer as well...you can visit Vienna, Graz (my city), Salzburg or one of the many lakes...
Sebz4n
Traveller
2 comments
Hmm, is Greece really bad to travel through? We were thinking about flying to Athens, then taking the train to Trikala (See picture: img7.imageshack.us/img7/369/greecev.png) - from Trikala there is about 2-3 hours bus ride to Igoumenitsa where we can take a boat to Corfu where we probably will be staying for a few days, and from there we can take a boat to Ancona in Italy.
But can we not use our Interrail pass in Greece or what? I cannot find train prices from Athens to Trikala, do you think it will be expensive? In theory we could wait with activating our interrail ticket until we were in Igoumenitsa and have to take the ferry.
You suggest going taking the ferry from Italy to Greece, and then back the same way? That takes 21 hours, so almost two days of sea travel, a bit much I think :/
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
For train connections in Greece and prices use the link given above: [ux]https://rail.shop/ose[/ux]
You can of course use your Interrail pass IN Greece - there are simply NO INTERNATIONAL connections from and to Greece like mentioned above.