Plitvice Lakes - Budapest - Vienna - Prague - Amsterdam

andrewtrain
Traveller
20 comments

Hi, in my opinion 30 days is more than enough to do what you wanted to do. I prefer to travel long distances with night trains, so i tried to include as many as possible in my suggestion. So here it is:
Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul
Plovdiv
Beograd
Beograd
Zagreb
Zagreb - Plivdice Lakes Day Trip
Zagreb
Budapest
Budapest
Prague
Prague
Vienna
Vienna
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Brugges
Brugges – Gent Day Trip
Paris
Paris
Paris
Latour-du-Carol + Little Yellow Train
Barcelona-
Barcelona-
Madrid
Madrid

It adds up to 31 days, but you only have to activate the 30 day pass when leaving istanbul, so it's sufficient.
As to the train connections:

- Istanbul-Plovdiv: Night Train (Istanbul-Sofia: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/istanbul-sofia-d-81032/310[/u])
- Plovdiv-(Sofia): Normal Train
- (Sofia) – Beograd: Night Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/sofia-belgrade-b-292/180[/u])
- Beograd – Zagreb: Normal Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/split-budapest-b1205/133[/u] - Wednesday and Saturday from 15th June until 31st August 2013 only)
- Budapest – Prague: Night Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/budapest-prague-en-476-524/218[/u])
- Prague – Vienna: Normal Trains ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/prague-to-vienna[/u])
- Vienna – Berlin: Night Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/vienna-berlin-en-60406/45[/u])
- Berlin- Amsterdam: Normal Trains ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/berlin-to-amsterdam[/u])
- Amsterdam-(Anterpen)-Bruges – Normal Trains ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/amsterdam-to-bruges[/u])
- Bruges - Gent – Bruges – Regular Train
Bruges– Paris – Normal Trains ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/bruges-to-paris[/u])
- Paris – (Latour-du-Carol) – Night Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/paris-latour-de-carol-icn-3971/76[/u])
- Latour-du-Carol – Barcelona – Little Yellow Train ([u]https://rail.cc/en/train/latour-de-carol-to-barcelona[/u])
- Barcelona – Madrid – Night Train (Portbou - Madrid: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/barcelona-madrid-estr-373/391[/u])

Hope, i was able to help and that you have a nice trip :) If you have any other doubt, i'd be glad to helf if i can.
Andrew

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

wow, amazing!

thanks so much! i´ll be posting back with more concerns :) !

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

hey Peter!
I´m thinking about changing istanbul because i feel i´d rather spend days elsewhere with the travel to croatia.
taking out turkey leaves me with

Zagreb
Zagreb - Plivdice Lakes Day Trip
Zagreb
Budapest
Budapest
Prague
Prague
Vienna
Vienna
Berlin
Berlin
Berlin
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Brugges
Brugges – Gent Day Trip
Paris
Latour-du-Carol + Little Yellow Train
Barcelona-
Barcelona-
Madrid
Madrid

i´m going to be doing the 30 day pass as mentioned, so with cutting out istanbul and the travel days that would've been alongside, and also cutting out paris for 3 days, as i've already been there. do you have any recommendations on what you think i should fit in my trip? any ideas for england??

also! i will be buying my interrail ticket tomorrow but just want to make sure of one thing. I am currently living in spain as a foreign exchange student, and when i finish my train vacation, i will be heading back to the states. does this still qualify me as a european resident to buy the interrail ticket?

thanks for your time everyone!

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
That's sad that you won't start in [b]Istanbul[/b]. I definitely recommend it and it is a bit of adventure traveling from there back by train trough Eastern Europe. Istanbul to Budapest read here the blog post of Flow: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train//[/u]

If you want to include a bit more of Croatia, you could also travel this route in reverse up to [b]Belgrade[/b] (Serbia): [u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train/[/u]
Then from Belgrade to [b]Bar (Montenegro)[/b]: travel by day train. Amazing scenic route!!!
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/belgrade-to-bar[/u]
[b]Montenegro - Croatia: via Podgorica, Dubrovnik to Split[/b] - see schedules for Montenegro ([u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u]) and Croatia ([u]https://rail.cc/en/croatia/xhr[/u]).
You could even include [b]Mostar and Sarajevo[/b] on your way to [b]Zagreb[/b].
Then to [b]Budapest[/b].

From Budapest think about the route either [b]Budapest - Krakow - Prague[/b] OR [b]Budapest - Vienna - Prague[/b].

[b]Berlin - Amsterdam - Brugges - Paris[/b]: in Benelux avoid the THALYS trains - see schedules.

If you travel with Interrail, then you can NOT travel for free in Spain as it is your country of residence then ([u]https://rail.cc/en/how-to-interrail[/u]).
So by French night train to the Spanish border and then by normal ticket back home (Spain).

[b]Interrail or Eurail[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-rules[/u]
A six month residence is required in Spain on the first day of travel before you are allowed to travel with Interrail. You have to prove the residency by official documents (residency permit or visa and so on ...).

Thank you for supporting railcc with the purchase of your official Interrail pass on the recommended website: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]

Peter :)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

hey peter,
you have convinced me to stick with my first plan.
only concern- i realized i have to buy the eurail pass. i was looking into the countries valid, and i saw that serbia isn't on the list. would the first route still work with the eurail?
thanks for your time!

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
Good to hear. :)
You can not decide between Eurail or Interrail: Interrail is for persons with a residency of 6 months or longer in Europe, Eurail is for non-Europeans. Please read here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-rules[/u]
Interrail is valid in Serbia. See here on the left: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-global-pass[/u]
Peter :)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Peter,
I went to your links and filled out my information. it says i must buy a eurrail because I am American. that's why i asked about serbia because i saw that eurrail doesn't function there
any comments about the route?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Okay. I don't know your personal details as I only see Spain and Madrid in your profile.
Then you have to change your route and travel the route planned at the beginning or use point to point tickets for Serbia.

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

hey peter! sorry for so many questions (but hey that's what the site is for :D )
so i was wondering how quickly i could get from istanbul to budapest (as i need to change my route due to eurail not working in serbia) i looked into a night train from istanbul to sofia (but it says 24 hours), and the same for sofia to budapest (also 24 hours). does this seem realistic/correct, and if so, would you be able to provide me any recommendations? it's looking like it will be
istanbul - sofia- budapest- zagreb- viena- prague- berlin- amsterdam- brusells - england on my own money- and end up in france.
thanks for your help peter

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

*would also like to add as many night trains as possible!

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.
First thing: thank you for supporting with your ticket purchase here on railcc. :)
And you will have to travel via Bucharest (Romania) - as Istanbul - Sofia - Budapest is via Belgrade (=Serbia).
Have a look here: Flow travelled this route one month ago and wrote a travel report with all the information you need for the route Istanbul to Budapest via Bucharest. A lot of photos as well:
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train//[/u]
Zagreb is now a bit off your main travel route, but if you like train travel, then you are fine.
To get from Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands) to the UK, you could also think of using a ferry of Stenaline, they offer Rail&Sail (train ticket + ferry): [u]http://www.stenaline.nl/en/ferry/london/[/u]
The next fourr days I am not always online as traveling myself. So be patient with future answers... :)
Peter :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej,

you can go via Sofia as well, then using the Sofia - Bucharest night train. However, this only consists of a single seated car at the moment; this is attached to the night train to Moscow - you can book a cabin there but I cant tell you the price at the moment, also you should be careful not to be ripped off by the sleeper personnel on that train. :|

From Istanbul to Sofia I would also recommend a stopover in Plovdiv. :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train/[/u]


Flo 8)