jaychang
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hello, My name is Jay. Me and my friends are planning a euro trip for this summer, lasting from 1st of june to 28th of june. We have booked the accommodations already, however the train journeys are becoming a massive issue for us. We are 5 students, 3 of us 18, and 2 of us 17. We will be purchasing Global Pass with 10 travel days within 22 days.
Our plan is
1st - 3rd Vienna
travel to Prague
3rd to 5th Prague
travel to Berlin
5th to 8th Berlin
travel to Copenhagen
8th to 10th Copenhagen
night train to Amsterdam
11th to 13th Amsterdam
travel to Paris
13th to 17th Paris
night train to Madrid
18th to 20th Madrid
travel to Barcelona
20th to 23rd Barcelona
travel to Venice (two days)
arrive on venice on 25th, then to Rome
25th to 28th Rome.
Based on my research, I believe the train journeys that require reservations are
Amsterdam - Paris (35euro)
Paris - Madrid (night train) (134euro)
Madrid - Barcelona (72euro)
Barcelona - Venice - Rome (n/a)
which results to 241 euro, which is almost the cost of Global Pass!
Is there any possible way to reduce this cost, and is there anything else i have missed out?
Thank you in advance.
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hi,
I hope you will (or already have done so) purchase your IR passes at railcc to help us helping you. ;)
:arr: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Wien - Praha: No reservations required, just sit down in one of the direct EC trains
Praha - Berlin: As above
Berlin - Kobenhavn: As above
Kobenhavn - Amsterdam: Reservation prices start at 11,50€ for a seat :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/copenhagen-amsterdam-cnl-40473/13[/u]
Amsterdam - Paris: The 35€ reservation is for the Thalys high speed train; we recommend to travel with other trains to avoid the massive reservation costs. Some examples can be found here: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/amsterdam-to-paris[/u]
I would travel like this: Amsterdam to Den Haag by regular IC, then IC Benelux to Antwerpen (runs every two hours), change to an IC to Lille via Gent (a change of trains might be required in Kortrijk), from Lille to Paris either by direct TGV (6€ reservation) or by slower trains without compulsory reservation via Amiens. This will take longer than the direct Thalys but saves you quite a bit of money.
Paris - Barcelona/Madrid: :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u] and then by AVE (10€ to Madrid) or :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/paris-to-madrid[/u]
You might think about switching Barcelona and Madrid, visiting Barcelona first, then going to Madrid by AVE; from Madrid then with the night train to Barcelona :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/madrid-cerbere-estr-370/84[/u] and along the Mediterranean coast to Venezia.
Madrid/Barcelona - Venezia: You can use regional trains along the whole route; I would recommend to travel at least to Marseille, better Nice on the first day. From Ventimiglia to Milano you might think about using an IC train (3€ reservation recommended), from Milano to Venezia the Frecciabianca (10€ reservation) are fastest but you have quite good alternative connections without reservation.
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]
Flo 8)
Barcelona - Venezia: