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mario91tr
Traveller
3 comments

Posted 11 years ago

Hi all,

A friend and I have been wanting to go interrailing for a while, but we've found it difficult to chose an ideal route. Essentially we really wanted to travel from London to Istanbul seeing most of the spain/south france/italy and the region within 22 days.

Given the protests in Istanbul its a been a bit unsure if its safe to go so we managed to plan an alternative route to see most of western Europe. We looking to getting the 22 days continous and we only plan to stop places with the most attractions and things to do.

[list:39d03ldu]London fly to Lisbon
Lisbon - Madrid
Madrid - Barcelona
Barcelona - Perpignan
Perpignan - Marseille
Marseille - Nice
Nice - Florence
Florence - Rome (Sienna)
Rome - Venice (Verona)
Venice - Vienna
Vienna - Budapest
Budapest - Warsaw
Warsaw - Berlin
Berlin - Dusseldorf (Maybe)
Dusseldorf - Amsterdam
Amsterdam - Paris
Paris back to London London[/list:u:39d03ldu]

Given that you guys are experienced i had a few questions:

1. Is too ambitious, can be it be done within 22days or would we need to cut through some cities?
2. Is there any way to get from Perpignan to Marseille (Province) or Nice without going back into Paris?
3. Are there any alternatives that you can suggest?
4. Is there any difficulties in getting around?

Thank you so much.
Mario

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Mario.
A lot of travel, but possible in 22 days. So you make to most out of your Interrail pass! :)
And if it gets to stressful, just cut off some of the stops during your trip.

Some thoughts:

Barcelona - Perpignan with the Little Yellow Train - [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u]

Perpignan - Marseille: it is along this route - [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/barcelona-to-nice[/u]

You could also travel Italy - Slovenia ([u]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/u]) - Lake Bled - Ljubljana - Budapest

Or instead of Warsaw: Budapest - Krakow - Prague - Berlin

Think about pre-booking the night train reservation Lisbon-Madrid: [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux]

That's sad that you won't travel to Istanbul ... have a look here for the way down and back:
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train/[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train//[/u]

The only difficulty is the expensive Eurostar train from Paris to London. Alternative routes are here - or buy special price tickets early in advance, as otherwise you will have to pay EUR 75 extra for this route. Ridiculous! :((

And please help us to help you with the information on railcc - buy your official Interrail pass via our partner link [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] - as it is not fair to ask at railcc for support and buy somewhere else.
Thank you! :)

Peter :)

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mario91tr
Traveller
3 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Peter,

Thank you very much for the response, I did have a look through the stuff and we did plan it however, we concluded it would take a bit of time and money, so we chose to shorten the route using 5in10.

I have a few questions for the new route which is:

[list:2rc0cpxr]
09/7 London to Madrid (Flight)
10/7 [1 Interrail day] Madrid to Barcelona (Overnight train 22:30 to 7:20 with 20£ reservation)
11/7 Stay in Barcelona
12/7 [2 Interrail Day] Barcelona to Nice
13/7 Stay in Nice
14/7 [3 Interrail Day] Nice to Rome
15/7 Stay in Rome
16/7 [4 Interrail Day] Rome to Florence
17/7 Stay in Florence
18/7 Stay in Florence
19/8 [5 Interrail Day] Florence to Zagreb
[/list:u:2rc0cpxr]

We then plan to travel Zagreb - Pitlvic Lakes - Split - Dubrovnik using local transport. So here are the questions

1) Florence to Zagreb - I have a found a route on bahn.de which goes through 4 changes that have 2 compulsory reservations. I can only get one of the reservations from [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux] (Firenze to Bologna) but cant get the other (Jesevice to Zagreb) can i just reserve at the stations a couple of days before? Screenshot of the route...

2) We purchased the passes from railcc on thursday evening, my friend got his on Saturday, and I am hoping i will get mine by Monday as we fly on tuesday. Anyway to verify if it has been dispatched or will be delivered by Monday ?

3) Dubrovnik to Albania, As i have will continue my journey back home, has anyone come across any local trasnport routes from Dubrovnik to Albania, I know buses will run to Montenegro then there will be buses to Albania, just wondering if anyone knows any websites/companies that can help?

Thanks
Mario

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Mario.

1) Here on railcc we use [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] :)

Please don't post external links to graphics - as they will disappear one day. Post the route here in the topic. Thank you. :)

Florence - Venice: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/florence-to-venice[/u]
Venice - Ljubljana: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/venice-to-ljubljana[/u]
Ljubljana - Zagreb: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/ljubljana-to-zagreb[/u]
Border crossing Italy - Slovenia: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/u]

The train you mention doesn't require a reservation.

2) Give me your oder-ID (PNR) beginning with AA per personal mail and I can give you more details. Thank you for supporting! :)

Peter :)

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mario91tr
Traveller
3 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply, I will have a look through the route you suggested. Sorry about the external images. I have emailed you the details about my order.

Any ideas where to get more information about any bus routes from Dubrovnik to Albania?

Thanks,
Mario

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Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Mario,

there are buses from Ulcinj, south of Bar to Shkoder; price is about 6€. I dont have further details but just inquire locally.


Flo 8)

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mario91tr
Traveller
3 comments

replied 11 years ago

[quote]Hi Mario,

there are buses from Ulcinj, south of Bar to Shkoder; price is about 6€. I dont have further details but just inquire locally.


Flo 8) [/quote]
Thanks flow I will have a look into that.

Any chance anyone can help with a route from Barcelona to Cannes or montpellier tomorrow 12/7??

I have tried I map the route shown here on railcc using [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] , each desperate stage but the times do not match and no regional trains? It shows only TGV/AVE and a train leaving 1642 and arriving the following day with a 5 hours overnight wait in Marseille.

We are trying to get to Rome with a stopover in France as there seems no easy way to get from Barcelona to Rome.


Any advice help ?

Thanks, Mario

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Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

replied 11 years ago

Hi Mario.
For Barcelona to Rome you can also use the ferry: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/barcelona-to-rome[/u]

Otherwise I recommend a stop in Nice: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/barcelona-to-nice[/u]
Think about including the Little Yellow Train if you like: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u]

The connections shown at railcc are correct and running! But electronic schedule planers are stupid machines, not made for Interrailers. If you want to find these connections, first use the Renfe website for Barcelona to the border, then the option only local trains from the border to Nice. :)

And then Nice - Rome: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/nice-to-rome[/u]

Peter :)