Interrail: advice on traveling

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

the itinerary looks doable, certainly lots of people here do more than that in the 4 weeks you have. Your budget is whatever you make it. £1500 is plenty if you don't mind staying in hostels and maybe cooking for yourself a bit. It is absolutely possible to visit all of these places by train. Some of the journeys will be a bit of a mission (24 hours with 3/4 changes) so you probably have time to stop off somewhere en route if you want to. All the trains can be found here [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]

It may be cheaper to fly, certainly quicker, but much less fun or environmentally friendly. As to how busy they get - it depends when you travel. If you are going in the height of summer its a good plan to book busy trains a few days in advance. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

admin
Traveller
203 comments

Hi there,

Yes, your plan is good and, as Sid says, you can put in some other destination because some of your planned journeys are very long. Barcelona to Roma is best with a stop at Nice which is about half-way: it's a great place for the beach, eating, and lots of other backpackers go there.

From there you can take the overnight train to Rome. Rome to fantastic Venice, changing in Milan, is an overnight trip. Then up to Budapest is also an overnight. Budapest to Krakow and then on to Berlin are all overnight trips which mean that you don't waste days sitting on the train when you can be sightseeing.

I book my journeys in the train station when I arrive so that when I want to move on in a couple of days it is already arranged and I don't have to go back to the station and wait in a queue.

For overnight trains I take couchettes - from 9 to 22 quid depending on the line - so that I get a better sleep and meet more people. 1500 quid is plenty. I take a month with average 17 pounds a night accommodation and, with eating pizza and fruit, mostly, allow 20 pounds a day to spend. This amounts to well under 1500 for a month's trip.

I recommend flying to Barcelona to start your tour. This cost less than 50 pounds, from Luton, if you book one month ahead.

You can also book hostels on the internet and pay a couple of Euros reservation. This is a good idea for the busy places in the summer. If your plan changes you can change or cancel your hostel reservation on the net but I find that it's better to have accommodation arranged than to arrive in a strange place in the morning and then try to find a bed. Hope this is helpful. Have an excellent trip.

iaink


[quote]Hi there, alot of questions for you:

I plan to do a short but hopefully worthwhile trip in Europe for 4 weeks.
I want to see in this order: [b]Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, Krakow and Berlin.[/b]
Is this over ambitious for the time I have allocated?
The [b]budget[/b] for all this is [b]£1,500 sterling[/b] - is that achievable?

I find the interail website very confusing to use.
Is it possible to get to all these destinations by rail? Or would it be wise to make some of the journey's by flight? Is it better to pre book trains or just arrive at station and pay for this?

Help much appreciated :D :D[/quote]

tedwurd
Traveller
2 comments

SIDUDE: thanks for the helpful info. That rail website link you sent was much better to use than interail - but frustratingly I still couldn't get it to produce any prices for the routes. Can you recommend what the average going rate is for said overnight trips?


IAIN: thank you also for you advice - stopping off in other smaller places is a great idea. Could you recommend any other stop-offs on said routes above?

Cheers guys

admin
Traveller
203 comments

Hi,

Overnights, with an Interrailpass, will cost only a few Euros for the reservation and if you want a couchette around 20 Euros in Western Europe and much less in the East: I paid 9 pounds for my couchette from Krakow to Prague last July.

In Krakow you can visit Auschwitz concentration camp, and although it is a disturbing experience, I am very glad to have done it. There are trains but they don't stop near the camp. You can take a local bus from the bus station, which is just by the main railway station, for about 1 pound 20 each way and a 75 minute journey. Don't take a tour bus as they charge about 15 pounds return.

Florence, about one and a half hours north of Rome, is amazing: loads of great architecture and the biggest collection of Renaissance art in the world is in the Uffizi gallery. Best to book a hostel in advance as this is a very popular destination. You can easily carry on towards Venice, via Milan from there. Have a look on the net or in books like Lonely Planet and you'll find loads of places that appeal to you. All the best.

iaink


[quote]SIDUDE: thanks for the helpful info. That rail website link you sent was much better to use than interail - but frustratingly I still couldn't get it to produce any prices for the routes. Can you recommend what the average going rate is for said overnight trips?


IAIN: thank you also for you advice - stopping off in other smaller places is a great idea. Could you recommend any other stop-offs on said routes above?

Cheers guys[/quote]

tedwurd
Traveller
2 comments

Thanks for the rail link sidude - unfortunately I have found that site to be completely unusable.

Would I be better buying a rail pass for 10days in 22 or something?
Or is it cheaper to buy individual tickets - im confused!!!

help much appreciated

SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments

you could also try db.de/site/bahn/en/start.html if that sites giving you trouble - although ive never actually ordered tickets on either, just used them to find train times. As to which ticket is better value - it depends on how many trains you are going to take, and where. In general it is better value to get interrail in western europe, as the trains are more expensive here. And if you plan on stopping of in a lot of places, and using all 10 days on your pass it will probably work out cheaper. But with all the suppliments that keep be added, interrail is becoming less and less good value for money