Interrailing/Eurailing Advice Superthread (IMPORTANT: FAQ at start)

Yeah that definitely sounds like a good plan!

Ah wow! I can imagine that being a bit stressful! Have you got the interrail bug now!? Which cities did you visit and how long did you stay in each place? And if you don't mind me asking, how much did it come to?

Yeah me too :'( I think we're definitely going to have to either go for a longer time, or make our wish list a bit shorter. Are you planning to do 5 in 10 again? That list of cities sounds really good. Do you think you'll fly there and back or go via train the whole way?

Sorry, so many questions!

Yeah, definitely! :smile:

I went from Paris to Strasbourg (Eastern France) for 2 nights, Munich for 3 nights and Berlin for 4 nights, so it was only a small trip. The ticket was £120 and then I spent £200 (even though I brought £300 with me). I could easily have spent loads less - I was always treating myself to Starbucks and expensive stuff I didn't really need :colondollar:

However, I couchsurfed so I guess that saved around £200...

No, I want to go for a bit longer this time - depends how much time I can wangle off work, so most likely the 15 day one. Yeah I think you should to be honest, otherwise you'll only have 1 or 2 nights in each place and you'll be stressed and tired from constantly travelling, and you probably won't have time to get to know/appreciate the city properly. Not sure, I might fly one of the ways to save a couple of days but I try to avoid flying - the luggage restrictions and checking in time and stuff do my head in.

Reply 101

lennonledge1980

hope you 2 dont mind me coming in, went interrailing last summer and got a 1 month ticket, even though like you say it was really stressful and got into a bit of bother at times i would have done 2 months if i could so go for as long as you could you meet loads of people who are doing the same thing and recommending places that you end up fnacying yourself, we ended up doing about 14 places i think but still loads of places i would have liked to have gone

Reply 102

lennonledge1980

O and spent £1600 including train ticket and flights to amsterdam and back from barca, was away for 40 days in all i think

Reply 103

fortunecookie

17

Original post by lennonledge1980

O and spent £1600 including train ticket and flights to amsterdam and back from barca, was away for 40 days in all i think

40 days! wow. long trip, sounds like you packed a lot in to it though! did you go alone or with friends?

Reply 104

lennonledge1980

yeah 4 of us went, did amsterdam, berlin, prague, krakow, budapest, Berchtesgaden, salzburg, ljubljana, bled, munich, rotterdam and barcelona. Would have liked to have got to croatia though as alot of people we met said how good it was but didnt really have the time and most of the hostels in split were booked up. If you do go should try get the eastern capitals, prague budapest, in loads to do, great weather, great nightlife and cheap

Reply 105

Sonic Sensei

I'd definitely recommend traveling along the Semmering railway through Austria if you can. It's actually a World Heritage site and I could see why, it's one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. Salzburg is also beautiful and isn't too far from Munich. It's best known for being the birthplace of Mozart as well as the setting for parts of the Sound of Music.

I'd also recommend Budapest. I knew next to nothing about it before I arrived, but that was part of the appeal for me, I like to find out things for myself. I went to a pretty cool club when I was there (if thats your thing). It's a beautiful city which just seemed to have a good vibe going on... if thats helpful lol The new Katy Perry video is set in Budapest if you've seen it, don't see too much other then the Buda Castle though.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 106

zyzz.

Original post by lennonledge1980

hope you 2 dont mind me coming in, went interrailing last summer and got a 1 month ticket, even though like you say it was really stressful and got into a bit of bother at times i would have done 2 months if i could so go for as long as you could you meet loads of people who are doing the same thing and recommending places that you end up fnacying yourself, we ended up doing about 14 places i think but still loads of places i would have liked to have gone

Can you elaborate on this?

Also, what sort of level were you spending at? I mean could you have spent a lot less if you'd tried?

Reply 107

fortunecookie

17

Original post by lennonledge1980

yeah 4 of us went, did amsterdam, berlin, prague, krakow, budapest, Berchtesgaden, salzburg, ljubljana, bled, munich, rotterdam and barcelona. Would have liked to have got to croatia though as alot of people we met said how good it was but didnt really have the time and most of the hostels in split were booked up. If you do go should try get the eastern capitals, prague budapest, in loads to do, great weather, great nightlife and cheap

Hey sorry I didn't reply I didn't see it.
That route sounds awsome. Quite similar to what my friend and I are planning now. We decided to get more out of it we'll probably go for longer. Basically Amsterdam/Berlin, down to Croatia.
How much would you say you spended per day in the eastern cities compared to the more western touristy places?

Reply 108

Vindobona

18

I went interrailing with a friend in 2008 for 3 weeks. It was really fun, but too bad that countries like France and Belgium don't really co-operate and even though you have an interrail ticket, you sometimes have to reserve seats, buy an extra ticket etc... THat's a bit of a shame because the whole idea of Interrail is to move as freely and independently as possible.

Reply 109

tail-lamp

Original post by fortunecookie

Who else is planning a trip next summer?

Me and a friend are planning to interrail next july and we're slowly planning and thinking about where we want to go and what we want to do.

I thought this could be a good place for people to chat about cool places to visit etc..

Great thread fortunecookie :smile:

I'm planning to do one next year with a mate if I can, just so many options of where to go! Really want to get Budapest, Prague, Krakow and the like in though... :biggrin:

Reply 110

Wild182

I did inter railing this Summer for 5 weeks, was one of the best experiences of my life, I planned it around this time and then went in July and couldn't wait to go, now all I do is think about my travels and where I can go next as soon as possible. Can't recommend it enough.

Reply 111

Syko

Im planning on going in 2011 with two mates, with a flight booked home for the 5th of August, and hoping to leave around the 1st of July.

Our plan:

Harwich - Hoek van Holland - Rotterdam - Belgium - Koln/Stuttgart - Zurich - Austria - Munich - Vienna - Venice - Slovenia - Croatia

Can't wait!

Reply 112

fortunecookie

17

Original post by tail-lamp

Great thread fortunecookie :smile:

I'm planning to do one next year with a mate if I can, just so many options of where to go! Really want to get Budapest, Prague, Krakow and the like in though... :biggrin:

Thanks

Those three places are on my list :smile:

It's hard as we have different ideas so trying to persuade her that all the big touristy places in Western Europe aren't necessarily the smartest option for travelling on a budget!
Have you interrailed before?

Reply 113

arichmond64

1

I did the big one, around 38 nights in total I think, and it was freakin epic!!!

I flew to Amsterdam - 4 nights, Berlin 3 nights, Prague 4 nights, Krakow overnight train then 2 nights, Budapest overnight train and 4 nights, Ljubljana - 3 nights, Lake Bled - 3 nights, Munich - 4 nights, Rotterdam - 1 night, overnight from rotterdam through paris and to Barcelona for 4 nights.

I spent £380 on the 1 month ticket I think, and around £2000 on accomodation and expenses, but you could do it on £1500 if you were tight.

Reply 114

arichmond64

1

What LENNONLEDGE, you did an absolute Identical trip to me, including order of the places, I forgot to put in Berchstgaden and Salzberg in mine too! That is freakin crazy.

Was your situation the same as min, you had to do munich, rotterdam, Barcelona, because it wasnt possible to get to croatia and then make it to Barcelona, and also, It worked out quicker to go to Rotterdam and then to Barcelona than from Munich to Barcelona????

When I read your post, I thought I was reading my own haha

Reply 115

lennonledge1980

I think we could have spent less, for the most part we were booking hostels only a couple of days in advance and maybe spending 15 euros a night when maybe we could have got cheaper ones. Depends aswell on whaat you want to do in places like prague, budapest, krakow you can get by with like 30 euros a day including the hostel but then if you want to go out on a night, even tho drinks are quite cheap compared to england you can get back and find you spent another 30 euros.

Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin defently the most expensive, think the amsterdam hostel was 25 euros a night, drinks and tourist stuff are more expenisve and in berlin and barca you need to use public transport more so maybe 50 euros a day with your hostel.
But then!! you'll also have days when you pretty much travelling for the whole day or on a night train so you'll hardly spend any money at all.

And richmond, we had the same journey cause we went together, its ross haha :biggrin:

Reply 116

Vindobona

18

Maastricht and The Hague > Rotterdam

Reply 117

tail-lamp

Original post by fortunecookie

Thanks

Those three places are on my list :smile:

It's hard as we have different ideas so trying to persuade her that all the big touristy places in Western Europe aren't necessarily the smartest option for travelling on a budget!
Have you interrailed before?

You're spot on about Western Europe, from experience I've always found that the smaller, further out, less hyped places such as CZ and Croatia are much more fun. I dunno whether it's because you hear less about them, adds to the fun of going somewhere totally different. And of course they're much cheaper...

I haven't Interrailed before but I've travelled just about everywhere in the UK that's worth doing by train so Europe is calling now :biggrin:

Reply 118

Joker370

11

I'm planning on going in march time, providing my friends and I can get off work! Probably sticking to Eastern Europe as alcohol is so much cheaper and we don't want to bankrupt ourselves! As a warning some of my friends who did it woke up one night while travelling on the train and were being robbed - guy left them their wallets and passports but had managed to take ~ £300 cash before they chased him off.