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Interrailing 2015, reccommended day bags?

Hi guys, so my best friend and I are going interrailing this summer for three weeks, (10 days within 22 days travel pass) and I was wondering if anyone here can recommend a good day bag/sack? We are taking big rucksacks for clothes, sleeping bag etc,which we previously used for DofE so we know they are comfortable and reliable but are small walking rucksacks the best to use as day bags? All we will be putting in it is camera, water, sun lotion and towels when we go to beaches. Any other interrailing tips would also be useful!!

Thanks
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I used a Berghaus twentyfourseven 25L on a 14 day trip myself as my day bag. I've had it a while and it's suited me quite well really. I used one of these towels so that might save you some space but I'm not sure which size. If you're planning on staying out a bit late I'm not sure I need to tell you but taking a jumper can be handy. I made that mistake once or twice despite it being scorching during the day. Depending on what you're doing you can end up taking quite a bit with you. There's a good chance you'll take food with you. I'm sure you'll have a very good idea what you'll need when you're out and about

Honestly it's a bit hard to know without you being a bit more specific. You might want to bear in mind check out, check in, travel times and luggage rooms when you planning on moving to a different city. I travelled around small countries so it was super easy to get from one city to the next but once you get there you'll want to get settled in, probably meet people and work out what there is to do. You can end up wasting a lot of time if you don't so, if you can, put your luggage in storage with the hostel if you arrive before check in time. Go figure out the hostel and the local area, whether you need money, food, whatever. I'm trying to remember everything myself. If you're travelling a long distance and you can take an overnight train that might be worth considering. Saves accommodation, saves wasting time. I never travelled long distances but worth considering.
Original post by alexs2602
I used a Berghaus twentyfourseven 25L on a 14 day trip myself as my day bag. I've had it a while and it's suited me quite well really. I used one of these towels so that might save you some space but I'm not sure which size. If you're planning on staying out a bit late I'm not sure I need to tell you but taking a jumper can be handy. I made that mistake once or twice despite it being scorching during the day. Depending on what you're doing you can end up taking quite a bit with you. There's a good chance you'll take food with you. I'm sure you'll have a very good idea what you'll need when you're out and about

Honestly it's a bit hard to know without you being a bit more specific. You might want to bear in mind check out, check in, travel times and luggage rooms when you planning on moving to a different city. I travelled around small countries so it was super easy to get from one city to the next but once you get there you'll want to get settled in, probably meet people and work out what there is to do. You can end up wasting a lot of time if you don't so, if you can, put your luggage in storage with the hostel if you arrive before check in time. Go figure out the hostel and the local area, whether you need money, food, whatever. I'm trying to remember everything myself. If you're travelling a long distance and you can take an overnight train that might be worth considering. Saves accommodation, saves wasting time. I never travelled long distances but worth considering.


Thank you, that's so helpful! Those towels are a great idea too, save so much space! Yes, we do plan to stay out quite late in some places, so a jumper will be very useful!! Where did you go in your trip? :smile: yeah, it's great because at the hostel in Paris when you arrive you can leave stuff in a locked room then come back when the room is ready at around 4pm - I'll have to check for all of them! We are doing one overnight train (Salzburg to Florence) and luckily it's only nine euros on top of our interrail pass! Did you have to reserve seats on lots of your trains? How much in ad and did you do it? :smile:


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by StudentAnon1
Thank you, that's so helpful! Those towels are a great idea too, save so much space! Yes, we do plan to stay out quite late in some places, so a jumper will be very useful!! Where did you go in your trip? :smile: yeah, it's great because at the hostel in Paris when you arrive you can leave stuff in a locked room then come back when the room is ready at around 4pm - I'll have to check for all of them! We are doing one overnight train (Salzburg to Florence) and luckily it's only nine euros on top of our interrail pass! Did you have to reserve seats on lots of your trains? How much in ad and did you do it? :smile:


Posted from TSR Mobile

The one I linked is XL but there's an L one I think I own. They did seem to end up getting damp obviously so try to dry them when possible and carry an extra bag to put wet stuff it in just in case eg: your swimsuit too.

Netherlands mostly, also planned to travel around Belgium but I arrived right when tomorrowland started(I didn't know) and also a big festival in Gent so every hostel in all the cities I planned to visit were full so while I planned what I was going to do I stayed in one hostel in Gent for two days until I got the train back to the Netherlands so that's another big tip. Try to find out if there's much going on in places you're going to fairly far in advance.

If you can, try to do a bit of washing every 4 to 7 days, I'd say. Or maybe carry a dirty laundry bag too. It got to the point where I wasn't sure what was dirty and what was clean and where I really needed to find time to get stuff clean. So check out what your hostel clothes washing facilities are like. Make time if you can. Some ask you to pay, I believe. I came across one that was free. I think ideally you want it so you can wash everything you'll need to in one load. I washed everything I needed to in one load personally but I think that may have been freak luck. You should be able to find some time.

In the Netherlands they all seemed to be 1430 check in times. The hostel I stayed at in Belgium was a 1500 check in time. 1600 is quite late so try to meet people if you can but otherwise maybe headout, find out where the local supermarkets are, whats nearby. Try to find a local map if you can. You should be able to find one at most hostels. I had a great map for Amsterdam and Rotterdam. I even picked up maps for other cities in Amsterdam. Utrecht I think I ended up using maps from this app called triposo which isn't a bad app. Depends on the city really. Big cities maps are really necessary. Smaller cities aren't so bad if you know the general layout. With Utrecht that was quite small. I could walk through the centre of the city and into the outer city very quickly. 10, 20 minutes. Once you got into the centre it was easier to wander and explore the city. There were lots of these little docks on the canal. But yeah, maps can be real useful. There are some nice walking tours too. I took this one in Rotterdam where you paid/tipped what you wanted. You saw a lot of the city and learnt a lot you wouldn't otherwise and it made it easier to work out what you wanted to do afterwards if you wanted to explore more. I think we ended up renting bikes and going out of the city to a lakeside beach ourselves. Oh, and you can talk to hostel receptionists for places and things to do too. We found this great '€4 pizza night' place in Rotterdam.

I think getting an interrail pass is only worth it in certain circumstances especially where you're travelling longer distances and all my journeys were shorter distances really so I didn't get one but I did travel mostly by train. Pardon?

Oh and always try to take advantage of sockets and WiFi when possible. I ended up in this horrible hostel in Amsterdam with like 4 sockets to 20 beds. I didn't get to use them once and ended up using them in the reception area. Hard to get WiFi there too because there were two buildings but I did get it in reception. Sucks running out of power when you're out and about so try and make sure someone has enough battery at least although I'm sure most of you should be able to. I'd say 12 to 15 beds at a stretch was probably the ideal room size in a hostel. Cheaper while also not being too overcrowded. When you get to 20 people in a room. Ick, yeah. It felt like an infirmary.
(edited 9 years ago)

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