Interail in Europe

[antwacky]

Im looking for tips and info/ideas from anyone who has anyone travelled on an Interail ticket across Europe? I would love to do this maybe 2022 all being well.

I would love to go for 10 -14 days and visit maybe around Denmark, Germany, Austria, other suggestions welcome.
My energy levels are not great and I will have to plan easy is routes and factor plenty of rest/easy days.

Any help gratefully received

[doradoo]

The German rail network is excellent - you can use the Bahn.com site in English and Book Tickets through them.

Also look at the man in seat 61 website as you can get all sorts of info on ticketing through them.

[antwacky]

Thanks @doradoo

[Einszwei]

Make sure that you will get your moneys worth with the inter rail ticket - it is often cheaper to buy individual tickets as and when needed. Compare in advance!

[NiceGerbil]

I didn't know those tickets still existed!

I love traveling by train. The services around Europe are excellent.
You need www.seat61.com/index-mobile.htm. that site is brilliant.

The Paris to Venice sleeper I have done and it's lovely. And cheap. The site I just linked explains the options from private cabin to shared etc.

www.thello.com/en/paris-venice/comfort/

Getting on an overnight train in one part of Europe and getting off miles away. In comfort. Is brilliant.

I've done it a few times and picked destinations, booked tickets in advance through oebb or whichever countries rail company. It's way cheap. And they are all v organised and on time etc. Please look at man in seat 61! It's the go to site for what you want to do!

Do it! Have a fab time

[NiceGerbil]

Do not book through UK sites that inflate the price.

Dunno impact of brexit tbf.

[antwacky]

Thanks @Einszwei, see I hadn't even thought of that.

Thanks too @NiceGerbil will definitely check that out. I was wondering about the impact of Brexit but am hoping things might be clearer/more settled by next summer and with Covid too.
I've hardly done any travelling outside of UK and I desperately want to make up for it.

[HappyHappyHippocampus]

Following with interest. We are hoping to interail next year too!

[nancywhitehead]

I did this a few years ago.

My biggest tip is careful planning, especially if you have low energy levels. You can't really over-plan!

Book all of your hotels/ hostels in advance, learn a bit about the areas you are going to and the main things you want to do... we did this and were so glad of it, despite all the people saying it takes away a sense of freedom and adventure. As you only have a couple of weeks, you will have a lot to squeeze in, especially if you want rest days as well. Try to be realistic - you won't be able to do everything.

As for the rest, it completely depends what you want from the trip and what your budget is. It's hard to offer any specific advice not knowing that, but I hope you make it happen and have an amazing time!

[Montalbanosono]

Hi. I love travelling by train. One tip is to sleep on an overnight train to save on accommodation- but pay for the best onboard accommodation! Brexit shouldn't be a problem unless you are planning to be away for over 90 days.

Btw if anyone has an 18/19 year old who is also an EU citizen, they can get a free inter rail ticket to explore Europe. My ds is planning on doing it when he finishes school.

[antwacky]

Thanks @nancywhitehead, Im definitely into careful planning, I find it makes life so much easier and cuts out a lot of my stress if I plan and prepare well. I will take note about being realistic, I do tend to think that I can do/see everything!

Thanks @Montalbanosono, I too love train travel and think your idea of booking sleeper trains is a great tip, not only saving on accomodation costs but it could also save me a fair bit of energy.

@HappyHappyHippocampus hope you manage it, I'm allowing my self to be a little excited about it.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

I've travelled long distance across Europe by train... It's really well organised.

My main tip is check any transfer times are realistic. We were given a 25min transfer at Brussels. We made it, despite the incoming train being late. But by seconds. (It was me, a 5yo and 7yo!). Apparently it's 45mins recommended and no tickets should be sold with less than 30...

If traveling with other people check seating plans when booking seats. I ended up quite far from the children on one train despite the tickets being consecutive. Luggage rack between us. Luckily they were very good train travellers.

[antwacky]

Thanks @Aroundtheworldin80moves, what a great experiance for you and the children, I would have loved to have done this with my kids. I shall probably be own my own ( which I'm fine with) as it doesn't appeal to any of my friends. I may see if my sister fancies it.

[HoldontoOneMoreDay]

Second the man in seat 61, he's basically a train fiend who has collected loads and loads of information into the one place and it's so helpful.

I did it with DS (then 12) - pre-Brexit so obviously you'll have to double check everything, but we both loved it. I would say:

• decide where you want to go then check your prices really carefully. We ended up buying separate tickets rather than an Interrail card as it was cheaper.

• have at least one sleeper in the mix, but go first class. We took the sleeper from Zurich to Prague and it was such a great experience. DS didn't really sleep mind you so he was wiped out the next day, I can sleep standing up so I was fine.

• write out an itinerary with everything in local time. I had one weird experience where the time zone had changed between booking and travelling and then the time of the train changed... it was all totally fine but it did my head in working it out!

• as a pp said, be careful with transfer times. Big central stations can be huge and you often have to change 'section' to get a local train from an international train.

• don't assume the food will be good onboard. Fond - and by fond I mean disgusting - memories of the 6 hours between Berlin and Amsterdam with really horrible food and a starving DS.

• You say this will be tiring, which leads me to think you'll want to pack really, really lightly so plan an Air BnB or a hotel with laundry facilities so you can wash your clothes.

• Enjoy the planning! It's half the fun.

You'll have a brilliant time, it's one of the best holidays we've ever had. For info, we did Paris, Zurich, Prague, Berlin, met DH in Amsterdam for a few days camping, then flew home from there. Oh yeah, if you're going to fly back then obviously you have to factor that into packing...

[NiceGerbil]

Yes definitely take your own food and drinks on the trains.

[ivykaty44]

is a great tip, not only saving on accomodation costs

but it will count as 2 days travelling won't it?not just one day? So not sure thats it saves money if you travel over night on a sleeper train

As pp said use the man in seat 61 as the website is very good and has useful tip

[ivykaty44]

Yes definitely take your own food and drinks on the trains.

why?

[Hellcatspangle]

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned yet....make sure your ticket is valid for the train you're getting on. Some tickets are off peak/not valid on fast inter city trains and you can get chucked off. It's happened to us twice 🤦‍♀️ this can apply both on interailing tickets and individual tickets so check before you get on the train.

[NiceGerbil]

Why not take a few guesses as to why or look up eg Paris to Venice maninsest61

[NiceGerbil]

You leave in the evening and arrive in the morning so you have 1 less night in accommodation and a full day at both ends of the journey. I assume is what that meant.

[NiceGerbil]

Oh OP looks like the thello is currently suspended- that's a shame. So ignore that suggestion

[wonderstuff123]

We did it 2019 with 2x 10 year olds. They say it was the best holiday ever. Flew into Berlin,then trained onto Copenhagen,then Stockholm,Oslo and finally Bergen before flying home. Went for 14 days in total. Was an amazing experience. We booked air bnbs to stay in and made sure they were easy to get to on public transport and not too far to walk.

I started planning about 6 months in advance.

[antwacky]

Many thanks for all replies, I shall definitely make a list of all of your tips, thanks again!

[LauraLovesLemons]

Don't bite off too much; if you only have a couple of weeks, realistically you're looking at a three centre holiday, especially if you need rest days and actually want to see something of where you're visiting. You might well find that booking travel independently is cheaper (not an interrail pass).

[RampantIvy]

Make sure that you will get your money’s worth with the inter rail ticket - it is often cheaper to buy individual tickets as and when needed. Compare in advance!

I second this. DD went interrailing a couple of years ago, due to an administrative error the dates on her ticket were wrong, so I ended up pre-booking individual point to point tickets and discovered that a) It wasn’t more expensive and more importantly b) that interrail tickets don’t use the most direct routes. I could book her a ticket on a direct train between Paris and Amsterdam. The interrail ticket meant three train changes. As her boyfriend had an interrail ticket I had to book four individua trains for the same journey.

So, if you get tired easily I would not bother with an interrail ticket, but book individual tickets. Also, you might save money by taking sleepers, but I find I don’t sleep well on trains so you may conserve more energy by staying in hotels/airbnbs. The hostels sleep about 18 to a dormitory and don’t have aircon, and if you are on your own you may prefer not to do this.

And avoid traditional hen/stag weekend cities at the weekend. The rest of the advice on this thread is excellent.

[PizzaCrust]

Loved it but I wouldn’t ever do a night train again. I went on 3 and they were awful (except the one from Vienna to Venice, they were quite nice and offered blankets and bread rolls). The one from Rome to Paris was terrifying. Lots of men loitering on the train and we ended up stopping in Switzerland mid journey so they could be removed for being aggressive.

I went for a month and ended up going Amsterdam Munich Prague Budapest Vienna Venice Rome Paris Amsterdam. It was utterly exhausting so I would never recommend anywhere near that many cities to anyone. Stick to 3 or 4.

Also, bring a portable charger and long charger leads. When you’re away you’ll really need them and there’s nothing worse than having a dead phone.

I’d also avoid hostels unless you’re staying somewhere to the east where you can book a private room for very little. Air BNB wasn’t a thing as much when I went but I wouldn’t even look at hostels now. Some of them were bloody dire (although we did it on a budget so it was expected to some degree).

Pre book popular attractions to avoid queuing for hours (and I mean hours). We queued for nearly 4 hours in 35 degree heat for the Anne Frank museum. It was fab but the queue was horrendous. Similar queues were at the Colosseum, Vatican, etc.

And lastly, a heads up about Vienna. Beautiful city but we found it deathly boring past about 6pm. The whole city just seemed to die in the evenings. But this might be a good thing if you want to use it as a city to take it easy.

Personally, Budapest was by far my favourite place. I’ve since gone back and would recommend to anyone. Cheap, lots of culture and things to see, and nice weather.