Thinking of going inter railing again

[MrsAvocet]

I've just seen an advert for inter rail passes - I've not heard of anyone doing it for years and it reminded me of what a fantastic time I had as a student inter railer in the 80s. It seemed to be the archetypal student holiday then. Everyone I know did it at least once, disappearing off for months on end with an inter rail ticket, a big book ot European timetables and not very much money.
Looking at the website it seems to be a lot more flexible nowadays with a lot of different options on tickets and I'm having possibly slightly crazy ideas of doing it again. I'd probably opt for rather more up market accomodation now, and might plan ahead a bit, rather than getting off the ferry in Calais with literally plan for the next 6 weeks as I did in my 20s. It would have to be 2 weeks maximum as whilst I am retired DH is still working so I think we'd have to have at least a vague plan to avoid wasting time. Probably won't do it this year, but if Covid settles and the Ukraine situation doesn't make travel around Europe unwise I was thinking of doing it next year. I like train travel as I think you get a different impression of a country, but I am a bit dubious about living out of a rucksack for 2 weeks so in two minds. Maybe my memories of exactly how much fun it was have been altered by time and are best left where they are. But then again, getting on a night train in Paris and waking up in Rome was exciting, and we could probably actually afford a sleeper compartment now!
Has anyone done it as a (middle aged) adult? If so, how did you find it?

I looked into it as a family holiday when my DC were young teens (about 10 years ago) as I thought it would be a great experience for them to spend the summer travelling around Europe. We didn't do it because it is so much more expensive now and because sleeper trains aren't the most comfortable mode of travel...

I've taken quite a few sleeper trains in Europe, Africa and India with the luxury of a private cabin in recent years and it's fine as a one off but it's pretty exhausting and uncomfortable. When I went inter railing, we took a crazy route zigzagging between countries every few days to save on accommodation by taking overnight train rather than a logical route eg instead of Brussels. Bruges, Paris, Nice, we did Paris, Vienna, Nice, Berlin etc I think if I spent a 2 week holiday doing that, I would need a 2 week holiday to recover.

It worked out cheaper to take budget flights if we weren't going to do the mad zigzag sleeper train route that saved on paying for a hostel/hotel. The tickets are much more expensive in real terms than they were when I was a teenager and they are limited on the number of trains you can take depending on and there are extra charges for night trains.

If you do decide to do it, you need to price out the different options. If you make a lot of short journeys, it might be cheaper to buy a country pass and fly or buy individual train tickets. If you are opting for a sleeper cabin (although some services have shared couchettes that are a lot cheaper), it may be cheaper to fly.

I wouldn't worry about living out of a rucksack or washing your undies in the bathroom sink with travel wash A wheeled suitcase with 2 weeks' worth of clothes will be fine. Take a crease release spray if you don't want to look dishevelled. If you do want a rucksack, you can get great wheeled rucksacks with detachable day packs and zip up panels to put the straps away. I have an Osprey one, they have a good reputation. I've only ever used it as a rucksack when I've been in places where there are no roads/pavements though, that's not much of an issue in Europe.

sleeper trains aren't the most comfortable mode of travel..
Hmm. This is true. And sleeping in a couchette compartment with half a dozen strangers is less appealing nowadays too.
I think I may be looking back with rose tinted spectacles! Well, to be fair, a sleepless night on a train can be quite easily followed by a full on day of sight seeing when you're 21 I suppose, just like you can do a day's work after a big night out at that age. Nowadays....not so much..
I still like the idea of doing a tour though, and train seems like a more environmentally friendly way to do it than flying. Maybe more hotels and less overnight train journeys is the way forwards as, yes, as you say, the nights on the train were money savers as a student and I don't need to worry about money so much now.

I'm interested in this and agree that flights within Europe can be very cheap if you're flexible. I think we'll probably end up doing that and using trains as well but just not via an interrail pass.

Maybe try taking the sleeper train to Cornwall or Scotland for a long weekend before you decide?

I agree that it is a much more environmentally friendly and enjoyable way to travel, it is just so expensive compared to flying or driving One of my DC had to travel from Cornwall to the Highlands by train during lockdown because there were no flights. It cost nearly £500 with a student railcard! At least the Eurostar is part of the scheme now, that was an added expense when I was looking into inter railing.

Which reminds me, I think it is a bit trickier nowadays too as you need reservations for a lot of services (which cost extra) and sometimes booking opens later for inter rail tickets than for direct bookings.

Don't let me put you off though! I'm sure it will be amazing. It will just take a bit more planning than last time you went.

DD went interrailing three years ago. Due to a cock up on the ticket dates I ended up having to buy point to point tickets for her. It was not much more expensive to do so.

In the process of buying tickets I discovered that there are a lot of restrictions on interrail tickets. For example I could buy her a direct ticket from Paris to Amsterdam, but the Interrail ticket (which her boyfriend had) meant three changes. Also, Interrail aren't that cheap. I think the whole trip cost about £30 more using The Trainline.

It was a last minute rush job to get these tickets, but I believe The Man in Seat 61 is the best website to buy rail tickets for Europe.

I wouldn't bother with Interrail again.

We did it 3 years ago and I just booked tickets direct using seat61.com website as a guide. We flew to Prague, then train onwards to Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, Tirol, Munich and then back to Brussels. We did quite a bit in first class as there were bargains to be had booking 6 months in advance. All transport cost me less than the cost of 3 interrail tickets. Thetrainline.com has got really switched on now and normally offers the same prices you can get direct from the local operators. I find it doesn't always show the best options from a connection/time point of view. The german website bahn.de is available in English and allows you to add stop off points. There is a night train from Brussels to Vienna now. Though have to say I prefer a proper bed.

We did a few long train journeys recently in Europe, my has it changed since my inter ailing days 30 years ago. Have to say I loved it. But I'd want to stay longer places than I did back in the day...

And check out the website the man in seat 61

We did it a while ago. We loved it. Did 2 sleeper trains and booked the whole compartment to ourselves, we stayed in, I think 5 different countries 2 nights in each and then flew home. We stayed in a mix of hotels and apartments with washers so we could just have backpacks and wash our clothes. I would definitely do it again as it was a lovely way to travel