Interrail

[Hedjwitch]

DH and I travelling from Edinburgh to Bari next April. We both hate the whole process of flying and DH gets incredibly stressed. So, at the ripe old age of 61and 62 we have decided to interrail and go by train! We like train travel and have senior railcards. I've mapped out a route, Edinburgh- London- Paris-Milan - Bari.
Has anyone else any experience of interrail passes or any top tips?

If you are on Facebook I recommend finding the group 'Interrailing for the older crowd' (basically not 20 somethings!). There is so much good advice on there about all sorts from luggage to routes. We did a family interrail trip this summer, it was a great way to travel (totally different route through Germany and central Europe, so can't help there). The Seat61 website is really useful too.

We bought passes for X days in a month which suited us, with the inbound and outbound UK bits covered. Book Eurostar as soon as possible as they've limited seats for reservation (£) with the pass. The app is easy to use for the tickets - you add any trains you might take to your journey, then toggle a 'switch' when you know you are actually going to take it (on the platform!). However searching timetables elsewhere - DB have an international timetable, Train line works too - seems better than relying on the app for timings as it doesn't always seem to get updated with any changes.

We kept our journeys (relatively) short-ish (4-5 hours a day mostly as we were travelling with 10yo/13yo) and I think if we'd do it again we'd not shy away from a whole/longer day of travelling, it was far better than I'd imagined it to be, and much nicer than flying.

Was about to point you to the same website as the poster above. And also the Man in Seat 61

Not website - Facebook page!

We went from Bari to Naples then Sorrento (and Pompeii) then Venice then Turin then Paris and to London interrailing two years ago. Be aware that most of the Italian trains needed to be booked which cost about 10 euros each so did add to the cost. The trains were great though and it all went pretty smoothly. Turin was unexpectedly lovely so you might want to consider it as well as Milan. Man in seat 61 was very useful. I think you’ll have a lovely time.

I am 64 and am going Interrailing with my DD (38) next year. She did it by herself this year and wants to go on different routes next time. I have never done it before.

We are going to France, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy apparently.
DD is booking it all as she is an expert with all that. One of the highlights of the trip will be the Bernina Express.

Thanks all. Thats very encouraging.

We did this in May, though from Brussels. We had a first class pass and booked seat reservations either via Bahn.de for German trains or OEBB.at for Austria and Italy. If you do the Brenner Pass route into Italy you also need to pay a supplement. There are limited Interrail pass seat on French trains, plus reservations tend to be more expensive - and you have to change stations in Paris.

We travelled:
Day1 Brussels to Frankfurt to Munich on ICE trains - allowing an hour changeover, as DB has not been most reliable recently. Then the Railjet train from Munich to Innsbruck. 1st Class on Railjet is really nice with seat service. We stayed in the Motel One next to Innsbruck station which has a fabulous roof top bar.

Day 2 Innsbruck to Rimini - direct Eurocity train. Didn't like this train - it was old and hot, and would choose a Railjet train everytime even if I had to change (at Verona or Bologna). We stayed near the beach, but missed that Rimini has a lovely old town with Roman ruins (next time)
Day 3 - Rimini to Bari on Frecciarossa - you get coffee, biscuits, water delivered to the seat. Wifi excellent. Really comfortable train.

Then Bari onto Monopoli where we stayed for 10 days - did day trips to Ostuni, Alberbello and Polignano. Loved Monopoli.
On the way back:
Monopoli - Bari - Bologna - Verona where we spent the night.
Next day - Railjet again to Munich (supplement needed again) - Spent night in Munich.
Then Munich - Frankfurt - Brussels.
German reservations were 4 euros each i think. For the Frecciarossa about 13 euros. Supplement for Brenner - 15 euros - but i think this included the booked seat.
The FB group - Interrailing for the Older Crowd was a huge source of information. And of course seat61.com - which is the Holy Grail of train travel.
As mentioned - buy your Eurostar reservation as early as possible as they have limited passholder seats.

Make sure you download the apps for each country's rail company. You'll get up to date info, platforms etc.

If you're only spending one night somewhere, book accommodation close to the station so you're bit spending precious time getting to it.

If there's something you really want to see eg a museum, check opening hours - we found quite a few things close on Mondays!

Ok,have done some reading now and understand it all a bit better. Is it better to have the app or the paper pass?

The app is great once you get the hang of it. Easy to update if plans change.