Any hints/tips on European trip welcomed...

[coupwotcoup]

No. 1 son is off on a Euro jaunt soon, mostly by train.

My European train travel is limited mainly to France and Spain so
if anyone can point out any possible pitfalls in his itinerary, listed
below, then all information is appreciated.

Flights out to Amsterdam - 23/09
Flights back to London - 20/10
Boat from Rome to Barca - 17/10

1) Amsterdam (23/09 - 25/09)
2) Berlin (25/09 - 28/09)
3) Munich (28/09 - 29/10)
4) Prague (29/09 - 02/10)
5) Vienna (02/10 - 04/10)
6) Bratislava (04/10 - 05/10)
7) Krakow (05/10 - 06/10)
8) L'viv (06/10 - 08/10)
9) Budapest (08/10 - 10/10)
10) Zagreb (10/10 - 11/10)
11) Ljubljana (11/10 - 12/10)
12) Trieste (12/10 - 13/10)
13) Venice (13/10 - 14/10)
14) Rome/Vatican (14/10 - 16/10)
15) ¡¡¡PARTY BOAT!!! (16/10 - 17/10)
16) Barca/Blanes (17/10 - 20/10)

 

[harry42]

Seat 61 website will provide all the information you need

 

[W-on-Sea]

Ljubljana - Trieste might be problematic.

Not sure what the current situation is, but through trains were I think all withdrawn a few years ago. (And the fine old alternative, of getting a train to the border station at Vila Opicina, then a very old tram steeply downhill to Trieste, also became impossible, for the same reason). There are ways around this, but I think would generally involve an alternative route and/or coaches - at least unless through trains have been reinstated.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Munich-Prague, your son may be better off taking the DB Coach rather than the ALEX train as it's quicker and probably more comfortable. Last (only) time I did the ALEX train to Prague I could hardly walk afterwards. I expect any railpass will be valid on the Coach although a reservation will be required. Hostelwise, all the ones I mention are worth staying at:

Amsterdam - Loads
Berlin - Quite a few, there's a handy Meininger next to Hbf but it's a bit of a trek to get anywhere interesting.
Munich - Most (3) are near Hbf, Wombats, Jaegers & Eurohostel. There's also a Meininger opposite the Augustiner Brewery.
Prague - Loads, I stayed in Hostel Tyn which is just off old town square and very central. Best place to change money is Caffrey's Irish pub which is nearby
Bratislava - Old town is a hike from station. I stayed in Hostel Blues which is close to Old town and handy for Tesco's which is next door
Krakow - Loads, I've actually stayed at two on the Old town square. Mamas and Cracow Hostel. Both are good, mamas can be expensive.
Budapest - Loads. I stayed in Astoria City Hostel which is quite close to centre and next to Astoria Metro Station. Also good

ONE FINAL NOTE, YOUR SON WILL BE STAYING IN MUNICH DURING THE OKTOBERFEST AND ACCOMMODATION MAY BE EXPENSIVE AND/OR UNAVAILABLE

 

[Squaddie]

Berlin - Quite a few, there's a handy Meininger next to Hbf but it's a bit of a trek to get anywhere interesting.

In Berlin - and, probably, elsewhere in Germany too - it's well worth checking out the Ibis Budget hotel chain, which offers safe, stylish and very comfortable accommodation for around €50 per night per room (plus optional €7.50 for buffet breakfast). I'm not really a budget hotel kind of person but having stayed at an Ibis Budget earlier this year with friends it's now my first choice in Berlin.

(Ibis Budget is the rock-bottom, absolutely-no-frills sub-brand of the Ibis budget hotel chain, which sounds dreadful, but they've got it absolutely right. They even have free WiFi in every room).

 

[87015]

Ljubljana - Trieste might be problematic.

Not sure what the current situation is, but through trains were I think all withdrawn a few years ago. (And the fine old alternative, of getting a train to the border station at Vila Opicina, then a very old tram steeply downhill to Trieste, also became impossible, for the same reason). There are ways around this, but I think would generally involve an alternative route and/or coaches - at least unless through trains have been reinstated.

There is a Villach - Udine service across the border into Italy a couple of times a day, so can at least be done by rail with a bit of a detour.

 

[PhilipF]

In Berlin - and, probably, elsewhere in Germany too - it's well worth checking out the Ibis Budget hotel chain, which offers safe, stylish and very comfortable accommodation for around €50 per night per room (plus optional €7.50 for buffet breakfast). I'm not really a budget hotel kind of person but having stayed at an Ibis Budget earlier this year with friends it's now my first choice in Berlin.

(Ibis Budget is the rock-bottom, absolutely-no-frills sub-brand of the Ibis budget hotel chain, which sounds dreadful, but they've got it absolutely right. They even have free WiFi in every room).

When we stopped off at Berlin HBF we found `a room in the next stage uo from Ibis - a "Mercure". The 'old' Ibis are really a bit "basic" to my taste, though now in Europe they seem to be raising the standard of some into a rather better standard "Ibis" - still that name though, may be some are franchised.
Done quite a lot of rail travel in Europe, rare to have a problem finding a room - though we nearly came unstuck when we reached Stockholm one evening at around eight in the evening. Great shortage of hotel rooms in that city we were told. We had to find another hotel the next morning!

 

[W-on-Sea]

The Hotel George in Lviv, if it hasn't changed since I was last there (2005 - and then it had barely changed since the 1st time I was there - in 1996 - although in most other ways Lviv, and Ukraine, had changed very greatly during that time) is as stylish and comfortable a budget hotel you will find anywhere. Heartily recommended. (No doubt, given how beautiful the city centre, and indeed the building it's in, is, it will go upmarket and pricey at some point: but a quick check at prices online suggests that hasn't happened yet).

The Celice hostel in Ljubljana is "interesting" - it's an old Yugoslav military prison & also has an art-gallery side to it.

 

[lj9090]

7) Krakow (05/10 - 06/10)
8) L'viv (06/10 - 08/10)
9) Budapest (08/10 - 10/10)

Train from Krakow -> Przemyśl, then Bus from there to the Border, walk across then get a marshrutky (minibus) to Lviv. Total time about 7-8 hours.
Don't, as I did, get the direct bus from Przemyśl to Lviv thinking it'll make things easier. The first one drove through and didn't bother picking anyone up, then the next one 3 hours later sat in the 4 hour queue at the border. Total journey was 14 hours...
Learn to decode Cyrillic before going and stay with Eddie @ Kosmonaut Hostel.

Lviv->Budapest is an overnight russian sleeper. Lviv can be a really interesting place to buy an international ticket in advance, I wasted several hours being rather amused with how difficult and kafka-esque it was. I'd recommend buying them well before you need to leave, and ask for help at wherever you're staying. At the very least have your destination and date/time written on a bit of paper.


For the rest of it the overall schedule is a little tight; unless your son is really keen to see nothing but trains and busses, he may want to cut down on the number of stops and stay in some places for a little longer. All the places will still be there in 10 years time and they're not that hard to get to from here really. I usually work to 3 nights per stop, which works out as a nice pace and allows time for the odd day trip.

Given how things connect up by rail, I'd reorder that somewhat anyway and recommend something like this:
Amsterdam->Berlin->Prague->Krakow->Lviv->Budapest->Vienna->Venice->Rome->Barca

Munich is out because of Oktoberfest; unless he had something booked in January he will not find accommodation. Vienna->Krakow is not an easy route so Vienna is moved to after Budapest as that's a really easy connection and Prague is well connected to both Berlin & Krakow. Having been to both I'd skip Zagreb and Bratislava as they're not that interesting, really, not compared to the other places on the trip. Llubjana and Trieste I can't speak for myself yet, but with the transport options becoming sparse they might be worth skipping too.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Not sure if it's still the case, but there used to be separate, special counters, hidden away upstairs, in the station at Lviv, specifically for international tickets and non-Ukrainians (even some English-speaking staff, sort of, I think, although as I speak Ukrainian and Russian this doesn't bother me) can be a bit Byzantine, but also by some way the least bad major station in Ukraine to buy long-distance tickets. (Kyiv is ludicrous: You could spend an age just trying to find the right ticket window in the enormous, sprawling, station, and Odessa worse still: use the travel agents on Malaya Arnaytskaya Street instead...)

I'd recommend Ljubljana as a beautiful, mellow, city never intended to be a capital, but with pretty canals and a lot of fine if understated architecture. Am a bit less taken with Trieste to be honest. It's not horrible, just slightly nondescript, but very much Mitteleuropa, rather than Italian in its feel (and history)

 

[lj9090]

Not sure if it's still the case, but there used to be separate, special counters, hidden away upstairs, in the station at Lviv, specifically for international tickets and non-Ukrainians (even some English-speaking staff, sort of, I think, although as I speak Ukrainian and Russian this doesn't bother me) can be a bit Byzantine, but also by some way the least bad major station in Ukraine to buy long-distance tickets.

Still there when I was there! I had heard about the counter, but couldn't find it to begin with. So I waited and queued for a while at another counter to open in the main lobby, one marked as "International", only to be told I needed this secretive counter after all so went off to have another look. A little hidden away would be an understatement.
Once found they refused to serve me unless I bought an entry ticket from someone else to the lounge it was hiding in. This lounge ticket was then stamped at the counter for reasons I still haven't worked out, and then god knows how many bits of paper stamped and embossed and then passport details were written down in various books before I got finally got my ticket.

If this is easy compared to the rest of Ukraine, I must go back and head further east

 

[Jordeh]

Recently came back from a very similar trip myself this summer, no trouble with the trains so I cannot offer any further advice there except making reservations is well worth it.

I did Amsterstam > Berlin > Warsaw > Krakow > Prague > Bratislava > Budapest > Belgrade > Lake Bled > Ljubljana > Zagreb > Split. Presumably your son is inter-railing, I can let you know some hostels worth staying in and avoiding if need be and a few things to do (as opposed to the hotels above).

I would avoid Zagreb though, it was the only place I found there was quite literally nothing to do day or night and the local Croats seem to agree there was little to see in the capital too, I wish I'd spent an extra day in Ljubljana.

 

[coupwotcoup]

Cheers chaps...helpful as ever. Thankfully, pre-Civitavecchia their plans are pretty flexible and also L'viv is a no-no, as his inter-rail ticket doesn't cover the Ukraine.

 

[reb0118]

L'viv is a no-no, as his inter-rail ticket doesn't cover the Ukraine.

L'viv; Lvov; Lwow; Lemberg; & Leopol is well worth a visit. Train fares from Poland & to Hungary are very cheap for the distance travelled.

 

[30907]

Ljubljana-Trieste details are on www.seat61.com (using the funicular/tram route) but this involves a taxi across the border.

(Ljubljana-Jesenice-)Bled-Gorizia-(Trieste-)Venice (also on Seat61) would be an alternative: my wife and I used the route in reverse earlier this year.

I'd agree with others that one-night stops are very tiring (but less so than sleeping in ordinary compartments on overnight trains, which is what economy-minded students did in my day....) - and Venice certainly needs more than one night!

 

[Squaddie]

Ljubljana-Trieste details are on www.seat61.com (using the funicular/tram route) but this involves a taxi across the border.

(Ljubljana-Jesenice-)Bled-Gorizia-(Trieste-)Venice (also on Seat61) would be an alternative: my wife and I used the route in reverse earlier this year.

I'd agree with others that one-night stops are very tiring (but less so than sleeping in ordinary compartments on overnight trains, which is what economy-minded students did in my day....) - and Venice certainly needs more than one night!

Just my opinion, but although Venice is almost certainly one of the usual "must-see" stops on any whistlestop tour of Europe I find it generally shabby, over-rated and massively overpriced. If time is limited there are better places to visit. I'd cut down the number of stops in this itinerary by half and spend an additional night in each place. There are far too many one-night stops.