Interrailing 2014

[Searle]

As I've mentioned in a previous thread, I'm going Interrailing for a month with my girlfriend in July, so I thought I would make a thread for if anyone has any recommendations for me! Anything is welcome, from things to look out for to accommodation advice. So far, the itinerary is:

Tuesday 1st July: London - Paris
Thursday 3rd July: Paris - Basel (staying with my family in Basel)
Friday 4th July: Basel - Lugano
Sunday 6th July: Lugano - Venice
Wednesday 9th July: Venice - Ljubljana (via a taxi across the border probably!)
Friday 11th July: Ljubljana - Zagreb
Sunday 13th July: Zagreb - Belgrade
Tuesday 15th July: Belgrade - Budapest + Night Train Budapest - Brasov
Friday 18th July: Night Train Brasov - Budapest
Monday 21st July: Budapest - Bratislava
Tuesday 22nd July: Bratislava - Vienna - Bratislava
Wednesday 23rd July: Bratislava - Ostrava
Thursday 24th July: Ostrava - Warsaw
Saturday 26th July: Warsaw - Berlin
Sunday 27th July: Berlin - Copenhagen
Monday 28th July: Copenhagen - Malmo + Night Train to Berlin
Tuesday 29th July: Berlin - Luxembourg
Wednesday 30th July: Luxembourg - Brussels
Thursday 31st July: Brussels - Rotterdam
Friday 1st August: Rotterdam - Amsterdam - Rotterdam
Monday 3rd August: Rotterdam - Harwich - London

We've got the Eurostar booked to Paris, then the Interrail pass will be 3rd July - 2nd August, with the Rail + Sail ticket on 3rd August. We're finalising the times of the trains at the moment for when there's a variety, so I'll update the post when we've got them nailed down, and I'll start to get reservations where possible/necessary.

One thing I'm curious about but don't know much about is staying in Universities or Colleges while they're not in term time. Is this done much over in the continent and does it actually save anything over hostels/hotels?

Any comments are welcome and appreciated! Thanks

 

[fowler9]

Looking at this as someone who has travelled a lot but also likes railways you are going to see a lot of trains and stations and not a lot of where you are going so it depends on what you hope to achieve. I am going to Bratislava alone for four nights later this month, you go there several times in a few days to change trains. A night in Copenhagen and several in Rotterdam with an afternoon in Amsterdam? A night in Zagreb? A night in Berlin? It all depends on what the purpose of the trip is. If it is to just travel on trains it is probably a good plan. I would never plan a routine like that to actually see the places.

Also squeezing that much in to a month, the second anything goes wrong you are racing to catch up.

I just noticed you said you are going with your girlfriend. How much does she like trains because that is all she is going to see of a lot of places. Not knocking you mate but a lot of people over estimate what they can achieve. If you are humping backpacks around then every day of travel is a day out of seeing things, check out of hostel, get to transport point, travel, get from station to new place to stay, check in etc.

And there must be a cheaper way of getting from Venice to Ljubljana, you can get the train from Austria. And Venice really isn't cheap.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
To put it another way given a month travelling I would aim for a maximum of between 4 & 6 places unless the sole aim is to rack up millage on the trains. All down to personal taste though.

 

[steevp]

I've done a number of "travelling around" trips and aim for no more than a day travelling followed by at least a day sightseeing (so travelling no more than every second day) - that is pushing it and you will wish for some "lazing around" days, believe me.

Fowler9's advice about being sure what suits you will suit your girlfriend is also important - would be dreadful to find out half way through that she is bored stupid by all that travelling for travelling's sake.

If you are going to Budapest, then the Children's Railway is worth a visit for the curiosity value alone http://www.gyermekvasut.hu/english/chrw_home.php

 

[Glenmutchkin]

A few of us did a blast round Europe last year.

http://gcerc.wordpress.com/

If you scroll down the right hand side of the front page of that website you will find links to Acommodation in various places. We used a hall of residence in Venice called Domus Civica that was pretty good.

 

[lj9090]

I'd agree with the above about timings - unless I'm going to a small town I usually plan on staying in each place for 3 nights.

This gives me a whole day sightseeing in that place, time to add in a day/afternoon trip to somewhere interesting locally, and the travel days aren't too often. Having time for a trip somewhere outside the city adds a really nice balance to each area and reduces city fatigue.

You will find even a 2 hour trip ends cuts into quite a lot of the day by the time you've got packing, checking in/out, local busses/metros, time at the station to ensure you don't miss the train. If you've got a 4/5 hour journey then that's most of the day written off as a travel day too - depending on the schedule you might get an hour or two to do things before setting off or an hour or two once you get to your destination but that's it.

 

[gordonthemoron]

There are some places on that list I'd skip, e.g. Ostrava, just get a train direct to Warsaw, also what's the point of going to Brasov? It'd be cheaper staying in a hostel in Budapest for 2 nights. Staying in Bratislava but having a day trip to Vienna isn't a bad idea but Bratislava itself is quite boring so perhaps Budapest-Vienna-Warsaw? I'd also stay in Amsterdam rather than Rotterdam.

 

[Searle]

Thanks for the comments so far, let me reply to some points:

Fowler9: The purpose of the trip is to try and get a balance between visiting lots of places and seeing each of the places a little bit. We don't want to skip by places completely, we'd like to just touch them before leaving again, that's why we have about 1 and a half days in each of the places. Also my girlfriend was actually the person who was pushing to see more places than I was! She's ok with all the travelling (although she probably won't enjoy it as much as me )

The Venice - Ljubljana has two trains up to the Italian/Slovenian border, with a taxi across (as the funicular railway over it isn't working last time I checked), not a taxi the whole way!

Steevp: I've tried to plan it a bit like that as you say, there's a rest in Brasov and in Warsaw, and then again in Rotterdam, so we're not going for too long at any time. I'm expecting to be exhausted completely by the end of it, but that's what we're happy to do, to visit so many places. Thanks for the link in Budapest too!

Glenmutchkin: Thanks for the info, I'll be certain to check it out

lj9090: The trip out of the cities is something I'll think about, especially in Zagreb or Brasov.

gordonthemoron: Ostrava is there so we can stay somewhere in the Czech Republic, as the rest of it is difficult to reach by rail. It also breaks up the journey up to Warsaw.

Brasov is the main place we wanted to visit actually! We'd both really like to see Transylvania, and it seems like a nice mix between rural and urban. We're getting the night trains there and back because it's a long way to travel in the day :P

The reason I planned a day trip to Vienna is because I'm aware that it's expensive, and that Bratislava will be much cheaper. We were also planning to go via Salzburg, but after we decided to go via Italy instead, Vienna is our bit in Austria.


The itinerary is pretty much solid now, we've decided together that it's how far we want to stretch ourselves and we have reasons to go to all of these places. What I'm more after is any advice about accommodation, reservations, or the actual places/trains themselves.

Thank you all for your comments though, much appreciated again!

 

[The exile]

If it's possible to alter your itinerary between Bratislava and Warsaw - I would recommend staying in Brno rather than Ostrava. If that adds too much of a diversion, Olomouc is also a pleasant alternative - unless you're actually looking for a reason never to visit the Czech republic again - which would be a shame.
Apologies to any lovers of Ostrava who feel put out by this, but I have rarely been anywhere I have been happier to leave!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Skip Rotterdam for an overnighter - and do Utrecht - much nicer place all round and a very easy trip to Amsterdam from there ...

 

[fowler9]

Thanks for the comments so far, let me reply to some points:

Fowler9: The purpose of the trip is to try and get a balance between visiting lots of places and seeing each of the places a little bit. We don't want to skip by places completely, we'd like to just touch them before leaving again, that's why we have about 1 and a half days in each of the places. Also my girlfriend was actually the person who was pushing to see more places than I was! She's ok with all the travelling (although she probably won't enjoy it as much as me )

The Venice - Ljubljana has two trains up to the Italian/Slovenian border, with a taxi across (as the funicular railway over it isn't working last time I checked), not a taxi the whole way!

Steevp: I've tried to plan it a bit like that as you say, there's a rest in Brasov and in Warsaw, and then again in Rotterdam, so we're not going for too long at any time. I'm expecting to be exhausted completely by the end of it, but that's what we're happy to do, to visit so many places. Thanks for the link in Budapest too!

Glenmutchkin: Thanks for the info, I'll be certain to check it out

lj9090: The trip out of the cities is something I'll think about, especially in Zagreb or Brasov.

gordonthemoron: Ostrava is there so we can stay somewhere in the Czech Republic, as the rest of it is difficult to reach by rail. It also breaks up the journey up to Warsaw.

Brasov is the main place we wanted to visit actually! We'd both really like to see Transylvania, and it seems like a nice mix between rural and urban. We're getting the night trains there and back because it's a long way to travel in the day :P

The reason I planned a day trip to Vienna is because I'm aware that it's expensive, and that Bratislava will be much cheaper. We were also planning to go via Salzburg, but after we decided to go via Italy instead, Vienna is our bit in Austria.


The itinerary is pretty much solid now, we've decided together that it's how far we want to stretch ourselves and we have reasons to go to all of these places. What I'm more after is any advice about accommodation, reservations, or the actual places/trains themselves.

Thank you all for your comments though, much appreciated again!

Fair play mate. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't just knocking your plan. Looks exciting. I would still say it doesn't leave much of a margine for things to go wrong.

Check out hosteworld and hostel bookers websites when looking for accommodation. Ignore the word hostel. They don't just have huge twelve bed dorms or even just hostels listed. Personally I would ignore trip advisor. Check out Lonely Planet websites Thorntree forum as well. Really good for up to date advice from locals and British ex pats alike in all kinds off mad places.

 

[30907]

Having just done an overnight in Lugano, I was shocked at the price of stuff (but you, with family in Basel, won't be) - however, if a double bed is OK, the Ibis Budget is very close to L-Paradiso station.

As to Venice-Ljubljana, a more frequent, more scenic but probably slower route to consider is V-Gorizia-Nova Gorizia-Jesenice-L. Info is on www.seat61.com (under Venice-Bled) - as is detail info on the Villa Opicina route.

 

[Glenmutchkin]

Nova Gorica and Gorizia stations are connected by bus.

 

[Squaddie]

The itinerary is pretty much solid now, we've decided together that it's how far we want to stretch ourselves and we have reasons to go to all of these places. What I'm more after is any advice about accommodation, reservations, or the actual places/trains themselves.

If you haven't already reserved accommodation you may find that all the cheapest/best-value places have already been booked; July is, after all, just about the busiest time in Europe. In high-cost cities such as Lugano, in particular, affordable accommodation is hard to find at the best of times (but if it has rooms available I would highly recommend a hotel called the Montarina, which is moments from the railway station).

I would, however, echo the comments of others, which is that your itinerary is too full and too rushed. Don't underestimate how tiring it is to spend just one night in each city for days on end, having to unpack and repack repeatedly with absolutely no time to relax and enjoy the city you've just arrived in. And even train travel gets very tiresome after a while. When I'm touring I always try to spend at least two nights, and preferably three, in each place - and almost every city in your itinerary is worth a couple of days.

 

[Greenback]

I agree with Squaddie, Searle! You won't just be very tired, you will be so exhausted that others may well confuse you with a zombie!

I base this on my own Interrail experience many years ago, which was shorter than yours and more limited geographically! By the time we got home, my friends and I didn't know what week it was, never mind what day it was!

But it's your trip and you may as well exhaust yourselves and see as much as you can. Just be prepared to experience a huge range of emotions, it will certainly test your relationship (one of us split from the rest as the strain became too much), and you may wake up on some days and never want to see a train again. And I'm not kidding!

 

[Jordeh]

Did a similar interrail last year and I can only echo what a few people have already mentioned about giving yourself time to relax and enjoy the places but anyway. I would advise missing out Zagreb altogether as there is very little to see there from my experience, I'd consider visiting Prague & Krakow though which are notably missing from your destinations and more interesting than the likes of Warsaw.

Regarding trains I would take the direct sleeper between Belgrade & Budapest. Also ensure you take lots of water with you as it's often not available on board, I remember the Zagreb to Belgrade daytime journey being especially long (About 10 hours or something!).

For hostels I generally booked the ones which were very cheap but also had a good location and not too many bad reviews (The perfect balance). Below are ones I recommend.

Belgrade
Good Morning Hostel, absolutely fantastic hostel. No complaints about the place at all and some terrific staff who were very helpful and showed us round lots of the city and it's nightlife. Really recommend staying here.

Bratislava
A1 Hostel, good location and very spacious with lots of interrailers staying there. Got all my washing done for me for only a few euros too by the staff.

Ljubljana
Hostel Print, very modern and upmarket hostel yet still reasonable. Only complaint was it's a bit out the way.

Warsaw
Mermaid hostel, cheap & reasonable location. Small and full of lots of long term travellers but good facilities and very enjoyable stay.

Zagreb
Positiv hostel, a little out the way but at the end of the tramline by the depot. Very modern, fantastic kitchen and atmosphere.

Enjoy your trip

 

[gordonthemoron]

I stayed at Hostel Blue in Bratislava, town centre next to Tescos. Pretty good. In warsaw, I'd avoid the Emma hostel as the beds are v.uncomfortable (they're a vegan hostel and the mattresses are filled with grass). In Berlin, the memminger hostel next to Hbf is good as is Hotel/Hostel Loft in Kreuzberg which is handy for a lot of nice pubs

 

[30907]

Nova Gorica and Gorizia stations are connected by bus.

Yes, sorry, should have said. Pedantically, the Gorizia town bus stop for Nova G station is just in Italy but it's called Piazza Transalpina after the railway and is barely 100m from the station.

Some very recent photos of the line, in much better weather than I had last year, with German captions, at http://www.drehscheibe-online.de/foren/read.php?30,6949041

 

[Squaddie]

Did a similar interrail last year and I can only echo what a few people have already mentioned about giving yourself time to relax and enjoy the places but anyway. I would advise missing out Zagreb altogether as there is very little to see there from my experience...

There's not a great deal to see in Zagreb, but it's a very pleasant and inexpensive city with a good cafe culture and well worth a day. (I've done it a couple of times as a day trip from Ljubljana).

 

[Searle]

Awesome, thank you all so much for the feedback. I won't reply to it all again, but please rest assured that it has all been noted.

Jordeh: Does a Belgrade - Bucharest sleeper exist? I've never seen any reference for it.

While I'm on the topic of night trains, how do I go about booking a seat or a bed? Will I get a discount for having an interrail pass as well? Thanks :P

 

[Squaddie]

As far as I know, there is no direct train between Belgrade and Bucharest: you have to travel via Budapest, and the journey takes the best part of 24 hours.

I was lucky enough to do my first InterRail back in the days before high-speed trains, when there were long-distance services criss-crossing Europe and swapping through carriages along the way. My first journey was all the way from Ostend to Belgrade, without having to change trains at all. I think my one-month ticket cost around £39.

 

[ac6000cw]

Looks like a packed adventure, but's going to be really, really tiring...I think I'd leave out the Scandinavian leg at the end (for another trip) and spend more time in elsewhere.

Leave yourself some flexibility in the schedule - for sure you're going to arrive at some places and think 'it's really nice/interesting/relaxing here, wish we could stay another day' (and others in the 'what a dump' category, when's the next train out of here....)

One of the joys of travel are the smaller, nice, not-to-touristy places where you can soak up the atmosphere (and the local food & drink) while the locals go about their daily business - watching the town come to life early on a sunny morning, coffee in hand, is not to be missed. It's a nice antidote to the big cities.

Tony

 

[Mark_Lester]

My two eurocents worth....

No Prague, and no Sarajevo *sob*. It's cheap to sleep in either. Both are, IMHO, obligatory for this kind of comprehensive treatment.

The easiest way to get to Sarajevo is from Zagreb, indeed that's currently the only way without leaving the tracks. But it is super worth it. The prettiest is via Ploce on the coast, which you get to/from Split by nice bus along the gobsmacking Markaska coastline.

Prague, especially in the evening, rivals any city in Europe (hence the planet), including anything in Italy or France.

As for pace, as you can imagine with some of the trips I cook up, I disagree with the nay sayers somewhat. If a bunch of middle aged men can do it, you certainly can.
Yes you are going to be totally screwed by the time you get back and there will be endless things you need to go back to do. But just psych yourselve's up and go flat out. Zonk out on the trains and give it all you've got when they stop. You will arrive home feeling like you just saw all of Europe in an instant. That's quite a sensation and you will, I suggest, feel intensely European by the time you get back to blighty, which is no bad thing.

In order to make the most of your landings you will need internet as much as possible so see what you can get for romaing coverage.

 

[fowler9]

My two eurocents worth....

No Prague, and no Sarajevo *sob*. It's cheap to sleep in either. Both are, IMHO, obligatory for this kind of comprehensive treatment.

The easiest way to get to Sarajevo is from Zagreb, indeed that's currently the only way without leaving the tracks. But it is super worth it. The prettiest is via Ploce on the coast, which you get to/from Split by nice bus along the gobsmacking Markaska coastline.

Prague, especially in the evening, rivals any city in Europe (hence the planet), including anything in Italy or France.

As for pace, as you can imagine with some of the trips I cook up, I disagree with the nay sayers somewhat. If a bunch of middle aged men can do it, you certainly can.
Yes you are going to be totally screwed by the time you get back and there will be endless things you need to go back to do. But just psych yourselve's up and go flat out. Zonk out on the trains and give it all you've got when they stop. You will arrive home feeling like you just saw all of Europe in an instant. That's quite a sensation and you will, I suggest, feel intensely European by the time you get back to blighty, which is no bad thing.

In order to make the most of your landings you will need internet as much as possible so see what you can get for romaing coverage.

I still disagree.You haven't really seen a place if you turn up there, check in, go out and get pished, sleep and then leave the next morning. You have changed trains there. Ah well, horses for courses. You have still had an experience.

 

[Mark_Lester]

I still disagree.You haven't really seen a place if you turn up there, check in, go out and get pished, sleep and then leave the next morning. You have changed trains there. Ah well, horses for courses. You have still had an experience.

Well, I know you disagree.
6 hours is enough for two meals and over 4 hours of sight seeing and provision procurement (for me, a deli counts as sighseeing). If you are going to be exhausted from tthe train, then you need to either man up or change pace radically.
I assume our two intrepid travellers are not going to wimp out when they hit the platform, or the hotel room. I also assume they havent had the advantage of seeing much if any of Europe's great cities already, for them this is a first everywhere. They perhaps havent even been on a sleeper train either (take lots of good Hungarian palinka on that Bucharest train and offer some to the staff, you will end up in a party). But that just makes it all the more exciting for them. They have a lifetime to come back and spend a week at any of these places.
It is possible to research your surgical strike on these cities with a precision impossible even 10 years ago. Just make sure that, as much as possible, you know what you are supposed to be doing when you get off the train. Dont take too much luggage (that means as little as possible, one medium bag max), and rock till you drop.

 

[Greenback]

It's horses for courses, really. I'm quite happy to sit on a train for hours on end, then repeat the following day. although spending two nights on the Empire Builder and then one on the Coast Starlight after a day in Seattle caused me to feel I was reaching my limit a bit!

Generally I find that after two days on trains I need to do something else. Even at a much younger age I found that three consecutive days on the trains became numbing, and I now prefer to buy flexi type rovers so that I can have a day or two off without feeling I am losing value by not travelling every day!

My only concern for Searle is that they are doing something that will be right for them. It wouldn't work for us but everyone is different!

 

[ac6000cw]

My only concern for Searle is that they are doing something that will be right for them. It wouldn't work for us but everyone is different!

Agreed

It's horses for courses, really. I'm quite happy to sit on a train for hours on end, then repeat the following day. although spending two nights on the Empire Builder and then one on the Coast Starlight after a day in Seattle caused me to feel I was reaching my limit a bit!

On my first visit to the US (in 1988 I think), I did Oakland -> LA (Coast Starlight), LA -> Chicago (Southwest Chief), Chicago -> Washington DC (Capitol Limited) - that's 4 days and 3 nights of near-continuous train travel (just a few hours break at LA and Chicago for connections, plus a few Amtrak 'smoking stops' for a quick leg stretch). It was fun and very interesting, but not sure I'd want to repeat it

 

[Greenback]

Agreed



On my first visit to the US (in 1988 I think), I did Oakland -> LA (Coast Starlight), LA -> Chicago (Southwest Chief), Chicago -> Washington DC (Capitol Limited) - that's 4 days and 3 nights of near-continuous train travel (just a few hours break at LA and Chicago for connections, plus a few Amtrak 'smoking stops' for a quick leg stretch). It was fun and very interesting, but not sure I'd want to repeat it

I'm glad I did my US marathon, which was all in coach. I left Chicago on the Empire Builder on day 1, arrived Seattle on the morning of day 3, left Seattle on the morning of day 5 and was very pleased to take a 3 day break in San Luis Obispo before heading off to Las Vegas for a further break!

After that I returned to Chicago by way of an overnight break in Albuquerque. The South West Chief was a breeze after the Empire Builder and Coast Starlight, that was 3 niohts out of 4 on a train, and a full day gazing at the cornfields of the Midwest with only a couple of quick rest stops.

If I did anything similar again I'd get a bedroom and include more breaks!

 

[ac6000cw]

I'm glad I did my US marathon, which was all in coach.

So was mine (I've never actually travelled in a sleeper, anywhere in the world - must try it sometime). The itinerary above was part of a total trip that lasted about two-and-half weeks - Fly to Chicago (overnight stop), Chicago -> Oakland (2/3 nights stopover in San Francisco), Oakland -> Washington DC (2/3 nights stopover in DC), DC -> Boston (few hours walkaround, got lost and almost missed the next train!), Boston -> Chicago, fly home to London.... (So about 6000 miles of train travel, all in coach).

Also done a couple of month-long Interrail trips (a long time ago), but with a reasonable amount of stopovers - sharing a 6 seat compartment on an international overnight train with 5 other people isn't that much fun really....

Tony

 

[Greenback]

So was mine (I've never actually travelled in a sleeper, anywhere in the world - must try it sometime). The itinerary above was part of a total trip that lasted about two-and-half weeks - Fly to Chicago (overnight stop), Chicago -> Oakland (2/3 nights stopover in San Francisco), Oakland -> Washington DC (2/3 nights stopover in DC), DC -> Boston (few hours walkaround, got lost and almost missed the next train!), Boston -> Chicago, fly home to London.... (So about 6000 miles of train travel, all in coach).

Also done a couple of month-long Interrail trips (a long time ago), but with a reasonable amount of stopovers - sharing a 6 seat compartment on an international overnight train with 5 other people isn't that much fun really....

Tony

I only did one Interrail trip (in the traditional sense of exploring Europe) and found that travelling long distances every day with just a couple of short breaks in was pretty wearing. Seeing a lot of cities, in different countries, none of which I had previously visited apart from Paris, was a bit overwhelming on the brain! (It would be easier now, I think, with the internet, as Mark_Lester has said).

On the plus side, though, it made me want to return to some places for a longer stay, and also convinced me never to set foot in others ever again!

I do think that interrailing is all about travelling, and not quite so much about staying for several days in one place. For me anyway, it's all about travelling to the next place, enjoying whatever scenery there is one the way, and then moving on somewhere else. A bit like a coach holiday, really, but self designed and on a trains instead of coaches!

I did enjoy exploring Switzerland more recently on a flexible 3 in 7 interrail ticket, which was good value. Slightly different, though, as we stayed in one place and took day trips to Montreux, Bern, Lucerne and Basel along some very scenic routes, some of which I hadn't seen since my big interrail trip twenty odd years earlier!

 

[ac6000cw]

I do think that interrailing is all about travelling, and not quite so much about staying for several days in one place. For me anyway, it's all about travelling to the next place, enjoying whatever scenery there is one the way, and then moving on somewhere else. A bit like a coach holiday, really, but self designed and on a trains instead of coaches!

Agreed, and definitely something to do at least once in your life - after all, if you don't try it you'll never know if you like it or not

Tony