Interrailing for the 1st time

will369

Hey guys,

I am thinking about going Interailing in 2015.
I have always wanted to visit other countries, a lot of my friends are going to Thailand and Australia, but being a red head, I will struggle in the heat.

I was thinking of taking about 20 days off work, and travelling for about 16 of those days, I could visit say 8 countries?

When is the best time to go? I was thinking around May 2015. By then I can save around £2000 which I will think will be enough?

Any advice on what I need to do from now to then? Best way to plan it all out? What do so when I arrive in the countries. I want everything planned out as I don’t want to be walking around like a lost puppy.

How soon can I book my train pass?

Thanks for your time

Cornucopia

Sounds like you have the basis of a plan.

Costs/timescales are determined by various factors, like:

- what are you interested in (cities/coast/countryside)?
- where will you stay?
- will you travel during the day or overnight (where possible)?

I wouldn't buy the Interrail pass long in advance - it will probably be a major chunk of your expenditure and may be inflexible to change. When I interrailed, many years ago, the pass didn't cover travel costs within the UK or to get to the continent, so you'd need to budget for that, if it is still the case.

The first step is to work out what ticket you'll buy. Cost depends on age and countries covered, IIRC.

Voyager2002

If you want everything planned out in advance, then Interrail may not be the best option: one of its benefits is the flexibility that it allows you.

Anyway, any time of year can be good, but for different things. Countries like Spain and Italy can be VERY hot in high summer, but that might be a good time for you to explore northern Europe. Even the depths of winter are tolerable in most of the Mediterranean regions.

You should begin by visiting the Man in Seat 61 site to find out about rail travel within Europe, and read about the various places you might like to visit. Learning a language would also be a good idea...

johnmcga

Good advice already in this thread, which I'm probably just going to echo...

I spent a few months travelling round Europe and Russia by rail about eight years ago. I'm sure things have changed since then, but at the time buying an Interrail pass didn't make sense for me.

I can't remember the details, but the places I wanted to visit were in a mix of Interrail zones. Some of them weren't covered at all. In the end, it worked out significantly cheaper just to buy tickets one-by-one.

So do your research into costs, is what I'm saying. Interrail might not be the cheapest option, depending where you want to go.

Also, eight countries seems like a lot of ground to cover in 16 days. On my trip, I could quite happily have spent two weeks in Slovenia or Poland alone! Make sure you have time to actually see things, as well as spending time on trains.

will369

Hi guys,

What does everyone think to 5 countries in 2 weeks

So I can spend roughly 2 days at each country.


Also, how much money do you think I will need? I know it depends on how much I spend out there and what I do……..but do you think £1200 would be enough?

Cornucopia

It depends on where you are going to stay. (And to an extent which countries you will be travelling in). Germany and Switzerland were the most expensive IIRC, but Switzerland has some fantastic railways, and when I went, these were included on my Interrail pass.

If you are staying in hostels/sleeping on couchettes on the trains, then you will be looking at, say £20 per night (£300 for the fortnight).

In hotels, you might expect an average of maybe £50 per night, £700 for the fortnight.

Add £25 a day for food: £350.

There's the cost of UK travel and reservations and supplements, too.

So, yes, your £1200 looks about right if you are staying in hotels.

will369

Cornucopia wrote: »

It depends on where you are going to stay. (And to an extent which countries you will be travelling in). Germany and Switzerland were the most expensive IIRC, but Switzerland has some fantastic railways, and when I went, these were included on my Interrail pass.

If you are staying in hostels/sleeping on couchettes on the trains, then you will be looking at, say £20 per night (£300 for the fortnight).

In hotels, you might expect an average of maybe £50 per night, £700 for the fortnight.

Add £25 a day for food: £350.

There's the cost of UK travel and reservations and supplements, too.

So, yes, your £1200 looks about right if you are staying in hotels.

Hello,

So have you been interrailing?

I just dont know where to start.

Once I have chosen my 5 countries I want to visit what should I do next?

I was thinking of going May 2015....dont know if thats a good time to go.

I am fair skin so dont want the countreis I visit ot be really hot. But I want them all to be busy

Cornucopia

Yes, I went interrailing a couple of times in my youth - this was some time ago.

It depends how you want to approach it - it can be planned, or spontaneous, or a mix of the two. I found it easiest to plan big loops from Paris as a central point. But you can also travel across the south of France to get from Spain to Italy.

When I went, it was in the early days of the Internet, and I didn't bother getting overseas rail times. I also just turned up in various cities, and generally either got a hotel near the station, or went to the tourist info shop and got them to find one for me. This approach only failed badly once (Seville, I think) where the High-speed train station had only just been built, had no facilities and was 2km from the city.

In May, nowhere except Greece and the very south of Spain/Portugal/Italy will be hot. Any big city is likely to be busy.

It's probably worth checking for each country's bank holidays. Although it's not such an issue now, with the Euro, I had some problems with turning up somewhere and finding everything shut.

In terms of planning for May 2015, I don't think there's much you need to do until about a month before you go, other than ensure your Passport will be valid at the time. Might be worth checking where you can get your Interrail pass from, and finding out what documentation and payment methods they will need. You could also investigate insurance and healthcare documentation.

Make sure you have 2-3 reliable credit/debit cards, ideally split between Visa & Mastercard.

You may want to book Eurostar/UK rail tickets in advance to get the cheapest options. Seat 61 suggests there is an Interrail add-on for Eurostar that you may wish to look into.

Personally, I wouldn't book hotels in advance. The rail network is prone to strikes and other things you may be forced to avoid on the day.

martindow

It might be helpful to look at seat61 to get ideas on where you want to go and which is the best way of buying tickets
http://www.seat61.com/

zagfles

If you're travelling alone, stay in hostels. As well as being cheaper the people are far friendlier with strangers than people in hotels, who tend to be couples/families who keep to themselves. You'll get lonely staying in hotels, you won't in hostels. You can nearly always get a private room in a hostel if you don't want a dorm.

Don't book anything in advance, you're not going peak season, just do a bit of research into local holidays/events so you can avoid places which are likely to be packed. Just have a rough plan of where you want to go. The great thing about interrail is that even in the unlikely event you can't find anywhere for the night you can always jump on an overnight train to somewhere. Or just book the next place online/phone as you're leaving the previous place/on the way.

PolishBigSpender

The one thing to bear in mind with interrailing is that many trains will be a reservation-only. You'll often have to pay supplements for those trains, which (for instance) in Poland can be a few pounds. It may be more elsewhere - I don't have exact details, but I know that the fastest trains can attract a considerable supplement.


Sleeper trains can be a great way to get around, but I strongly recommend avoiding 'day' trains overnight. This means not taking a sitting place, but rather paying for a 'couchette' or a 'sleeper' place.


With hostels, booking.com is your friend.