Inter-railing

jham_2

Has anyone been or is anyone planning to go inter-railing around Europe? I would appreciate any opinions on whether or not the monthly ticket (which costs a couple of hundred pounds) is actually worth it, or if it would be better to just get trains in the countries you choose to visit, since rail travel in lots of places in Europe is cheap anyway. This would also give the option of flying cheaply from place to place, although you perhaps lose the freedom you get with the pass...
Any opinions? Thanks xxx

KeithP

Jham, might be a good idea to post you request on a travel board.

Mikeyorks

An expert's view :-

http://www.seat61.com/Railpass.htm

jham_2

Thanks Mikeyorks!
That site's been really useful

Clive_Woody

I went inter-railing a few years back, the ticket is pretty good value and allows you to be flexible, some places we got didn't like the look of or the weather was a bit cr*p, we jumped back on the train and off we went.

Be aware on some of the TGV (high speed trains) you pay a supplement, but after a few 8 hour slow train rides this will seem like a very good idea.

Best advice I would say is travel light, you can buy cheap clothes all over the place and ditch the dirty clothes (yes I know not very money saving, but who wants to waste time washing clothes while on holiday). Eat where the locals eat, it is cheap and most likely better food than the tourist traps. Try a few words of the local lingo it always helps to break the ice.

Our route for inter-railing:

Fly to Paris - Lyon - Nice - Monte Carlo - Florence - Pisa - Rome - Brindisi (ferry to Corfu) - (ferry to mainland Greece) Patras - Athens - Corinth - Patras (ferry back to Brindisi) - Venice - Vienna - Salzburg - Dresden - Berlin - Hamburg - Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris (fly home exhausted but very happy).

Don't plan on much sleeping, you can do that when you get home.

Mikeyorks

jham wrote: »

Thanks Mikeyorks!
That site's been really useful

Amazing, isn't it? More info than I could take in.

I hate flying - so we normally go somewhere on a boat. But were looking at also going to Venice next year. So I was researching the rail options (but not the Orient Express - after one of our friends experiences) - and came across that site. Incredibly informative and helpful

Mikeyorks

Clive_Woody wrote: »

Our route for inter-railing:

Fly to Paris - Lyon - Nice - Monte Carlo - Florence - Pisa - Rome - Brindisi (ferry to Corfu) - (ferry to mainland Greece) Patras - Athens - Corinth - Patras (ferry back to Brindisi) - Venice - Vienna - Salzburg - Dresden - Berlin - Hamburg - Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris (fly home exhausted but very happy).

Sounds great .... but Eurotunnel surely on the 1st and last legs ..... and I would be on my last legs! Holidays now - have to be therapeutic.

Clive_Woody

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Sounds great .... but Eurotunnel surely on the 1st and last legs ..... and I would be on my last legs! Holidays now - have to be therapeutic.

When I said a few years back, I meant pre-Eurotunnel in 1993 (actually I suppose that is more than a few years back now, I still consider myself to be about 21....ish).

Flights from Brum to Paris were cheap and it was the quick option to get down to Paris.

It was exhausting, we often slept on the train, I lost over a stone in weight during the month from carting a rucksack around and doing lots and lots of walking around the cities, but I wouldn't change a thing. I also grew a beard while travelling which seemed like a good idea at the time. After coming back and looking at my photos I now suspect it was not so wise.

Now I need my creature comforts and would accept nothing less than 4* hotels and nice reatsurants to dine in. The though of sleeping rough on a bit of waste land in Athens, or putting up a tent in the pouring rain in Florence now makes me feel very uneasy.

It's now nice to go back to some of these cities and spend a little more time enjoying them in much more comfort.

cashpoortimerich

The interrailing pass isn't worth it in Eastern European countries, and buses are much better (faster, more comfortable, more convenient drop offs) in Western European countries. We thought we could sleep on the train and save ourselves a night in a hostel but we just ended up shattered all the time and missed out on the scenery when travelling.

If you are hostelling, treat yourself to a nice hotel every now and again, be ruthless with your packing and get your laundry done at the hostel (usually cheap and easier than finding a laundrette); I ended up ditching most of the clothes I took and I lost all my toiletres, but at least my backpack was lighter.

My best advice is, though people may laugh at you for it, get a rucksack with wheels and don't take any books. You can borrow them on the way or get talking books for your ipod.

Have a great trip!