Interrailing

Dave! · 16-05-2006 3:03pm #1

hey folks,

I know there's a fair few threads on this already, but I thought I'd start a new one for the craic

I'm thinking of going inter-railing this summer!

I'm willing to go on my own, but hopefully a friend or 2 will come along (I've managed to get my best mate all excited about the idea

).

I'm a little bit torn between the 22 day (2 zone) pass, and the 1 month (global) one. The countries that I mainly want to see can be seen with 2 passes... I was thinking of this:

*fly into Brussells
*head up to the Netherlands
*go back down through to Luxembourg
*head into France and go through there to Italy
*travel through Italy
*ferry from Italy to Greece
*travel around Greece to Turkey
*my friend has a villa in Turkey, so we'd stay there for a while

*then, don't know how long we'd have left, so either fly back to Dublin from Turkey, or else interrail back around again

That is of course a very basic itinerary, we could end up ignoring it, but for the purpose of booking, they're the main places we want to go. We're not too keen on E.Europe, nor the Iberian Peninsula (although Morocco would be cool

).

Thing is, 22 days isn't alot of time for that! Is it worth spending an extra €100 for just another week, though? I'd like the extra freedom to be able to head into Germany maybe, but that would mean that we'd have even less time for the main places.
Which would you recommend?

Also, how much money should we bring for each day? From what I read, €50 a day should be plenty, so the finances look like this:

€400 for interrail ticket
€100 allowed for transport to and from the continent
€50x30days = €1500

So €2000 for a month of travelling... sounds a bit steep. We'd most likely invest in some tents before we go too, and sleep in them the odd night (we're quite young and naive, so we'll take the chance of discomfort

).

That's all I'll ask ye for now. Any advice or experiences are welcome, especially of the countries I mentioned

Thanks!

Dave! · 16-05-2006 11:20pm

nobody able to help me?

I guess my post is too long, a bit daunting

Basically...

22 days isn't alot of time
Is it worth spending an extra €100 for just another week?
Which would you recommend?

Imposter · 17-05-2006 6:59am

From Brussells through to Italy on to Greece and then Turkey! That's at least a months worth of travelling there unless you plan on not getting off the train.

last_orders · 17-05-2006 9:26pm

hey man, i did it last summer, got the global ticket an stuck the full month. overall i spent €1600 give or take a bit. we flew to dubrovnik in croatia an stayed around a week an then off to slovenia, hungry, poland, germany, autria, holland, france an back to holland an flew home from there. ya shouldent instantly dis eastern europe, cheap as anything an the people are really nice, especially in croatia and poland. as for spending the extra 100€ go for it, might aswell. best holiday iv ever had. had to sleep rough twice though, once in some random persons back garden in dubrovnik an the other time was in an olive grove on the adriatic island of split, was fun though.

psycrow · 18-05-2006 12:13pm

yeah me and 3 of my mates are tryin to sort out it now. nothin set in stone yet but really lookin forward to it. id say well possibly start in italy see venice and rome then go through a lot of eastern europe, as said above its cheap and supposed to be great fun. hit the likes of czech rep(prague baby!.. ive been told its the best city in europe for a night out and what not!), then on to croatia, slovenia, poland maybe germany and finish in holland.

what weve to decide basically is how long to stay in each place ive a feeling 2 nights per place would be good. we dont want to be travelling non stop. so maybe more

any recommendations?

kippy · 18-05-2006 12:20pm

You may want to change your estimate of €100 for travelling to and from the continent.
The flight to belgium may be cheap but if you intend flying back from Turkey (or that side of Europe) you will pay considerably more.
Did the interrail, 2 week ticket a few years ago.
Belgium, Holland, Lux and France. Flew into Belgium, back from paris.
Spend two days in about7 towns/villages all over, mostly in France.
Was fantastic. Got by on 50yoyo a day budget but spent around 20 yoyo a night on accomodation, can be done cheaper.
Kippy

failsafe · 19-05-2006 2:49am

Def worth the hundred quid. On the broader scale of the whole holiday it's not a huge amount, but affords you alot of freedom. A train ticket can cost on average €30 without the interrailing pass which might make the global pass work out relatively cheap.

On a side note, the countries you're visiting are pretty expensive (living cost wise) you should consider some of the eastern european countries, especially croatia which is amazing.

e38418 · 19-05-2006 6:39pm

try interrail.net for information.myself and a friend are goin in june but nothin sorted yet cos were in the middle of exams!
does anyone know where i could find a map of airports in central/eastern europe?

gaf1983 · 19-05-2006 10:37pm

A group of us went in the summer of 2004 - I went to Prague, Krakow and Budapest and back to Prague some of the others went on down to Slovenia and Austria. We didn't bother buying interrailing passes cos it actually worked out cheaper buying individual train tickets, like the one from Prague to Krakow, a 10 hr journey was about 15euro. Accomodation worked out at about 10 to 15 a night, and then it's up to yourself really how much you spend the rest of the time.

Dave! · 20-05-2006 1:25am

Thanks for all the advice so far folks, and keep it coming!

With regards Eastern Europe, I really don't know that much about it, but when I hear that I think of crazy people waving Kalashnikovs in the air!

lol. Sounds stupid, but the place doesn't really appeal to me compared to the other countries I mentioned. What's the appeal? cos as I said, I don't know alot about it, but it seems to be popular for interrailing, presumably, I thought, because it's so cheap. Can someone sell it to me?

I've not done much travelling, so those countries I mentioned earlier are places that most people have probably been to, but not me. I wanna see Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Athens, etc.

Also, there's a chance that I'll be heading over on my own, and my mate might follow me over for 2 weeks, or else he'll come over and leave after 2 weeks. It seems to be more of a group thing to interrail, am I likely to meet young individuals, do you think? I suppose the hostels would be the best place for that.

Okay, so €400 (for ticket) + €150 (for flights) + €1500 (for accomodation and spending) = €2050 (+ I'm sure there's alot more... like a tent and a backpack! and supplements, etc)

hmmm...

Sparky · 20-05-2006 4:01pm

Man, I have to interrail sometime.

Chakar · 21-05-2006 1:30am

Yeah me too really should try it out

Narcissus · 21-05-2006 10:45am

Have you looked at interrail.com, pretty good web-site.

In Paris this year, there's a 3 day interrailing event in August.

Link Here

Sounds cool.

edit: also, according to interrail.com there are 8 zones, so I think an extra €100 for the global ticket would be a good idea as it would give you more time to do what you want.

ya-what-now? · 21-05-2006 10:58am

I'm heading off inter-railing myself, tomorrow week now actually!!

I'm doing the global one...so I'm away for a month! Flying to Paris and headin to Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Venice and flying home from Rome...or well that's the rough plan....

Also, if you're interested in music check out for gigs/festivals that might be on when you're over there! I'm heading to Pinkpop festival ( www.pinkpop.nl ) when I'm in Netherlands-it's got The Flaming Lips,RHCP,David Gray,Tool,Morrissey,Franz Ferdinand,Editors, Placebo, Kaiser Chiefs...etc...

Dave! · 24-05-2006 12:07pm

That interrail event seems pretty cool! I'd say ya'd meet tonnes of people there!

Bit of a glitch in the plan... I got a great job for the summer, and I'd like to be able to keep it afterwards... but they only let ya take 2 weeks' holidays. The choices are (a) quit and get a new job when I come back from interrailing, or (b) just go for the 2 weeks. I wouldn't see alot in that time, though

If I did the 2 weeks(the ticket is 16 days actually), then I can only do one zone! Or I could buy the 22 day ticket and do 2... grrg, decisions! Realistically I wouldn't be able to go further South than Paris, or maybe Lyon, so if I were doing 2 zones, it'd have to be C and E. I suppose that'd be less time on trains than if I were going all the way down to Turkey, but I'm not as interested in those countries as the others.

argh, what a dilemma!!! I'll talk to the manager anyway, and see if they're able to 'let me go' for the month and then take me back afterwards, for part-time work. I did specify that it was full-time work for the summer months.

What ye think?

sound_wave · 24-05-2006 8:38pm

While your taking a different route to us when we went interrailling ( Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungry, Slovakia, Poland, basically zones C & D) one of our party only had 2 weeks to travel due to work arrangements while we had the 4 weeks, just to give you a sense of what he was able to take in for the two weeks, we got to Croatia before he had to go home.

If I were you, I'd say feck the job

and just get another one when you come back, but then thats easy for me to say.

I still think you shouldn't discount zones C & D, there are some amazing places to visit and its a little cheaper too.

Daithio · 25-05-2006 1:17pm

I've been interrailing twice, kind of did Western Europe one year, and Eastern the next. France and Italy are quite expensive, and IMO are too hot during the summer. Spain although while it is very hot is much cheaper in general, but the best places I ended up were mainly the Eastern European cities. Particularly Budapest, Prague and Krakow.

Basically it depends what sort of heat you can put up with, but travelling around on often un airconditioned trains (I'm talking about Italy here mainly) in sweltering heat with a backpack on your back can get to be a bit of a pain in the arse. It's not like going on a holiday somewhere hot where you can dump all your bags in one place and not have to lug them around with you the whole time, inter railing can be hard work in that sort of heat. So I'd say to stick to the Eastern European / Northern countries at that time of year tbh.

ghettogrl · 25-05-2006 5:13pm

im going interrailing in a couple of weeks and have just started to look at what luggage to bring. i assume a rucksack is the best? and if so what weight should i get? iv been looking at 60/70litre? iv looked in the usual travel shops in Dublin centre but has anyone got any suggestions about where would be the cheapest? thnks!!!

Daithio · 26-05-2006 12:55am

ghettogrl wrote:

im going interrailing in a couple of weeks and have just started to look at what luggage to bring. i assume a rucksack is the best? and if so what weight should i get? iv been looking at 60/70litre? iv looked in the usual travel shops in Dublin centre but has anyone got any suggestions about where would be the cheapest? thnks!!!

Bring the absolute minimum. Get all the clothes you think you'll need into a big pile and half it.

paulocon · 28-05-2006 11:04pm

don't bother with a tent.

Hawked one around Europe and used it once (Rome) and didn't sleep a week because of the crickets!

Hostels everwhere and cheap!

We went to most of the major capitals (Paris, Rome, Amsterdam etc)
Looking back, I would go a bit more off the beaten track as I've been back to some of the places on City Breaks (married life!).

Try taking in the places you probably won't get back to.

Setun · 30-05-2006 7:01pm

Our itinerary is basically worked out:
Budapest 19th-22nd
Vienna
Munich
Prague
Berlin
Amsterdam 9th-12th

We'll fit the other cities in between those dates. Can't wait!

It'll be our first time away as a group, so has anyone any tips/recommendations?

solice · 31-05-2006 5:28pm

heading off tomorrow morn, budapest, split, hvar, zagreb, krakow, warsaw, prague. Can anyone offer any advice at all for any of the destinations, I know its late but anything at all would be great

SprostonGreen · 01-06-2006 2:04pm

Right, I havent read all the replies.

I did this in 2002 over about 17 days. Flew to Brussels, up to Antwerp, back to Brusels.

On to Amsterdam, then Hamburg and finally Copenhagen. Then all the way back to Brussels overnight to fly out on Ryanair.

It was great, I loved it, was never really on my own as I met people in hostels.

Those countries are part of the one region thats how Interrail tickets are split.

Crash · 01-06-2006 2:26pm

Hrmm - wonder will he read this:

Budapest - go to a place called cha-cha-cha. I think its in Calvin-Ter Metro station - its a nightclub in the metro station - really dodgy but really fun

lots of nice places around budapest, go up to the castle. if you get a chance go see the holocaust memorial, its really quite amazingly done. erm...check if St. Steven's Basilica has the tower open yet - it was closed when we were there but I bet it has a great view. Oh, and don't worry as to whether you're staying in Buda or Pest, even if you're not in the city centre the place has a great metro and bus service.

As for me, I spent 3 weeks last summer travelling around Germany on an interrail ticket Solo. Amazing fun - went late in the season so managed to only run into Irish on my first couple of days.

Mostly Aussies, Kiwi's, and a few Saffers. great fun, well worth it. Don't try and cram too much in, train journeys can get very tiresome. Remember sometimes its nice to just find a quiet city for a couple of days to chill, especially if you're not getting the chance to eat perfectly, otherwise lots of beer + not enough good food = baaad.

that said, i think for 21 days I had a minimum of two beers per day, ranging up to a possible ten. I like German beer

Dave! · 01-06-2006 6:59pm

&#231 wrote: »

As for me, I spent 3 weeks last summer travelling around Germany on an interrail ticket Solo. Amazing fun - went late in the season so managed to only run into Irish on my first couple of days. Mostly Aussies, Kiwi's, and a few Saffers. great fun, well worth it. Don't try and cram too much in, train journeys can get very tiresome. Remember sometimes its nice to just find a quiet city for a couple of days to chill, especially if you're not getting the chance to eat perfectly, otherwise lots of beer + not enough good food = baaad.

that said, i think for 21 days I had a minimum of two beers per day, ranging up to a possible ten. I like German beer

Interesting

You say that you went solo, did you choose to go on your own for independence, etc., or could you just not get anyone else to go for so long? (the fella I'm goin with is pullin out, the bastad!) Would you recommend goin on your own, or do ya think it'd be better if you went with at least 1 person? I've still got plenty of time, so I could manage to get someone, but it seems a little unlikely as most people are either goin on different holidays and aren't interested in interrailing, or they won't be able to get the time off work.
What age were the people you met, in general? Did you find yourself joining up with groups and going on with them? I don't mind goin on my own, but I'd imagine it'd suck to be on your own all the time!

Thanks!

Crash · 01-06-2006 7:09pm

I preferred to go solo tbh - there are very few people i'd be willing to compromise my own freedom to travel to head off with - and most of them had been away anyhow, so I just decided to do it solo

I'd definitely recommend it - only thing to do is remember to bring lots of books/cards with you cus train journeys can be boring - I generally just used them to catch up on sleep or read/listen to music/play solitaire.

It had the advantage that I could completely throw my itinerary out the window and make up my own mind - originally had a couple of stops planned but after getting a hostel in the second place fell through I just started taking out the map and checking where was within a four or five hour train journey that looked interesting!

For most of the trip a lot of the people I met were mid to late twenties, so at 19 I was the youngest. Luckily enough people don't think i'm 19 (worst estimate I got was off a 19 year old girl in a bar who thought i was 27(??), but i think she was just a bit weird) so didn't get any of that "aaw, little backpacker" ****e! Generally I'd travel on my own, get into the hostel, throw my stuff on the bunk or on the locker, have a shower and wander down to the common room and see who was about - people are always willing to have a chat in hostels - So usually found a couple of sound people to sit around and have a drink and chill whenever got into a new city. Some of em were the type you'd go out for the laugh with them and then do your own thing during the day, others were really great to hang around with the whole time.

I never actually ended up travelling with a group - got an offer to go to Amsterdam from three South African girls but unfortunately had to go meet some mates in Munich and then fly home (you do NOT want to know what i turned down

)

Overall it really is what you make of it - if you get the chance and meet some sound people on your first night and they're heading out, i'd say go out with them. It'll help you get over the whole "...wtf am i at?" kinda deal (I spent a few hours sitting in Frankfurt train station, as well as the flight over there, seriously wondering wtf I was doing - then I got to my hostel and got chatting to people, really settled my nerves.)

Setun · 01-06-2006 9:55pm

Sounds good alright! I'm really looking forward to it now.

Does everyone recommend travelling as light as possible?

tinka · 01-06-2006 10:13pm

i'm going interrailing on the 28th of this month with four other girls. flying to berlin and travelling around mid-eastern europe, flying home from krakow. i'm so very excited. eastern europe is so appealing to me because the cities we're visiting seem to be really beautiful. i know people who have been to budapest, prague, vienna etc and have heard wonderful things. we're bringing approx. 1000 euro (can't find the euro sign!) for 26 days which works out at about 38 euro a day. this is jst an estimate obviously as some countries are more expensive than others, germany for example. at least we're ending up in poland which appears to be pretty cheap...

Crash · 02-06-2006 12:01am

I lived the high life on about 50 a day around Germany - also ran into a bunch of americans on a training course who put all my drinks on the tab for 3 days - that was interesting. Daddio: pack your clothes, then look at all the duplicates (pairs of tshirts, pairs of jeans etc.) and cut out 1/3 to 1/2 - you'll rarely be arsed reaching the bottom of your bag cus of the pain in the ass it is to repack.

Civilian_Target · 02-06-2006 9:54am

Thats an ambitions plan for 22 days!

LuciaD · 02-06-2006 10:19am

Hi! Am going interrailing this summer and just found great website with links to all the top and cheap ticket and accommodation websites for Europe, so just thought I'd share with yer all! Hope you all enjoy your trips!:)

http://www.freewebs.com/studenttravel/

Interrailing

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