Another Interrailing Thread!

blocparty

Sorry to post another interrailing thread. I read the other ones and found them very imformative. I really appreciate people like breadmonkey who give top notch advice. Anyway I need a couple of questions answered and some people to give me advice.

anyway myself and 4 friends plan to go interrailing for 3 weeks at the end of August. This is ours plan: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=198143224&size=l

Basically its Milan-->Ljubljana-->Zagreb-->Budapest-->Krakow-->Prague-->berlin-->Amsterdam
I think thats an ok amount of places to vists and spend 2-3 days in each place. But if people think thats too many then I think Ljubljana and Zagreb can be skipped unless these places are really worth going to. Suggestions?

Can any reccommend hostels to stay in in those places?

We can start in either amsterdam or milan. The flights to and from those places are a little messed up. Any way if we start in Amsterdam we fly direct from cork to amsterdam but coming home from milan means we would have to fly to dublin and then fly to cork the next morning. If we start in milan we would have to fly shannon to london and then milan the next morning. Which would be the better option? I think having a direct flight home would be best.

Cheers and sorry for the long post

blocparty

we can now get better flights so basically its just a case of which would be better start in and which would be better to finish in

cheers

javelin

in prague you should definitely stay in Travellers hostel UJEZD..
there is like 5 different travellers hostel..but ujezd is the cheapest..
and i never had more fun anywhere on my interrail than in that hostel. great hostel.

blocparty

javelin wrote:

in prague you should definitely stay in Travellers hostel UJEZD..
there is like 5 different travellers hostel..but ujezd is the cheapest..
and i never had more fun anywhere on my interrail than in that hostel. great hostel.

cheers. does anyone else have any other suggestions on what hostels to stay in?

I came home from Inter-Railing on thursday, the biggest piece of advice i can give you is to bring a tent. Seriously, we left in two groups, from the same point, to the same endpoint. We brought a tent, the others didn't. We probably camped 17 of the 22 nights, and you cant compare hostels to the fun on Campsites. Sure, every so often, visit a hostel and get a shower and a proper bed for the night, but tenting is more fun and far cheaper*!

* eg. Our first Night, in Antwerp, there were 4 of us in a tent in a Campsite, Total cost = €11.25

the other 4, in the cheapest Hostel in Antwerp
Total Cost = €90

If you can make that saving at least half the time, you will end up having a cheaper and more fun time!

We also found that it was easier to talk to people on Campsites, and we could stay up drinking outside the tent with a group of people we'd met that night, when in a hostel, you cant do that at all...

(one more piece of advice, bring an Irish flag. We ended up buying one while we were away to stop people thinking we were English. The difference in Service you get when people think you're English is ridiculous!!)

Have fun!
And i'll answer any other questions you have.

(one thing before i finish, when in amsterdam, THE place to stay is Camp Zeeburg, It was €90 for the four of us for four nights total. And they have a bike rental service. You can google them too, they have a decent website.)

blocparty

thanks for the reply.

We have toyed with the idea of bringing a tent but im still undecided whether or not to do it or not. were the camp sites far from the city centre and from public transport?

was the tent really hot and sticky during the night as id imagine that centeral europe will be extremely hot during the weeks we are over there.

yes it was hot, but unless you're willing to pay at least €25 a night for hotels with A/C, you'll be hot regardless of where you go..

breadmonkey

I agree with Brianna Unimportant Nectar, bring a tent. We didn't, but ended up buying two tents anyway (for 6 of us). Camping in infinitely cheaper than hostelling. But for the love of God, if you plan on camping a lot, bring a nice spongy groundmat to sleep on. I cannot stress this enough. Just the thought of it makes my hips scream in pain!

Is there much to do/see in Zagreb? It's not a place I would have thought many people went.

I'd say finish in Amsterdam and blow your brains out on whatever takes your fancy. Chase the dragon for me!

missmatty

There was a nice piece in last weekend's Sunday Times travel magazine about Zagreb. Before, i had not thought much about it but it seems nice and friendly and much more interesting than i thought! And since tons of ppl don't seem to go there it's probably still a bit cheap

blocparty

hey guys thatnks for the replys. it looks like we will be camping now. it will prob save us €200 so thats always a plus.

my only question is, are the camp sites close to the city centres or what?

it depends, in amsterdam, the campsite was very close, but in other places we'd have to get a bus or a taxi out. You can't generally say that they will or wont be close. But think of it like this, if you're going to a huge city, If you landed in Dublin tomorrow, where would you camp?