Inter Railing - advice

nick23

Im thinking of going inter railing this summer with a few mates. The idea was to fly into somewhere like Amsterdam and then go wherever the wind takes us.
Im just curious to know if anyone who's been inter railing recently has any advice for me such as countries/cities to visit, places to stay, how much money to bring etc.

Any help would be great

Thanks

gerk86

hey nick. Me and a couple mates went inter railing last year for 2 weeks. Great craic.

We started in barcelona to marseillies, milan, Innsbruck, Munich, Dusseldorf and finished in Amsterdam.

We'd arrive in a city, find a hostel, set the rucksacks in the room, do a walkabout, bed, spend the next day sightseeing/ drinking, bed, set off the next day usually at 6am. We did that for each city.

city ratings
(1)Barcelona (unreal nightlife, LOADS of irish pubs, beautiful city/ architecture),
(2)Innsbruck (cheap drink, 24/7 bars, friendly locals, cheap accom)
(3)Munich ( Beautiful city, great atmosphere, Irish pub with THE best food ever and live band, intresting tours)
(4)Amsterdam (EXPENSIVE tourist trap, red light distict and cofee shops were great craic tho )
(5)Dusseldorf (Nothing much here, Accom was UNREAL tho. Pool, gym, sauna 20euro a night)
(6)Marseilles(Too hot for us, pretty city by the sea, good food)
(7)Milan (Big let down after barcelona, Extremely hot, accom was dodgy, hookers/pimps/druggies on the street below us. Nothing worth doing here)

I'd advise you to book your hostel in amsterdam. Especially if your on a late flight. Its reassurnig to know you can go straigth to ur hostel instead of lookin for one.Thta can be stressful cause its such a busy city.

I spent 700euro in 2 weeks. That was musem tickets, food, drink, hotels etc. It was plenty. If you decide to go down Eastern europe it will be cheaper.

As for places to stay, as i said above book your first hostel. You WILL find plenty of 20euro/night 3 person room hostels in pretty much every other city. We did.

My most important tip.
Dont just hop on a train willy nilly with just your interrail ticket. On a busy train you will not get seat and end up sitting between carraiges on the floor, with a throbbing hangover head on ya concentrating on not spewing chunks...we learned the hard way lol.

reserve your tickets at the ticket booth, itll cost ya a couple euro maybe but make sure ya do it.


phew...

pm me if u need more info

greentoymonkey

hey nick!

I did what you're tlkin of doin, i started in amsterdam the the world cup was on in germany! the craic in europe was unbelieveable that yr! we went:
Amsterdam, frankfurt, nuremburg, munich, from there i cant member the chain but in a nut shell we did eastern europe, prague, bratislava, budapest, krakow and went back then via berlin to paris, the channel tunnel to london and the ferry home from hollyhead. :eek: we did some over night trains, you have to prebook these to get a bed really small bed now but a bed none the less and they can cost ye a cuple of quid! for me bein in the country of the world cup was amazing, i have a foto of me next to the actual world cup trophy in a glass case! :cool: and for that reason i think any country that has a team plpayin in the european champs this yr would be brilliant to go to and then of course swizerland a nd austria since thats where they are being played! even if your not into footy, footy fans have great enthusiasm and very little trouble.

Any thing else let me know. i went for a month btw.

deise gal

I'm going interrailing this summer with a group of friend 4+girls! Very excited, we have decided on the last week of August, 1st week of September. plan on flying into prague and out of berlin Reason;flights for €60 actually a little less.
just a few quick questions.
1. What size backpack did you bring?
2. What is the story if you dont pre-book a train?
3. Also, will you get somewhere to stay even if you dont pre-book a hostel?
4. Budgeting on €50 per day to include hostel/accomodation & food(hopefully will have a few quid to spend on Polish Vodka :rolleyes:) is this enough ?

thankyou

A racy brainrot

I'm going alone, in the next week or so.
I'm actually planning my root now.
I'm going to fly into Beauvais, and then get the bus to Paris.
I went to paris last summer. I love it.
From there, (still planning) I'm going Eastern, it's just a month.
As for a bag, I don't wanna bring much. They have washing machines in the hostels and that.

A racy brainrot

Real important question. I'm a little worried.
How long does it take for the pass to arrive?
I'm hoping to go on Saturday, can't wait, and booking my pass today.
Thanks

gerk86

@ deise gal

1)

we had one of these each, pretty heavy, ditched them in our rooms as soon as we got a hostel.

2)
If you dont pre-book a train you dont get assigned a seat. If the train fills up you will be sitting in someones seat and will have to move. Extremely annoying especially when you have to move your rucksack everytime.

3)
If it's a short train journey you might get away with not pre-booking but i wouldnt chance it.

3)
50 a day is enough id say.

@ a racy brainrot

we sorted our interrail tickets in a USIT office and got them there and then.
As for a bag, you'd be better off with something like the pic above. A proper tightfitting rucksack is your best bet.

deise gal

Thanks a mill gerk86,

Just one more question though how many litres is that bag in the pic? i was thinking of 50l but that looks a lot bigger !!

gerk86

yea, thats a 88l. Filled with clothes, couple towels and a sleeping bag. Still managed to smell to high heaven afterwards tho.

We werent very economic so a 50l would work too id say.

raemie21

hey nick, your post is kinda ambiguous but ill try offer some tips anyway! I've done three interrailing trips around different parts of europe, West obviously more expensive than East. Lads seem to prefer the whole going out/drinking thing, so Berlin - Munich - Prague - Krakow - Budapest for example. You can spend as much as you mean to and I don't mean that in a smart way - you just have to keep account of your budget and how much money you actually have! We've definitely met a few groups of lads who have been 'tricked' into some version of a bar/girls dancing/multiple drinks scenario, all cheap until you go to leave and then they charge you the real price of about 100euro a head so don't fall into that trap! When you're planning what route to go, just take into account some train journeys will be well over ten hours long which can really eat into your time in a city, plus they usually leave either really early or really late. Also, book your trains the day before, even if you have a pass you still might ahve to reserve a seat officially. Oh and don't chance skipping the tickets on the metros/trams coz they tend to target backpackers and they won't accept excuses, no matter how genuine! three/four weeks tends to be the usual amount of time to go for. and last, i would 100% recommend getting an Irish Flag patch thing for your backpack - people love us & also to prevent being mistaken for Englisg/Americans! Enjoy it

nick23

Thanks.

I think that irish flag patch might be the best idea ive heard in a long while!

kerry4sam

last october 6 of us went to Rome for just a week and ending up spending the entire time in just Rome as their was far too muc to take in there but then in November a few of us inter-railing and man most definitely something you'll never forget!

Defo bring some form of colour from where you're from. I had green & gold headbands hanging off each of my bags, even everyday shoulder bag and it is such a conversation starter and even a great way to meet fellow Irish. En route to the Vatican their were 4 lads in front of us with a flag and headbands with them and we prob wouldn't have spoken to them only for seeing the colours flying proud.

flew into Barcelona -> Madrid -> Munich -> Paris -> Geneva -> Zurich -> Innsbruck -> Florence -> Rome(Again) -> Venice -> Rome -> Dublin

Inter-railing the only way to go through Europe IMO;stop where you wanna stop anywhere between your arrival and departure flight. No deadlines...No schedules...Just take it as it comes. Once, we split into 2&2 and took in Pisa while in Florence and Pompeii while in Naples

Nullandvoid

Try and get down to Croatia if you can. The island Hvar is an amazing place. Split is the nearest city to it and is also a lovely place. You can get the train from Zagreb ( a scenic journey which takes you above the clouds). Also Prague and Budapest are fabulous cities.

thedizzler

hey nick,
A few friends and I went last year. We flew into Oslo and out of Pula(Croatia) and pretty much hit everywhere in between in five weeks. Exhausting, but so worth it. Spent about 2 and a half grand, but tbh could have spent less, and we did budget for about four. Having done I'd say that even though Sacndinavia is amazing(i'd never been before), is also really expensive across the board, and the kind of place you might want to return to later(with more money!). Just not the ideal backpacking spot. We also went east and that was great, all around the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, and they're much more backpacker-friendly(read:cheap!) but again, security-wise, just to be careful there.
Definitely go for as much time as you can afford, and while we always booked the next place in advance, no need to mass-book every hostel for the whole trip. You'll find other backpackers have often just been to the city you're going to next and can recommend a good hostel. You'll also get stuck in some dodgy kips with naked elderly men and communal showers(no, seriously.) but that's all part of the great memories you look back on.(and cry....why didn't he bring jammies?!)

Frisbee

Hey. I've been interailing twice. First time for 22 days and second time for 30 days and we never once pre-booked our seats on the train. We always got seats no worries and there was never any hassle with us being in any other peoples seats. One of the trips was during the World Cup aswell.
Only time we didnt get a seat was on an overnight from Nice to Rome, and it was the eurostar so our tickets didnt cover it, was grand though coz we met a load of cool people on the train and managed to scrounge in with them in their cabin or just slept in the corridor...
Also I second the Irish flag idea, it really opens doors for ya!

thedizzler

I second the ticket thing. We didn't pre-book the vast majority of our trains. If you know you're on it for 8 hours or something, yeah, its probably worth the three euro in booking fee, otherwise there's probably no need. Do have a bit of sense though, if you're going between two large cities early-ish on a Saturday morning, there will be a crowd. Pre-booking: probably a good idea. If you're doing the same journey at 6 on a Tuesday morning, probably safe enough. Sounds simple, but you'll be surprised how you lose track of days...

Just one little bit of advice - don't go with a big bag, go for one as small as possible. You're lugging this thing around Europe, so you'll actually have to be able to lug it around with you!

breadmonkey

Myth wrote: »

Just one little bit of advice - don't go with a big bag, go for one as small as possible. You're lugging this thing around Europe, so you'll actually have to be able to lug it around with you!

Very important - ignore at your peril!

Also, do a search within the forum (actually, you might need to search the "Travel & Holidays" forum as well) and you'll find tons of stuff.

kerry4sam

the first time i went i had 2bags...1carry-on and i declared and was perfect for the flights but for lugging through Europe on the smaller trains with little bag space it was annoying.
Their was one train from Rome to Naples with 6carriages inside each carraige with seats for 6 in them only had space above your head for your luggage which meant you left your bag at your peril unattended at the end of the carraige or another which had the space! Those trains assigned you your seat so you either took that seat or you sat in the corridor with your bags.
Advantage of corridor is the beauty and scenery that unfolds outside that you wouldnt see inside the carraige.

jimmy6904

Went interrailing last summer. Got ticket for 10 days within 21 days and was brilliant. It meant we could travel any 10 days and therefore 10 cities within 3 weeks. Think it cost around €350...
Flew to Budapest and home from Amsterdam.

1.Budapest-Brilliant nightlife and craic, club called Rio beside the river, very warm when we arrived, end of Aug. Georgeous women.
2.Bratislava-Bit dodgy, bit of a kip, inconsistent prices, nightlife good enough.
3.Krakow-Nice city, Auswitcz good, didn't like Polish, agressive. Too far away from everywhere, not worth it.
4.Katowice-Ended up here cause missed a train, its a dump.
5.Prague-Cheap and good drink,food and accom,consistent prices,good sights,good weather,nightlife deadly-4 storey nightclub.Lots of tourists but not a problem.
6.Berlin-Best sightseeing of the whole trip, just full of stuff to see. There is a free tour round the city. Nightlife was excellent, do the pubcrawl.
7.Hamburg-Like Krakow,too far off the beaten track and not worth it.
8.Cologne-Brilliant nightlife,Germans are great craic,don't mind the stereotyping.
9.Maastricht-Boring.
10.Amsterdam-All good.

Strongly recommend Berlin,Prague and Budapest.

breadmonkey

I don't get why everyone always wants to hit a new city every 2 days. All you do is spend ages on trains and finding accomodation and you never really get your bearings anywhere.

kerry4sam

breadmonkey wrote: »

I don't get why everyone always wants to hit a new city every 2 days. All you do is spend ages on trains and finding accomodation and you never really get your bearings anywhere.

most people go inter-railing to hit new towns and cities in a short period of time and with little money to waste. You get to see the new cities/towns and enough time to know if its worth a return visit or not. Just because you moce on after a few days doesn't mean you can't return and many do

kerry4sam

you'll also find people after the spontaneity thrill of just not knowing. Hoping on a train...taking it as it comes...and just making the most of your time abroad. While some prefer staying in one place for a week or so, more then prefer exploring and travelling in greater detail

CantGetNoSleep

Try get to Lake Bled in Slovenia

Kundalini89

Howdie people

How feasible is sleeping on trains? How does it work, u just book a cabin?

Was supposed to be going with a group but its not lookin that way anymore! Still gonna head over though. Goin for a month from mid July to mid August, plan to hit some festivals.

Any essential items u can suggest? Im pretty organised, but every little helps.

Whats the story with hostels, do they have lockers for your stuff?