Interrailling holiday. I need advice...

Peleus

Hey,

this summer im going on an interrailling holiday with a load of my friends. they are buying a month interrailling pass, but since im only going to a few cities, im just going to buy my tickets at every station which should work out alot cheaper. hopefully.

Basically im flying to Brussels and getting a train to amsterdam. Im staying in amsterdam for 6 nights, then getting a train to Berlin. After 3 nights in Berlin I'm getting a train to Prague where I'll stay for 3 nights before flying home to Dublin.

Im fly to Brussels on the 2nd of July and i need to get a train to Amsterdam basically that same afternoon. Is it easy just to walk into a train station in Brussels and buy a train ticket to amsterdam?? or do i need to know the times of every train journey i'll be going on before i leave?

I want to be able to get from city to city but i dont want to buy an interrailling ticket because the ones for ten days are very limiting. I was just wondering, is it possible to get from city to city by train without booking ahead???

oh and also, do i have to book every nights accomodation aswel, or can we just find a hostel in every city we go to. help would be greatly appreciated. oh and if theres anything else i should know about my holiday plan, please feel free to poke holes in it.

sorry for babling on, thanks!

nads

why not fly direct to amsterdam?

You don't need to book ahead but would be nice to know how frequent they are, the inter-country trains that is. but since you're not too pressed for time, you'll be ok.

just fly into amsterdam and get a train to berlin and one to prague - simple.

The only bogey thing about not booking hostel ahead of time is if there's a trade fair or some mad convention you'll be screwed but having said that, don't constrict yourself with pre-booking hostels, although on hostelsworld.com just pay an extra 1 euro and you can get the cancellation pass, once you cancel a day before arrival time.

Peleus

nads wrote: »

why not fly direct to amsterdam?

You don't need to book ahead but would be nice to know how frequent they are, the inter-country trains that is. but since you're not too pressed for time, you'll be ok.

just fly into amsterdam and get a train to berlin and one to prague - simple.

The only bogey thing about not booking hostel ahead of time is if there's a trade fair or some mad convention you'll be screwed but having said that, don't constrict yourself with pre-booking hostels, although on hostelsworld.com just pay an extra 1 euro and you can get the cancellation pass, once you cancel a day before arrival time.

i was thinking of gettin a 22day interrailling pass which would get me ten days of travel anywhere in europe within 22days. that would be €230 which would mean i wouldnt have to worry about the cost of any trains and could travel anywhere if i had to. and considering berlin to prague by train would be quite expensive the cost would nearly work out the same. and a flight to amsterdam is more expensive than a flight to brussels, so if i got the interrailling pass, it would work out cheaper to fly to brussels rather than fly direct.

i think your right about not booking hostels, i dont want to prebook a hostel only to bump into a cheaper one in the middle of the city when i get there. I think i look into a couple of hostels in each city and try visit them when i get there. thanks for the advice.

jackbhoy

You should be able to check your train prices from Bru-Amst here: http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php and Ber-Pra here: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

and compare this to what Interrail pass will cost.

Did the interrailing thing about 5 years ago, went in June and didn't book any hostels before leaving, just rang them at most the day before. didn't have any problems. I would recommend Circus hostel in Berlin though, I sound like an ad as I have recommended it a few times here but having stayed in hostels all over the world this is one of better ones.

nads

can't be that much more to fly direct to amsterdam, maybe i'm getting older, i put a price on hassle and extra needless flight, think of getting off the plane in belguim and thinking that you could already be sipping on a beer in amsterdam already.
fair play though it's a great trip you're doing, you're leaving out munich tho man, it's class

raemie21

Porb isn't worth your while getting a pass because those countries aren't in the same zones so it would work out costing you more overall. Just be aware though that each of those train journeys is likely to cost you about 70-100euro, you can get a high speed train from brussels to amsterdam called the 'Thalys' that only takes about an hour and a half. You'd be fine booking trains the day before you plan to leave, same for you friends with the pass aswell coz often you have to make some sort of a reservation & otherwise will end up waiting for hours at the station for the next few seats! Generally stations are near city centre anyway so defo from experience, it's always worth popping in the day before to get an idea. Re what the other person said about hostels, without being too strict with a schedule, it's worth booking a hostel maybe a few nights in advance as otherwise you could arrive in a great city & not enjoy it as much coz you have to stay in some warehouse like without any character ( again, from experience & ESPECIALLY Amsterdam, if you know your dates book as far in advance as possible, say even two months coz seriously it books up so fast & there are a crazy amount of crap hostels there, and i mean hostels with backyard toliets! Enjoy it!

Peleus

nads wrote: »

can't be that much more to fly direct to amsterdam....
you're leaving out munich tho man, it's class

the reason im flying to brussels, as well as it being slightly cheaper (considering im getting the train cost included in the cost of the interrailling ticket), is that me and my friend are meeting up with a group of friends coming from spain. so we are going to meet in brussels and get the train to amsterdam together. so i'd prefer to arrive in amsterdam with the entire group and be ready to go to the accommodation, rather than get there and have to wait in amsterdam for the other group to arrive from spain.

oh and about Munich, we're not going to Berlin anymore, apparently Munich is alot better so we're probably gona end up there instead.


oh and i have one more question. (sorry, lol)
after a couple of nights in prague, one group is going on towards dubrovnik while me and my firend are flying home from prague. i know the date that we are due to arrive into prague and i know the date that the other group should be leaving, but since its an interrailling trip i have the feeling that we're going to wander off to some random country and not get to prague on time for my flight home.

should i book my flight a couple days after i expect to be ready to fly home, just to account for any detours we may take? or is there any better way to get home from prague without being restricted to a specific date to fly home?

thanks for the help, and sorry for all the questions.

Peleus

Mr.S wrote: »

Re: Brussels to Amsterdam, yep you just go to the International ticket sales and ask for a ticket to Amsterdam, and hell tell you the times. it was about 40€ return when i got it, so about 20€ one day.

(stay a night in brussels aswel, its a class city with amazing bars!)

as your only going from Brussels to Amsterdam to Munich to Prague then home, it would be stupid to get the 22day ticket, way cheaper to just get the ticket at each country.

a tip for amsterdam, Book the hostel in advance, they fill up VERY fast in the summer and youll be left with a crap place that will take a while to find, the rest you wouldnt need to book.

And about flying home: Book it 1 or 2 days more then you expect to get there, incase a train breaks down, you miss them etc, you can always stay in the airport or hostel if you arrive early.

if you want to save money on getting a bed, try www.couchsurfing.com! friend of mine did this for the whole trip! didnt spend a penny on accomadtion!

i'm really not sure whether i should buy an interrailling ticket. every website i look at has different prices and theyre really confusing. i've heard trains to munich and to prague could cost something close to €90. Ill do some more research and work something out.
I'm definately going to book my amsterdam hostel in advance, and ill fly home from prague 2 days after i'm supposed to get there. you're right, we can sleep in the airport if we're too early.

i think i have everything sorted now, i just need to decide if i'm buying that interrailling ticket.

oh and i don't think anybody would want 15 or so Irish guys sleeping on their couch. but thanks for the link, i'll keep it for future reference. cheers