Interrail route advice please

Lola87

Hi all
I'm hoping to go interrailing for a month in July strating in Switzerland/ Austria or Czech Rep and travelling through south eastern Europe and finishing in Greece for a spot of island hopping.

Heres a list of the countries I'd like to visit:
Croatia, Slovenia, Czech rep, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and possibly Turkey (just for Istanbul but this might be a bit too far out for me to fit it in)

I know its a lot of countries to try to fit in to a months travelling so if anyone could advise as to whether I should leave a few countries out that would be appreciated. Ideally I'd like to spend 2-3 days in each country/major city so I know I'll have to cut down on the above itenary. Any advice on must-see places would be great?

Also any opinions on bringing a foldable bike with me- too much of a hassle or worthwhile? Love cycling so I'm thinking it might be useful and I'd be able to travel around the cities cheaply and see a bit of the countryside too.

Any advice, replies, suggestions appreciated! Thanks!

p to the e

when i went we were originally supposed to go to Slovakia but we changed our minds because we didn't hear any good reports. it's nothing to do with danger or anything it's just that there seemed nothing to do there. Slovenia is a must see. get the train to Ljubliana (the capital) and you can a loacl train to a place called Lake Bled where you can do all adventure stuff (rafting, treks etc.).

Budapest and Prague are both great spots aswell.

Lola87

Thanks for the reply. Might leave Slovakia out so. Yeah I've heard about Lake Bled so thats definately on my list!

Can anyone tell me will it be possible to fit all the countries i mentioned into a months trip?

Papa_Lazarou

Lola87 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Might leave Slovakia out so. Yeah I've heard about Lake Bled so thats definately on my list!

Can anyone tell me will it be possible to fit all the countries i mentioned into a months trip?

Depends realy on how long you want to spend in certain places/what you want to see/if the people you are going with have preferences.Good organisation should allow you to get done what you want but too much stuff and you'll find that you are just going to be rushing around the place and not getting enough time to enjoy the best of some areas.

p to the e

seen as you're sticking to that particular side of europe you should get to see most if not all of what you want but it really depends how long you want to spend in each place. the great thing about interrailling is that you can just decide on the go. there's no point leaving a place if you really would like to stay another day or two. just make sure you're in your in your final destination for flights (or whatever) home. another great piece of advice i'd give is if you organise to start your interrailling ticket on the 5th (for example) of July then fly to your starting city a few days (maybe the 2nd) before it starts and enjoy that first.

Lola87

Good advice there, thanks. More questions:

As I will be travelling during peak season will it be necessary to pre book hostels? I would be planning on pre booking my first hostel and final hostel, and all the rest hopefully could ring up en route or book on net a few days beforehand. Will probably book a hostel for Lake Bled before I head off too as it could be quite busy.

Would bringing a foldable bike be advisable or would it be easier to hire a bike here and there?

Here the route I'm looking at following:
Prague - Vienna - Bled - Trieste - Ljubjana - Zagreb - Split - Dubrovnik - Tirane - Sofia - Istanbul - Cesme - Greek island hopping (for 5th week ie week after ticket expires)

Any advice/ suggestions regarding the above route would also be great.

ardmacha

The "Bohinj" railway line west of Bled has to be one of the most scenic in the world. They have steam excursion but the regular train should be fine with the Interrail. Get off in Nova Gorica and walk across the station carpark into Italy (border fence now removed) and have an expresso. This route is one way to get from Bled to Trieste as it was built as a Trieste - Vienna route.

CantGetNoSleep

Lola87 wrote: »

Good advice there, thanks. More questions:

As I will be travelling during peak season will it be necessary to pre book hostels? I would be planning on pre booking my first hostel and final hostel, and all the rest hopefully could ring up en route or book on net a few days beforehand. Will probably book a hostel for Lake Bled before I head off too as it could be quite busy.

Would bringing a foldable bike be advisable or would it be easier to hire a bike here and there?

Here the route I'm looking at following:
Prague - Vienna - Bled - Trieste - Ljubjana - Zagreb - Split - Dubrovnik - Tirane - Sofia - Istanbul - Cesme - Greek island hopping (for 5th week ie week after ticket expires)

Any advice/ suggestions regarding the above route would also be great.

Some of the islands in between Split and Dubrovnik would certainly be worth a day or two

Have never heard much about Tirana

alison_q

if you're going to split then take a boat to hvar. its gorgeous! accommodation is cheap and u can rent a boat for roughly €10 and they'll give u a map of the surrounding islands and beaches n u can just boat your way around for the whole day if u want to

monkiscool

i know its been said but definitely go to slovenia ,ljubljana and bled are both beautiful,went there last summer and can't wait to go back:)

p to the e

i know that a bike would be a waste in Prague, Vienna and Bled as everything is either within walking distance or the public transport is quite good. If you get a nice day in Vienna go to a place called Schoppenhauer Palace (might be spelled wrong). as for booking in advance you should book the next city's hostel in the one you're in. a day or two notice is usually good enough because everywhere has everal hostels. although Lake Bled can fill up fast. look up the George Best Hostel i think it's called. great craic but you don't have to do the rafting that can be organised there. a walk around the town will get you cheaper prices and great day excursions.

Civilian_Target

Used to live in Skopje, Macedonia, so I'm pretty familiar with these places.

In Croatia, I'd recommend Dubrovnik. Pricey, but stunning.
Bled's a reasonably good bet, but it's quite touristy. If you're in Slovenia, spend a couple of days in Ljubljana, a good place with a great nightlife.
I'd skip Bulgaria, I found it unfriendly, definitely preferred Serbia + Macedonia, but it may have just been a bad experience.
The north of Greece is really good too, I recommend Thessaloniki, it's where Greeks go on holidays.

Finally, my suggestion would be, don't buy interrail passes. Train tickets in the Balkans are very cheap, and the trains are so hopeless that most of the locals travel by bus. (You can hail down a train in Macedonia, it will stop for you!)

baby and crumble

If you're going to Ljubliana you should stay at the Hostel Celica

http://www.souhostel.com.

It's a refurbished prison and you get to stary in redecorated cells. SERIOUSLY cool, and the food is great. Nice a cheap too. There are trains from there to Bled every day if you just want daytrips. It's beautiful place, I cannot wait to go back. there a little bus/railway thing that goes from the main square up to the castle too, with AMAZING views of the city, you won't get better.

Enjoy. man I want to go interrailing again now!!!

Lola87

Wow thanks for all the replies and advice, keep them coming! Will definately check out that hostel you mentioned zoegh and day trips to Bled is an option I never thought of.

Yeah definately going to Thessaloniki, have heard great things about there, also Hvar. Interesting suggestion about not getting an interrail pass as I have been debating this so more food for thought!

Think I might forget about that bike idea, I could always rent one if I felt like it.

baby and crumble

well lots of cities do that rent a bike from one place and drop it to another thing, I think they're mostly coin operated. I know Krakow has that system, and I think Amsterdam & Brussles do too, a lot of the big places have them.

thusspakeblixa

Does anyone know what Bratislava is like?
I'm contemplating putting it on this summers' route.