Inter-Railing around Eastern Europe: Summer '10

E.E.T

Hi all, I would be very grateful if anyone on here could give me advise on the following travel plans....

My friend and I (both female: 22/23) would like to go inter-railing around Europe this July for four weeks minimum (may be extended to 7 weeks depending on work circumstances)

So at first we both had the usual Europe destinations in our heads: Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam/Berlin etc, never been there, so why not?! But after trawling through threads and threads about inter-railing on here, things people remarked on struck a cord with me. It went along the lines of....save those places till you can stay in nice hotels and do them properly/they’re places you can go and will go at various times in your life on long weekends/married life etc!
Therefore I have come to the conclusion that we should go inter-railing around Eastern Europe!! It’s a place that I wouldn’t ever think of going normally/can’t see myself ever going unless I go now!
Now it’s not like we are poor students or anything as we are both professionals, but we want an adventure/great memories/stay in hostels/save our money for all our other western Europe destinations!;)

So my question is: Where in Eastern Europe would ye recommend (or not even!!)
I’d be talking about countries such as Slovakia/Hungry/Croatia/Romania/Bulgaria/Montenegro/Greece etc!
Anyone do a similar trip? Have advise?! Have a good travel route?!
We would like to end in Greece however..have a holiday/relax!:)

All comments/thoughts anyone may have are welcome!
Thanks for reading!

kdouglas

Would definitely recommend eastern europe, you're making the right decision there.

In eastern europe, I've been to Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia.

Slovakia I only really spent 2 days in Bratislava, nice city, nice country, met some nice people, but didn't really have anything in particular to offer that made me want to go back.

Slovenia... I absolutely love Slovenia, the people, the countryside, and Lake Bled... anyone who has been will highly recommend it, I loved it so much during 4 days I spent there in 2007 that I went back for 5 days during a trip in 2008. Also check out Bohinj and the surrounding regions while you are near Bled if you go there.

Croatia, again, another country I absolutely love, only spent about 10 days there in 2008, went to Rijeka, Cres (with a 1 day trip down along Losinj to the town of Mali Losinj), Rab and then to Zadar.

Rijeka is ok, reasonably busy city from what little I saw of it

Cres and Rab are both lovely islands, rented a bike/moped and drove the length of Cres down onto Losinj and to the town of Mali Losinj, although I would recommend allowing more than the limited 6 or so hours we had in which to do that trip

Zadar is nice, the town itself is ok, but the main reason for staying here was to take a trip out to Plitvicka Jezera National Park, which is where you will see some of the most amazing lakes and waterfalls ever; http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=plitvicka+jezera+national+park&gbv=2&aq=2&aqi=g9g-s1&aql=&oq=plit

Cant really say much about Bulgaria/Romania/Hungary etc.. but I would like to make my way over there at some point

Valmont

E.E.T wrote: »

Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam/Berlin etc, never been there, so why not?! But after trawling through threads and threads about inter-railing on here, things people remarked on struck a cord with me. It went along the lines of....save those places till you can stay in nice hotels and do them properly/they’re places you can go and will go at various times in your life on long weekends/married life etc!

I wouldn't buy into that so much. A thrifty attitude can go a long way even in these places. You said you are planning at least 4 weeks with a view to 7; in that case you must have the extra few euro for a stay in Amseterdam or Paris. I don't know what people mean by "do properly" either, I go to the museums, walk around the city and stay in cheap hostels, I don't see what else I could do besides going to fancy restaurants and using taxis to get around.

E.E.T wrote: »

Therefore I have come to the conclusion that we should go inter-railing around Eastern Europe!! It’s a place that I wouldn’t ever think of going normally/can’t see myself ever going unless I go now!

I have been all around Eastern Europe and I really enjoyed it although I found that there is far more culture and things to do in the big western European cities like Berlin or Paris. When in Eastern Europe, one has to be a little bit more creative to find lots of exciting things to do as museums are not as ubiquitous.

E.E.T wrote: »

So my question is: Where in Eastern Europe would ye recommend (or not even!!)

With the exception of Dubrovnik, I found the coast of Croatia to be very boring and commercialised. I could have been in Malaga and not known it. I visited Zadar, Pula, Split and they were all instantly forgettable. Quite a lack of decent, good priced hostels too. Although maybe that has changed now, I was there 3 years ago. Dubrovnik is a good detour so it really isn't worth it in my opinion.

I would thoroughly recommend Bosnia, especially in the summer time. Sarajevo is a charming city and the locals are very friendly and accommodating. There are some really cool siege-related tours to do and they are very cheap. Nightlife is pretty awesome too. The countryside in Bosnia is also very picturesque and I would recommend you to get out and explore it if you can. I stayed at a hostel in Mostar and the owner charged 15 euro for a complete day trip to some really nice spots in the mountains. There wasn't an overload of travellers in Bosnia either which was nice. Many people still think it's a warzone:rolleyes:

I will never forget the 5 hours we spent swimming in a small lake surrounded by 3 waterfalls in the mountains near Mostar. As soon as I got back I said to my friend "more people have got to visit Bosnia!"

E.E.T wrote: »

We would like to end in Greece however..have a holiday/relax!:)

Well that is just cheating!

I have no idea why these images are called Bugatti Veyron but they are of the spectacular sunset over Sarajveo we saw every night of our visit. The lake in the mountains and mostar bridge, which I proudly jumped off into the river.

E.E.T

Many thanks for your helpful reply kdouglas, really appreciate it!

Been searching through all the eastern europen threads today. From what I can see it seems the following places came up recommended a few times from various people..

Croatia:
Dubrovnik
Split
Hvar
Rijeka
Zadar
Cres
Rab
Losinj

Hungry:
Budapest

Slovenia:
Ljublijana
Lake Bled
Bohinj

Bosnia
Mostar
Sarajevo

Greece:
Thessaloniki
Athens
Paros
Ios

What are peoples thoughts on those places that I have listed?!
Anybody have any other places that I should add to the list?!

E.E.T

Again, thanks Valmont for taking the time to reply to my thread, it's great to hear first hand experiences!

Valmont wrote: »

I wouldn't buy into that so much. A thrifty attitude can go a long way even in these places. You said you are planning at least 4 weeks with a view to 7; in that case you must have the extra few euro for a stay in Amseterdam or Paris. I don't know what people mean by "do properly" either, I go to the museums, walk around the city and stay in cheap hostels, I don't see what else I could do besides going to fancy restaurants and using taxis to get around..

It's not about the money but guess I'm just under the assumption that Amsterdam/Paris etc are places that I'll be going to ten times over with various people during my life, so will leave them unexplored for the time being/stay in nice hotels/fancy restaurants etc!
Would perfer to use the trip to explore only Eastern Europe as apart from 'yeah I did eastern europe and amsterdam and paris and brussels and berlin and...' Quality rather than quantity kinda thing?!

Valmont wrote: »

I have been all around Eastern Europe and I really enjoyed it although I found that there is far more culture and things to do in the big western European cities like Berlin or Paris. When in Eastern Europe, one has to be a little bit more creative to find lots of exciting things to do as museums are not as ubiquitous. .

While I throughly enjoy going to various museums when I'm away in cities, I would like something different from this trip eg: canoeing/bike tours/trekking trips/swimming surrounded by waterfalls/to be in awe of natural beauty..guess do things I wouldn't normally do/get to do in city breaks. Make sense?!

Valmont wrote: »

With the exception of Dubrovnik, I found the coast of Croatia to be very boring and commercialised. I could have been in Malaga and not known it. I visited Zadar, Pula, Split and they were all instantly forgettable. Quite a lack of decent, good priced hostels too. Although maybe that has changed now, I was there 3 years ago. Dubrovnik is a good detour so it really isn't worth it in my opinion..

Aww, that's a pity you thought that. Alot of people seem to recommend those places and they were places I was really looking forward to! Guess the beauty of inter railing is that we can pack up and leave if we don't happen to like those places ourselves?!

Valmont wrote: »

I would thoroughly recommend Bosnia, especially in the summer time. Sarajevo is a charming city and the locals are very friendly and accommodating. There are some really cool siege-related tours to do and they are very cheap. Nightlife is pretty awesome too. The countryside in Bosnia is also very picturesque and I would recommend you to get out and explore it if you can. I stayed at a hostel in Mostar and the owner charged 15 euro for a complete day trip to some really nice spots in the mountains. There wasn't an overload of travellers in Bosnia either which was nice. Many people still think it's a warzone:rolleyes:.

Yeah, while searching through threads and threads on Eastern Europe, people recommended Sarajevo/Monstar so I say they'll be a defo on the final travel plan!!!

Valmont wrote: »

I will never forget the 5 hours we spent swimming in a small lake surrounded by 3 waterfalls in the mountains near Mostar. As soon as I got back I said to my friend "more people have got to visit Bosnia!".

This experience of yours makes me just want to ring work in the morning and tell them I'm quitting and buying a one way ticket to Bosnia!:D

Valmont wrote: »

Well that is just cheating!.

Got any other suggestions by any chance?!...I'm all ears! (or eyes as the case may be!!)

Valmont wrote: »

I have no idea why these images are called Bugatti Veyron but they are of the spectacular sunset over Sarajveo we saw every night of our visit. The lake in the mountains and mostar bridge, which I proudly jumped off into the river.

Oh what lovely pictures...again, please refer to my second comment up from here!!!:)

Civilian_Target

Honestly, I wouldn't do such a strong eastern europe focus. It's true that you can do Western European cities when you're more settled and older... but in a way that misses the point. Berlin, for example, has a buzzing nightlife with great concerts, raves and squats that will mean nothing to you in ten years time.

I would suggest you start in Berlin and work your way down to Athens. That will cover most of the spots you've mentioned, without sticking to just Eastern Europe. I did the route Berlin -> Dresden -> Prague -> Vienna -> Venice in 2008 and highly recommend it. After that, it's only a short hop to Ljubljana and down the Croatian coast.

E.E.T

Civilian_Target wrote: »

Honestly, I wouldn't do such a strong eastern europe focus. It's true that you can do Western European cities when you're more settled and older... but in a way that misses the point. Berlin, for example, has a buzzing nightlife with great concerts, raves and squats that will mean nothing to you in ten years time..

Hmmm..Fair point you make there! Though I was planning on going to those places while I was still young/legs able to move around a dancefloor!!:)

Civilian_Target wrote: »

I would suggest you start in Berlin and work your way down to Athens. That will cover most of the spots you've mentioned, without sticking to just Eastern Europe. I did the route Berlin -> Dresden -> Prague -> Vienna -> Venice in 2008 and highly recommend it. After that, it's only a short hop to Ljubljana and down the Croatian coast.

Appreciate your suggestion there, however I'm going to prague in four weeks time for four days/four nights, so would rather have a different route! Gosh, I'm hard to please!!:(

Kirnsy

i went from amsterdam - Ios and had the best fun of my life.

Amsterdam
Great fun, expensive and very different in many ways to other citys but also picturesque. Would reccomend a one/two night stay. (I understand you want specifically Eastern Countries but I'll get to them)

Berlin
As a poster above mentioned, an incredible city. Amazing from every point of view. Nightlife is crazy, sights are incredible from the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag with the historical relevance in a modern city proving to be unique.
Reccomend The Generator as a hostel to stay in. Cheap and massive with a nice breakfast with a late bar and themed nights there too.

Munich
Beautiful city with a buzzing nightlife too. Well worth a flying visit for a night or so. Lovely mix of cultures in Munich i found.

Prague
Now we head east. Prague is a picturesque city with winding paths and streets along with magnificent Charles Bridge. Nightlife in Prague is very good with a certain 5 storey club visited on many occasion. (located near the bridge). Highly reccomended.

Krakow
This polish city is centered around the old square in which there are tons of little restaurants, and bars along with entertainment (fire breathers and pupetteers etc) and an opportunity to take a trip in a horse drawn carriage. Nightlife is also good here but im afraid i can't remember any club we were in!

Of course one cannot visit Krakow without visiting Auswitz / Berkenhau and believe me the tour (lasts for up to 5 hours in total) is well worth the money. AFAIK the salt mines are very impressive also.


Budapest
Brilliant city but beware of dodgy punters trying to get you into bars and then charge you ridiculous prices to leave. :eek: The turkish baths are well worth a visit as is a trip up the Danube and perhaps a viewing of the Palace (afaik) which is a massively imposing building. Rio's outdoor club was the one we visited and is brilliant fun

Lake Bled
Here is an oasis of calm for you weary travellers from the cities. The most beautiful place i have ever been to. surrounded by mountains and with a fairytale like lake one can really kick back and relax here. Extreme sports are massive here. Book a hostel for a few days (4 or 5) and you won't regret it.

Athens
Im afraid that the less of my opinion I give you on Athens the better. Didn't like the place and the atmosphere around it and wouldn't reccommend it to any inter-railer unless as a connector city.


Finally just to say you'll have the best time of your life interrailing. I did and wish I could go back to last summer and enjoy it all over again. let us know how you got on

bigbadbear

Here's a link to the map of my route i took in 2007.

I definitely regret not going over to Bosnia and the likes and I think eastern Europe is certainly the way to go. Your boyfriend will probably bring you to Paris some day anyway. Out of all the places we went I think you'd be very foolish to skip Krakow and Berlin. They just have so much to do and so much history.

From talking to travellers along the way its probable that you will change you route as you go. Use a site like www.hostelworld.com to book a hostel before you arrive in any city as you can read reviews and print maps and directions to hostels.

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip!!

Click on the icons for a short description of each city

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=116780747823910938611.000480af9708377d0b2b1

[Edit] We flew straight to Venice from Dublin for a romantic start to our holiday (Myself and the other 3 lads thoroughly enjoyed it) :pac:

E.E.T

Kirnsy wrote: »

Finally just to say you'll have the best time of your life interrailing.

Seems if I have a third of the fun everyone else has had interrailing I'l have great time altogether!!:)

Right, I better factor in Amsterdam/Berlin onto the list, might aswell make a real trip of it while we young/free/single etc!;)

Rough/broad route kind of forming here folks..oh this is great! Amsterdam>Berlin>Krakow>Budapest>Bratislava>Vienna>Venice>Slovenia> Croatia>Bosnia>Greece.

As always, all yer thoughts appreciated!!

E.E.T

bigbadbear wrote: »

I definitely regret not going over to Bosnia and the likes and I think eastern Europe is certainly the way to go. Your boyfriend will probably bring you to Paris some day anyway. Out of all the places we went I think you'd be very foolish to skip Krakow and Berlin. They just have so much to do and so much history.

Yeah, from this and other posts I better factor Berlin/Krakow in! Why not sur!:)

bigbadbear wrote: »

From talking to travellers along the way its probable that you will change you route as you go. Use a site like www.hostelworld.com to book a hostel before you arrive in any city as you can read reviews and print maps and directions to hostels.

Can't say I'm used to staying in hostels at all..so that will be an experience in its self for me!!:D

bigbadbear wrote: »

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip!!

Thanks very much for that!!

bigbadbear wrote: »

[Edit] We flew straight to Venice from Dublin for a romantic start to our holiday (Myself and the other 3 lads thoroughly enjoyed it) :pac:

Seems I'l be having my own romantic trip there with my friend!:D

Civilian_Target

E.E.T wrote: »

Appreciate your suggestion there, however I'm going to prague in four weeks time for four days/four nights, so would rather have a different route! Gosh, I'm hard to please!!:(

So, it's easy, go a bit further west. Berlin -> Dresden -> Munich -> Salzburg -> Ljubljana is good too. It's true that Munich and Salzburg don't have the same buzz as Prague and Vienna, but you can get some fine beers in Munich, and Salzburg is beautiful.

E.E.T

Civilian_Target wrote: »

So, it's easy, go a bit further west. Berlin -> Dresden -> Munich -> Salzburg -> Ljubljana is good too. It's true that Munich and Salzburg don't have the same buzz as Prague and Vienna, but you can get some fine beers in Munich, and Salzburg is beautiful.

I'v been to both Munich and Salzburg already!!:D

Would the following work..or a bit too ambitious?
Amsterdam>Berlin>Krakow>Budapest>Bratislava>Vienna>Venice>Slovenia> Croatia>Bosnia>Greece.

Blisterman

I went last summer. Bought the 22 day ticket and did
Geneva - Nice enough place. Quite pricey though. Not a must see
Basel - Really liked this. Went swimming in the Rhine right through the city centre. Did a few day trips to the swiss countryside as well. The Thermal baths in Vals was one of the highlights of the trip.
Zurich - Only spent a wet and rainy day there, so can't say much
Vienna- Was ok. Very nice city, but a little dull I thought.
Prague - Loved this. Very cheap once you get outside the immediate tourist area. Beautiful beautiful city. Highlight was going paintballing in an abandoned soviet nuclear bunker.
Krakow - Really liked here as well. Not as nice as Prague, but also not as touristy. The people were really cool too.
Zakopane - Very touristy, but it's nearly all Polish tourists, which makes an interesting change. Not a lot to see here, but the food was superb, and amazingly cheap. Went whitewater rafting in a very picturesque valley.
Bratislava - This was a dissapointment. I'd heard so many good things, but we both just found it boring. Not that cheap either since they use the Euro.
Budapest- Lots to do and see here. Not the cheapest of cities. But not too bad.
Belgrade- Getting deep into Eastern Europe now. Belgrade's a big difference to everywhere else we went. You can still see bombed out buildings from the war 10 years ago. We'd heard it was the party city of eastern europe, but we were there monday to wednesday and it was dead. Might be different on a weekend.
Sofia - Very dull city. Spend a day there at most.
Istanbul - Highlight of the trip. Spent nearly a week there and loved it. Not the liveliest of places, but it was nice to relax after such frantic travel. You'd have to like kebabs as there's very little else to eat anywhere.

Kirnsy

Blisterman wrote: »

I went last summer. Bought the 22 day ticket and did
Geneva - Nice enough place. Quite pricey though. Not a must see
Basel - Really liked this. Went swimming in the Rhine right through the city centre. Did a few day trips to the swiss countryside as well. The Thermal baths in Vals was one of the highlights of the trip.
Zurich - Only spent a wet and rainy day there, so can't say much
Vienna- Was ok. Very nice city, but a little dull I thought.
Prague - Loved this. Very cheap once you get outside the immediate tourist area. Beautiful beautiful city. Highlight was going paintballing in an abandoned soviet nuclear bunker.
Krakow - Really liked here as well. Not as nice as Prague, but also not as touristy. The people were really cool too.
Zakopane - Very touristy, but it's nearly all Polish tourists, which makes an interesting change. Not a lot to see here, but the food was superb, and amazingly cheap. Went whitewater rafting in a very picturesque valley.
Bratislava - This was a dissapointment. I'd heard so many good things, but we both just found it boring. Not that cheap either since they use the Euro.
Budapest- Lots to do and see here. Not the cheapest of cities. But not too bad.
Belgrade- Getting deep into Eastern Europe now. Belgrade's a big difference to everywhere else we went. You can still see bombed out buildings from the war 10 years ago. We'd heard it was the party city of eastern europe, but we were there monday to wednesday and it was dead. Might be different on a weekend.
Sofia - Very dull city. Spend a day there at most.
Istanbul - Highlight of the trip. Spent nearly a week there and loved it. Not the liveliest of places, but it was nice to relax after such frantic travel. You'd have to like kebabs as there's very little else to eat anywhere.

I've heard that Istanbul is absolutely brilliant. A place definitely on my to-see list.

And that paintballing trip in Prague sounds pretty cool as well.


@E.E.T...the beauty of the interrailing pass is that if you dont like somewhere you can up sticks and head off the next day so in theory most of your route sounds do-able. I'd highly reccomend at least a day in Prague between Berlin and Krackow. You can get the night train from prague then to Krakow?

Blisterman

Yeah night trains are definitely recommended.
We caught one between Prague and Krakow, Budapest and Belgrade, Belgrade and Sofia and Sofia and Istanbul.

All those journeys are 10-15 hours, which would be torturous sitting there all day. Instead you can have a few drinks and a bit of banter with your bunk mates, catch some sleep (not the most comfortable of places to sleep, but it suffices) and wake up just before your destination.

Costs about €10-€20 extra for a bed in a six person couchette, but it's well worth it.

f1dan

Blisterman wrote: »

.
Prague - Loved this. Very cheap once you get outside the immediate tourist area. Beautiful beautiful city. Highlight was going paintballing in an abandoned soviet nuclear bunker.

Any more info about this paintballing?

Funkstard

Kirnsy wrote: »

I'd highly reccomend at least a day in Prague between Berlin and Krackow. You can get the night train from prague then to Krakow?

The hell train. Make sure you don't sit in the part of the train that gets detached and heads off to Poznan or somewhere in the north of the country! Very nearly made that mistake ourselves. Krakow is unbelievable though so it's well worth the trip. The experience of the train is something you won't forget either.

Blisterman

f1dan wrote: »

Any more info about this paintballing?

http://www.prague-indoor-paintball.com/index.jsp?sitePage=Paintball

We just called them in the morning before we went. It was quite cheap, compared to paintballing here.
Best of all, when we went, we were the only 2 people there.
So we had a very tense and very atmospheric one on one fight. Listening carefully for footsteps, trying to predict where the other person was.

maggie_cork

hey. i went interrailing last summer. great experience.. was wrecked by the end of it doh!! but so so worth it..

we went

Paris- had been there before.. advice to give is do pay a small bit extra for a central place.. we stayed tiny bit outside central Paris and had to use metro in and out.. only rook 100mins or so but by the end of it god i couldnt wait to get out of paris

Amsterdam- amazing city. people are just so so nice, relaxed and it was just fab!! place we stayed was so so central, was about 5mins walk straigh to dam square. love that city. we didnt take a boat tour but ive heard they are good

Berlin- WOW!!! love berlin.. amazing for shopping... really good value.. we did the brandenburg gates, the berlin wall- so so cool because there was a man made beach bar next to it by a river.. so amazing.. couches and aun loungers it was amazing. also saw the reichstag

Prague- such a pretty city. amazing clubs.. we went to one place, it had 4 floors and different music on each floor.. best thing was it stayed opened til 5am!!!!!! shopping good in prague too. money takes a day to get used to but its cool.. tip to watch though is tipping.. it was big in prague.. if u didnt give a tip they hated u!! tip aswell around the square has nice places to eat but if u venture 5 mins in any direction you will get amazing food for half nothing.

Venice- also nice.. so warm though.. thing is we only expected the weather to be good in italy but the minute we got to paris it was hot for the whole trip. we stayed in a little camp site/holiday park 10 mins outside centre of venice.. so cool as it had a pool etc.. we stayed in a mobile home thing.. there was a free bus in and out of town every day and dropped u off again to trainstation when you are leaving


Rome- amazing... we did all the usual sites.. defo worth paying for a tour.. u learn way way more. think it was €20 for a tour of the colosseum,palatine hill etc. if ye are students bring a student card to get a discount


ONE MAJOR TIP FOR YE.... bring a bag with WHEELS !!!!! swear to god after one city you will be sick of ur backpack!! i know a backpack is part of the fun but i swear you will be sick of it.. by amsterdam we baught a wheelybag for €12 and shared it betwen 2 girls..

have fun.. any more info needed pm me

Blisterman

If you're in Prague, do this free walking tour:
http://www.neweuropetours.eu/
Works on tips, so you've nothing to lose.
And I don't know if he still does it, but there was a california surfer type guy, who was brilliant. Very funny and interesting. He kept going for about 4 hours, and had us hanging on every word.

If he's there, try and get on his group. Was actually one of the highlights of our trip.

E.E.T

Blisterman wrote: »

All those journeys are 10-15 hours, which would be torturous sitting there all day. Instead you can have a few drinks and a bit of banter with your bunk mates, catch some sleep (not the most comfortable of places to sleep, but it suffices) and wake up just before your destination.

Did I read that it is recommended that you book these in advance? Or is it a case of turning up, asking for what you want and paying the extra?

Funkstard wrote: »

The hell train. Make sure you don't sit in the part of the train that gets detached and heads off to Poznan or somewhere in the north of the country! Very nearly made that mistake ourselves. Krakow is unbelievable though so it's well worth the trip. The experience of the train is something you won't forget either.

Ha, reminds me of a train I took in England about five years ago..course I ended up heading in the opposite direction I wanted when it split!:D

maggie_cork wrote: »

hey. i went interrailing last summer. great experience.. was wrecked by the end of it doh!! but so so worth it..

ONE MAJOR TIP FOR YE.... bring a bag with WHEELS !!!!! swear to god after one city you will be sick of ur backpack!! i know a backpack is part of the fun but i swear you will be sick of it.. by amsterdam we baught a wheelybag for €12 and shared it betwen 2 girls..

Thanks for your very helpful reply Maggie!!:)

As regards bringing a bag with wheels..is that the general consensus (..with the girls, not the lads, lol!) Can you get backpack that has wheels..best of both worlds perhaps?!?

Blisterman wrote: »

If you're in Prague, do this free walking tour:
http://www.neweuropetours.eu/
Works on tips, so you've nothing to lose.
And I don't know if he still does it, but there was a california surfer type guy, who was brilliant. Very funny and interesting. He kept going for about 4 hours, and had us hanging on every word.

If he's there, try and get on his group. Was actually one of the highlights of our trip.

Ouh, going there in four weeks so will check it out! Thanks!

Blisterman

Generally, we just arranged our sleeper trains, as soon as we knew when we'd be leaving. On a couple of occasions that was on the day. The other times it was a few days ahead.

You can book them from any station too as far as I'm aware. We were able to buy the sleeper train from Zurich to Vienna 4 days beforehand in Geneva.
We travelled in August, which is probably the busiest month and we never had any problems, with trains being sold out.

lottyb

Hi All,

I am also thinking of going Interrailing this summer with my girlfriend for about 3-4 weeks. How much money would you need for 4 wweks interrailing?

I'm thinking of going a similar route to the one E.E.T metioned as Bosnia sounds cool as those Lake Bled.

@E.E.T on another note i have been around Italy before and Venice is really worth seeing and isn;t as expensive as people make it out to be.

Blisterman

I budgeted €50 a day for everything on top of the interrail ticket.

Roughly 15-20 a night for accomodation, which generally gave us a really good hostel. Most of Eastern Europe we had a twin private room.

The rest on food, drink, sightseeing etc. We were stretched in Switzerland, mostly eating in supermarkets and going to off licences. Everywhere else, we ate 2 meals a day in restaurants, and drank as much as we wanted in pubs and clubs.

You could probably do it much cheaper than that, especially in Eastern Europe, if you cook food in the hostel, drink before going out etc.

Zonda999

Hi too1

I and a couple of friends are goin inter-railing in early July. We decided on Eastern Europe and this is what we've come up with to do in about 18 days

Flight to Frankfurt(Its cheap) ----
Straight off to train station to head to Prague ---
Vienna ---
Budapest ---
Belgrade(Probably just for a day) ---
Thessaloniki ---
Athens ---
Patras ---
Boat to Bari ---
Straight to Naples ---
Finishing in Rome

Now we'll book the flights and inter-rail pass now obviously but we were planning to just have a list of hostels in each place, and not book ahead. Is this wise? We dont really want to be tied down to a particular place if we dont like it.

As well, in a related way, no trains would be booked/reserved. We would be planning to do all the longer trips on overnight trains, maybe or maybe not going for those beds, depending on how much it would cost i guess. Should we have any issue just turning up in the station without booking, especially for those night trains? It would really mess things up if we couldnt get on one of them

Thanks for any opinions on this!

Civilian_Target

Stop in Nis, Skopje or Bitola between Belgrade and Thessaloniki. They're all very different from anywhere else you'll see en-route: quite poor, but very welcoming. In particular I'd recommend Skopje: crazy nightlife and friendly locals. Try the Shopska salad.