Interrailing August 2013

LukeGoo

Hey guys,
Im planning to go interrailing this august for the first time! Im planning on hitting Rome, Venice, Prague, Poland, Hungary andmaybe a few others. Im getting the month global pass which should be enough....hopefully :-)
The aim of this thread is really to get info and tips off veteran interrailers and to set up a community of people railing this summer. So whether your a vet or a nube planning their travels please post away,
Luke

bburke92

i went last summer with 2 of my best friends and the places we enjoyed the best were no 1 Budapest- great for going out, cheap and savage thermal baths, google them and u'll find out. Next was lake bled, gorgeous place basically. Stuff in Switzerland is same price as in Dublin, we were in Bern, great for one or two nights, gorgeous again and nice people. Lastly I'd be saying Brussels and Berlin. Berlin is unreal for clubs etc! They open Friday even and close Monday morn, all of them! Brussels then has loads to do and see, just a cool city. Only other thing would be if I was going again I wouldn't bother with Italy. We stayed in Verona, didn't enjoy it that much. Italians were awful ignorant, expensive and ya there just pricks! So ya look there just my suggestions anyway, get a good lonely guide etc Europe book and u'll find out urself

Yenwod

I went interrailing 8 years ago. It was brilliant. We took in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Ljubljana (visit to Lake Bled), Hvar & Dubrovnik. Favourites were Krakow and Ljubljana

http://www.hostelcelica.com/hostel was a great really chilled out hostel in Ljubljana
http://www.mamashostel.com.pl/ was a great hostel in Krakow and very near the square so easy to stumble home to. I recently went back to Krakow and found out that you can stumble home from this bar http://www.ckbrowar.krakow.pl/index_en.html which serves 5 litres of beer in a tube and your pour your own, very cool. Just remember to eat something first :-/ Salt Mines and Auschwitz are well worth a visit


One great rule I heard about any group travelling like this, any arguments that happen when trying to get from train to hostel must be instantly forgotten about once the hostel is found

Happy travelling!

Lapin

bburke92 wrote: »

Only other thing would be if I was going again I wouldn't bother with Italy. We stayed in Verona, didn't enjoy it that much. Italians were awful ignorant, expensive and ya there just pricks!

Any one who can tarnish an entire nation on the back of a bad experience in one city doesn't appreciate the value of travel. Maybe the nightclubs in Verona didn't stay open late enough for him.

Ignore this advice OP unless you want to miss out on one of the most beautiful, historically relevant, culturally significant and friendly countries in the world.

No trip around Europe would be complete without spending some time in Italy. The first time I went Inter-railing my biggest regret was that I didn't spend enough time there. So I went back the following year and spent 2 weeks travelling around Italy on its own.

I've been there many times since and the rudest person I ever encountered was an Inter Milan fan hurling abuse at a referee during a match in the San Siro. Hardly a uniquely Italian trait. I've heard much worse in Croke Park.

Nor is Italy overly expensive. Its on a par with Ireland in most cases and much cheaper in many instances. Avoid the obvious tourist traps (especially in Rome) and you can save a lot by walking a few yards off the beaten track. This is true of any European country.

There is so much to see and do on an Inter-Rail trip around Europe that its almost impossible to give advice on one aspect of it. Thats why this thread is a brilliant idea as it opens up a place for others to trade their wealth of experience. It would be a good have this as a sticky as there is so much to learn from others.

My advice would be to keep an open mind and experience as much of the uniqueness that every country you visit has to offer. On a long trip you will always encounter places and people that don't live up to your expectations. But don't return home and dismiss places you haven't seen elsewhere in one country because you had a bad weekend in one city there.

Travel is about broadening your horizons - Not narrowing your mind.


Happy travelling

ardmacha

My suggestion, for what it is worth, with an Interrail is to go to places that don't have a cheap frequent flight from Ireland, as these can be easily visited again. So Zagreb, Ljubljana, Kosice, Bern, Graz, Brno, Dresden etc rather than Prague or Budapest. This is the opposite of the see the big ones first approach.

And the general idea that you shouldn't visit Italy or that Italians are rude and unfriendly seems very strange.

bburke92

Alright fair enough i was a bit harsh about the Italians there but i still think of the 12 or so countries we were in they were the least friendly and thats not just on one day in one city. be it the on train in italy, getting taxis in verona, at the hostel there, the local shops too they just came across very unhelpful and rude to us

the other reason that i forgot to mention why i would to skip italy inter railing is that it is one of the few countries that requires you to purchase an additional ticket to your inter railing one for most train journeys which will increase travel costs a lot.

furthermore italy's cities like rome, venice, milan etc are ones you would easily return to again in later years on a weekend break. in comparison your not as likely to go to slovenia, zagreb etc on a weekend trip , well most peolpe anyway!