When to go Interrailing

not1but4

I am planning a solo holiday and I found this adrenaline-check.com place near Ljubljana but I cannot fly there directly so I decided to turn the trip into a small interrailing trip for a few weeks.

The route I am roughly planning is (maybe Poland as I would like to see Auschwitz) Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana and then fly home from either Pula or Venice.

I was thinking of going late July/early August but I was wondering if I held out until September would it be better as its not as busy. My thinking is that trains and hostels will be cheaper/easier to book also avoiding big queues for tourist attractions.

Bogger77

Getting to Auschwitz, to start the inter-rail might be a problem, you'd be best to fly to Warsaw and train to Krakow.

for this trip, I'd recommend the German train time table planner, here, it's a life saver in working out times needed between places etc.

I've done Krakow to Prague, in 2011, I think. We got the night train, it was "interesting", and not what I'd hoped for, was 3rd class compared to German night trains, maybe it's improved. We waited till we got to Poland to book, and could only get a couchette, i.e. a cabin with 6 bunk beds. No air con, or any cooling.

Prague to Bratislava to Budapest, did this in 2013, is really easy, it's an EC route, it's possible to leave Praha at 9.42, have 6hrs in Bratislava and then get train to Budapest, at 22.35. You'll need 2 train tickets. You could then get a modern Railjet train from Budapest to Vienna.

Personally, I'd go the following
Fly Warsaw
Warsaw to Krakow,IC train
Krakow to Auschwitz, day trip
Krakow to Praha, night train
Praha to Budapest, EC train ( u will travel through Bratislava on this trip)
Budapest to Bratislava, EC train
Bratislava to Vienna, OBB regional train, or maybe get the boat on Danube back. Stay only a few hours as a day trip.
Vienna to Ljubljana, EC train

From the places you want to visit, Vienna has the best rail connections to Ljubljana.

not1but4

Great thanks for that.

Any thoughts on when to go?

Bogger77

I usually go at the end of August, summer season is winding down, but temps are still pretty high. The queues in Budapest were over 1hr, just to get into the castle in late August, I'd say early August would be same, if not worse, as UK and European school holidays start then.

not1but4

Bogger77 wrote: »

I usually go at the end of August, summer season is winding down, but temps are still pretty high. The queues in Budapest were over 1hr, just to get into the castle in late August, I'd say early August would be same, if not worse, as UK and European school holidays start then.

So would early September be a good shout?

Bogger77

not1but4 wrote: »

So would early September be a good shout?

not sure, I'm back at work in Sept, but I guess all attractions will be open, but less queues, and weather should be good.

cca86

Hi everyone,

I'm not even sure if this is the right place to ask about this but thought I'd try anyway. I'm heading interrailing on the 10th July for at least 3 weeks and hoping to fins others doing the same. I'm heading on my own for the moment so hoping to meet people in the 25-35 bracket who are interested in heading around Europe with me!

I'm into discovering new cities and looking into the cultural side of things - food/ culture/ museums and just going on a bit of an adventure really. If anyone has any advice or even wants to join me please comment. I'm flying into the south of France on the 10th July and after that I'm open to ideas.

Thanks so much,
Cathy!