Interrailing

pmanvally

Hi. I'm interested in going Interrailing in August. I have no route planned yet. If anyone has advice or would like another travel buddy, let me know.

Sidney77

I did it myself a few years ago. Any places you have in mind? Get a cheap flight to your first destination and plan your route from there. Best not to leave getting your train tickets til the last minute. yes you will need them even with your interrail pass, If youre going to Eastern Europe dont get trains at night. I started in Paris then went to Barcelona Rome Florence Munich Prague Berlin Copenhagen Amstedam Brussels and home from there. Anything else you wanna know just ask?

munchkin_utd

the real real benefit about interrail tickets themselves is that they are flexible so you can modify your plans as you go.
In the past they were also fantastic value compared to normal tickets, as just like in Ireland 10+years ago pre internet days, the only rail tickets were full price tickets and shocking expensive.
Now though, point to point tickets in western europe can be just as cheap if you are prepared to book trains in advance, and in eastern europe bus and train fares are cheap anyhow. Interrail also doesnt cover city transport, and small trips out of a city would be a waste of an interrail day.
As to where to go, thats hard to say, but theres so much out there that you could spend months on the go. The last post mentioned some popular spots, and you could add in Vienna, Mosel/ Rhine Valley, Budapest, and a heap of regional towns like Salzburg, Würzburg (in middle of a wine region with "beerhalls" that only serve wine), Regensburg, Bamberg (which has dozens of breweries), Pilsen or Budweis (where Pilsner beer or Budweiser come from), Leuven, Bruges or add in some nature with a stopoff in the alps whether in south germany or north Italy (Bolzano is the main city stopoff there).
If on your own travelling solo you might think it'd be a lonely escapade, but the massive positive is that on your own you are your own boss so there no pandering to a girlfriend or mate and you decide, or change, the plans as you see fit.

tricky D

Handy sites:
http://www.seat61.com/
http://www.bahn.de

Also be careful as in some countries like France they restrict the seats availability for interrailing to the mornings and evenings only.

Cromsey

Hi

Thinking about going interailing myself this summer, short enough trip 9-10 nights hopefully get 3 cities , why not get trains at night? I plan on getting at least one if not two at night to night to save time.
My plan Is to fly to prague train to vienna and then finish up somewhere along the croatian coast.

munchkin_utd

Cromsey wrote: »

Hi

Thinking about going interailing myself this summer, short enough trip 9-10 nights hopefully get 3 cities , why not get trains at night? I plan on getting at least one if not two at night to night to save time.
My plan Is to fly to prague train to vienna and then finish up somewhere along the croatian coast.

you'd need to research routes and where there is a night train at all. If you wanted to make your journey a little longer, you could add in Berlin at the beginning (cheapo ryanair flights). Berlin to Prague is only 4 1/2 hours, so if you get the 7am train youre in there just after 11 with the day still ahead of you.

For general timetables german rails bahn.com is good (quick, simple, extensive timetables) but with Austria as your intermediate point then austrian rail oebb.at will be where you need to go for tickets.

thetalker

Not to hijack this thread or anything but I'm also curious in interrailing with some friends and tbh none of us have much experience. Were all around 17-18 and were thinking of doing this in July after the LC.

The route we came up with was Amsterdam-->Brussels-->Paris-->Milan-->Florence-->Rome

Is this a good route? We only thought of it because these cities seem to have alot in terms of things to do and see.

Oh also I always hear people talking about how much to bring but is that money supposed to be on hand or in a bank account? Whats the best way?

Oops forgot to add, my friends and I are debating planning vs winging, we see alot of people saying to book as we go along but this seems risky if hostels are full etc. Thoughts?

Any feedback would really be appreciated.

otnomart

RE: risk of accomodation been full, very much depends on when you are planning to go.
Trains:
Amsterdam to Brussels: Intercity train or high speed called "Thalys".
Brussels to Paris: direct Thalys, or TGV (via Lille), or direct Izy (low cost) - all are high speed trains
Paris to Milan: TGV or Thello
The bible really is: http://www.seat61.com/

thetalker

So then would July be full? I'm guessing it would since its Summer and all that
Also thanks, that link is really useful!

munchkin_utd

thetalker wrote: »

Not to hijack this thread or anything but I'm also curious in interrailing with some friends and tbh none of us have much experience. Were all around 17-18 and were thinking of doing this in July after the LC.<snip>

my immediate reaction is that ye must be fairly well off as you possibly could not have cobbled together a more expensive list of places to visit (well.... you have at least ommited Scandanavian places which are off the charts expensive-wise)
Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels are fairly expensive places to spend time in. Rome and Florence city centre can be just as bad. Milan, no idea, but I've never heard good things about the place anyhow.
Italy is a funny one pricewise. In touristy areas you'll get stung, but find a local place outside of the city centre proper and you'll get way better value. Beer is awful dear in restaurants and bars and up there with Paris at the best of times, house wine can be surprisingly cheap, as in cheaper in a restaurant than in Ireland from the off licence.

I'd actually be looking more at hitting Brussels (cheap flights), as I said above Leuven which is a student town (50% more students than all the universities in Dublin combined, but in a town the size of Limerick) and just mental, places in Germany like Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin are all very lively and way cheaper to eat and drink than the likes of Paris or Amsterdam, and then from Berlin you're no distance to Poland or Czech republic which are cheaper again.
Flying into Berlin could also be an option (cheapo Ryanair flights) and then head eastbound from there by train.
If italy is a must see, then you can maybe go from Prague to Vienna, and from there get a night train (which saves on accomodation as you sleep on the train).

Essentially, if €8 to €12 a pint in Paris is a deal breaker or Temple Bar prices in Amsterdam or Brussels, and €1 to €2 is more in your budget, then you need to adjust your plans and consider heading more eastward.

thetalker

munchkin_utd wrote: »

my immediate reaction is that ye must be fairly well off as you possibly could not have cobbled together a more expensive list of places to visit (well.... you have at least ommited Scandanavian places which are off the charts expensive-wise)
Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels are fairly expensive places to spend time in.

Thanks for all your advice! I relayed all your words back to my friends and were thinking of switching to Germany now like you said. Eastern Europe is probably a no, just feels too shifty an area.
Were still interested in Italy but might aim for cheaper towns maybe around Florence
Flying into Brussels sounds brilliant as well, we'll still want to pop by Amsterdam though, it could be our route to Germany.
Prague to Vienna is something I've not heard much of, would there be much to do and see just out of interest?

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Essentially, if €8 to €12 a pint in Paris is a deal breaker or Temple Bar prices in Amsterdam or Brussels, and €1 to €2 is more in your budget, then you need to adjust your plans and consider heading more eastward.

8-12 is definitely pricey, but we could settle for more than just 1-2 euro. What would beer costs be in Germany, do you know?

Once again thanks for all the info, its really useful!

munchkin_utd

thetalker wrote: »

<snip>
8-12 is definitely pricey, but we could settle for more than just 1-2 euro. What would beer costs be in Germany, do you know?

Once again thanks for all the info, its really useful!

a pint in Germany would be in or around the €3. In a country town less.

Spirits are way more expensive, but that's a punishment/ idiot test for not drinking beer or wine or looking at the prices before ordering, or not at least trying the local beer or wine because youve decided "I dont like beer"(or wine) from the somewhat irrelevant standpoint of having tasted what passes for beer and wine in Ireland - and then labelling all beer and wine worldwide as cr@p just because its cr@p in Ireland.

If you like the idea of having a few beers (or wines) then you could go to an area which specialises in them.
So Bamberg (2hours north of Munich or east of Frankfurt) which has dozens of ancient breweries. Theres also breweries dotted in the countryside so you can go cycling or hiking on a tour from brewery to brewery. Pretty much all have a pub / restaurant / beergarden attached.
Nearby is Forchheim which has a hill with a forest and 2 dozen beergardens hidden in there.
Cologne and Dusseldorf have their own beer culture of Kölsch and Alt beer respectively, and theres plenty of beerhalls where you can sample both.
Or head to the wine growing areas (Rhine valley, Würzburg etc) where theres the equivalent of beerhalls that only serve wine, which to a beer drinker sounds crazy, but some of the less bitter white wine is spot on and is quite nice on a summers day. They also have wine cellars, so quaint little pubs hidden down a flight of stairs.
In Frankfurt they have "apple wine", which is literally wine made from apples, a strange drink but something you have to try at least once (theres also a tram tour of the city called an "apple wine express" where they serve the stuff as you trundle around town!)
.....anyhow, that was a bit of a tangent, but I'm just giving ideas that maybe you could look into further.

The brits with their obsession of demonising the germans after 2 world wars, and the fact that after the war they occupied the cr@p depressing boring flat part of germany up round hannover and returning soldiers hadnt a good thing to say about the place (compared to US Soldiers who loved the south of Germany and returned in droves as tourists after their service time ended), means theres a very negative view of Germany which spills over into Ireland. The reality is that theres a whole heap of positive stuff to visit/ see / experience that never reaches the anglophone world.