10-14 day EU Inter-Rail for a bit of fun

JohnCleary

Let's just forget about COVID for a minute....

We're doing a bit of day-dreaming for when (if) things get back to normal....

We were thinking of doing Berlin - Prague via train. I did this years ago and remember loving the trip (it's now only 4 hours by high-speed train), 3 nights Berlin, 4 nights Prague (or vice versa).

I've been to Berlin many times and know the city, Prague not so much but would happily return.

We were thinking, if we extended it to a few places and did it over 2 weeks, wouldn't it be a bit of craic with very little planning needed.

So, if you had anywhere from 7 - 14 nights, what train route would you do? Obviously the start and end point would need to have direct flights to / from DUB.

We've been to plenty of EU cities, but right now we'll be happy to return anywhere! We'd like to concentrate more on central Europe, rather than France / Spain / Italy.

Go on, throw some ideas out there

Ha Long Bay

One option would be Vienna -> Bratislava -> Budapest. 3 intereting cities with lots to see and do.

JohnCleary

john4321 wrote: »

One option would be Vienna -> Bratislava -> Budapest. 3 intereting cities with lots to see and do.

Yeah, we were thinking about this too, although we've been to all 3 before

IIRC Vienna -> Bratislava is only approx. 1 hour.

Actually, while I loved Bratislava (very under-rated IMHO), I wouldn't feel the need to return.

The reason Berlin - Prague is in our minds is that the one thing I can remember about the last time I did that route, the scenery was amazing.

johnire

What about the Bernina Express in Switzerland?
We saw a programme on telly a few weeks ago about it and it looks fantastic. You start from or finish in Italy so you could take in Lake Como and maybe end up in Milan
It’s definitely on our radar to do it soon!!
Whatever you decide enjoy it.

VG31

johnire wrote: »

What about the Bernina Express in Switzerland?
We saw a programme on telly a few weeks ago about it and it looks fantastic. You start from or finish in Italy so you could take in Lake Como and maybe end up in Milan
It’s definitely on our radar to do it soon!!
Whatever you decide enjoy it.

I haven't done it yet, but that's one of the top things on my to-do list post-covid. It looks fabulous.

I'll have to make to with driving it in train simulator for now. :pac:

johnire

You and me both!!
Don’t worry things will sort themselves out and we’ll all be able to do these things again soon for sure.

VG31 wrote: »

I haven't done it yet, but that's one of the top things on my to-do list post-covid. It looks fabulous.

I'll have to make to with driving it in train simulator for now. :pac:

JohnCleary

johnire wrote: »

What about the Bernina Express in Switzerland?
We saw a programme on telly a few weeks ago about it and it looks fantastic. You start from or finish in Italy so you could take in Lake Como and maybe end up in Milan
It’s definitely on our radar to do it soon!!
Whatever you decide enjoy it.

Thanks for the info, never even heard about this so will get Googling. Sounds ideal, definitely something we haven't done before!

I haven't even started Googling, but is it possible to get a direct flight from both start / finish point back to DUB?

VG31

JohnCleary wrote: »

I haven't even started Googling, but is it possible to get a direct flight from both start / finish point back to DUB?

Yes, Zürich and Milan are the closest airports to each end (Chur and Tirano).

JohnCleary

VG31 wrote: »

Yes, Zürich and Milan are the closest airports to each end (Chur and Tirano).

Just did a bit of Googling. Looks class.

Night or two in Zurich, on to the train and then a few nights in Italy (Milan). We've always said we'd visit Lake Como so could be great to concentrate around there.

A friend lived in Milan and he didn't rate it too highly but I haven't done the research.

Appreciate the info, this is definitely on the cards. The train isin't even expensive (pre booked).

JohnCleary

johnire wrote: »

What about the Bernina Express in Switzerland?
We saw a programme on telly a few weeks ago about it and it looks fantastic. You start from or finish in Italy so you could take in Lake Como and maybe end up in Milan
It’s definitely on our radar to do it soon!!
Whatever you decide enjoy it.

BTW, if you've done this... what time of year would you recommend? Winter sounds cool with snow-capped mountains, but also run the risk of doing it in a blizzard hence no view?

johnire

Hi John.
We haven't actually done this yet- it's on the cards though!
We're planning like you to either start or finish the trip in Zurich but as well as taking in Milan for a day or two don't forget that you can fly into or leave from Bergamo which by all accounts is really nice. We were in Milan before and whilst nice it wouldn't be my favourite Italian city.
We were in Como a couple of years ago and it's absolutely stunning. You can also go to Lugano in Switzerland for a day trip from Como.
As regards the Bernina Express I would be thinking May or September as the best months. I stand to be corrected on that though.
If you're able to watch Season 1 Episode 6 on Channel 5 Worlds Most Scenic Railways. It's gives you a great idea of the journey.

JohnCleary wrote: »

BTW, if you've done this... what time of year would you recommend? Winter sounds cool with snow-capped mountains, but also run the risk of doing it in a blizzard hence no view?

mrskinner

El Transcantabrico.

See www.spaintraintours.com

titan18

I've done Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna

Others that are easily doable, and ones I had planned to do pre-covid would be

Riga - Tallinn - Helsinki (could also do Vilnius instead of Helsinki)
Berlin - Prague - Munich (or sub Munich for Vienna but you said you were already there)
Amsterdam - Brussels - Bruges (very little distance between those 3 so can also likely fit in a day trip to Luxembourg and fly back out of Brussels)
Munich - Salzburg - Ljubljana (Slovenia for Lake Bled, and can do Hallstatt from Salzburg)
Zagreb (stop in Plitvice) - Dubrovnik - Bosnia (Mostar is meant to be worth seeing) or sub out Bosnia for Kotor in Montenegro
Any 3 cities in Italy (Rome - Florence - Vienna/Milan)
Expensive but always wanted to do Oslo - Bergen on a train journey and then take the Hurtigruten up the coast to see the fjords

Might not be train connections that work out best for a lot of them, but buses also work, and flights might be eurghh for some of the smaller locations there.

johnire

They all sound brilliant - we did the Norway trip and was amazing. I'd highly recommend it!

titan18 wrote: »

I've done Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna

Others that are easily doable, and ones I had planned to do pre-covid would be

Riga - Tallinn - Helsinki (could also do Vilnius instead of Helsinki)
Berlin - Prague - Munich (or sub Munich for Vienna but you said you were already there)
Amsterdam - Brussels - Bruges (very little distance between those 3 so can also likely fit in a day trip to Luxembourg and fly back out of Brussels)
Munich - Salzburg - Ljubljana (Slovenia for Lake Bled, and can do Hallstatt from Salzburg)
Zagreb (stop in Plitvice) - Dubrovnik - Bosnia (Mostar is meant to be worth seeing) or sub out Bosnia for Kotor in Montenegro
Any 3 cities in Italy (Rome - Florence - Vienna/Milan)
Expensive but always wanted to do Oslo - Bergen on a train journey and then take the Hurtigruten up the coast to see the fjords

Might not be train connections that work out best for a lot of them, but buses also work, and flights might be eurghh for some of the smaller locations there.

I did Bratislava, bus to Budapest, sleeper train to Bucharest. The sleeper train was a bit shabby (clean though) and it was really interesting to travel through rural Romania, it doesn't look like the EU at all. The scenery in the morning was absolutely incredible, wish I knew where the photos I took were, though my photography skills are absolutely shocking.

titan18

johnire wrote: »

They all sound brilliant - we did the Norway trip and was amazing. I'd highly recommend it!

Ya, I'd love to do the Norway one, fly to Oslo, few days there, train trip across to Bergen, few days there, fjord cruise then and probably up to Trondheim where you can get a train back to Oslo from there and fly home. Would be expensive but think it'd be worth it.

Plan last year for the main summer holiday (so 2 weeksish) would have been to fly to Munich (few days there), on to Salzburg and do a day trip to Hallstatt, and then go on to Ljublana and Lake Bled, and then when I had looked at it, flights out of Ljublana were awkward so i'd probably have gone on to Zagreb and stayed there a few days and fly back out of there. I think between trains, Flixbus etc it was very doable and longest transfer was about 5 or so hours.

Hopefully next year is a bit better to do trips like that. Only hope this year might be later in the year for weekend trips if things are ok.

Munsterbhoy

What about Vienna Budapest then on to Brasov for the Dracula experience in Transylvania. Continue to Bucharest ,then on to Chisinau in Moldova. From there to Kiev in Ukraine where u can pick up a Ryanair flight direct to Dublin. All doable by train. Me and the Mrs are hoping to do it post covid. All really cheap countries bar Austria..

JohnCleary

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, wasn't expecting so much info.

I've been to lots of places mentioned, but that's not an issue.

Munsterbhoy - Transylvania sounds great and onto Kiev. I've been to Kiev (Chernobyl) and would happily go back (although you need to keep your wits about you). When visiting Chernobyl, there was so much we did NOT see, i'd happily go back for a few days.