Dana
Traveller
5 comments
Posted 15 years ago
I just joined this form because I spent the last 4hrs browsing through it and my head spins form all the information I was already able to get. I am not sure where to begin.
My daughter (almost 20) and myself (her mom) are planning a two week trip from Canada (where we live) to Paris, spend there maybe 4 days and then........
should we see more France or we were thinking of going to Italy (Rome, maybe Venezia, Florence, Pompei...)
for naxt 6-8 days? From Italy we are planning to go to Poland (that's where I am originally from) and spend there 10days and fly back to Canada. We are thinking of flying to Pairs on June 12,2009.
Should we take a train of rayanair from Paris to ...Rome? And from Rome... where?
We don't know much about traveling in Europe. We are planing to couch surf.We are both artists so that's why we would love to see France and Italy. Do you think we would be able to make this trip reality? Our budget is limited. what should we consider? Please let us know what you think.
Your knowledge is an amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! We will welcome anybody's imput!
Thanks a million!
Danuta and Kasia,
Peter
Traveller
9332 comments
hej hej ... :)
that's very nice to hear... !! *smile*
so ... your tour is really easy to do ... but there is one thing: do you have European passports or Canadian ones... because when not having an European passport, you have to travel by EURAIL which is nearly the same. just have search on Google. :)
about cousurfing, visit the famous website... you will surely meet a lot of nice persons... and it is good way to find the non-tourist-places...!
and about the topic: flight or train travel... if you book your flights early enough, you will get cheap ones... but rail travel is very comfortable. you see the European nature and can get in and out at every train station you want. also in small villages.
the train stations are inside the big cities and you do not have to go outside to the airport. also you are not fixed on a date of a flight. you are free and can stay some more or less days at a place... depends if you like it there or not.
Paris and Rome are not cheap ... . maybe have a look on [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] to find information about hostel prices.
have fun... :) Peter :)
Dana
Traveller
5 comments
Thank you so much for your quick respond. I will google the eurail and will contact you as soon as I have any more questions, and I'm sure I will have many. We will travel with Canadian passports.
What I like about the trains is what you said, they are in the center of each city, not like small airports 100 or more km. away, plus there is a lot of hidden fees beside the price and tax. They charge you 10 euro for paying by Visa of MC, boarding fee, fee for your bags, and who knows what else FEE. Rail pass is not cheap ether but... what is? I will start looking for places to stay! Anybody has a couch available? :?: I love the couch surfing idea!
Thank you very much again! :P
yatinsardana
Traveller
23 comments
I totally agree.. It's not even funny how much knowledge you, Peter, have about inter railing and various other things about travelling! You're extremely knowledgeable!
Just a little confirmation Peter about the passports and everything, I've lived in UK for about and a half years now but i don't have an EU passport. Does it matter? I thought it was just living in EU for 6 months or more, regardless of passport. Now I understand if you live outside EU and have another passport but what if you live here but you don't have an EU passporT?
btw - I can gladly confirm that my tickets have been booked (or most of them) so I'm definitely heading out to mainland Europe in April :P :P :P
about couchsurfing - I'm hoping to do that in Italy and a few other places as well.. I'm travelling alone so I thought it would be better to live with the locals but let's see.
Peter do you know if they have lockers in the [b]Bologna[/b], Milan, Verona and Venice stations?
Because I think I would be reaching Bologna at about 4 in the morning! :P So I'm just thinking if that were to happen what could I do until 9, when everything would open in the city... :P
Peter
Traveller
9332 comments
hej hej ... thank you as well... nice to hear so much warm words... :)
to you questions:
if you lived more than 6 months in Europe you can buy by InterRail. you simply need a proof printed in your passport: either a visa or a permit of residence showing that you lived in one European country - in most cases a stamped visa with date is enough as proof !! :)
for example if you country of origin s the US and you have an US passport, but now lived 6 or more months in the UK (and can proof it with your visa), you can buy an UK InterRail Pass.
simply go on [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] , select the ticket you want, fill in all data and select as country of residence the UK - as passport number fill in the number of your US passport. that's it !! :)
and you will get the official InterRail ticket !!
and about the lockers... I am not sure... mmmh... maybe someone from Italy can help you... just post it in the Italy section of this forum: [u]https://rail.cc/en/forum-italy-train-travel[/u]
have fun and all the best... Peter :)
Dana
Traveller
5 comments
Hi Peter,
I just checked the prices and passes on Eurail. Going from France to Italy seems fine but going from Italy to Poland is another story, can you help me out? How could I get from Italy to Poland?
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
Roma -> Wien -> Warsaw/Katowice/Krakow
train from Roma(termini) at 19:10 to Wien Sudbhf is there at 8:42
next: train to Warsaw at 8:58.
if train from Rome has delay next train to Warsaw is about 14.
Dana
Traveller
5 comments
also. how long do night trains take? lets say from paris to rome? do i have to make reservations for night trains?
are all trains covered by the interrail global pass? (the 10 trains in 22 days one)?
thanks again!
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
1)from Paris to Rome it is about 15 hours.
2)yes, you have to make reservation in nigth trains.
3) generaly all trains covered by IR pass but there are some companies which don't accept but i think that you will not meet these companies(they are e.g. in north spain). also trains like RER in Paris or U-Bahn in Munich don't accept IR but these are specific, urban trains(something like underground but faster and works on bigger area).
Dana
Traveller
5 comments
Thank you Lukas for your input.
I am all confused with the rail website. We are Canadian citizen and as Peter said we have to go by EURAIL, but when I go to their website I get information about interrail, which is not good for us. Another thing, it seams that Poland is not included in the eurail pass but it is in interrail. what would be the best for us to get? We want to be able to come from Paris to Italy, travel there for maybe 5 days and then go to Poland. We would like to be able to use this pass in Poland as well as we are planning to go from Krakow to Warsaw and to Gdansk. This is so complicated for us. (1 adult and 1 youth for June 12 till July 13).
Thank you again for your help
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
don't be afraid! in Poland there is some special offers but i don't know what do they have so i have to look and then i will tell you ;)
Peter
Traveller
9332 comments
as Canadian you definitely have to travel by EURAIL. you can NOT buy an InterRail pass !! ||
Dana
Traveller
5 comments
As I am duo citizen, I went to Polish Consulate in Toronto and I will have Polish passport as well. Is it enough to travel with interrail? My permanent address is in Canada.
ow, in your opinion, should we take a train and see a bit south of France and then go to Italy? If yes, what place in south of France?
If we want to see Rome, Pompeii, Florence and Venice and then go to Poland how would you suggest to plan this trip?
Should we fly from Italy or take a train?
Just a reminder of our trip: maybe a week in France, week in Italy and 2 weeks in Poland.
Thanks you Peter, Lucas and everybody else who will answer.
Danuta nad Kasia
Hetman
Traveller
364 comments
Passport is enough. they need only name, surname, nationality and number of passport/ID.
Now, when you know that you can use IR(not EurRail) you can be sure that IR is avaiable in Poland BUT, because you are polish, you can't use it like in other countries. so when you will go i.e. to Poland by Vienna( it would be the best way for you) you have to buy reservation(because in all direct trains between Austria and Poland you need it) and moreover normal ticket on polish part of trip.
In polish trains, there will be some discount for you buy i don't how much it will be.