ProspectiveTraveler
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 6 years ago
Hi!
Sorry for being that annoying person that posts about wanting to interrail, but I was just looking for some advice if possible please. I haven’t travelled around Europe before and my geography is absolute rubbish - so any help would be appreciated!
I’m thinking of going interrailing this summer, but have absolutely no idea how best to plan it/approx. costs, etc. I’m either looking at going for two weeks (most likely the travel on 5 within 15 days one) or getting the 22 day continuous pass. Biggest factor in what way I do it is how much money I have, haha.
I want to go to the big cities (expensive I know), and wouldn’t mind going to Scandinavia, specifically Copengahen, Iceland, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki. I know they’re really expensive! Other ‘must-sees’ on my list are Greece, a lot of Germany, Italy, and Croatia (maybe some of France too). I know all these are literally at opposite ends of Europe haha, in which case I think I would prefer to miss out Scandinavia this time round, or I wouldn’t mind venturing around there and then catching a flight from wherever down to the other side of Europe if needs must. That\'s if I even have enough time with the 22 day one!
At the same time, I’d love to see little cities en route from one to the other, kinda like ‘hidden treasures’ if you get what I mean - so I’m not *just* seeing the main cities. That’s why I’m thinking the 22 day continuous pass may be best to get my money’s worth, but at the same time I want to see most of city/country I’m visiting.
I haven’t really given it much thought. I’m about to sit my final year Law exams and have a lot of coursework going on, so I was going to look at it in more depth when most of it is out the way/whether I can viably afford it. Any advice in the mean time on potential routes/most time-saving etc to get me going would be a massive help!
Thanks :)
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Hi and welcome to rail.cc
Mmmh... maybe the best is first to ask about your budget. How much money do you have to spent for this Interrail trip ? :)
Usually you do not travel 22 days in a row. Maybe the 15 days in one month Interrail pass fits also your needs: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-global-pass[/u]
Currently there is a discount of 15% on every Interrail pass which ends on 31 March: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/interraileu-discount-spring-2018/[/ux]
Pete :)
ProspectiveTraveler
Traveller
2 comments
Hi Pete!
Thank you - and thanks for your reply! Sorry for my late reply, the email went to my junk folder.
I\'m looking at www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/global-pass which offers the 22 day continuous pass I mentioned. In terms of budget, I will probably have around £1500. Maybe a tiny bit less. Unfortunately I can\'t commit to purchasing a pass at the moment so hopefully they have another sale before I purchase mine!
Thanks again
Liam :)
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Hi Liam.
Replace the "www." by "railcc" and you have the same interrail.eu shop, except that you support the free content on rail.cc :)
[ux]https://railcc.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/global-pass[/ux] - thank you! :)
Usually the spring-sale is the big discount every year - at least it was the case in the past.
GBP 1500 = EUR 1.700 (easier to calculate for me) - 394 (for the pass) = EUR 1.300 = ~ EUR 60 per day to spent for food, accommodation and train reservations (if required)
That\'s okay. But Scandinavia (even hostels) are expensive. Have a look at booking sites like Hostelword [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] or Booking.com [ux]https://rail.shop/bookingcom[/ux] to get an impression.
But all in all possible if you spent the one or other night in a train as well (of course not in a sleeper then).
Just as an example to start with... fly to Helsinki. Then by ferry (very scenic) to Stockholm: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/helsinki-stockholm/13[/u]
Cheaper and more scenic: first by train from Helsinki to Turku, then by ferry to Stockholm: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/turku-stockholm/15[/u]
From Stockholm to Mora by train. Then by Inlandsbanan with overnight stop in Östersund to Gällivare: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/inlandsbanan/[/ux]
Gällivare on the scenic route (if you want to stop, do it in Abisko) to Narvik: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/the-iron-ore-line-from-lulea-to-narvik/[/ux]
Extra trip to the Lofoten if you like, but expensive as you have to use a bus and ferry: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/lofoten-norway/[/ux]
Or from Narvik by bus to Fauske: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/bodo-fauske-narvik-bus/[/ux]
And on by night train to Trondheim: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/trondheim-oslo-rt-406/101[/u]
Then by train to Oslo. From Oslo continue via Göteborg to Malmö and Copenhagen. Everything easy and possible free of extra reservations.
From Copenhagen to Germany (Berlin or Hamburg): [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/hamburg-copenhagen-train/[/ux]
Then via Switzerland to Italy: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/ux]
From Italy you travel by ferry [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/italy/it[/u]to Greece and have some nice stops there: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/train-ferry-greece/[/ux]
Or from Italy via Slovenia [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/italy-slovenia-train/[/ux] and [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/travel-lake-bled-train/[/ux] to Croatia and on to Greece (different options then).
Pete :)
ProspectiveTraveler
Traveller
2 comments
Hi Pete,
That\'s an amazing start for me. Thank you so much! I\'ll definitely give this more of a look when I get these essays out of the way.
Thanks so much again :)
Liam
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Hi Liam.
Good to hear. :)
One "mistake" I made above... you should take the day train from Fauske/Bodö to Trondheim, as very scenic.
Let me know if you have more questions...
Pete :)