Elilje
Traveller
11 comments
Posted 7 years ago
Hi again!
I was so sure I had the perfect route planned out for our vacation , but as I\'m thinking about it it might be more fun to find another route... We\'ve been traveling via Copenhagen, Hamburg, Munich, Milano before (and also via Zurich). Maybe it would be more interesting to travel via France (or yet another alternative I haven\'t thought of?) just for a change. So, basically, I\'m looking for fresh ideas and suggestions as it seems like I\'m stuck in the same routes every time I try to plan a vacation. :)
The starting point is Falkenberg in Sweden and the destination is Diano Marina in Italy. I want at least one night on a night train, and we would want to spend a maximum of three travel days for this part of the trip.
If there are scenic views along the way, or interesting places to visit when changing trains it would be a bonus. As we\'re a large family with children we always need quite some time a the station when changing trains, so fewer but longer stops are preferred.
I suppose my children would love to go by TGV, but as I understand it there are only a limited number of seats available for interrail passes?
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hej...
Have you ever travelled with the Ystad - Swinoujscie ferry? This certainly would be a nice way to start a trip...but unfortunately it doesnt make too much sense for your journey I guess. If you take the day ferry you could catch the night train to Krakow, but would already need two travel days, haha... ;)
So...there\'s probably not an alternativ to going to Hamburg first. From there, you could get the nightjet to Vienna or Zurich: check night train
Have you ever travelled the Bernina railway? [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/ux]
You could easily get there from Zurich: check scenic route
So...if you\'d go Falkenberg - Hamburg - nightjet to Zurich - Bernina and stay overnight in Switzerland (have a look at the Youth Hostel in Pontresina or [ux]https://rail.cc/en/ospizio-bernina/albergo-ospizio-bernina/l1139[/ux] you\'d need two travel days.
To get to Diano Marina you would then simply go Bernina Railway - Tirano - Milano - Diano...and you\'d miss out on a high speed train trip.
Oh by the way do you know about the new station and alignment in Diano? Recently the new railway line (mostly tunnels) has been opened...
BTW there are no limited seats on TGV trains, at least on domestic TGV, I think there might be limitations for some international lines: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/interrail-reservation-guide-tgv/[/ux]
Taking the nightjet to Vienna doesnt make too much sense I guess...since this would leave you with only one travel day to get to Diano which will be quite the trip to do in one day.
If you want to include a TGV and go via France you could look at the nightjet to Zurich, then travel via Geneve to Lyon and stay there overnight. Using your third travel day you could get a TGV Lyon - (Marseille) - Nice and then continue to Diano. Actually this would be quite an interesting option too, allowing you to see some scenic parts of Switzerland (although not as spectacular as the Bernina Railway) and include a night train and TGV. :)
...btw do you know a Marina from Falkenberg who also did a family Interrail trip some time ago? I remember her writing here on the forum and I guess she also had a Swedish blog about her trip... :)
Flo
Elilje
Traveller
11 comments
Hi! And thanks!!!
I\'ve got quite a lot to think about now! (And it\'s so much fun planning! It\'s almost as fun as actually travelling!) I\'ll check the different options and ask the family about their opinions.
OMG the train station in Diano Marina! I\'m so happy you told me this because otherwise I\'m sure we would stand there with our backpacks and discover that it would be too far to walk to our camping, and I suppose the kids would cry and I would whine... Now we\'re prepared to find a bus or to ask the camping staff to pick us up. (I mean, sure, we did check the location of the train station last time we were there, but now I felt confident knowing the town...)
Yes, actually I do know Marina (or at least through another internet forum, we haven\'t met), which is quite a coincidence. (Falkenberg is not my home town, but we would like to start from there because it\'s where we usually spend our summers. I mean what\'s the odds? (Thinking about it I do remember talking to her about her Interrail trip a few years ago, and exchanging ideas too. But I haven\'t read her blog.) :-)
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Oh thats amazing that you know Marina! :D
Trains are now using the new line between Andora and San Lorenzo di Mari which runs more or less completely in tunnels; the old alignment along the coast via Cervo, Diano Marina and Imperia Oneglia/Porto Maurizio is now abandoned. New stations have been built for Diano and Imperia, check out [ux]http://openrailwaymap.org/[/ux]
Local passengers are very unhappy about the changes since the new stations are quite far away from the town centres/coastline (especially the station in Diano) with Cervo having completely lost rail services. Apparently passenger numbers have declined already...
Anyway, have much fun planning, it is indeed one of the best parts of a journey. ;)