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Generic Eurail/Interrailing Thread


vikingTON

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These threads often crop up on the forum so it seems worthwhile to try and compile the same tips into one cut out and keep guide. Interrailing around Europe is by far the best method of travelling IMO, at least once you get out of the UK. I started with Prague-Vienna-Bratislava back in the day, then last summer did Bratislava-Kosice-Poprad-Olomouc-Prague-Cesky Krumlov-Wroclaw. Last month I did Warsaw-Wroclaw-Berlin-Dresden-Prague, so have been pretty happy to mill around the same extremely cheap part of Europe on varied itineraries and stops in between.

My next trip for the summer is hopefully going to be a bit more progressive, going from Gdansk on the Baltic to Krakow, through Brno and the southern Czech Republic, spending a few paid weeks in Plzen doing classes, then going west and south via Munich and Salzburg into Slovenia and ending in Croatia, probably flying back from Split or Dubrovnik. The below is an excellent tool for planning the times and cost of itineraries that perhaps is well known, but I didn't come across until literally a few days ago. It'd have saved me a couple of hours of planning, searching and booking previously:

http://www.rome2rio.com/

Seat61 is another very useful starting point for anyone considering travelling by the only civilised mode of transport. The same site works really well for inter-railing around the rest of the world. I'd massively recommend the Californian Zephyr service from Chicago-San Francisco for anyone wanting to truly see the US (and the spectacular Rockies in between); ultimately I'm aiming to do the Trans-Siberian route, if only to Beijing instead of Vladivostok.

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It depends on where you're going - Seat61 has a decent guide - but if you have either specific dates of travel and destinations in mind in advance (my version) and/or are travelling in the former Eastern Bloc (or mandatory reserved trains) then railpasses likely aren't value for money: unless the number of trips and cost per ticket fits very well with the rail pass. Otherwise it's worth looking into whether cheaper advance tickets are available. Particularly given that if you're travelling fairly awkward routes like Prague-Krakow and Krakow-Budapest, you may be better off getting a couchette on a sleeper train which you'd have to pay an extra supplement for anyway.

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Was about to start this thread myself but you've beaten me to it.

Been looking at doing this with a few mates at the start of June, but still a bit undecided on how to do it. Pretty much in agreement that we'd like to head towards East Europe around Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland etc since the costs when we get there are likely to be much lower than if we do France or Spain, plus we've ot visited the east before.

The initial plan was to go for 7 days and get a one country pass somewhere like Croatia on the cheap, but with no trains running to Dubrovnik (one of the biggest draws to Croatia for me) and if we're doing a bit of traveling then it would be nice to see a few countries in the same holiday. Since then I've been using skyscanner (http://www.skyscanner.net/) to look for cheap one way flights from Edinburgh and working our way down through Vienna, Budapest and into Croatia then a flight back. Obviously doing this would mean going for between 10 and 14 days instead, and we'd probably want a few days beside the coast at the end to chill out before heading back. I've been finding the German rail website (http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml) decent for finding out the rough departure and journey times for trains around Europe.

The biggest draw for me with the interrail pass was taking the hassle out of booking tickets for certain trains and being able to change plans at the last minute, though not sure how the £150 for 5 days within 10 compares to doing it individually. Though I understand we'd still have to book night trains for ourselves and pay the supplement, but it doesn't look much if you have the pass.

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Did it last summer with a route of Krakow-Bratislava-Vienna-Zagreb-Budapest-Prague, fifteen days in all - good enough for a little bit of a holiday and a wee look at all the places, not long enough if you want to truly explore. We were originally going to go to Belgrade from Bratislava but changed our minds the night before we left and went to Vienna and Zagreb instead, before heading back upto Budapest for the Hungarian GP. Definitely a significant advantage of having the pass. In my experience the pass definitely works out cheaper. A mate joined us in Budapest and a train to Prague on the day cost about £50 or so. Obviously like anywhere else advance fairs will be much, much cheaper but the pass gives you flexibility to go wherever you want, whenever you want for pretty cheap.

Krakow and Zagreb were my favourites out of those but we weren't anywhere that didn't have its thrills. Wish we'd had the foresight to head down the Croatian coast or stop at Lake Balaton in Hungary for a few days.

Edited by Paco
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I fancy going London to Paris. Then next day Paris to Lyon. An overnight stay in Lyon too then down to Perpignon for a day trip before a night in Barcelona. From Barcelona over to Madrid for a night before hitting the Costa's and then fly back after 5-6 nights on the shores. I should really do it because I get it free. :)

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Been looking more into this. Swaying towards doing each trip individually rather than the pass since the fares (advance at least) never seem to go over 20 euros.

Looking at doing Prague -> Vienna -> Budapest (With a day trip in Bratislava between) -> Zagreb -> Split (Will probably try and head to Bol/Zlatni Rat) -> Dubrovnik.

Can do the flights to and from Manchester for £94 altogether which seems reasonable, albeit without additional baggage charges. Think only one mate has said he's a definite for this so will have to try and sell this to everyone else. :lol:

Zlatni rat looks absolutely stunning.

plaza-zlatni-rat_640_426.jpeg

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We did Sofia - Ravda - Bucharest - Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna - Prague - Munich - Berlin - Hamburg - Amsterdam.

All pretty vanilla, and if I was doing it again I would stick more to Eastern Europe. I was part of a group though so we had to negotiate a bit (Bucharest was my main choice).

Had a cracking time and got some great memories and stories to share with the three guys I went with. Something else I would add is, you'll know what sort of person you are, but I think some people would enjoy the experience more if they don't organise it too much and just go. We had that experience in Amsterdam and it wasn't for me, but the freedom in terms of location might have been nice.

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Note for the above trip that Budapest-Zagreb is a fairly long journey involving a significant border point delay (6hrs in total apparently). For a slight change in the price it might be better doing Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna instead. There's also a ferry from Bratislava to Vienna both ways.

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Note for the above trip that Budapest-Zagreb is a fairly long journey involving a significant border point delay (6hrs in total apparently). For a slight change in the price it might be better doing Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna instead. There's also a ferry from Bratislava to Vienna both ways.

You sure? Most websites seem to indicate it's a 6 hour journey leaving early afternoon in Budapest and arriving in Zagreb in the evening, surely that would take into account any delays at border points? Especially with Croatia joining the EU last year.

Quite limited by which route we take because of the prices of the flights in and out of Dubrovnik, and by arriving in Prague when we do we'd catch the Czech beer festival. :D

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From Wikitravel Zagreb:

When coming in from Budapest via MAV rail (30€), you will need to change trains after the Croatian border. There will be free, but crowded, buses to ferry passengers and their luggage to another railway station, and the journey takes approximately 45mins. The ticket time of 6 hr 14min is thus misleading. The actual time is closer to 7.5 hours including passport control on-board the train.

Not the worst thing in the world but something to bear in mind. Looking at it, the only direct connection from Vienna is too late to really work for Zagreb, getting in around 10pm, but it does offer the alternative of spending a day in Ljubljana en route.

if you're booking in advance then Prague-Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna involves a wee bit more time on the first train but wouldn't be much if any more expensive.

My route has already been mentally reshuffled by flight prices to starting from Budapest/Lake Balaton instead of Poland. Hopefully ending in Dubrovnik but any flights out of Croatia in August are not cheap at the moment, hopefully they'll reduce in a few months time.

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From Wikitravel Zagreb:

Not the worst thing in the world but something to bear in mind. Looking at it, the only direct connection from Vienna is too late to really work for Zagreb, getting in around 10pm, but it does offer the alternative of spending a day in Ljubljana en route.

if you're booking in advance then Prague-Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna involves a wee bit more time on the first train but wouldn't be much if any more expensive.

My route has already been mentally reshuffled by flight prices to starting from Budapest/Lake Balaton instead of Poland. Hopefully ending in Dubrovnik but any flights out of Croatia in August are not cheap at the moment, hopefully they'll reduce in a few months time.

Do you travel alone VT?

Travelling with three other people I missed out on a couple of things that I wanted to do/see, although the company makes up for that.

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My wife and I are planning to do this in the summer. We've got a rough route sketched out but haven't fully finalised it with timetables etc.

Planning to start in Berlin and head to Poland (possibly Wroclaw), Vienna/Bratislava, Budapest, Slovenia and Croatia. It would be nice to go right down to Split, but it seems like a long journey so we might just do Rijeka instead.

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Note for the above trip that Budapest-Zagreb is a fairly long journey involving a significant border point delay (6hrs in total apparently). For a slight change in the price it might be better doing Budapest-Bratislava-Vienna instead. There's also a ferry from Bratislava to Vienna both ways.

I did Budapest to Zagreb in the summer there (a month before they joined the EU) and although there was a stop at th border; it can only have taken about half an hour for the guys to come on the train, stamp everyone's passports then get off again. All-in-all I think the entire journey took between 7 and 8 hours, so not that bad really.

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I entered Croatia from Slovenia and aside from a few armed guards doing a quick sweep of the train and passport checks there wasn't much fuss. Probably stopped for 20 minutes all in all. Going from Zagreb to Budapest was absolutely hellish though, a two hour stop at the border on the hottest day of the year, and the air conditioning had broken down on the train. Absolutely murder. Believe it was 49 degrees outside so I can barely even estimate what the temperatures were in that metal carriage. Had a stinking hangover too. A grim day.

Worth noting that although Croatia have joined the EU they haven't yet joined the Schengen Area, although they are obliged to in the next few years. For now at least I'd still expect a bit of delay.

Been looking more into this. Swaying towards doing each trip individually rather than the pass since the fares (advance at least) never seem to go over 20 euros.

Looking at doing Prague -> Vienna -> Budapest (With a day trip in Bratislava between) -> Zagreb -> Split (Will probably try and head to Bol/Zlatni Rat) -> Dubrovnik.

If you have the time I'd definitely recommend stopping in Bratislava, even if it's just for a night or two. Really nice place, has the feel and indeed the look in many parts of a proper old Eastern Bloc city but it's great fun. People were great and the city centre itself is very modern. It's also about half the price of Vienna, which is crazy when it's only an hour away really. It's maybe got a bit less of the traditional tourist appeal that the other places have but I really liked it. Very friendly place.

Looks like a cracking route though. Split is meant to be marvellous. Will definitely head down the Croatian coast at some point.

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I entered Croatia from Slovenia and aside from a few armed guards doing a quick sweep of the train and passport checks there wasn't much fuss. Probably stopped for 20 minutes all in all. Going from Zagreb to Budapest was absolutely hellish though, a two hour stop at the border on the hottest day of the year, and the air conditioning had broken down on the train. Absolutely murder. Believe it was 49 degrees outside so I can barely even estimate what the temperatures were in that metal carriage. Had a stinking hangover too. A grim day.

Worth noting that although Croatia have joined the EU they haven't yet joined the Schengen Area, although they are obliged to in the next few years. For now at least I'd still expect a bit of delay.

If you have the time I'd definitely recommend stopping in Bratislava, even if it's just for a night or two. Really nice place, has the feel and indeed the look in many parts of a proper old Eastern Bloc city but it's great fun. People were great and the city centre itself is very modern. It's also about half the price of Vienna, which is crazy when it's only an hour away really. It's maybe got a bit less of the traditional tourist appeal that the other places have but I really liked it. Very friendly place.

Looks like a cracking route though. Split is meant to be marvellous. Will definitely head down the Croatian coast at some point.

Been having a look on the internet and it looks a bit hit and miss as to the border experience between Budapest and Zagreb, will probably just do it and hope for the best. We'll probably just write off the day as a travel day and use it as drinking time, which works for me. :lol:

Unfortunately only going for 2 weeks means we've had to cut a few places out, ideally we want a full week in Croatia to take in Zagreb, the Islands and Dubrovnik (also the Brazil - Croatia World Cup opener on the 12th would be special in Zagreb or similar). The initial plan was to travel straight to Bratislava with cheaper accomodation and do a day trip in Vienna, but most people I've talked to have recommended Vienna over it. We've probably got scope for a night so definitely tempted to do a bit more research into it on the back of your recommendation!

Edited by GorgieRoad
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Been having a look on the internet and it looks a bit hit and miss as to the border experience between Budapest and Zagreb, will probably just do it and hope for the best. We'll probably just write off the day as a travel day and use it as drinking time, which works for me. :lol:

Unfortunately only going for 2 weeks means we've had to cut a few places out, ideally we want a full week in Croatia to take in Zagreb, the Islands and Dubrovnik (also the Brazil - Croatia World Cup opener on the 12th would be special in Zagreb or similar). The initial plan was to travel straight to Bratislava with cheaper accomodation and do a day trip in Vienna, but most people I've talked to have recommended Vienna over it. We've probably got scope for a night so definitely tempted to do a bit more research into it on the back of your recommendation!

Any delays you have between Budapest and Zagreb are worth it. Both great cities. If you're spending a couple of days in Zagreb try get out to Lake Jarun, which is basically just a rocky beach ten minutes outside the city centre. Lots of sports activities available, and a great place to relax during the day, and there's a nightclub there too which is top drawer for night. And if you're in Budapest on a Saturday night it's definitely worth looking out for the 'sparties' in the baths. They're worth a visit during the day if not.

I personally preferred Bratislava to Vienna, but each to their own. Vienna is unquestionably a nicer place (like, seriously 'nicer') but Bratislava was way more fun I felt. Really just had something about it I liked.

I also love the optimism of using trains as 'drinking time'. Getting up for early trains after a night out begins to take its toll!

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Yeah, drinking on the train is nothing short of madness.

On the Bratislava/ Vienna thing; I would say that both are worth a visit, but that if you're short for time then it would have to be Vienna, seeing as it's a genuinely breathtaking city. I personally had a better time in Bratislava, but that was purely circumstantial. We were givena guided tour of the city by some locals that we knew through someone's sister which was probably the reason why I enjoyed it so much, but they were puzzled as to why we had decided to go. According to them; everyone leaves the city at the weekend, which I didn't believe until we walked through the city centre on the night of the champions league final and the place was deserted.

If you do go to Bratislava, however, I would recommend Hostel Possonium (It's 5 minutes from the train station and has a basement bar themed like the film 'Hostel') and that you find your way up to the big monument on the hill as the views from up there are pretty spectacular.

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