Generic Eurail/Interrailing Thread

[craigkillie]

Coming up to that time of year to start planning again. Looking to do this with my girlfriend this time, bit different to with mates I imagine! Unfortunately two weeks is about the most I can do with work but it'll be better than sitting around a beach for a fortnight. Also looking at early May as the time for it.

She's doing a year abroad in France currently, so we're provisionally looking at Annecy-Geneva-Zurich-Munich-Innsbruck-Venice-Milan. Anyone been to any of these and have a "must do" activity in mind? I've not looked too in depth as of yet but definitely looks a little different to the areas I've been before with mountains essentially being everywhere on the route.

Geneva, Zurich and Milan I've very little knowledge on, so any advice there in particular is much appreciated. Zurich is really just being used a stopover for Munich because I really want to go (praying the Eagle's Nest will be open), and Milan is being used more for the Easyjet flight to Edinburgh than anything else - although daytrips to Lake Como and Cinque Terre look decent and very doable.

Any advice welcome.

Did Geneva to Zurich this summer - I started in Geneva because I was at a conference there and like you used Zurich as a stopover for Munich. Both of them are nice enough cities but nothing particularly special, and also pretty expensive.

In Geneva, the obvious things to see are the UN headquarters and the Jet d'Eau, but neither of them take much time. It's probably worth walking along the promenade round the lake too, particularly if it's a nice day. We also took a day trip just across the border into France to go up the Saleve mountain on the cable car - it's about 15-20 minutes on the normal city bus which takes you right to the border, and then 5-10 minutes walk to the cable car station. Don't remember it being that expensive. If you like hiking then there are a few marked routes up there, but if not then it also provides a nice view of Mont Blanc.

It's definitely worth taking the Golden Pass route to travel from Geneva to Zurich. You have to change quite a few times (4 maybe?) and it's a lot slower, but the scenery is unbelievable. There's a panoramic train for part of the route, and there's no extra charge on top of your Interrail pass.

We didn't see all that much of Zurich because we were only there two nights and it pissed down on the only full day we were there. It's got a nice old town and there are plenty of boat trips round about. We read about a big food hall called Viadukt which came with great reviews, but we were pretty disappointed with it, especially given that we had a half an hour walk each way to get there. We thought it was going to be a market type thing, but it was basically a trumped up food court.

[Paco]

Did Geneva to Zurich this summer - I started in Geneva because I was at a conference there and like you used Zurich as a stopover for Munich. Both of them are nice enough cities but nothing particularly special, and also pretty expensive.

In Geneva, the obvious things to see are the UN headquarters and the Jet d'Eau, but neither of them take much time. It's probably worth walking along the promenade round the lake too, particularly if it's a nice day. We also took a day trip just across the border into France to go up the Saleve mountain on the cable car - it's about 15-20 minutes on the normal city bus which takes you right to the border, and then 5-10 minutes walk to the cable car station. Don't remember it being that expensive. If you like hiking then there are a few marked routes up there, but if not then it also provides a nice view of Mont Blanc.

It's definitely worth taking the Golden Pass route to travel from Geneva to Zurich. You have to change quite a few times (4 maybe?) and it's a lot slower, but the scenery is unbelievable. There's a panoramic train for part of the route, and there's no extra charge on top of your Interrail pass.

We didn't see all that much of Zurich because we were only there two nights and it pissed down on the only full day we were there. It's got a nice old town and there are plenty of boat trips round about. We read about a big food hall called Viadukt which came with great reviews, but we were pretty disappointed with it, especially given that we had a half an hour walk each way to get there. We thought it was going to be a market type thing, but it was basically a trumped up food court.

Thanks for that. Think we're only planning on the one night in Geneva to break up the journey to Zurich in all honesty so I'm sure the Jet d'Eau and the UN place will pass the time. The boat tours look alright on the lake if it's a nice enough day too.

Is the Golden Pass truly worth it? It looks spectacular but as I imagine you found it's to the detriment of Zurich. Had a look into the journey itself and it seems easy enough despite the changes. Just seven and a bit hours instead of two and a half. I was tempted by a daytrip to Liechtenstein from Zurich, and there's a few activities in the city itself that look interesting enough such as the cable car to the top of the city. I had read about the Viadukt so thanks for the tip. Really just a case of weighing up whether the longer journey is worth it. In all honesty it appears to me as if it is. I've travelled Vienna-Zagreb which is meant to be one of the nicest lines in Europe but the pictures I've seen from the Golden Pass blow that out the water.

I'd love to visit the Rhine Falls but just won't have the time I don't think. I'd love to do the ''top of Europe' too so maybe I'll have to revisit Switzerland.at a later date.

[craigkillie]

The Golden Pass train was probably one of the highlights of our trip - particularly the leg between Interlaken and Luzern. I thought I'd get fed up of just looking at scenery for that amount of time, but there are so many different things to see along the way. It's obviously contigent on the weather and stuff like that though. I imagine it would be disappointing if you set off and then it was pissing down with rain or really foggy and you couldn't see anything.

[Honest_Man#1]

Got an interrailing question. My mates are going and getting a 5 journeys in 10 days pass, but I'm only joining them for the Vienna-Prague-Munich part of the trip so it would be cheaper for me to buy single train tickets from Vienna to Prague and then Prague to Munich. Will I be able to go on the same trains as them and sit beside them or are there specific interrailing trains that you can only buy tickets for if you have the pass?

[Widge]

Got an interrailing question. My mates are going and getting a 5 journeys in 10 days pass, but I'm only joining them for the Vienna-Prague-Munich part of the trip so it would be cheaper for me to buy single train tickets from Vienna to Prague and then Prague to Munich. Will I be able to go on the same trains as them and sit beside them or are there specific interrailing trains that you can only buy tickets for if you have the pass?

The majority of trains in that area, you just walk on with your interailling pass. They'll then presumably stamp it. I don't know, as I never used that one, mines was as much travel as I could manage. Assuming it's not a train where seats have to be booked then yes, I'd imagine you'll be absolutely fine to sit with and join them. There's certainly not any specific interailling trains that must be used. Italy was the only country I encountered that you had to pay for tickets on trains even with the passes.

[fanny paddery]

The majority of trains in that area, you just walk on with your interailling pass. They'll then presumably stamp it. I don't know, as I never used that one, mines was as much travel as I could manage. Assuming it's not a train where seats have to be booked then yes, I'd imagine you'll be absolutely fine to sit with and join them. There's certainly not any specific interailling trains that must be used. Italy was the only country I encountered that you had to pay for tickets on trains even with the passes.

Paying for trains is common if you wish to take the faster routes. Amsterdam to Berlin direct is a pay service, as are any sleeper trains.

[Anthony Fitzgerald]

Not quite a full backpacking experience but for the Scotland game next year in Slovakia I was considering doing Vienna, Bratislava and then Budapest in that order. Any advice regarding these 3 cities for whose who have been and ease of transport between then?

[fanny paddery]

Not quite a full backpacking experience but for the Scotland game next year in Slovakia I was considering doing Vienna, Bratislava and then Budapest in that order. Any advice regarding these 3 cities for whose who have been and ease of transport between then?

Vienna to Bratislava is only an hour on train or river ferry. Easy enough to get the train from Bratislava to Budapest, only takes 2 and a half hours and is around 15E

[vikingTON]

The Slovakia match with Scotland will almost certainly not be in Bratislava, but either in žilina, about two and a half hours north, which has hosted all of the Euro qualifiers, or in Trnava, about 40 minutes from the capital, whose brand new stadium hosts its first international friendly this week. Bratislava doesn't have a credible, fully-compliant stadium, with only an agreement in place to build a national stadium there. Trnava is a piss-easy local or fast train connection from Bratislava so wouldn't be an issue. A match in žilina would likely require accommodation in the city though, if its an evening kick-off.

[CK]

Going interrailing for the first time this summer, planning on Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Hamburg, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Apart from the Denmark leg where I'm visiting a friend, I'll be travelling alone for the rest of my trip. Any tips?

 

Will be using quite a few different currencies, what's the best thing to do money wise - just use my debit card at ATMs at each destination, or get one of those currency card/cash passport things?

[bullywee]

I did a pretty similar trip a few years back and used a Caxton fx currency card which was easy to use and had pretty good rates.

[Jambomo]

Did a couple of tours around Europe. Generally we just took money out at ATMs since then you don't need to carry too much (in case of loss/theft).

You do get charged for it but in my case that only ever amounted to a couple of quid so it was worth it.

The only other tip I'd say is that in The Budapest/Bratislava/Prague area we found the trains weren't often great and we took the bus,

http://www.eurolines.co.uk/en

were a great option if you get stuck, clean, pleasant, quick and cheap 😊

[GorgieRoad]

We took a bit of money of each currency with us and if we ran out used a cash machine. Handy to have some with you so you aren't scouting for a bank machine whenever you get somewhere.

Echo what was said above about using buses too, we used 'student agency buses' between prague and vienna which was excellent, had tvs on the back of every seat and was cheaper than the train, only about 14 euros iirc.

[MangoBroccoli]

We took a bit of money of each currency with us and if we ran out used a cash machine. Handy to have some with you so you aren't scouting for a bank machine whenever you get somewhere.

Echo what was said above about using buses too, we used 'student agency buses' between prague and vienna which was excellent, had tvs on the back of every seat and was cheaper than the train, only about 14 euros iirc.

 

Student Agency is the absolute shit

[Deego]

Looking for some thoughts from folk who have done this before.

 

Had originally planned to fly to Italy and travel between Rome and Venice, possibly with Florence in between, for 8-12 days. I hate flying for a variety of reasons, so looking to avoid if possible.

 

I've got it in my head I could travel by rail from Glasgow (and back again!) via some destinations along the way and then do the 10 days (or whatever) in Italy.

 

So, first of all, does this sound doable or am I in fairyland with this?

 

If it's doable, any tips?

[drs]

Its doable but it depends on what route you want to take.

 

Glasgow to London

St Pancras to France (during the summer there is a direct train to Marseille)

Marseille to Genoa (changing at Nice and maybe one place more)

 

Depending on time and cost you could go via Switzerland.

[DiegoDiego]

A match in žilina would likely require accommodation in the city though, if its an evening kick-off.

 

Not true. I used to live in Zilina, it's on the main train line in Slovakia. Trains pass through at all hours and even international trains tend to stop in Zilina as it's the junction between Ostrava, Katowice and Bratislava. I used to go to Liptovsky Mikulas or Poprad to watch the ice hockey, get pissed, then stagger on to the Bucharest-Berlin train at 3.30am and hop off in Zilina half an hour later.

[bullywee]

Looking for some thoughts from folk who have done this before.

Had originally planned to fly to Italy and travel between Rome and Venice, possibly with Florence in between, for 8-12 days. I hate flying for a variety of reasons, so looking to avoid if possible.

I've got it in my head I could travel by rail from Glasgow (and back again!) via some destinations along the way and then do the 10 days (or whatever) in Italy.

So, first of all, does this sound doable or am I in fairyland with this?

If it's doable, any tips?

Just mind that if you're buying an actual interrail ticket then rail travel in the uk won't be covered by it.

[vikingTON]

On 7/4/2016 at 10:50 AM, DiegoDiego said:

 

Not true. I used to live in Zilina, it's on the main train line in Slovakia. Trains pass through at all hours and even international trains tend to stop in Zilina as it's the junction between Ostrava, Katowice and Bratislava. I used to go to Liptovsky Mikulas or Poprad to watch the ice hockey, get pissed, then stagger on to the Bucharest-Berlin train at 3.30am and hop off in Zilina half an hour later.

The only train running to Bratislava after midnight would be the sleeper train at a similar time in the morning, with very few running between 9 in the evening and midnight. Which couldn't accommodate the crowd attending an international match (the train company put on a special train travelling west and east to accommodate Slovak fans suring the Euro qualifiers). Not that it matters anyway, as the game is being held in Trnava which is piss easy to get to.

[Salvo Montalbano]

Can't believe I hadn't noticed there was a travel forum and that there were posts about this kind of stuff. Echo the stuff about Seat 61, it gives a great starting point then you can go onto the Bahn/ris website to get train times for any station in Europe. 

Last year we did:

Edinburgh - Venice on Jet2

Venice - Trieste by train (Trieste is an absolutely lovely little city and wellwell worth a short stay)

Trieste -Ljubljana by coach as the direct train doesn't exist anymore  (Ljubljana is an amazing city and should be a must for anyone who enjoys travelling)

Ljubljana -Zagreb by train (the morning sleeper train but in the seated coach at about 8 a.m. This involved a passport check on board which took about 20 minutes. Zagreb was one of the highlights for me, what a great city and was still cheap)

Zagreb - Budapest by train (6 hours, and despite being told you couldn't reserve seats we got moved out our seats but managed to get a wee compartment to ourselves anyway. The border control wad fine, it took about 15 minutes at each border and we didn't have to leave the train despite the Apple travel app saying there was a chance of train but the train was crowded since there was a music festival at Lake Balaton. It's already been said about Budapest but it's worth saying again that it's stunning)

Budapest -Bratislava by train (Bratislava is lovely and small enough to just have a night or two there but is well worth it)

Bratislava - Vienna by fast boat (worth the extra for the air conditioning and lovely if not spectacular views and it tales you right into the city centre. Of course, Vienna is ball-breakingly beautiful if pricey)

Vienna - Prague by train  (tbh I was disappointed by Prague - too many stag weekend type places, too many places where the prices have went up but the quality hasn't and despite the lovely city and people I was expecting more since everyone I know raves about it)

Prague - Cologne by sleeper (fantastic journey, fantastic place to visit and of course brews fantastic beer)

Cologne - Amsterdam by train (easy journey, and a great place to end the trip even if (like us) you're not into the joints and red light type of visit)

Flight back on EasyJet, job done. 

Next one we're looking at is flying into Geneva then onto Domosdossolp (sp?) in Italy to catch the Lake Maggiore express train/boat, onto Milan, Genoa, the Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence then Rome.

Sorry for the War and Peace everyone.