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Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

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Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#51

Post by trinix912 »

foresterre wrote: post #39
edent wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The passes were about €500 each for first class. Each reservation was €3-€15. The overnight ferry was about €100 each.

In addition, there's about 2x year a 25% sale and you have a year to activate the passes. The in southern Europe (e.g. France, Spain, Italy), required seat reservation is most common and most expensive. I don't mind requiring seat reservations, but that it is separate from the ticket price and significant (eg 15€/seat reservation in Italy), feels like price gouging. It also feels different from say the optional (and…

As a Slovenian I’m always impressed when tourists take the train and make it through the country without huge delays or replacement bus service. The trains here are just awful, the main line (Koper-Ljubljana-Maribor) is the worst. Lots of construction work that never seems to end. There are still Yugoslav cars in use occasionally on some more remote lines.

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#52

Post by cuvert »

raphinou wrote: post #35

I would love to take an Interrail, eg to visit France, but it's x days in one month (8 days is 292€ per person) and doesn't match my travel habits. I would prefer to make short travels everyday rather than long travels 8 days of the month. Edit: global passes let you travel everyday of your pass, with passes of up to 3 months: https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass

For small trips through France you'll probably get cheaper without this pass. When I'm in vacation I do 2-3 days in a city than move on. If I exclude Milano-Lyon, I don't think I ever payed more than 40€ through France and I did Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Bordeaux and a few other cities. The only thing is that I book way in advance.

When I returned from Germany, two months ago, the lady next to me was amazed that I payed Munchen-Verona 37€ while she did 100+.

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#53

Post by AntonTrollback »

edent wrote: post #46
AntonTrollback wrote: post #45

Self promotion, support a long time HN reader and get your pass via https://allaboard.eu/eurail or https://allaboard.eu/interrail It’s actually more affordable via us, as prices are net and we do free refunds. Loosing the Stripe fee but it’s worth it.

How do you handle seat reservation refunds? That was our most annoying experience with the Interrail app - a booking fee on top of the reservation, but little support when those trains were delayed or cancelled.

We do sell seat reservations (https://allaboard.eu/book) and some are refundable but most are not. Depending on the operator.

Delay or cancellation compensation is different. You can then contact our support and we’ll help with making that claim.

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#54

Post by 4ggr0 »

embedding-shape wrote: post #31
Milner08 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worst during the interrail trip. It was for me and it wasn't even close.

> Worst during the interrail trip. That wouldn't surprise me. "your worst train experience" still would, unless the person only taken trains in Europe. But the world is big, and some places are just on a different level. Ever taken a train in India? I'd like to hear those people complain about the German train experience :)

doesn't it say quite a bit about the german train system when you have to compare it to india to make it seem not that bad?

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#55

Post by haunter »

Cockbrand wrote: post #33

I remember that there had been a discussion about providing free Interrail tickets to all EU citizens at some age (18 or 19 maybe?), which I found a brilliant idea. I don't know whether this actually ever materialized, though.

Yes

https://youth.europa.eu/discovereu_en

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#57

Post by haunter »

For single countries though the Interrail not worth it, or more like make your own research

For example in Hungary we have an unlimited pass for ~53€ a month, valid on all trains and multiple public transport options (almost everything in Budapest included) https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-ful...

Whereas a 3 days in 1 month Interrail pass is 79€ https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pa...

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#58

Post by ben_w »

mrtksn wrote: post #44

Just like with the Erasmus program, it’s a transformative experience. It immunizes you against the BS you see on the internet about countries and people, be it the hype or fear mongering kind of BS. I did Greece-Bulgaria-Turkey many years ago back in college and since can just turn blind eye to the stuff Turks may say about Greeks and vice versa with no effort. Just doesn't trigger me, I have seen the non-touristy pa…

> Maybe something like that should exist on global scale.

Would certainly change things, e.g. the US looked far less glamorous when I actually visited it*, but there's a lot more variation in certain parts of the world than between nearby parts of continental Europe, e.g. Nairobi not only had some very nice looking newly built stuff (the first pictures for the city on Google Maps seem to be glamour shots), but also this: https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2442837,...

* landed at SFO, even just the literal bed in the hotel room was larger than some entire rooms I've stayed in, then I look out of the windows and think "1980s parody of Butlins in 1960" ("Hi-de-Hi!" was part of my childhood TV).

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#59

Post by pchangr »

embedding-shape wrote: post #31
Milner08 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worst during the interrail trip. It was for me and it wasn't even close.

> Worst during the interrail trip. That wouldn't surprise me. "your worst train experience" still would, unless the person only taken trains in Europe. But the world is big, and some places are just on a different level. Ever taken a train in India? I'd like to hear those people complain about the German train experience :)

I guess it depends on what you expect. If you expect the train to be on time .. yes, India is much better than Germany. ~80% trains delayed 15 min or less vs Germany 36% trains delayed 15 min or less. It can get pretty bad when your train is delayed so you miss your connection and now you’re stranded in a random town waiting for the next train .. which is coming .. at 5am the next day. Or you can take the regional and hopefully make it in 12 hours with 3 connections instead of your original 4 hour leg. :D

If you expect a comfortable and quiet experience, then I’d agree with you, Germany can be a much nicer experience.

So it’s really about what you value, I guess

Re: Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

#60

Post by jgrahamc »

In the middle of my doctorate I had a mini-crisis of "I'm not smart enough and I'm never going to manage this", got mononucleosis, and decided the cure was the US equivalent (the USA Rail Pass: https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html).

I spent weeks and weeks traveling around the US. The Amtrak system is much maligned but you get to move at a slow pace and see the country and meet people (some of which you would prefer to have not met).

I highly recommend doing it if you want to get a sense of the scale and diversity of the US.

During this trip, at the recommendation of a friend, I read (or tried to read) a number of "American classic" books which I would finish and then leave on the train for someone else to read. Catch in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, ... The only book I couldn't finish was, ironically, On The Road which I found utterly tedious.

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