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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

#121

Post by gpvos »

mr_toad wrote: post #75
jmkd wrote: post #10

The best part of interailling for me was turning up to a major train station, looking at the giant departure board, choosing an enigmatic destination and just getting on the train. No booking or reservations or even planning at any point. Is this not possible any more?

It’s usually cheaper to book in advance. In particular if you want cheap seats on the Eurostar you have to books months in advance.

The Interrail reservations/supplements are fixed price (or for some SNCF trains there are two price levels as the train fills up). But their number is limited, so in a way the advice is the same.

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

#122

Post by andrewshadura »

ignoramous wrote: post #89
jamescrowley wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite a few countries (France, Spain, Italy for starters) require seat reservations in advance for any long-distance/high-speed trains now. And worse, they have a quota for passes, so even if the train has space, you might not be able to reserve a seat and therefore get on the train. A real shame as it makes it far less flexible than before.

For France, Spain, and Italy, only the inter-country and the high speed rails (TGV, Renfe, Iryo, Frecciarossa etc) require reservation? In Switzerland, some of the touristy intra-country routes (ex: Tirano-Chur, Interlaken-Lucerne) may require (a rather expensive) reservation.

In France, some destinations are served only by TGV. In Italy, taking local trains can take an eternity.

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

#123

Post by andrewshadura »

gpvos wrote: post #121
mr_toad wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s usually cheaper to book in advance. In particular if you want cheap seats on the Eurostar you have to books months in advance.

The Interrail reservations/supplements are fixed price (or for some SNCF trains there are two price levels as the train fills up). But their number is limited, so in a way the advice is the same.

Not for Eurostar. Interrail seat reservations are often more expensive than a new ticket.

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

#124

Post by yardie »

TrackerFF wrote: post #11

Is interrail still a thing? It was popular in Europe back in the 70s and 80s, when young people could buy a interrail pass. Many of my older relatives (now in their 60s) did that back then, but it was more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s. By that time, budget airlines had become a thing, and summer/party trips to Spain / Mediterranean started to dominate my peers' summer vacations.

It's still a thing and I was gearing up to do it in the 00s. But I accepted a job offer and my freewheeling days were over.

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

#125

Post by gib444 »

rsynnott wrote: post #103
gib444 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For faster/intercity trains, it is still like that in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and most of central and eastern Europe [0] France, Italy, Spain, Portugal & Sweden require seat reservations, as do most international services Making reservations varies from easy to a complete pain [0] https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-an-interrail-pass.htm

Note that doing that in Ireland for intercity will result in you being _severely_ overcharged. Dublin to Cork is like 20 euro if you book in advance; I think if you buy the ticket in the station it’s over 60! It’s fine for commuter stuff, of course, but I assume that’s the case everywhere.

We are discussing having an Interrail pass. Are you talking about purchasing tickets without a pass?

The pass covers intercity trains and reservations are optional

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

#126

Post by riffraff »

basisword wrote: post #94
sph wrote: post #74

Interrail used to be more popular years ago among young adults who had just finished high school. I did it with a few friends at the time, and it was an incredible experience of self-reliance, patience and just complete freedom. My best memory is sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Biarritz, France, on a mild summer night next to the Atlantic Ocean. Such a refreshing sleep. The next night we did the…

I think it was much more popular before budget airlines became so big in Europe. When you can fly to most European cities for < €50 at anytime of the year taking lots of weekend breaks is affordable even for students.

I don't think so, I lived the peak of budget airlines in the 00s and interrail was still quite popular.

I think young kids have just moved on culturally, I tried to convince a couple relatives to make use of the 18yo free trains opportunity and nobody wanted to pick it up, for various reasons.

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

#127

Post by extraduder_ire »

hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #85
haunter wrote: post #57

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/on…

Interrail also includes a travel day to and from your home country though

I think specifically, it's only one journey out and one journey in.

If you are eligible to get an eurail pass instead, you should. Costs the same last I checked and doesn't exclude your home country.

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

#128

Post by riffraff »

andrewshadura wrote: post #122
ignoramous wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For France, Spain, and Italy, only the inter-country and the high speed rails (TGV, Renfe, Iryo, Frecciarossa etc) require reservation? In Switzerland, some of the touristy intra-country routes (ex: Tirano-Chur, Interlaken-Lucerne) may require (a rather expensive) reservation.

In France, some destinations are served only by TGV. In Italy, taking local trains can take an eternity.

but with interrail the "useful" thing was to travel overnight, because that saves you one night of $$ for loding, so slow is actually fine.

I don't think fast trains (TGV, Frecciarossa etc) were ever covered by the interrail ticket anyway, were they?

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

#129

Post by extraduder_ire »

TrackerFF wrote: post #11

Is interrail still a thing? It was popular in Europe back in the 70s and 80s, when young people could buy a interrail pass. Many of my older relatives (now in their 60s) did that back then, but it was more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s. By that time, budget airlines had become a thing, and summer/party trips to Spain / Mediterranean started to dominate my peers' summer vacations.

Any of the series of jetlag the game[0] set in Europe basically function as a free advertisement for eurail.

0: https://www.youtube.com/@jetlagthegame

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

#130

Post by gpvos »

mxmilkiib wrote: post #93
DemocracyFTW2 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I mean the whole "OMG I have to pre-order my vegan meals??!" thing. Back in the day we had to WALK to school and when on a trip we brought along our hard-boiled eggs and meatballs wrapped in aluminum foil.

WALK to school?! back when I were a lad, we had to CRAWL to school! what a great workout it was! and, for our packed lunches, we'd have a hard-boiled potato with a dod of ketchup, and some breadcrumbs if we were lucky, and we enjoyed it!!

Uphill both ways!
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