111–120 of 156 posts
Did a trip like this a few years ago. Highly recommended, if you have the opportunity! Wanted to do a write-up like this, but only got as far as the map, https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/ I wonder if they took the new "Rail Baltica" through the Baltics? That was one of weaker links in the train route - I used a bus between Vilnius and Riga.
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.
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.
> Would we do a trip like this again? It's certain a lot of travel. We weren't very spontaneous - most of the trip was planned out way in advance, along with hotels. Having 2-4 days in each place is like taking a series of minibreaks, which is delightful. But it can be exhausting. I don't want to complain that my diamond tiara is too tight, but there comes a point where there is such a thing a too much holiday. This…
Meanwhile, I'm about to spend ten days in the french mountains, and I hope to do nothing more than read books and go for long quiet walks.
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Train travel is so great, even in the crappy trains. Just turn up at the station, sit down, and enjoy the sights. You don't even need a seatbelt. I wish to see high speed maglev transportation to supplant air travel in my lifetime.
In practice, those are two different types of train travel. The former exists only in countries with a rail heritage. Where countries are genuinely trying to replace air travel with high-speed rail (credit to them, it's much more sustainable), the new train stations are alas a bit like airports for trains. You generally can't just turn up and hop on. In China you can't even get into the train station without a bookin…
Other countries I'm familiar with (Spain, France, Germany, UK, Japan) certainly do let you turn up, buy a ticket, and get on. It will cost more than buying earlier.
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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.
Sure we had to actually do the driving, but hard to turn down a journey on the autobahn as a tourist.
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Yes. The app makes it really easy to do that. In our last trip we did it a few times. But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance.
> But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance. Am I the only one who feels the opposite? I used to take great care in making plans, knowing what's up ahead, knowing what I should know and so on. Spontaneous moments like "Lets go to X" were very infrequent. Nowadays, as a Proper Adult, I much more like going places without knowing anything about them, with as little plans as possible, figur…
We’re both somewhere on some spectrum (and in our fifties) and it has been occasionally stressful for my partner. But we more often want to stretch a visit somewhere than curtail it, so flexibility has been pivotal to getting the most out of the trip.
We’ve identified five or so camps that we’ll definitely revisit next year or 2028, but they’ll be part of another freewheeling trip, I hope.
In general I’m a planner, a contingency-identifier and a worrier, but when we’re on the open road most of that goes out the window.
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…
Same for Germany, we have the 63€/Month Deutschlandticket. It's only valid for regional trains (but also all local buses, subway and tram systems) though, so for long distance travel you have to switch trains a lot.
That coupled with the just much nicer experience of high-speed rail (which is not included in the Deutschlandticket), I'd still call the Interrail pass worthwhile if you are visiting. Not the only good option, but one of the good options
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In practice, those are two different types of train travel. The former exists only in countries with a rail heritage. Where countries are genuinely trying to replace air travel with high-speed rail (credit to them, it's much more sustainable), the new train stations are alas a bit like airports for trains. You generally can't just turn up and hop on. In China you can't even get into the train station without a bookin…
China requires showing identification to buy a long-distance train ticket. Other countries I'm familiar with (Spain, France, Germany, UK, Japan) certainly do let you turn up, buy a ticket, and get on. It will cost more than buying earlier.
In China, ID and ticket are the same thing. You know that already.
Europe and Japan (what I meant by "rail heritage") are indeed more relaxed. But even in Europe the newest high-speed network, Spain's, follows the airport template, with security check and departure lounge. You have to turn up 25 minutes ahead of departure. It's such a shame and so self-defeating.