When it is peak season the reservation of the night train costs 20 euros. Compared to the TGV's 25-40.

Once in Cerbère take the local train down to Barcelona. Or you can even stop before in Perpignan and catch the AVE to Madrid.

I did this countless times and loved it. Especially watching the sunrise from the French coast

Posting this to share my experience with other travelers.

In June I took the night train from Budapest to Bucharest. Train Ister IC 473, operated by CFR Călători (Romanian Railways), ticket bought through MAV (Hungarian State Railways). I stayed in a three person sleeping compartment. I had never taken a night train before so I wanted to try it.

There were issues with the train that make me not want to take it again:

• Air conditioning stopped working a few hours into the trip. It got very hot in the compartment. Couldn't sleep. Even without active AC, just letting in enough outside air would have been fine but also didn't happen and there is no window you can open.
• The washbasin tap was broken and had no water. Both in the private compartment washbasin and in the toilet. Couldn't wash hands.

During the ride I mentioned both issues to the attendant. When that didn't help, still during the ride I sent an email to MAV. After three months of investigation (and forwarding to CFR) they concluded nothing was wrong and there would be no (partial) refund.

I'm just back home after a short trip to Spain. One of my old uni mates has an apartment in Jerez, and we tend to go visit for a couple of days every other year or so, without wives or kids, to sample the local drinks (sherry, and beers) etc. This year we decided to go by train; he was sure that buying individual advance tickets would be cheapest, I thought an Interrail pass would be.. Comparison at the end!

I live in Norwich, he in Colchester, so I took a Greater Anglia train early on Saturday morning to Colchester where he joined. We then went to Stratford, walked through the shopping centre to International station for the hop to St Pancras before the Eurostar to Lille. We had 2 1/2h in Lille, so walked through the city centre to a brasserie for a steak frites, say the protest marches before getting some snacks (cheese, wine, ham) for the long train to Perpignan. Of the near 7h journey, it got dark just around Paris so we didn't get to see the most scenic portions around the Med coast. We had a twin room booked at Apart'City Perpignan, at €55 and literally across the road from the station, couldn't be beaten.

The following morning we took the AVE to Madrid (the cafe car was a bit of a palaver but eventually got a sandwich!) and with another 3h there, went over to a chicken and cider place that my friend knows (Casa Mingo, near Principe Pio - Interrail valid on the Cercanias train, but then so was the point to point AVE ticket). Then back to Atocha for Seville and a quick 20 minute transfer to the last train to Jerez - at 10 minutes delayed, the only delay on the whole route.

We had two days in Jerez in the sunshine before I left him to wait for his wife and kids, I took another Media Distancia train back to Seville for the airport, where a flight back to Heathrow left me with the Interrail on the Elizabeth line to Liverpool St and a Greater Anglia train back home.

And the thing you're all waiting for: Total cost (converted to £): Advance tickets: £318. Interrail: £297 - and only used 3 days of a 4 day second class pass, but I'm unlikely to use the last day.

Athens-Sofia-Belgrade-Budapest-Bratislava-Stuttgart-Paris-Brussels-Essen-Malmö-Stockholm

Are you planning a summer railway adventure through Scandinavia and think you can make it affordable by taking your tent? In gratitude to the redditors who came before us, here are some tips written from the last leg of our circular journey, which took us from Frankfurt - Copenhagen - Malmö - Stockholm archipelago - Stockholm - Arvika - Oslo - Kristiansand - Aarhus - back to Frankfurt.

We were planning to save costs on the trip by camping according to Allemansrätten (the right to camp on public land for free!) in Sweden and Norway. We sort of gave up on that part after realising that nice spots near water sources/food shops/toilets are quite hard to access from train stations, and our backpacks were too heavy for multiday wanderings. Instead we stayed in cheap hostels in capital cities at the weekends and stayed at campsites during the week, which generally cost about 20€ per night for two people in one tent. Campsites also allow you to sleep in nature reserves where camping is more regulated, though in Norway especially there seem to be amazing landscapes outside of nature reserves.

Trip diary:

Our first stop was Copenhagen during pride weekend, which was a massive and exuberant street party taking over the whole city centre. We adored the city despite sleeping in a miserable capsule (cupboard) hostel: definitely go to the worker’s museum, swim at the harbour and book a communal dinner at a Folkshuset.

Next destination was Utö on the Stockholm archipelago. We accidentally had a 3 hour stopover in Malmö, enough time to visit the very special Kallbadhus sauna, and swim in the baltic with sandmartins darting around us. To get to Utö travel to Stockholm S, then take a quick train and bus to Astra Brygge and hop on the ferry. The island is ravishingly beautiful with amazing swimming and animals (we saw moose, seabirds, butterflies and dragonflies everywhere), though a large part is a military training ground and you hear gunfire in the evenings. Campsite next to ferry stop, where there is also an unbelievably good bakery and a shop stocked with everything you could need. You can also walk to the neighbouring island Ålö in about 4 hours and wild camp at stora sand, where there are toilets and a fresh water pump and an impossibly beautiful beach. Stockholm archipelago trails are ideal hiking as the trails generally take you round the perimeter of the islands and you can return to your tent in the evening.

We were planning to visit more islands but it inevitably started raining and we went to Stockholm for the weekend. We found some cute corners but found the city quite sterile and quiet after Copenhagen. Great art museums and amazing lunch at the veg buffet restaurant Hermans (w student discount!)

Next we took a train to Arvika, stayed one night in a campsite outside the town before taking a bus to Glava the next day. From there we hitchhiked the last half hour to the campsite at Lenungen in the middle of the enormous Glaskogen nature reserve. ‘Nature park’ is slightly deceptive as the landscape is mostly commercial fir forest, but there is plenty of wildlife (adders, beavers, moose!) and the lakes are amazing for swimming. We ate tons of bilberries and picked ceps and chanterelles for dinner every day. Small handy shop at Lenungen. Best thing to do is rent a canoe and paddle between the shelters, where you can pitch your tent each night. You will only meet German and Dutch families here, all kitted out with high tech gear. There is a bus that goes straight to lenungen from arvika but it stops running after Aug 16th.

Next stop, Oslo. We wanted to camp on the island of Langoyene (which is completely free, 25 mins from the city centre by ferry and sounds like an absolute dream). However there was heavy rain forecast all weekend so we forked out for an airbnb. The day we arrived the King of Norway died. Loved the Folkemuseet, the Munch museum, Kok floating sauna, beers at Bar Boca in the evening. Survived by cooking meals in our rental.

To close the circle we then took a train to Kristiansand in the southern tip of Norway. This was the most beautiful train ride by far, past rivers fjörds and mountains - the on board café has cozy armchairs placed in front of big windows. Kristiansand has a sweet harbour and little beaches but not a huge deal going on. The fjördlines ferry has a big discount for interrailers and took us to Hirtshals for 25€ each. You then have to pay ca. 4€ for a bus service to Hirtshals station on the other side.

A couple of hours later on regional trains we reached our final stop Aarhus. Absolutely charming city full of students, bicycles, beautiful buildings and the crazy Aros museum. Amazing charity shops for clothes. We stayed until lunchtime the next day and went home via Hamburg in 8.5 hours.

In total we were travelling for 2 and a half weeks and spent more than planned - about 800-900€ each including accommodation and everything apart from the interrail ticket itself. We used 7/10 travel days on the interrail 2 month global pass. Had a fabulous trip.

TOP TIPS:

- Many rural public transport links are scaled back in Sweden after August 16th, when school holidays end. In a pinch we hitchhiked from Arvika to Glaskogen park, had more luck approaching people outside their cars than standing on the road with thumbs up.

- Take tweezers or special tick tweezers and get a TBE jab if planning to go hiking - ticks were everywhere in Glaskogen but not a problem if we sprayed our legs with repellent.

- Campsites in Sweden all had kitchens with electric hobs, without exception. We didn’t really need to bring a gas stove, but cutlery bowl and mug were very useful.

- Reservations: High speed rail links in denmark, sweden and norway all needed reservations. Reservations not expensive (max 15€ for copenhagen - stockholm) and always cheaper booked on the respective national rail websites instead of through interrail. Still very frustrating as the trains were often fully booked and we had to adapt to more inconvenient times/routes since we were travelling spontaneously.

- TooGoodToGo: this food waste app is an ingenious way to save money on cooked meals from restaurants, we had some amazing very cheap delish meals in Copenhagen and Stockholm. One order was generally enough for two people, make sure to carry your own cutlery.

- Pack light! The weight of our backpacks definitely limited our flexibility in terms of hiking - I reckon 12kg including food and water is an absolute maximum if planning to walk for longer than an hour with rucksack. Packing a water filter also good for hiking in sweden & norway as you can then drink from lakes & streams without a care.

- Entertainment: we doodled and diaried a lot in little notebooks, sketchbooks - nice way to enjoy fika culture in cafés. Picked up a few paperbacks along the way. Brought goggles for swimming and swam nearly every day. Everyone we met was very chatty and warm contrary to clichés of cold scandis - had a very social time and met loads of people especially in Copenhagen, where it seems more english is spoken than danish.

- Stay warm!! Worth investing in a very warm sleeping bag and bringing thermals. Our coldest night (in August) was 6 degrees but we found it just as hard to sleep at 13 degrees with the kit we had. Boiling water to fill plastic bottles not the ideal solution.

- Queer bars and parties surprisingly thin on the ground in sweden and norway, our only fun night out was in Copenhagen.

-Student or icom card very handy for museum visits. Sweden cheapest for daily life, denmark pretty eyewateringly expensive, norwegian prices unspeakable. However we got by fine by not eating out and not shopping, just visiting a café a day kind of thing. V smart to bring a bag of chocolate porridge for breakfasts.

- Take a raincoat obviously.

I was searching for info before my trip so I thought I’d answer all my own questions now that I’ve done it.

Buying the Ticket: from Istanbul to Sofia it is possible to buy online in advance (i heard this is new), I bought mine from the TCDD Taşimacilik E- bilet App. I think I found a hack by being a type B traveler…. When you book, you must fill every seat in each cabin (split by gender) before you can start a new cabin. So every female cabin was full except mine, there was only two of us. We were the last two women to buy tickets. Idk if that makes sense. It cost a little more than 2000 lira, and I managed to buy it same day traveling in July.

Cabin: I was in the coach section. In each cabin, there were four seats facing each other and a little table. The lower bunks folded down over top of the seats, and the top bunks folded down from the side of the wall. There’s a little ladder that can float around, there are sheets and pillows provided and you can ask the staff for a blanket if needed. There is AC you can control in the cabin. I can imagine it gets pretty tight with four people. There’s only one outlet plug in each cabin, luckily I had an adapter with multiple ports so me and my cabin mate shared that. I peeked in the private cabins, I saw they had their own little sink and two small beds

Toilets: there were two toilets per carriage. Some were Turkish squatting toilets, and others were standard toilets. At the beginning of the trip they were clean, but they got a little gross. Running water sinks but not drinking water

Stops: around 2am they knock on the cabin door and ask everyone for their passports, so keep yours handy. Closer to 3am the train stops and everyone gets out at the Turkish border control, then around 5:30am Bulgaria border control, just needed my passport for both. At the Bulgarian one, I got my fingerprints scanned as I’m not from the EU. We rolled into Sofia at around 1:30pm which I think was due to a delay somewhere on the way but actually I’m not sure.

Bring enough water and food for the journey!!! There’s no vending machines or anything at the stops

I'm currently on the train from Sofia Sever to Bucharest North (INT 460), and there’s some information I wish I had before going on this journey. I searched this subreddit but couldn't find the answers I wanted, so I’m sharing my insights for anyone who might Google this train in the future.

Why does it show impossible transfers?

When planning your trip on the Interrail app, it tells you to make two transfers, but these don't actually count. It's a direct train. In Sofia Sever, there will be another train ahead of this one (INT 2611). However, once you reach Gorna Oryahovitsa, the train will split and connect to another one. This is why it appears as a transfer, but it isn’t one.

Ruse is the border city where you'll enter Romania. Although I haven't reached it yet, I imagine the border crossing is why it’s labeled as a transfer. However, the information on the train states it's heading all the way to Bucharest North.

How do I get a seat reservation?

You can obtain a seat reservation at the train station. I didn’t get one, but someone I met purchased theirs for just €1. We ended up sitting in her seat, but she didn’t mind. The staff is also chill about seat reservations, so there’s plenty of space just find a spot and sit down.

What kind of train is it?

I'm riding in an older train with no air conditioning, and I’m sweating my ass off. If you can, bring a hand fan; I wish I had mine! But occasionally sticking your head out the window helps too. There’s no option to buy water or food on board, so make sure to bring your own. Freezing a large bottle of water the day before is a great idea to stay cool and refreshed.

There are outlets, but I haven't seen any actually working. There is a toilet though, thank god. The seating consists of two three-person benches in compartments, and you can put your luggage above your head.

What's the view like?

The views at the beginning of the journey are absolutely stunning with mountains and valleys. The train stops in small villages and towns, which is enjoyable to see. After the mountains, the scenery shifts mostly to farmland, filled with sunflowers, which I love. I’ve been on this train for six hours, and I’m still enjoying the view.

I'm on the Bussels to Berlin sleeper. For €180 each our train has left an hour late, the cabins were still locked 20 minutes after departure, there's no water in our cabin and the toilets at the end of our carriage are either locked or flooded.

The rolling stock is real 1980s vibe.

Total rip off.

Edit - I drafted this after I returned in 2025. Publishing now in case it’s of any use to anyone.
***

Hi all.

This summer I went interrailing with my four year old. I've tried to give a brief overview of what we did and where we stayed with a focus on travelling with a child.

Day 1 -4

We took the overnight ferry from Hulll to Rotterdam, and my kid woke up about 4 a.m. so we ended up going on the deck to watch the sunrise over the North Sea - bliss. Then we went to Amsterdam by coach transfer. I originally wanted to stay in Rotterdam but for some reason it worked out cheaper to stay in Amsterdam (despite that not being particularly cheap). We stayed for 3 nights which is the minimum most hostels will allow. We didn't actually do much here, except walk around (very pretty), eat Dutch food, enjoy the canals, go to the zoo, buy supplies we had forgotten and just sort of rest. We stayed at Hotel Koopermoolen which was in a great location (noisy but not a problem), but had pretty basic breakfast.

Day 4 - 7

Train to Tilburg. Tilburg is not somewhere I'd ever heard of, but was probably one of my favourite places on the whole trip. It was just had an eerie, perfect suburbia vibe. We visited the library which is huge and child friendly, played in the fountains & park and took a half-day trip to Eftling. We stayed at Hostel Roots - would recommend. There is a piano, a lounge area, and very nice breakfast.

Day 7 - 11

Train to Paris Marne la Vallee via Brussels. Here I met a friend in Brussels briefly whilst waiting for the onward train. The train to Paris was actually the only time that our interrail tickets were checked, not just our reservations! Met an older British couple who were also interrailing. We spent two days in Disneyland and went to val d'Europe. We stayed at Hotel Campanile which has farm animals onsite and walked to the ?Carrefour to buy supplies to save ourselves from horrendously overpriced fare.

Day 11 - 14

RER train into Paris where I met up with someone I met in the hostel in Tilburg. Metro to Gare de l'est. Took a sleeper train to Berlin where we realised how cramped it can be getting a pushchair on. The Paris L'est station was also pure chaos, but we figured it out. German border control woke us up shouting and with a flashlight at about midnight on the Strasbourg border, and the CPAP machine kept turning off. Berlin HBF station is futuristic and very, very large. We went to a kindercafe which had amazing home-cooked food and was miles calmer than your typical British soft play. We stayed at martas guesthouse - recommend++ as they have a family room, free umbrellas to borrow and great food that you pay for by weight. They even let my little one eat for free since her portions were so small. Visited the Natural History Museum (disappointing since we've been to the one in London), the Berlin Wall, and a friend who lives in Berlin.

Day 15 - 17

Sleeper train to Vienna. Had some free refreshments in the OBB lounge and then went to Prater. We stayed at the novotel by the station, it was great for looking out over the train station. It also has a family play room with an adjoining bar which was great as our onward train didn't leave until near midnight. Took a day trip to Bratislava and went to an arcade in a shopping centre - I'm sure there are nice parts to this city but I haven't seen them (the station the train stops at is not the main one due to engineering works). Ate at an Indian cuisine 'pay as you feel' place which was great and right by the Freud museum - also recommended. Planned to take a day trip to the Czech Republic but it didn't happen.

Day 17 - 21

Sleeper train to Krakow. Accidentally didn't book the whole booth to ourselves, but luckily the man we ended up sharing with was so friendly and perfectly safe. We visited the castle with the fire breathing dragon which has lovely views over the river and walked through the gorgeous park. We stayed at Hotel Yarden which had a huge garden with sun loungers in it, which was perfect for relaxing. It also had a really nice family room which we had pretty much to ourselves. We couldn't visit the bunny cafe as my daughter was under 7, but she could visit the shooting range? We took a day trip to a restaurant on the other side of town which doubled up as an aviary and terrarium with crocodiles. It was here that we started to realise sleeper trains weren't working for us, so I had to reroute the nightbuses that I had planned through the Balkans for the latter part of the trip.

Day 21 - 25

Sleeper train to Budapest. We went to the petting zoo cafe because by happy coincidence they just happened to have a last minute slot. We also went to the city island twice - once for the waterpark and once for the fountains, ice cream, playground etc. We didn't make it to the petting zoo but there is one here I believe. Budapest is the only place I did not see any pro Palestine graffiti.

To be continued…

Booked prestige class seats 12 and 18. So far out of all the trains we took this was the most luxurious and best seats. At a certain point our seats looked right out front so we could see right in front of us.

We're back in Italy now and I'm excited to share the details and hear your thoughts.

-We started in Rome, Italy. -From Rome, we took a train to Salzburg, Austria. While there, we spent time exploring the cities around Attersee lake. -Our next major stop was Budapest, Hungary, where we spent three days. -From Budapest, we took a night train to Slovenia as a quick stop, then we went to Zagreb Croatia, and stayed there for two days. -We then took another night train to Split, Croatia, where we also spent two days. -To get back to Italy, we took a ferry from Split, and then a train took us all the way back to Naples.

In total we have done 2406km with 11 trains.

What do you think?

I posted last week to see if someone had experience taking the Copenhagen - Berlin - Prague train (RJ 387) and would like to give some update on my still ongoing trip.

The train left Copenhagen with a slight delay but we were still supposed to arrive in Berlin around 7:30-8:00 in the morning. Well, it's now 10:30 and we just left Hamburg. What happened was that after crossing the border things went downhill fast - the train stopped in Hamburg Altona with almost an hour delay and then we kept waiting. Two and half hours later, they informed us that due to a malfunctioning door our train got canceled. After scrambling for info at the station, we were told to catch the train to Dresden at 9:15, but that one also changed platforms twice, it then disappeared from the departure board and finally arrived an hour late. Luckily, my final stop is in Berlin but got no clue about those going to Prague - I cross my fingers that they somehow made it.

Overall - make sure to brace yourself with lot of patience if you decide taking that train. Barely slept due to the constant announcements and confusion. According to other passenger and people at the station, the route through Hamburg is constantly late and full of surprises.

Fingers crossed you have better experience than me!

A common theme on this and similar subreddits is to not bite off more than you can chew - to spend a few days at least in each spot, especially for larger cities. I take a different approach. I prefer to see a little of a lot rather than a lot of a few. If you're coming from a long, long way away like me (Australia) I think it's the best way to go to make the most of it. So here's how it went in our 29 nights:

• Landed in Frankfurt, one night in Mainz - Lovely little city with a great, walkable old town. Gutenberg museum definitely worth a visit!
• Strasbourg reached early the next morning mostly to visit European Parliament which was great to see in person since we're political nerds. Also just another great, historic old town perfect for a night stroll.
• Bern as a base for three nights in Switzerland. Bern itself is lovely and definitely my favourite of the major Swiss cities. Feel like it doesn't get a whole lot of love.
  • Day trips to Neuchatel, Geneva and Lucerne, each of which definitely worth a visit. Basically cannot go wrong with anywhere in the country but thought Lucerne was a great balance of beauty and not being super busy.
• Long-ass trans-Alps voyage to Vienna for another three nights. Everyone knows about the highlights of Vienna already but adventures to Hegyeshalom and in particular Bratislava were great. Best meal of the trip was in Bratislava at the cutest Georgian/Ukrainian restaurant not far from the old town.
• Bamberg via Nuremberg for a quick stop to visit the Nuremberg court which was really cool to see in person thinking of what happened there. Just a quick night in Bamberg because it'd been on my list for a while but was still nice to see in a night and found a lovely tavern for a great Franconian meal.
• Dresden had also been on my list for some time but I found it a little disappointing. I've seen so many recommend it but it just didn't wow me. The highlight was the war museum which certainly was worth a visit however. Two nights there.
• Berlin for another two nights. I've been a few times before but was good to show my partner all the sights. Will never get tired of the history.
• Flight to Stockholm where we spent a few hours for dinner, coffee and a walk to the royal palace before grabbing the night train to Lulea which was very memorable. Sprung for a private cabin which was so fun to chill in our own space on the 13 hour train ride Lulea itself was buried in snow and later became icy which was challenging but a fun obstacle.
• 7 hour train across to Narvik was equally memorable. Mostly because we had to switch to a bus for the last hour of the trip which went through a blizzard. Disappointing since it was perfect northern lights conditions but was too cloudy to see :(
• Flight back down to Paris which a very short stop in Oslo; just enough time to get a coffee in the city and back to the airport.
• Eurostar across to London for three nights. Been there many times so again I played tour guide.
• Train up to Glasgow for two nights. I think underrated since everyone gives a weird look when you say you're going there. I thought it was pretty nice as far as UK cities go and we did a day trip to Stirling to see the castle which was definitely worthwhile.
• Back down to Bradford simply to get a cheap flight out the next morning.
• Across to Rome for three nights. Everyone knows already but insane the history you stumble across by accident. Colosseum and Pompei some of those things which are touristy for a reason and everyone should do although the chaos of the streets can be pretty overwhelming.
• Train up to Milan for one night as that's where we fly back home from.

Can't type out all my thoughts obviously but happy to answer questions especially in terms of planning and the quickness of it all.

Hello!

As the month of June as come to an end, I am proud, although a bit sad, to report that so did my quest to go to every country (except for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Iceland, unfortunately) in Europe!

Picking up from my previous post, here is the list of all cities where I slept on this 5th and last month of epic Interrail. Again, note that this does not include all the cities where I stopped or day-trips, just the places I slept in. For a very detailed account, check my website. I post a daily blog with plenty of pictures, and maps.

🇸🇲 Borgo Maggiore → 🇨🇭 Neuendorf SO → Saint-Léonard VS → Chur → Sevelen SG → 🇱🇮 Schaan → 🇮🇹 Roma → 🇻🇦 Città del Vaticano → 🇮🇹 Roma-Siracusa night train → 🇲🇹 Tas-Sliema → Żebbuġ → Tas-Sliema → 🇮🇹 Pozzallo → Siracusa-Formia night train → Napoli → Alessandria → 🇲🇨 Monaco → 🇨🇵 Perpignan → 🇦🇩 Les Escaldes → 🇪🇦 Barcelona → Granada → Sevilla → Badajoz → 🇵🇹 Lisboa

I have now spent 24 h in each of the 40 countries I was aiming for. That's including Vatican City, where I spent the night on the pavement against Saint Peter's square fence (and that was not the most boring part of the 24 h). I also took at least one train in each country, except Vatican City (can you believe that they cancelled the Train tour THIS year???! seriously), Malta and Andorra.

But the trip is not quite over yet! Now I'm heading home, through a last week of travel, through Portugal, Spain and France.

Some noteworthy rail adventures this month: - 🇸🇲 Taking the restored Treno Bianco Azzurro for a kilometer! Awesome experience! - 🇨🇭 Doing the entire Glacier Express route and some more on two days with only regional trains. Insane sceneries. - 🇱🇮 Entering Liechtenstein by train, from Switzerland. Although I messed up, I stopped at the first station, instead of the third. And I had to left on a Saturday, where no trains stops in Liechtenstein sadly. - 🇦🇹 Redoing the very scenic Innsbruck-Verona line. - 🇻🇦 Vatican City cancelled the train tour to Castel Gandolfo just this year. Really really mad at them. I only saw the train station from the Basilica's dome. Longest 24 h of my life. - 🇮🇹 Taking the Roma-Siracusa sleeper train... that is put on a FERRY BOAT to cross to Sicily! So cool! - 🇲🇹 No rail transport in Malta for almost 100 years, but I visited the passionate-run Maltese Railway Museum, and it was fascinating. I even got to enter the last surviving Maltese train carriage! - 🇲🇨 Stopping in the one train station in Monaco, which is a crazy vertical affair. Spent the night walking around to not get kicked out by police. (room price start at 150+ €) - 🇨🇵 Taking the Yellow Train of the Pyrénées, an extremely scenic train with a couple of open carriages. - 🇦🇩 Nothing here. I almost went for the Tobotronc but couldn't be bothered. - 🇪🇦 Just some incredible sceneries in the South, with desertic landscapes. - 🇵🇹 Entering the LAST country with a one-carriage diesel unit. Also took the vintage Lisboa funicular, but not the iconic trams though.

I will write a more detailed report once I'm back.

@moderators: For that future post, would it be possible to add a link to my website? I am posting there much much more information than I possibly can in a Reddit post about 5 months of continuous travel. Also the site is add-free (I'm not making any money out of it).

Thanks to everyone who commented nicely under my last posts!

Just got back from a trip through Italy with my wife and 2 girls (4yo and 11yo). We had a 5 day 1st class pass. Here's a trip report with my experience.

Overall: Italy is great. People are very friendly and warm, especially with kids. I've heard other stories from other people but my experience was great. Maybe because we speak several languages (including Spanish) and we tried our best to speak Italian. I like how the Italian people dress well and look healthy (in general).

Trip Report:

- We started with a long itinerary from Netherlands to München. I booked everything in December. Then a week before our departure I saw that our direct train didn't exist anymore. I booked a different one with one transfer. That one also got cancelled. I called OBB, had to wait 30 minutes and eventually got refunds for my bookings and had to rebook. Quite stressful because everything was now almost fully booked. Long story short: we got to München well in time, but it wasn't the best experience due to all the cancelations and rebookings, with zero proactive help from OBB or DB.

- Night train from München to Rome was great. A lot better than the night trains we took 2 years ago. We had 3 beds but the entire compartment to ourselves because the fourth person stayed with their family in the adjacent compartment. Ride was comfortable and well worth the money. Perhaps my only complaint was the air-conditioning was blowing constantly and the top bunk was quite cold at night.

- Stayed in Rome for 2 days. We had an apartment booked through Booking.com. Upon arrival the owner tried to scam me for more money and I had to book something else. Booking.com was not helpful at all. After taking care of things we visited as much as possible in two days. Rome is great, the Vatican even more. As with many great cities, I disliked the street vendors trying to sell junk to tourists.

- Took the train to Napoli. Quite a comfortable ride. Our walk to the apartment was bad; we must've walked through the wrong part of town. Because the city centre and coast are great. Spent 3 days here just walking and eating. Beautiful city.

- Took the train to Caserta and then Bari. Had this booked through OBB but there were people sitting in our seats. Turned out our reservations were changed to different seats, but OBB didn't inform us. The conductor was very helpful and we had a great train ride. Beautiful scenery and comfortable seats.

- Bari was great. Stayed here for a few days. Very relaxed compared to Napoli and Rome. The historic centre is amazing and the beach was nice. We arrived on a Sunday and everything was closed until early night; lucky for us there's a supermarket at the train station.

- We then took a fantastic train ride all the way from Bari to Milan. It was 8 hours and I loved it. It had entertainment on board, free snacks and drinks, and the scenery was amazing. Coast line on the right side and mountains and country side on the left. Well worth the 50 euro reservations.

- One night stay in Milan. Then some regional trains to Zurich. One of the most beautiful train rides I've been on. Switzerland is just breathtaking. This was the only part of the trip we did without any reservations and it went smoothly. Zurich is gorgeous but incredibly expensive. Nighttrain from Zurich to Utrecht was good. During the night some sort of alarm kept ringing in our compartment and I didn't have the best sleep. Other than that, definitely an upgrade from the night trains we took 2 years ago.

Overall a great trip. My wife really wanted to go to Italy and I personally didn't look forward too much to this trip, but everyone really enjoyed it. I wish OBB would communicate better with both other operators and its customers; I felt like I had to constantly check and fix everything myself which made the entire trip a bit stressful for me, even though I have some experience with interrailing.

Im currently solo traveling through Europe, since almost a week now and arrived at Genoa yesterday. Initially I didn't even want to go solo, but none of my friends had time, so when the end of summer came closer, I decided to just do it alone and maybe find a group/ another person which whom I might continue travelling together. since I just graduated I just tried to see this as the perfect opportunity to make new friendships and connect to likeminded people.. I'm a bit shy but on the trains and hostels I tried talking to some interrailing groups my age. The conversations were always quite short tho and noone really seemed interested to connect more.. maybe the problem is that I'm not very interested in partying? I don't have that much money and hostels are quite expensive in Italy, also I just like to wander around the city, not do any of the "touristy" stuff, but See the authenticity of the places. Now I'm wondering, am I the problem? What am I doing wrong? I consider myself pretty friendly and open minded, but rn I'm on the verge of tears almost every day because I feel so lonely and homesick.. being very vulnerable rn but I really hope this gets better..

EDIT: I actually Kind of befriended the volunteering hosts at this hostel, turned out the bigger hostels are a lot more anynymous, and there were only people 10+ years older. I'm still the youngest here, but it's fine, I'll just try to stay positive and open and keep talking to people even when they're older or it's hard to find a common ground. Also to everyone saying I just have to try: I DID, like honestly. And I CAN be by myself, I have been alone a lot the months before going on this trip. . like it's fine, but it's hard for me because I'm a very social person. that's just the way I am. I just need to be and laugh and talk with people, , so I CAN be, I just prefer community:) since I have no other choice rn tho I will also try to enjoy the time alone, until maybe, eventually, I will meet someone.

Big kiss to everyone who read all this and replied and tried to help.

In early November I had a trip from Germany to Niš in Serbia and back, for which I used interrail, because I got the pass during a sale, which made me more flexible and it was not that much more expensive than individual tickets. Otherwise I would have used those, as they are very cheap in Serbia. Before the trip I was trying to look into interrail experiences in Serbia, and while there are not that many, they often reported problems, for example mandatory reservations not being sold or interrail not getting accepted.

Mentally I was preparing for the worst, either having to buy full price tickets for the trains or having to pay a fine and then trying to get reimbursed by interrail through passenger rights, but in the end everything went mostly ok. I had a pass with four travel days, planned Germany -> Budapest -> Niš -> Budapest -> Germany, but I'll spare you the Germany <-> Budapest part as that's fairly straightforward. Here's the overview for the travel to and in Serbia:

Budapest to Szeged

I got the reservation from https://jegy.mav.hu, no problems on the train as that's still completely in Hungary. The new MAV+ app works decently well to show and also buy reservations (MAV without the plus is the old one).

Szeged to Subotica

The Hungarian conductor just scanned the code, the Serbian one took a look at the interrail code, then held up his hand to show it's fine and carried on. Border checks by both Hungarian and Serbian authorities happen on the train at the station in Röszke, very convenient. A stop of about 40 minutes is planned for this.

Subotica to Belgrade

This is the (partially) newly opened higher speed line, where SOKO ICs and other IRs are running decently fast (ICs 200 km/h). SOKO ICs have mandatory reservations, which can only be bought at the stations in Serbia, so I had to get that in Subotica. After a quick explanation by me and a short discussion among the three attendants, which involved the phrases "interrejl karta" and "rezervacija", I was able to buy a seat reservation for the next SOKO to Belgrade for 120 RSD (about 1€), paying by card worked. On the train then the reservation was scanned, interrail was inspected visually, but both were accepted without a comment.

Note that the station building is completely closed and reservations are sold from a temporary container next to it. When I arrived there was a queue of a few people and every person took a while (only one counter was open), so make sure you have enough time for this! All the trains also arrive and leave from the one platform that is reachable without crossing tracks underground, which can be accessed by going past the container in the second picture and then to the right.

Belgrade to Niš

The SOKO to Belgrade had a delay of a few minutes so I only had three minutes if I wanted to catch the earlier train to Niš. As the platform is only listed on the screens at the station, this was very tight. I did manage to make it to the correct platform, but there was a train to Petrovaradin instead, clearly the wrong direction. There was an attendant I asked, who did not really speak English, so he only told me "Niš no", even when I showed him the later IR supposed to still go there on the app. A Serbian guy showed up an also asked for the train, so he translated for me: apparently there was an accident involving a car, so all further trains to Niš were cancelled. Good information sharing, when even the screens at the station still show the trains.

I ended up buying a bus ticket and hurrying to the bus station, so I needed to make it back from Beograd Centar to Novi Beograd. I could have probably taken a train, but did not want to figure out which one to quickly take and enter into interrail, so I took a bus instead, (most) public transport in Belgrade is free at the moment. In the end the bus got me to Niš earlier than the train was supposed to, I still would've preferred the train though.

Niš to Belgrade

I ended up traveling back in three days instead of two, so to save the interrail days for the larger trips I bought an individual ticket for this one. Easily doable in the app, which is even available in English. The train is a decently modern Stadler train, unfortunately the track seems to be in horrible condition, so while it would very rarely go 120 km/h, most of the time it was 30 km/h.

Belgrade to Subotica

Instead of the SOKO I took an IR, as I was still missing the experience of using a Serbian train without a seat reservation I had already bought, just to see if interrail would give me trouble. The IR is also the recommended train for the second Belgrade-Budapest connection during the day mentioned on seat61, as it allows for a bit more slack in the schedule. Interrail was accepted without discussion there as well, the conductor did also seemingly speak a decent level of English.

Taking the SOKO from Belgrade at 12:00 is possible as well, and it seems like the trains on the new tracks are often on time enough for the 18 minute change in Subotica. A friend of mine got a reservation for that SOKO at Beograd Centar, and that also worked without an issue. He was sent to the first ticket counter all the way to the left when he asked if they spoke English and then got the reservation there, card also accepted.

Subotica to Szeged

Since all trains leave from the same platform, there were two trains using it at the same time, one to Novi Sad/Petrovaradin or maybe Belgrade and the one to Szeged. The one to Szeged was hidden at the end of the other train, barely visible, as you enter the platform all the way at the front. The train then starts in the opposite direction and quickly reverses to make its way over the other tracks towards Szeged.

The Serbian conductor again only looked at the interrail code and accepted it without a word (I'm used to scrolling downwards to the trip section for visual inspections from multiple other trips), the Hungarian conductor scanned the code. Border control was a bit more involved compared to leaving the EU. In addition to getting the ID checked twice, Hungarian customs also made me open my backpack and my luggage after I told them I had nothing to declare and went through more or less every box and bag with me. They did not do it themselves though, they asked me "please open this box, now please open this compartment, etc.", all in all not too bad.

Szeged to Budapest

I bought the reservation on the same day as I was traveling and that made it more expensive, so I can recommend buying it at least one day early. We arrived in Budapest with a delay though (less than half an hour), so MAV automatically reimbursed me part of the reservation fee. The train also seems to consist of two trains, the IC with mandatory reservation and a "fast train" (Györsvonat/G), which does not require reservations but does not show up on the interrail planner. So maybe this can be taken without a reservation if you manually add it?

A Few More Impressions

• the train from Niš to Belgrade
• the opened gate in the fence between Hungary and Serbia, which gets closed behind the train, another angle
• other trains in Szeged
• the diesel cross border train in the middle, the one to Budapest to the left
• the station building in Szeged: outside, inside

Side Notes

To be prepared for eventual discussions, I had opened up both the interrail page about Serbia and the Srbija Voz page about interrail. The latter is the most official page I could find, where Srbija Voz themselves list their participation in interrail. I also prepared some phrases in Google translator to explain that in Serbian if I had to. As mentioned, I did not have to resort to any of that though.

To enter the bus station in Belgrade, you need to buy an additional platform ticket to enter the station, which costs 300 RSD (2,64€ for me). Feels like a scam but is apparently a thing. According to a Serbian friend, this is common all over Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Belgrade there is a container at the entrance, platform tickets are sold at the counter all the way to the right, then the ticket is needed here to enter the platforms through the left. It might be possible to avoid this fee by buying the bus ticket there at the station or maybe online from the same operator, but I'm not sure about those options. Buying it there certainly risks a bus being sold out.

I submitted a compensation request to interrail for the cost of the bus as a replacement for the cancelled train to Niš (as well as for some delays), and it was approved in under a day. They even reimbursed the 300 RSD fee for the platform ticket to enter the bus station in Belgrade.

I chose the "Trip Report" flair as it seems to be the most accurate one for this, even though this is more of a country specific experience, rather than a report of the whole trip. I did not see a flair that would fit better though. Feel free to change it if something else fits better.

I got some money back from US taxes after a work and travel program in 2023. Didn't know what to do with it. Then I thought — I want to finally watch Manchester United at Old Trafford. But one match felt like not enough, so I built an entire Interrail trip around it.

I waited until June-July when the football schedules came out, found the matches I wanted, and planned the route around them. Simple as that.

The route: Sofia → Budapest → Vienna → Brno → Krakow → Hamburg → Munich → Paris → Manchester → Liverpool → London → Sofia

The full cost:

The 5 matches: Ferencváros €20 → Rapid Wien €36 → HSV €68 → Man Utd €55 → Watford €21. Total: €200 for 5 matches across 4 countries.

The best moment: My first ever Man Utd match at Old Trafford. I'm from Bulgaria, been a supporter my whole life. Walking in there for the first time was something else. Also the pub crawl in Krakow — met people from 8 countries in one night.

Auschwitz: I went in curious. Came out angry and sad. Can't really explain it better than that. Just go.

The worst part: Paris hostel. No AC in August. Couldn't sleep properly for 2 nights. Everything else was worth it.

What surprised me most: I did the whole thing alone. Never traveled solo for this long before. Turns out it's fine. Better than fine actually.

One thing I'd tell anyone thinking about a similar trip: If you want to go somewhere, just go by yourself. Don't wait for someone else to be ready.

Happy to answer anything — the route, the matches, the hostels, Interrail pass types, whatever.

After receiving much-needed help and successfully completed my Interrail trip. thought I'd give back to others who may need help planning their own journeys. Traveled solo for most of the trip but met up with some friends along the way, staying in hostels and at friends' places.

Itinerary: ✓ 3 nights in Vienna ✓ 3 nights in Prague - Day trip to Mala Skala ✓ 3 nights in Leipzig ✓ 4 nights in Berlin ✓ 4 nights in Amsterdam - Day trip to Utrecht ✓ 5 nights in Eindhoven - Day trip to Rotterdam - Day trip to Delft + Den Haag - Day trip to Groningen - Day trip to Antwerp - Day trip to Brussels ✓ 3 nights in Luxembourg ✓ 4 nights in Strasbourg - Day trip to Colmar ✓ 3 nights in Lauterbrunen, Switzerland - Day trip to Bern and Lucerne ✓ 3 nights in Milan - Day trip to Porto Fino

Here is the rough route map for my Interrail trip in Fall 2024. Unfortunately, the link to share the map isn't working.

Heres the train info:

|| || |Places visited||82+| |Trains taken||160+| |Time spent on trains (wait time excluded)||5d 10h+ (130h+)| |distance traveled (trains)||~5,600mi (9,000km)|

As I describe in my main solotravel post, it was impossible to have an actual day-by-day plan. I never knew exactly where I was going to be or when, so I slept in nearby forests instead of bothering
with hostels. I would usually stay at a location for the duration of the frequency of the train I needed to catch, for example: Zermatt-Visp ran every 45 mins, so I spent 45 minutes in Zermatt. There was almost never a dull moment spent without planning routes, but I still spent plenty of time enjoying the scenery on trains.

Tons of extra about my trip can be found in the other posts Ive made, and in the video I made of the trip:

3h video of the trip here

main r/solotravel post here

r/onebag post here

I'm happy to answer any and all questions

For clarification: The entire trip was 18 Countries* in 25 days, the speedrun section was 17 in 22, and 16 of those were visited on interrail.

Just wanted to share my Interrail route and some thoughts after coming back home.

I started in Germany and traveled through:
- Vienna
- Budapest
- Ljubljana
- Venice
- Milan

I used the 5 stops in 1 month Global Pass, although I unfortunately had to take a FlixBus from Budapest to Ljubljana because the train route was closed.
But honestly, this trip became so much more than just moving from one city to another.

Soooo…
Have you ever danced to Pocket Full of Sunshine in Italy while it was raining?

Have you ever met people who felt like home within just a few days?

Have you ever had conversations so deep that they changed the way you see yourself and the world?

Have you ever laughed so much that you forgot everything else around you?

And have you ever cried because you knew those moments wouldn’t last forever?
This journey gave me memories, lessons, and experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I grew, I learned, I let go, and somewhere along the way, I realized that sometimes it’s not life holding you back — it’s the place you stay in for too long.

More than anything, this journey taught me gratitude.
Grateful for every moment, every lesson, and especially every single person I had the chance to meet along the way.

Interrail truly changed something in me. ❤️

I have been traveling throughout central Europe and booked my last trip two weeks in advance. I booked this solo (destined for two) cabin for 200 euros, and it was the best travel experience I have had in a while. You have your own bathroom, shower and breakfast includes in the 10 hour trip. I would really recomend it for anyone!

Putting this here for anyone considering the Mini Cabin on the Nightjet. I really wanted to like this experience, but like many others I found it to be dissapointing. I had read a few horror stories and watched some videos, but I wanted to check it out for myself. I had never travelled on a sleeper train before, but consider myself very apt when it comes to train travel and public transport.

TLDR: ok if you can fall asleep easily, but consider other options otherwise.

I had an Interrail Pass plus a seat reservation costing 74,90€ - I booked it directly through the Nightjet website. I booked it over 1 month ahead of time. I was traveling solo.

I am also a German speaker.

Boarding

First impressions are good. The train was waiting when I arrived on the platform at Vienna Hbf about 30 minutes before departure. The train looks sleek, it felt almost brand new, and is actually two trains, one going to Hamburg the other going to Amsterdam. This you can check on the screens on the platform, very easy.

I booked a top cabin. I know the bottom cabins have extra storage space, but I was wondering whether I would hear the person above me moving around all night, so I booked the top one.

Upon arrival, the crew at the door checks your reservation which I had opted to print out at the station in Vienna. He barely looked at my interrail pass.

I thought the communication from the crew was a bit poor, no hello, no instructions. I went to my cabin and at first could not see my card to open the storage for my bag and shoes. So I had to go back and ask. (There's a holder just inside).

Anyway, I climbed in. I am just under 6ft tall and I felt it was a little tight in both length and width of the cabin. Placing the sheet on the bed is a bit of a struggle when you have already dumped a few belongings for the journey inside the cabin.

It's a bit of a struggle if you want to change your clothes inside the cabin, as there is not much move.

There was one of those wireless charging points, but it didn't work for my iPhone.

There's coloured lights so you can choose your mood, and overall it felt ok to be in there for a journey of nearly 14 hours.

You can't control the temperature, it was a just a little too warm for me.

The Journey

We departed more or less on time. The first thing that struck me was the speed of the train, perhaps the perception is different when laying down, but I felt like we were moving at quite some speed. I quickly realised that I could hear a lot of noise from the track and could feel the curves of the track. Consequently, it felt like you were sliding around a lot during the night.

Just as we were on our way and settled, the attendant knocked on my cabin and asked me abruptly for my reservation and whether I wanted tea or coffee for breakfast. He then took my reservation ticket and left without saying anything. Again, communication not great.

There were a number of quite sudden braking moments during the night too.

There were not many announcements which is good, they also encourage people to respect the peace and quiet. They really only played 3. One to welcome you, one to mention the police are getting on so have your papers ready, and a third to welcome you to Amsterdam.

Went to go to the bathroom, came back and found that the cabin door would not open with the keycard. So had to go and find the train manager, and I was moved to a different mini cabin bringing all my stuff with me. Just after I felt settled. Apparently there is an issue with some of the cabin doors on these new trains.

German police got on at the border just before 11pm to do their usual checks, but there was no big delay and we were on our way soon after.

The train grinded to a halt at Nürnberg Hbf for about 30 mintues, and the main power went off, also cutting the aircon...I assume here they were doing the split of the trains.

Sleep Quality:

Terrible. I'd had a pretty tiring week of touring around Europe, doing tons of walking, so I was due a nice night of sleep. Alas, it didn't really happen. It was simply not comfortable enough for a good quality sleep. It felt like I was awake all night.

I had some noise cancelling headphones too, but this wasn't enough for me and not practical as I am a side sleeper.

Concept:
I think ÖBB are onto something with the mini cabin idea, but it needs more work. Generally I don't wanna sleep with strangers and it's a big time-saver, but it's just not very comfortable and I did not feel very fresh in the morning. I actually felt quite gross.

I really want to support this concept - but I think the comfort needs and communication needs to be improved.

Facilities:
There are gendered toilets, one for women and one for men in each carriage. Plus a washroom, but no shower. I had a bottle of water with me to brush my teeth, as train water is not drinking water.

They were kept clean and there is a indicator in your cabin which shows when they are occupied.

Punctuality:
Here I was expecting the worst, as the punctuality of this service is not great, but actually we only had 30 minutes of delay. Considering we had crossed much of Germany overnight during a weekend, I thought this was OK.

Hello everyone!

This was my first time doing an interrail trip and my first solo one as well. Passed through 6 cities in total, 4 of which I stayed in to visit. Basically my goal was to reach Paris by the 5th day where I was planning to meet up with friends. Since time was limited and my initial location wasn't ideal at all I did fly to Rome and basically started from there. The pass I used was the 4 days within a month. The trip went as follows:

1) Rome Airport to Roma Termini

First train was the Leonardo Express to termini and this was basically the only one I took that wasn't included in the pass. Was around 30 minutes in total to reach termini.

2) Roma termini to Bologna Centrale

Took the frecciarossa to reach Bologna which was my first stop. Duration was 2 hours. I did reserve a seat for this train for 13 euros. Scenery was very nice.

Arrived at noon. Bologna is very beautiful and didn't feel too touristy at the time (mid November). Went around the small streets and Piazza Maggiore. Bologna is very walkable and most attractions are located in the historic centre. I didn't really use public transport inside the city as I was quite close to the train station, but there were several buses. Also it seems like a tram system was under construction as well. All in all, the city is great and I enjoyed it even though I was there for less than 24 hours and quite tired by early afternoon.

3) Bologna Centrale to Bolzano Bozen

Took the frecciarossa once more to reach Bolzano in the very north of Italy. Duration was around 2.5 hours and seat reservation was at 13 euros. This was easily the most scenic part of the trip, especially the last hour before arriving.

Arrived at around 14:00. Bolzano was actually not part of my initial itinerary as I was planning to visit Innsbruck instead. I'm very happy I chose it as it was definitely the highlight of the whole trip. The city is beautiful. It's a mix of Austrian and Italian culture and it was a big contrast with Bologna obviously. There is a cable car that reaches the village Soprabolzano which seems to have amazing views of the city but unfortunately was not in operation at the time. This was my first time in the dolomites and I instantly became a fan the scenery is gorgeous.

4) Bolzano Bozen to Strasbourg

After my day in Bolzano I had to go for the longest leg of the journey. To be honest I wasn't even sure how I would do this part until the night before as most of my options had very tight connections or would have me reach Strasbourg quite late at night. I ended up doing the following:
a) Railjet from Bolzano to Munich

This required a supplement pay which if I remember correctly included a seat reservation. This was the first one I actually needed as the train was packed after Innsbruck. Route was very scenic in this part as well. Total duration was around 4 hours to reach Munich.

b) Munich to Offenburg

After a 20 minute connection I started the 2nd part of this travel day. Reserved a seat here as well. By itself 3.5 hours isn't that bad but since it had become dark outside there was basically nothing to do other than try to balance my charger perfectly to charge my phone as the socket was kinda cooked. Anyway I eventually reached Offenburg at around 21:00.

c) Offenburg to Strasbourg

Offenburg was freezing cold and I had around 30 minutes to wait before the local train to Strasbourg. This was around 30 minutes as well and eventually reached Strasbourg at 21:45.

Strasbourg was the first French city I ever visited and liked it a lot. It's very easy to get around with the trams which run all the time. Walked a lot around Petite-France, the canals and the Notre-Dame cathedral. The architecture is beautiful. Also went to the European Parliament to check it out for a bit.

5) Strasbourg to Paris

Took a morning TGV train to Paris to round up the trip. Seat reservation was mandatory here and costed 20 euros. Duration was 1 hour and 45 minutes but due to delays it ended up being around more than 2 hours. It was quite the chill trip and the view was nice as it had snowed the previous days. The train arrived at Gare de l'Est.

In total I passed through 4 countries and travelled 1876km. The experience was very positive and the trip was quite smooth all in all. I generally tried to make things a bit easier as I was travelling alone and was at the time very inexperienced when it came to train travel. So yeah in hindsight some of these seat reservations weren't needed or planning could have been a bit better. Would have been nicer to stay in some places longer or try to avoid that one long travel day but for the circumstances at the time I'd say I'm very happy with it. Will 100% do it again.