22 day Interail Mega Trip

[cambsy]

Im doing a 22 day continuous Interail pass 1st Class, starting this Weds 25th September, with the below itenary, which pretty long,and of course with recent weather events in Central Europe might need changing, but see how goes, here itenary:

Weds 25th Sept,

01.24 Exeter-Paddington,
07.01 London-Paris,
14.48 Paris-Milan,


Thursday26th September,

10.13 Milan-Florence,


Friday 27th September,

13.10 Lecce-Florence


Fri 27th to Sun 29th Sept, staying Florence., Some local trains maybe,


Sun 29th September,

08.55 Florence-Basel


Sun 29th to Fri 4th October,

stay Basel 29th Sept to 1st Oct, then Glacier Express on 3rd October, with journeys to Zermatt and St Moritz to Zurich and Vienna,


Fri 4th October,

12.40 Zurich-Wien HBF


Sat 5th Oct

06.13 Wien HBF-Berlin,
15.52 Berlin-Warsaw,


Sun 6th,

08.33 Warsaw-Budapest,

Sun 6th Oct-Tue 8th October stay Budapest, do local trains etc,


Tues 8th Oct,

13.55 Budapest-Munchen,
23.00 Munchen-Hamburg overnight seated,


Wednesday 9th Oct,

09.14 Hamburg-Munchen,


Thursday 10th Oct,

08.52 Munchen-Berlin,
15.54 Berlin-Stockholm sleeper,


Friday 11th Oct,

18.08 Stockholm-Narvik


Saturday12th October

15.11 Narvik-Stockholm,


Sun 13 Oct-Tue 15th Oct

stay Stockholm, local trains etc,


Tue 15th October,

17.34 Stockholm-Hamburg,


Weds 16th October,

08.57 Hamburg-Koeln,
13.42 Koeln-Bruxelles
16.51 Bruxelles-London


Im having a bit of a blow out on this trip, having got some inheritance, so have looked to have good balance of lots of travel, without being too tiring,by staying hotels and some cities etc, for couple days, ts not going to be cheap but its one thing always wanted to do. Apart from the Glacier Express, what sort of scenery will i see on lines im doing? And any general advice on doing Interail?.

 

[DanielB]

You seem to be doing Zürich - Vienna by direct Railjet, which is still impacted by the floodings and not that scenic after Innsbruck.
Instead I'd recommend going by Transalpin and then Semmering to Vienna, though for the latter daylight might be limited mid October. Just plan with Leoben Hbf as a via-station to get that route. (And hope that you're not as unfortunate as me, having a two hour delay).

For some inspiration: this is my trip report from last summer (in Dutch) starting with Zürich - Vienna.

 

[DeverseSam]

Unless your body clock is otherwise used to it, that 0124 train is going to make you tired from the first day

 

[Richard Scott]

Im doing a 22 day continuous Interail pass 1st Class, starting this Weds 25th September, with the below itenary, which pretty long,and of course with recent weather events in Central Europe might need changing, but see how goes, here itenary:

Weds 25th Sept,

01.24 Exeter-Paddington,
07.01 London-Paris,
14.48 Paris-Milan,


Thursday26th September,

10.13 Milan-Florence,


Friday 27th September,

13.10 Lecce-Florence


Fri 27th to Sun 29th Sept, staying Florence., Some local trains maybe,


Sun 29th September,

08.55 Florence-Basel


Sun 29th to Fri 4th October,

stay Basel 29th Sept to 1st Oct, then Glacier Express on 3rd October, with journeys to Zermatt and St Moritz to Zurich and Vienna,


Fri 4th October,

12.40 Zurich-Wien HBF


Sat 5th Oct

06.13 Wien HBF-Berlin,
15.52 Berlin-Warsaw,


Sun 6th,

08.33 Warsaw-Budapest,

Sun 6th Oct-Tue 8th October stay Budapest, do local trains etc,


Tues 8th Oct,

13.55 Budapest-Munchen,
23.00 Munchen-Hamburg overnight seated,


Wednesday 9th Oct,

09.14 Hamburg-Munchen,


Thursday 10th Oct,

08.52 Munchen-Berlin,
15.54 Berlin-Stockholm sleeper,


Friday 11th Oct,

18.08 Stockholm-Narvik


Saturday12th October

15.11 Narvik-Stockholm,


Sun 13 Oct-Tue 15th Oct

stay Stockholm, local trains etc,


Tue 15th October,

17.34 Stockholm-Hamburg,


Weds 16th October,

08.57 Hamburg-Koeln,
13.42 Koeln-Bruxelles
16.51 Bruxelles-London


Im having a bit of a blow out on this trip, having got some inheritance, so have looked to have good balance of lots of travel, without being too tiring,by staying hotels and some cities etc, for couple days, ts not going to be cheap but its one thing always wanted to do. Apart from the Glacier Express, what sort of scenery will i see on lines im doing? And any general advice on doing Interail?.

Wouldn't risk that last day, I'd leave Hamburg earlier and connect in with earlier train from Cologne. DB not most reliable at the moment (wouldn't have risked that a few years ago when they were better!).
Check any Germany connections, they may be fine but anything less than an hour is far too risky in current climate!
Some of those journeys are also mandatory reservation, would recommend organising in advance, that's assuming you haven't already done so, of course.

 

[185143]

Unless you particularly want to go on the Glacier Express train itself, you can do that journey on local trains if you're willing to change a few times, without having to pay any reservation fees. Takes exactly the same route, you pass them a few times on the way!

 

[rvdborgt]

Wouldn't risk that last day, I'd leave Hamburg earlier and connect in with earlier train from Cologne. DB not most reliable at the moment (wouldn't have risked that a few years ago when they were better!).
Check any Germany connections, they may be fine but anything less than an hour is far too risky in current climate!
Some of those journeys are also mandatory reservation, would recommend organising in advance, that's assuming you haven't already done so, of course.

Almost 1 hour in Cologne should be fine. 1h15' in Brussels should be fine. There are also Eurostars 1 and 2 hours later, and on a Tuesday evening, I wouldn't expect them to be fully booked, so rebooking in case of delay shouldn't be a problem.

 

[railfan99]

Budapest has an excellent tram network, and a funicular. For some reason when I was there in 2011 I did not travel on the latter.

If you have time in Milan, travel on one of their elderly trams: one route passes Milano Centrale station if you walk across the plaza on the side that does not have the Mercato Centrale food hall.

Remember on some ICE sets you can sit up the front watching the track. Germany is a 'friendly' country for Eurail/Interrail in that reservations are optional, whereas France and Spain are 'pass unfriendly' with quotas and especially in France, high passholder supplements.

When I went to Narvik it was operated by Connex and I couldn't get a sleeping berth/couchette, so had to sit next to a woman who all night long noisily shelled and ate pistachios. Hope your experience is better.

In Zermatt are you paying the separate fare to travel up the Mattehorn?

 

[306024]

I would recommend reading ‘The Man in Seat 61‘ website, particularly the section on Interrail reservations. Some of your trains are compulsory reservation, you don’t want to be fined.

If you are using the Interrail app (rather than a paper ticket), don't rely on that for journey planning, as it is not updated as frequently as the apps of each individual country. In general it’s better to use the DB app for planning, and check the night before travel for any last minute alterations.

Are you aware the 14.48 Paris to Milan currently involves a rail replacement bus, and a late arrival in Milan? The Man in Seat 61 explains.

 

[30907]

You are missing Florence-Lecce

I would consider ending day 1 in Turin.

 

[cambsy]

Sorry 30907, Im booked to do 13.10 Lecce-Florence, on Friday 27th Sept.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Bon Voyage! Unless you have a special desire to say you have been inside the Artic Circle I'd give Narvik a miss on this trip - 2.5hrs is more than enough to sample its delights - its an awfully long way to go. The only highly scenic section is the last bit of Sweden and over the border into Norway - which to be fair will still be in daylight on your trains. I'd be more inclined to go across to Oslo or Gothenburg and return to Hamburg via Copenhagen.

 

[ABB125]

Wouldn't risk that last day, I'd leave Hamburg earlier and connect in with earlier train from Cologne. DB not most reliable at the moment (wouldn't have risked that a few years ago when they were better!).
Check any Germany connections, they may be fine but anything less than an hour is far too risky in current climate!
Some of those journeys are also mandatory reservation, would recommend organising in advance, that's assuming you haven't already done so, of course.

Some friends of mine came back to the UK a few days ago, I think they started the day in Copenhagen. The Hamburg-Cologne train was about an hour late by the time it arrive, so they missed the train to Brussels. And of course, they'd planned to get the 2056 Eurostar to London, the last one of the day.

They did get a free hotel out of it though!

 

[nwales58]

Tweaks for current state of Vienna-Linz disruption (but check ÖBB web site for latest state when you travel)

Fri 4th October,

12.40 Zurich-Wien HBF
...

Tues 8th Oct,

13.55 Budapest-Munchen,

Currently these are not through trains so usually change at Salzurg and Vienna. Wien-Salzburg is hourly RJ and hourly Westbahn (to Wien Westbf not Hbf obviously).

From Salzburg RJ at xx11 making most stops arrives Wien Hbf around 20mins later than in the timetable. Westbahn at xx52 times in their Sonderfahrplan with some trains from Innsbruck and an 0510 from Bregenz. Interrail 1st is only 2nd on Westbahn, about Eur20 to upgrade to 1st.

That 1355 is from Kelenföld I assume (1340 from Keleti - beware in that week some run from Dèli instead on some days, all calling at Kelenföld). Wien Hbf a 1620 connects into 1655 RJ to Salzburg a 2008 connecting into Westbahn München Hbf a 2213 currently. That WB runs from Vienna but you'd have to get over to Westbahnhof or Hütteldorf and the local service is thinned out at present.

 

[30907]

Sorry 30907, Im booked to do 13.10 Lecce-Florence, on Friday 27th Sept.

Yes, but how are you getting to Lecce? Previous day has you Milan-Florence.

 

[cambsy]

30907, typed in wrong name, meant Milan-Lecce, then next day Lecce-Florence, sorry was late night.

 

[peteb]

When in Stockholm do get the ferries. You see a lot more from the water. There's one we did which goes quite a long way past the royal gardens and ends up at the end of the metro line to the north of the city centre. Well worth doing.

 

[johncrossley]

Have you considered staying in France or Germany instead of Basel? You could save quite a bit of money on hotels and food.

 

[The exile]

Bon Voyage! Unless you have a special desire to say you have been inside the Artic Circle I'd give Narvik a miss on this trip - 2.5hrs is more than enough to sample its delights - its an awfully long way to go. The only highly scenic section is the last bit of Sweden and over the border into Norway - which to be fair will still be in daylight on your trains. I'd be more inclined to go across to Oslo or Gothenburg and return to Hamburg via Copenhagen.

If it can be done, I’d recommend the bus down from Narvik to Fauske to connect to Trondheim and thence Oslo - although little point in the dark!

 

[DanielB]

Have you considered staying in France or Germany instead of Basel? You could save quite a bit of money on hotels and food.

Differences are not that big anymore. In 2022 I stayed just across the border in Weil am Rhein myself to save some money, but in 2023 I noticed that a hotel near Basel SBB was actually cheaper (especially when taking the spend on tram tickets into account)
Basel is by far the cheapest place in Switzerland with regards to hotels and there are decent places to eat that are not that expensive.

 

[30907]

If it can be done, I’d recommend the bus down from Narvik to Fauske to connect to Trondheim and thence Oslo - although little point in the dark!

Seconded, though I believe the road is now tarmac throughout unlike in 1980. I certainly wouldn't do Narvik by rail both ways.

 

[rvdborgt]

Differences are not that big anymore. In 2022 I stayed just across the border in Weil am Rhein myself to save some money, but in 2023 I noticed that a hotel near Basel SBB was actually cheaper (especially when taking the spend on tram tickets into account)

St Louis should still be cheaper than Basel. Also with a tram connection.

 

[cambsy]

Basel not seem too costly for hotel, I have allowed 100 approx a night for hotels, and got private sleeper berth, both ways On the Stockholm-Narvik run. I didnt want to take too many days out of trip to do Narvik.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Seconded, though I believe the road is now tarmac throughout unlike in 1980. I certainly wouldn't do Narvik by rail both ways.

Yes, Narvik to Fauske is a decent road these days - just one ferry section left (the longest one).

 

[Richard Scott]

Almost 1 hour in Cologne should be fine. 1h15' in Brussels should be fine. There are also Eurostars 1 and 2 hours later, and on a Tuesday evening, I wouldn't expect them to be fully booked, so rebooking in case of delay shouldn't be a problem.

If you'd risk it, I wouldn’t. 1 hour delay from Hamburg not unusual, ICE to Brussels being cancelled also not unusual.

 

[peteb]

Im doing a 22 day continuous Interail pass 1st Class, starting this Weds 25th September, with the below itenary, which pretty long,and of course with recent weather events in Central Europe might need changing, but see how goes, here itenary:

Weds 25th Sept,

01.24 Exeter-Paddington,
07.01 London-Paris,
14.48 Paris-Milan,


Thursday26th September,

10.13 Milan-Florence,


Friday 27th September,

13.10 Lecce-Florence


Fri 27th to Sun 29th Sept, staying Florence., Some local trains maybe,


Sun 29th September,

08.55 Florence-Basel


Sun 29th to Fri 4th October,

stay Basel 29th Sept to 1st Oct, then Glacier Express on 3rd October, with journeys to Zermatt and St Moritz to Zurich and Vienna,


Fri 4th October,

12.40 Zurich-Wien HBF


Sat 5th Oct

06.13 Wien HBF-Berlin,
15.52 Berlin-Warsaw,


Sun 6th,

08.33 Warsaw-Budapest,

Sun 6th Oct-Tue 8th October stay Budapest, do local trains etc,


Tues 8th Oct,

13.55 Budapest-Munchen,
23.00 Munchen-Hamburg overnight seated,


Wednesday 9th Oct,

09.14 Hamburg-Munchen,


Thursday 10th Oct,

08.52 Munchen-Berlin,
15.54 Berlin-Stockholm sleeper,


Friday 11th Oct,

18.08 Stockholm-Narvik


Saturday12th October

15.11 Narvik-Stockholm,


Sun 13 Oct-Tue 15th Oct

stay Stockholm, local trains etc,


Tue 15th October,

17.34 Stockholm-Hamburg,


Weds 16th October,

08.57 Hamburg-Koeln,
13.42 Koeln-Bruxelles
16.51 Bruxelles-London


Im having a bit of a blow out on this trip, having got some inheritance, so have looked to have good balance of lots of travel, without being too tiring,by staying hotels and some cities etc, for couple days, ts not going to be cheap but its one thing always wanted to do. Apart from the Glacier Express, what sort of scenery will i see on lines im doing? And any general advice on doing Interail?.

Personally I'd get the 0745 Hamburg to Köln, thence 1242 Köln to Bruxelles Midi. The €29 inter-rail compulsory reservation fee for the latter is likely to be less than the cost of rebooking a missed Eurostar to London.

 

[rvdborgt]

Personally I'd get the 0745 Hamburg to Köln, thence 1242 Köln to Bruxelles Midi. The €29 inter-rail compulsory reservation fee for the latter is likely to be less than the cost of rebooking a missed Eurostar to London.

It's €27 (or €32 in 1st), but 2nd class doesn't have any pass holder seats anymore. Rebooking Brussels-London because of cancellation or delay is free of charge.

If you'd risk it, I wouldn’t. 1 hour delay from Hamburg not unusual, ICE to Brussels being cancelled also not unusual.

I might leave an hour earlier from Hamburg. And as I wrote, there are later trains from Brussels in case things go wrong.

 

[Ringo2112]

Why have all these plans? Granted it's just a

If it can be done, I’d recommend the bus down from Narvik to Fauske to connect to Trondheim and thence Oslo - although little point in the dark!

 

[Richard Scott]

I might leave an hour earlier from Hamburg. And as I wrote, there are later trains from Brussels in case things go wrong.

There are but that costs money to transfer ticket and still got to get home when arrive in UK. For sake of leaving 2 hours earlier, why risk it?

 

[rvdborgt]

There are but that costs money to transfer ticket

It doesn't because Eurostar will rebook you on the next available train.

 

[The exile]

Yes, Narvik to Fauske is a decent road these days - just one ferry section left (the longest one).

Think there were 3 when I did it (1991).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Sep 2024 ==

Why have all these plans? Granted it's just a

For some people the planning is half the fun. Other don’t like the insecurity of leaving things to chance - or have planning hard- wired in from the days when arranging accommodation etc “as you went” (especially in a foreign language) wasn’t that easy.