Anybody ever used Interail/Eurail? (1 Viewer)

[makems]

We have had to give up the moho,lifestyle for medical reasons, but our wanderlust is undiminished.
We are therefore considering touring Europe by rail - the Interrail pass allows travel throughout 30+ countries at surprisingly reasonale cost. Upgrading to First Class only adds about £9 per leg to the cost - which seems a bargain compared to UK ticket costs.
Has anybody done it?
If you have, What were the pros and cons and practical issues you encountered?

 

[irnbru]

Good for you to think on other ways to enjoy yourself

Do you get overnight sleeps on the train then or will you use b&bs /hotels?

 

[42208]

I went two years running, however, it was many many years ago and what was great fun for a younger man I may not enjoy quite so much now nor may it be relevant. I loved just jumping on a train (when I went you manually entered your journey and had it stamped at the ticket office, guess its electronic now) and going to what then seemed exotic places, Athens, Rome, Venice, Innsbruck etc. I slept in hostels and cheap B&B or simply jumped on a train overnight and slept in the carriage. It was rough and ready, always fun. If we were doing it now we would have the advantage of eg Booking.com to book accomodation ahead, take 1st class as you suggest and probably stay a bit longer in each location. Stations not always near what you want to see, was happy to walk all day when younger, however, would need to factor in buses and taxi now. Tourists have taken over nearly every major european city now to the point of spoiling many of them so would probably be also looking at a different agenda to the one we had back then. Must have left an impression because I found my old rail card a while back while clearing out the loft. As I am typing I am getting quite interested again and think I'll pay the web site a visit, go for it! We went to Venice by train a couple of years ago and loved it, not quite the same I know, however, reminded me what a pleasant place a train carriage is as the countries roll by.

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[hilldweller]

reminded me what a pleasant place a train carriage is as the countries roll by.

And there's the crunch for a seasoned motorhomer, "oh that looks nice, *&^%%£ can't stop". Every stop, drag luggage off train, find taxi, find hotel.

Give it a go on the basis "if we don't like it we admit it and stop".

 

[MyrtleGuru]

I haven't used Interail as such -- always wanted to but never had a long enough holiday -- but I have done some great European tours by rail over the years, before we got our van. It all started many years ago when I took the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland, picking up the train there non-stop to Hannover then a local train to the Harz mountains in Germany. The Hannover train continued to Berlin and Warsaw, and I would have loved to continue with it -- that particular route sadly now is not so direct, I think. Next time I took the ferry to Calais, train to Paris, changing there onto a sleeper train to the Pyrenees. More recently I did a fair few train trips in the Nordic countries both in summer and winter. In Norway, Oslo to Bergen in winter was pretty impressive: over the top the snow was higher than the houses, but it didn't affect the trains! Also stayed in a great hotel that is actually above the train station in Gothenberg, Sweden. I seem to remember Finnish trains being cheap and efficient, but the view not so good -- unless you like pine trees. Trains are also an easy way to explore the cities that can be a bit more bothersome in a van. We still sometimes take trains into cities when touring in the van: last time was in Portugal, from Espinho to Porto. The only downside for me when touring by train was needing the discipline to travel light -- you don't want to be dragging loads of luggage around. I tried both backpacks and wheeled luggage, and decided wheeled was generally best, except when having to drag it through a foot or more of snow in Trondheim. The good thing is that most of the train stations in Europe have left-luggage facilities that are cheaper and simpler to use than the few that exist in the UK, so you can leave your luggage there while exploring without having to find accomodation and check in first. Having seen last year all the new fast rail routes being built in Spain, it looks like touring by train can only get better. Don't forget ferries too, as a foot passenger they can be real bargains. It cost me about £10 to take the ferry from Stockholm via the Aaland Islands to Turku in Finland and that's about a 12-hour journey (if I remember rightly) and beautiful in summer -- the traditional Finnish karaoke onboard was an acquired taste though. From there I took a train to Helsinki and another ferry to Tallinn in Estonia. So, in summary, if you can travel light, it is a great way to tour.

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
Been watching Russia with Simone Reeve on BBC "? Lots of the links between stops have been by Rail.(Can you get it up?.....THE TV! Doh) I thought it was Magic,and even at my age was tempted.
So. *Lird your Goins"... Keep the posts coming,would love to follow your exploits....... What! Still reading this?....BE GONE!!!!
Tea Bag

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[MyrtleGuru]

Hi.
Been watching Russia with Simone Reeve on BBC "?

Great series. Some of the roads on that last epsiode were almost as bad as Norfolk's