My Ideal Interrailing Route

 by Liberty Mitchell Brock

Interrailing is when you travel through Europe using an international rail pass, which permits you to travel through most European countries via train unlimited. The pass allows you to explore 33 different countries at an affordable price. The Interrail pass celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year.

There are lots of different routes you can take when you’re interrailing, it just depends on where you want to go. The route I will describe won’t be the ideal route for everyone, but it will be a good base for someone stuck on where to go. Before planning your route you need to narrow down the area of Europe you want to explore. Sometimes, trying to fit in too much can make your trip less enjoyable. 

I plan on going interrailing myself either this summer or next summer, the pass I will get will be the 15 days of travel within 2 months. This allows you to get as many trains as you like on each travel day, but you don’t need to use it consecutively. I want to explore European countries I haven't been to and won’t necessarily go to in the near future.

Some tips I have learnt from people who have been interrailing are, be prepared for things to go wrong, take night trains when you can to save costs of hostels, check your seat reservations and have an emergency fund for if you don’t meet your budget. 

This route is not fixed, I will allow flexibility in timings and order of countries. I also want to explore more of the Balkans but haven’t included many of them in this route as I only plan to go for just under a month, and don’t want to feel too rushed. I would like to spend a solid amount of time in each city to make the time travelling worth it. I also wanted to create a circular route so that I don't feel as if I’m going back on myself. I plan on staying in hostels on my trip and will use the app hostel world to do so. Hostels are an affordable way of travelling and they allow you to meet similar like minded people. 

This is my proposed route, it visits 10 different cities across 10 countries. I will stay at least two nights in each location, depending on night trains. But I would like a full day at least to explore each city. Below each journey and its time duration I have bullet-pointed a couple of things that can be done in each city. 

London to Amsterdam: Train 5h50m

Amsterdam

• Anne Frank museum 

• 
  

Amsterdam to Berlin: Train 4h20m

Berlin

• Berlin Wall museum

• Christmas Market (dependent on time of year)

• Ampleman museum 

Berlin to Prague: Train 4h20m

Prague

• Sightseeing cruise along the Vltava River

Prague to Vienna: 2h40m

Vienna

• Go to the Alps and do a hike

• See the Spanish Lipizzaner 

Vienna to Budapest: Train 2h40m

Budapest

• Visit the Széchenyi Thermal Baths 

Budapest to Zagreb: Train 5h30m

Zagreb

• Walking tour

Zagreb to Ljubljana: Train 2h40m

Ljubljana

• Visit Lake Bled 

Ljubljana to Venice: Train 7h10m

Venice

• Gondola ride

• Orchestral concert in a church 

Venice to Zurich: Train 6h40m

Zurich

• Chocolate museum 

Zurich to Paris: 4h10m 

Paris

• Go to the Eiffel tower

• Petit Palais Museum

• Centre Pompidou

• Notre Dame

• Les Deux Magots - café  

Paris to London: 3h30m