Interrail suggestions

Author
Discussion

ben5575

Original Poster:

6,582 posts

227 months

Thursday 16th February 2023
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I've managed to 'inspire' my son to go interrailing this summer.

He'll be 17 and be going with a mate who is only allowed to go for two weeks. So it's going to be a relatively short/taster trip at the end of June/beginning of July.

I'm looking for advice please. smile

Big stuff like:
  • Those that have done it - is it better to have a set plan or to play it by ear?
  • What type of ticket - set amount of travel or an open ticket?
  • Are there any 'must have' guides that really helped?
  • Those who have kids that have done it, how did you deal with the practicalities, money, stress(!) etc?
  • Accommodation - prefer to avoid carrying a tent around, plus he'll be in towns/cities
Then suggestions for routes
  • If it were me I'd head down and bum around Hossegor/Biarritz/northern spain/Portugal for the surf. That's not really his thing but only because he's never done it so it might be nice to have some surfing experience in there somewhere
  • A couple of weeks isn't that long to be travelling lots, so it might be better to limit to a few predetermined places that try and cram too much in and spending too much time on trains?
  • Probably not Scandinavia/northern Europe as he won't have time on this occasion. Any recommendations?

Ziplobb

1,402 posts

290 months

Thursday 16th February 2023
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My son and three uni mates did this last August. They had a fantastic time with Slovenia being my sons highlight. One of his Uni friends planned the whole thing and it ran like clockwork. If I can get an itinerary for you I will.

ben5575

Original Poster:

6,582 posts

227 months

Thursday 16th February 2023
quotequote all
Ziplobb said:
My son and three uni mates did this last August. They had a fantastic time with Slovenia being my sons highlight. One of his Uni friends planned the whole thing and it ran like clockwork. If I can get an itinerary for you I will.
That would be amazing, thank you!

soxboy

6,516 posts

225 months

Saturday 18th February 2023
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I did it with 3 mates after A-levels, so over 30 years ago - I guess a hell of a lot has changed!

We did it for 5 weeks and went as far as we could, basically an anti-clockwise circle route from Rotterdam to Istanbul and back.

If I were doing it for two weeks I’d probably look at a loop from Paris, down to South of France, Italy, Greece, former Yugoslav countries (don’t go during a war like we did) and then Budapest, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam.

The above may take a bit longer than a fortnight, you could trim it depending on whether you like more southern or more northern. Best way to save money is to get overnight trains wherever possible.

We had a predetermined route which we didn’t veer from too much, only perhaps by a day. It helped that we had one of the party who liked to stick to routine, it had been up to the rest of us it would have been chaos.

Ziplobb

1,402 posts

290 months

Saturday 18th February 2023
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ben5575 said:
That would be amazing, thank you!
sent you an email

ben5575

Original Poster:

6,582 posts

227 months

Saturday 18th February 2023
quotequote all
Replied thanks thumbup

surveyor

18,063 posts

190 months

Sunday 19th February 2023
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step-lad travels on his own a fair amount in Europe and uses Hostels. Some are very plush, and have clever tech things which means residents can communicate with each other in advance. He's never not made pals while on a trip