Comments on: Experience with travel using the Interrail Global Train Pass? http://www.illidan1337.net/travel-experience/experience-with-travel-using-the-interrail-global-train-pass Travel Articles from around the World Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:42:59 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Willeke http://www.illidan1337.net/travel-experience/experience-with-travel-using-the-interrail-global-train-pass/comment-page-1#comment-5542 Willeke Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:47:59 +0000 http://www.illidan1337.net/travel-experience/experience-with-travel-using-the-interrail-global-train-pass#comment-5542 In 2008 I used the 10/22 pass, in the past I have used global passes. As a rule the pass does not cover bus and underground transport in the cities, but for some cities there are exceptions, like the RER trains in Paris. Local trains and regional trains are, as a rule, included. I would advice you not just to travel from big city to big city, but also to stop in small towns and villages, or even visit national parks where they have easy access from a railway station, this gives a much nicer travel. If you just see big cities, they all blend together. By mixing the different sizes of places you stop, they do stand out. For overnight trains you will always need a reservations, mostly a few Euro, or whatever the local currency is, for a seat, more for a couchette. But if you can get a couchette, it is often worth it. A good site for timetable information is the German railplanner in English. They give info on which trains have a compulsary reservation, on those you often need to pay a big surcharge. Other trains they recommend a reservation. In those cases, the reservation is often a few Euro. This planner works in almost all of Europe, and knows most or all train lines: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en? There is a lot of good info on the InterRail site, I found specially the FAQ very useful: http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-frequently-asked-questions And if you are not sure whether you want this rail pass, the man in seat sixty-one has a good tool to work out whether it is the right choice for you: http://www.seat61.com/Railpass.htm His site has a lot of useful information, specially routes if you want to travel to and from England, but because of that, also Brussels and Paris, (those being hubs used when traveling by train from England.) And there are always a couple of sites about train travel in each country mentioned in the list on the left. There is an online timetable for Eurail: http://www.eurail.com/downloads/eurail/eurail-timetable-2010-trains-europe.pdf I used to use a printed version of this timetable when InterRailing in the 80's, it does not give all trains, but it does give a good overview, on the most used long distance travels. If I was going InterRailing again this year, I would certainly study this timetable or even make a print of those cities I would like to visit. A lot of the information on Eurail also goes for InterRail. The biggest difference is that InterRail is also valid in the UK and in some eastern European countries. For city information, Internet is a great source, each city, even almost every village, has a webpage now. Or you can buy a good guidebook, covering the whole area you want to travel. I like the Lonely Planet series, but there are more good series on the market. Also read in the older questions here, there is a lot of information available already.<br><b>References : </b><br> In 2008 I used the 10/22 pass, in the past I have used global passes.
As a rule the pass does not cover bus and underground transport in the cities, but for some cities there are exceptions, like the RER trains in Paris.
Local trains and regional trains are, as a rule, included.

I would advice you not just to travel from big city to big city, but also to stop in small towns and villages, or even visit national parks where they have easy access from a railway station, this gives a much nicer travel. If you just see big cities, they all blend together. By mixing the different sizes of places you stop, they do stand out.

For overnight trains you will always need a reservations, mostly a few Euro, or whatever the local currency is, for a seat, more for a couchette. But if you can get a couchette, it is often worth it.

A good site for timetable information is the German railplanner in English.
They give info on which trains have a compulsary reservation, on those you often need to pay a big surcharge. Other trains they recommend a reservation. In those cases, the reservation is often a few Euro. This planner works in almost all of Europe, and knows most or all train lines:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?

There is a lot of good info on the InterRail site, I found specially the FAQ very useful:
http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-frequently-asked-questions

And if you are not sure whether you want this rail pass, the man in seat sixty-one has a good tool to work out whether it is the right choice for you:
http://www.seat61.com/Railpass.htm
His site has a lot of useful information, specially routes if you want to travel to and from England, but because of that, also Brussels and Paris, (those being hubs used when traveling by train from England.)
And there are always a couple of sites about train travel in each country mentioned in the list on the left.

There is an online timetable for Eurail: http://www.eurail.com/downloads/eurail/eurail-timetable-2010-trains-europe.pdf
I used to use a printed version of this timetable when InterRailing in the 80’s, it does not give all trains, but it does give a good overview, on the most used long distance travels.
If I was going InterRailing again this year, I would certainly study this timetable or even make a print of those cities I would like to visit.
A lot of the information on Eurail also goes for InterRail. The biggest difference is that InterRail is also valid in the UK and in some eastern European countries.

For city information, Internet is a great source, each city, even almost every village, has a webpage now. Or you can buy a good guidebook, covering the whole area you want to travel. I like the Lonely Planet series, but there are more good series on the market.

Also read in the older questions here, there is a lot of information available already.
References :

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