I am a student in the first year at Jesus College, Oxford studying Philosophy, Politics and Economic...
I am a student in the first year at Jesus College, Oxford studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). I have a pretty unhealthy fascination with the internet, which keeps my life on track.
Member since:06.12.2000
Reviews:119
Members who trust:16
There aren’t many ways you can travel around Europe with a large backpack and a little budget. In fact there are two. You can either buy a rail ticket or a coach ticket. There was really never much choice for me, because, whilst I like coaches for trips in the UK, where the trains are three times the price and where National Express picks up from my local town and not a distant station, for long trips, I prefer trains. In a train you can walk about a bit, open the window, lock yourself in a compartment, get a couchette (hard bunk bed). The seats generally have more leg room. So coaches were out for me.
Having decided on getting a rail ticket, I didn’t really have to decide where to get it from. I spent a week
searching and found that only InterRail (I think it is a division of Rail Europe) had a viable solution. This is in the form of an InterRail ticket – a booklet that provides unlimited travel on selected rail networks for a period of time, normally one month. The ticket’s price is determined by which areas (‘Zones’) of the continent you want to include. If I remember rightly, there are eight, including Ireland. Oddly, Morocco is included in the Iberian Zone, as is the ferry to get there. The other zones are fairly logical, there is a French Zone, German Zone, Scandanavian Zone, Eastern European Zone, Italian Zone and Balkan Zone, for the more adventuous bullet-dodgers among you. Although I have read otherwise in other Ciao opinions, the InterRail office told me that none of the tickets (which come in 1, 2, 3 or All Zone flavours) include either travel in the UK or transport to the continent. You can check this out with them, online at www.inter-rail.co.uk .
I selected a three zone, month-long pass that covered the French, German and Eastern European zones. That set me back around £189, but I think the price has now gone up around a tenner. Although we had planned out six-city tour in advance, somehow or another we never got around to buying the tickets until the day we wanted to leave. No problem. We turned up at the InterRail office on Piccadilly in London and bought them there and then. Unless you forget your cash or passport, this is really simple to do and they are fairly friendly too. We also bought discounted Eurostar return tickets here too. They have special offers that are complex – just ask them for the best price to get across the Channel. It varies, but a return should be shy of £80, or something is amiss.
Using the ticket in Europe was no problem at all, even out East. Although the booklet is a little large to be considered convenient, I folded mine in half and they still took it all over. The booklet/ticket has spaces for you to fill in which trains you take, then the inspectors on the trains just stamp them. This means you have a huge flexibility. You can travel whenever and wherever you want, within your Zones. It’s really good to have the sort of scope. If you go into internet cafes, a Google Search for ‘European Rail Timetables’ will bring up an English version of Die Bahn’s (German Rail’s) online database. This is comprehensive and an absolute lifesaver if you want to decide where to go on the fly. And I do recommend doing that. Don’t plan too much or you’ll miss the fun of getting trains to random and far-flung places at 2am in the morning. It’s more fun than it seems, trust me!
So what are the problems? Well, aside from getting the worst night’s sleep I have ever had on the floor of a dirty Hungarian train having drunk away the money for a sleepingcarriage, there are very few. The most annoying thing is supplements. You will encounter a couple of trains that you have to book for and pay a premium for. The premiums are normally undr £5 for a very long journey (e.g. Prague – Berlin) but are still annoying when you have paid for the ticket. Having said that, these trains are normally of a very good standard. If you are travelling in German on a ‘supplemented’ train, expect very nice rolling-stock. In Poland, expect bad décor!
Overall, InterRailing is very flexible and a great way to get around if you are on a budget or backpacking. I was ‘out’ for weeks and only paid one supplement. I also used it for days trips away from my hostel, which cuts your transport costs quite a lot. One word of wisdom though: make sure you stay in hostels near to stations. Navigating on foreign streets while drunk is very tough indeed! Generally, these tickets are brilliant to buy and you’ll be wanting to go again as soon as you return to work/school/uni or whatever. Great times await.
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This is the second opinion I have read of yours and it seems as if you are true backpacker. Nice op.
moose 28.09.2001 01:51
I have always wanted to travel but I left Uni with a bit of a debt (ok, a huge debt!) to teh Student Loans Company - got a job - and have still got that Uni debt! I guess I will have to make do with peoples travelling ops on Ciao to give me a view of the world!! Good op!
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Advantages: Surprisingly punctual and clean trains, few delays or problems encountered Disadvantages: Annoying supplements required for Interrailers, erratic station quality
Advantages: Breathtaking scenary, good train system, everyone speaks English if you need it Disadvantages: Locals a little unfriendly to young travellers, quite pricey
fam6 02.10.2001 ·
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Sep 28th, 2001
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