6 ms·

Interrail: 6,379Km and 13 Countries over 7 weeks

200 points by coinfused 3mo ago

hutattedonmyarm 3mo ago
I went on my first Interrail trip last year. It was a single country trip though. Can absolutely recommend it!
- embedding-shape 3mo ago
  Is it Interrail if it's just in one country? Isn't that just a normal rail pass then? :P
  - pchangr 3mo ago
    Not all countries have a rail pass and not all countries offer a 100% discount pass. And even less offer a 100% discount on all trains and for non residents
    - embedding-shape 3mo ago
      Right, but then "Inter" = "Borrowed from Latin inter- (“between, amid”), a form of prepositional inter (“between”)". Seems more like parent did Intrarail to me.
      - pchangr 3mo ago
        OMG.. are we really doing this? T_T It’s just the marketing term…. “Interrail One Country Pass allows unlimited rail travel within one participating country, excluding the holder’s country of residence.” It’s a way of reinforcing eu identity.. they call it interrail because it connects you to other cultures or societies or whatever you want to call it
        embedding-shape 3mo ago
        > OMG.. are we really doing this? T_T It’s just the marketing term…. Quick one-off jokes that commentators on HN take way to literally and start a whole diatribe about? I mean, apparently :D Relax, it's only a joke, I have no issues with Interrail and use it myself from time to time too... Not sure I'd agree it has anything to do with European or EU identity, but anyways, I guess some do :)
        bluebarbet 3mo ago
        Sorry you're being downvoted for your harmless and jovial asides. Really, downvoting is almost always toxic IMO, I wish HN would turn it off.
        DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
        > allows unlimited rail travel within one participating country, excluding the holder’s country of residence One of the things that always bothered me because it's such an arbitrary rule and has hugely different effects for people from different countries. Like, people from Switzerland or Belgium can easily move around all over the place after a short domestic trip. For a few lucky fellers from Lichtenstein or Luxemburg the rule is practically non-existent on account of the small sizes of their countries, whereas someone from eastern France has to pay for a long-distance ticket across all of France if they want to explore the western part of Europe, and all they get is Spain and Portugal (and Andorra—do they have a train line?) with no way to visit Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechia, Slovenia or Germany without having to pay for a cross-country trip through France a second time. Also the age limitation for European citizens whereas non-Europeans have no such limit.
        pchangr 3mo ago
        I’d argue that most residents would likely have access to better offers locally. As for the age limit, I think it just lets you get a cheaper inter-rail, which is subsidized by the DiscoverEU. AFAIK, you can always buy a full interrail pass for all countries. And yes, non eu people can buy eurail.: but that one is much more expensive than the equivalent interrail, I think. Maybe I’m wrong about the last one tho
danshipt 3mo ago
Any estimate on how much would the trip have cost? Just Interrail price
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- edent 3mo ago
  The passes were about €500 each for first class. Each reservation was €3-€15. The overnight ferry was about €100 each.
  - jmkd 3mo ago
    Wow that's a fantastic deal. I seem to remember it was about £280 in the 90s for standard class, 30 day unlimited.
  - foresterre 3mo ago
    In addition, there's about 2x year a 25% sale and you have a year to activate the passes. The in southern Europe (e.g. France, Spain, Italy), required seat reservation is most common and most expensive. I don't mind requiring seat reservations, but that it is separate from the ticket price and significant (eg 15€/seat reservation in Italy), feels like price gouging. It also feels different from say the optional (and way lower priced seat reservations in German ICE's (high speed rail)). I rather pay for a "high speed rail supplement" instead of seat reservation haha :). I interrailed last year through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. In Germany I was lucky, I only had a small delay on the way back. Austria was exceptional in everything. On time, modern trains and facilities. I guess the food on the train was expensive and bland, but I've never seen a train where that's different. Slovenia was the weirdest and had the most delays. Train cars for which I had seat reservations consistently didn't exist or arrive. They use old stock, but that also made it kind of fun and there were great views. I couldn't rely on the time table though. Italy has lots of high speed rail, but required (paid) seat reservations. The problem is that for almost any medium-long distance there's no slower speed alternative. The normal speed stock is fine (can be taken to go to smaller cities) and was generally on time. Trains in Switzerland are exceptional too. Funnily enough, I did have fairly significant delays 2/5 times.
ricardobeat 3mo ago
> very little health and safety There is this thing called “common sense” :)
- DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
  Yeah, complains about stale too-warm air on the train and complains about staff airing the train during stops. This way you can't lose an argument either way.
  - leoedin 3mo ago
    It's not a complaint. It's a comment. That would never happen in the UK - so it's interesting to see a different approach in different countries. It's obviously higher risk - there's no door to stop someone jumping out the train. Whether it's better or worse is left to the reader to decide. Similarly - I was once on a train in Italy which stopped at a station with platforms shorter than the train. We discovered this when we opened the door to find a big step down onto gravel. That's not something that happens in the UK. The biggest difference of course is that the UK has much higher train doors. So an open door without a platform is very high off the ground. Perhaps that's why we have a different culture around it.
    - Symbiote 3mo ago
      The UK also has the third-safest railway in Europe. Some of that will be the result of a safety culture which prevents staff from overriding a door lock. https://international-railway-safety-council.com/safety-statistics/ https://international-railway-safety-council.com/safety-stat...
jmkd 3mo ago
The best part of interailling for me was turning up to a major train station, looking at the giant departure board, choosing an enigmatic destination and just getting on the train. No booking or reservations or even planning at any point. Is this not possible any more?
- edent 3mo ago
  Yes. The app makes it really easy to do that. In our last trip we did it a few times. But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance.
  - embedding-shape 3mo ago
    > But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance. Am I the only one who feels the opposite? I used to take great care in making plans, knowing what's up ahead, knowing what I should know and so on. Spontaneous moments like "Lets go to X" were very infrequent. Nowadays, as a Proper Adult, I much more like going places without knowing anything about them, with as little plans as possible, figuring out what the place is from the people I meet there, and only start reading about the place once I'm there.
    - kd5bjo 3mo ago
      I fall somewhere in the middle these days- I really like knowing in advance that I have a place to sleep each night and that I have a way to get there, but then just do whatever I feel like in the moment for everything else.
    - iso1631 3mo ago
      I never really planned in my youth, however as I'm older I have more responsibilities and planning in advance. We've just booked part of our summer family holiday for example
      - embedding-shape 3mo ago
        > however as I'm older I have more responsibilities Yeah, same here, I guess that's why I'm opting for less planning, not more. I guess some people are just wired differently, that's what makes the world so interesting probably :)
TrackerFF 3mo ago
Is interrail still a thing? It was popular in Europe back in the 70s and 80s, when young people could buy a interrail pass. Many of my older relatives (now in their 60s) did that back then, but it was more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s. By that time, budget airlines had become a thing, and summer/party trips to Spain / Mediterranean started to dominate my peers' summer vacations.
- edent 3mo ago
  No, I just imagined the trip… Yes, very much still a thing. We saw Interrail travellers of all ages. Lots of students going on a big adventure - but a decent number of more experienced travellers seeing the sights.
- wink 3mo ago
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- pchangr 3mo ago
  Interrail is sometimes cheaper, specially as a student. Otherwise it’s usually still cheaper if you want to go to multiple stops
- gib444 3mo ago
  746,000 Interrail passes sold in 2024 https://www.interrail.com/en/magazine/did-you-know/rail-recap-2024 https://www.interrail.com/en/magazine/did-you-know/rail-reca...
- worldsayshi 3mo ago
  I've used Interrail every time I want to travel a longer distance across Europe by train. Spares me some of the stress of dealing with interruptions since I can often just hop on the next train. Unless it's fully booked...
- Milner08 3mo ago
  I did it in 2010 and I think the majority of my friends have done it over the years. At least around that time it still seemed very much alive for people in the UK.
kleiba2 3mo ago
Prediction: Germany is going to be your worst train experience.
- embedding-shape 3mo ago
  Prediction: You haven't trained a lot outside of Europe if you think the training experience in Germany would be "your worst train experience".
  - Milner08 3mo ago
    Worst during the interrail trip. It was for me and it wasn't even close.
    - embedding-shape 3mo ago
      > Worst during the interrail trip. That wouldn't surprise me. "your worst train experience" still would, unless the person only taken trains in Europe. But the world is big, and some places are just on a different level. Ever taken a train in India? I'd like to hear those people complain about the German train experience :)
      - 4ggr0 3mo ago
        doesn't it say quite a bit about the german train system when you have to compare it to india to make it seem not that bad?
        embedding-shape 3mo ago
        Not at all, India is great at many things, I think this comment might say more about you than what you replied to or trying to say :)
        4ggr0 3mo ago
        the comment i replied to used India as a bad example, all my comment says is "doesn't it say something about X if you have to use the worst example which comes to your mind to use as a counterpoint" i have no clue about indian railway, just tried to make a point about the fallacy.
Cockbrand 3mo ago
I remember that there had been a discussion about providing free Interrail tickets to all EU citizens at some age (18 or 19 maybe?), which I found a brilliant idea. I don't know whether this actually ever materialized, though.
- haunter 3mo ago
  Yes https://youth.europa.eu/discovereu_en https://youth.europa.eu/discovereu_en
raphinou 3mo ago
I would love to take an Interrail, eg to visit France, but it's x days in one month (8 days is 292€ per person) and doesn't match my travel habits. I would prefer to make short travels everyday rather than long travels 8 days of the month. Edit: global passes let you travel everyday of your pass, with passes of up to 3 months: https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass
- cuvert 3mo ago
  For small trips through France you'll probably get cheaper without this pass. When I'm in vacation I do 2-3 days in a city than move on. If I exclude Milano-Lyon, I don't think I ever payed more than 40€ through France and I did Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Bordeaux and a few other cities. The only thing is that I book way in advance. When I returned from Germany, two months ago, the lady next to me was amazed that I payed Munchen-Verona 37€ while she did 100+.
gib444 3mo ago
> Eurostar St Pancras is dangerously crowded and needs tearing down Agreed. It's horrific. They need to get rid of some of the shops, knock through, and double or triple the size of the departure lounge. EES has made it even more chaotic. We do this all the time in the UK - give too much space to retail. You can understand why though - we spend like crazy at airports and railway stations. I did a first class Interrail earlier this year, not planning much, not staying in hostels. It was quite stressful as unsurprisingly Paris, Milan, Florence etc are popular and expensive places! Trying to chase good weather was annoying as it was a terrible winter in much Europe - we had all this flexibility but didn't want to go anywhere as everywhere was cloudy and rainy. We ended up abandoning it half way through, when we were in southern Spain during the terrible week of multiple derailments. We aren't religious but we took that as a sign to head home I'm still committed to trains but I wouldn't repeat the experience. I would base myself somewhere with good trains, stay somewhere a bit cheaper, and do day trips via train
leastangle 3mo ago
I Interrailed through Northern and Eastern Europe 20 years ago when it was mostly used by students? It was amazing and I really think it brings europeans closer together. Glad it is still around!
mrtksn 3mo ago
Just like with the Erasmus program, it’s a transformative experience. It immunizes you against the BS you see on the internet about countries and people, be it the hype or fear mongering kind of BS. I did Greece-Bulgaria-Turkey many years ago back in college and since can just turn blind eye to the stuff Turks may say about Greeks and vice versa with no effort. Just doesn't trigger me, I have seen the non-touristy parts of those countries on my journey and neither the hate nor the hype rings a bell. It's one of those low-key super successful government stuff. Maybe something like that should exist on global scale.
- ben_w 3mo ago
  > Maybe something like that should exist on global scale. Would certainly change things, e.g. the US looked far less glamorous when I actually visited it*, but there's a lot more variation in certain parts of the world than between nearby parts of continental Europe, e.g. Nairobi not only had some very nice looking newly built stuff (the first pictures for the city on Google Maps seem to be glamour shots), but also this: https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2442837,36.9207708,3a,75y,142.65h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sB9hEkhWcipcGdButCwT2CA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.5426205811939155%26panoid%3DB9hEkhWcipcGdButCwT2CA%26yaw%3D142.65474904901717!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x182f1172d84d49a7:0xf7cf0254b297924c!8m2!3d-1.2920659!4d36.8219462!16zL20vMDVkNDk?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2442837,... * landed at SFO, even just the literal bed in the hotel room was larger than some entire rooms I've stayed in, then I look out of the windows and think "1980s parody of Butlins in 1960" ("Hi-de-Hi!" was part of my childhood TV).
AntonTrollback 3mo ago
Self promotion, support a long time HN reader and get your pass via https://allaboard.eu/eurail https://allaboard.eu/eurail or https://allaboard.eu/interrail https://allaboard.eu/interrail It’s actually more affordable via us, as prices are net and we do free refunds. Loosing the Stripe fee but it’s worth it.
- edent 3mo ago
  How do you handle seat reservation refunds? That was our most annoying experience with the Interrail app - a booking fee on top of the reservation, but little support when those trains were delayed or cancelled.
  - AntonTrollback 3mo ago
    We do sell seat reservations (https://allaboard.eu/book https://allaboard.eu/book) and some are refundable but most are not. Depending on the operator. Delay or cancellation compensation is different. You can then contact our support and we’ll help with making that claim.
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- dan_sbl 3mo ago
  Just an FYI- your "Read more" link under "Seat Reservations" on both pages just leads back to the same page, rather than actually linking to anything offering more information.
  - AntonTrollback 3mo ago
    Oh, thanks for taking the time to comment! Fixed now
Jeanette81 3mo ago
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chybexx 3mo ago
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immmmmm 3mo ago
I just love long rail trips, often do Switzerland-Tunis via Palermo to see my in law family. Best trip ever was Tbilisi-Zurich via Batumi, ferry to Odessa Kyiv and Vienna.
- sph 3mo ago
  Train travel is so great, even in the crappy trains. Just turn up at the station, sit down, and enjoy the sights. You don't even need a seatbelt. I wish to see high speed maglev transportation to supplant air travel in my lifetime.
  - immmmmm 3mo ago
    Or maybe just change our habits, travel less and slower.
  - bluebarbet 3mo ago
    In practice, those are two different types of train travel. The former exists only in countries with a rail heritage. Where countries are genuinely trying to replace air travel with high-speed rail (credit to them, it's much more sustainable), the new train stations are alas a bit like airports for trains. You generally can't just turn up and hop on. In China you can't even get into the train station without a booking.
    - Symbiote 3mo ago
      China requires showing identification to buy a long-distance train ticket. Other countries I'm familiar with (Spain, France, Germany, UK, Japan) certainly do let you turn up, buy a ticket, and get on. It will cost more than buying earlier.
      - bluebarbet 3mo ago
        >China requires showing identification to buy a long-distance train ticket. In China, ID and ticket are the same thing. You know that already. Europe and Japan (what I meant by "rail heritage") are indeed more relaxed. But even in Europe the newest high-speed network, Spain's, follows the airport template, with security check and departure lounge. You have to turn up 25 minutes ahead of departure. It's such a shame and so self-defeating.
haunter 3mo ago
For single countries though the Interrail not worth it, or more like make your own research For example in Hungary we have an unlimited pass for ~53€ a month, valid on all trains and multiple public transport options (almost everything in Budapest included) https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-full-price/ https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-ful... Whereas a 3 days in 1 month Interrail pass is 79€ https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pass/hungary https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pa...
- pantalaimon 3mo ago
  Same for Germany, we have the 63€/Month Deutschlandticket. It's only valid for regional trains (but also all local buses, subway and tram systems) though, so for long distance travel you have to switch trains a lot.
  - ocihangir 3mo ago
    Same for Luxembourg, except it is all (train, bus, tram) free. You can only see so much though.
  - hvb2 3mo ago
    That's a very recent addition though. And a heavily subsidized one at that. I think this would be more for people that are doing a many week (3 or more) trip. At that point I think most people would want to see more than 1 country in Europe as they're so different
  - wongarsu 3mo ago
    And they made it really annoying to get for only one month. It's meant to be a subscription for locals That coupled with the just much nicer experience of high-speed rail (which is not included in the Deutschlandticket), I'd still call the Interrail pass worthwhile if you are visiting. Not the only good option, but one of the good options
- Marciplan 3mo ago
  It has that name for a reason though
jgrahamc 3mo ago
In the middle of my doctorate I had a mini-crisis of "I'm not smart enough and I'm never going to manage this", got mononucleosis, and decided the cure was the US equivalent (the USA Rail Pass: https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html). I spent weeks and weeks traveling around the US. The Amtrak system is much maligned but you get to move at a slow pace and see the country and meet people (some of which you would prefer to have not met). I highly recommend doing it if you want to get a sense of the scale and diversity of the US. During this trip, at the recommendation of a friend, I read (or tried to read) a number of "American classic" books which I would finish and then leave on the train for someone else to read. Catch in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, ... The only book I couldn't finish was, ironically, On The Road which I found utterly tedious.
cromka 3mo ago
"The crew just opened the doors to let a breeze in - very little health-and-safety culture here!" That's a bit presumptuous...
- tokai 3mo ago
  "Was a little strange seeing cables dripping down from the ceiling" The whole text is full of these weird takes on the most banal things.
  - edent 3mo ago
    What's banal to you is exotic to me. I've seen tourists in London marvel at the most commonplace thing - and I think that's delightful.
    - quietsegfault 3mo ago
      I love to see tourists in my American city marvel at squirrels.
  - DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
    Yeah I mean the whole "OMG I have to pre-order my vegan meals??!" thing. Back in the day we had to WALK to school and when on a trip we brought along our hard-boiled eggs and meatballs wrapped in aluminum foil.
    - jaffa2 3mo ago
      > Yeah I mean the whole "OMG I have to pre-order my vegan meals??!" yeah that got me . not sure specifically but it felt a bit weird. Also I appreciate this post is about the interrailing, but it felt after reading all the y did was catch trains for the duration, but no mention of anything that they did or saw in all these places.
    - mxmilkiib 3mo ago
      WALK to school?! back when I were a lad, we had to CRAWL to school! what a great workout it was! and, for our packed lunches, we'd have a hard-boiled potato with a dod of ketchup, and some breadcrumbs if we were lucky, and we enjoyed it!!
Havoc 3mo ago
TIL there is a Stockholm to Helsinki ferry. I’ve done Helsinki Talinn and that was great.
madduci 3mo ago
I wonder how much more exhausting could have been if they decided to go much southern in Italy, where the service can be much more degraded
sph 3mo ago
Interrail used to be more popular years ago among young adults who had just finished high school. I did it with a few friends at the time, and it was an incredible experience of self-reliance, patience and just complete freedom. My best memory is sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Biarritz, France, on a mild summer night next to the Atlantic Ocean. Such a refreshing sleep. The next night we did the same, sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Modane, France, very high up in the Alps. Definitely didn't sleep as well with the cold air and weird looks.
- xattt 3mo ago
  How long was this experience? I have a sense that sleeping outdoors as part of an adventure is getting tarnished by the homelessness and mental health crisis (… which is a separate issue that can’t be appropriately addressed here). I live in a seasonal touristy area and I have to do double-takes as to whether someone is transient, or is just backpacking. The implication here is personal safety. The homeless individual could be unpredictable due to mental health, whereas the backpacker is likely to be neutral.
  - sph 3mo ago
    Those were the only two times of outdoor sleep in my life to date. The itinerary was Milan - Zurich - Amsterdam - Paris - Biarritz - Modane - back to Italy, sleeping in either hotels or the closest camping site to the train station. IIRC it was a ticket for 20 days of unlimited travel, which we had to cut short as a friend did get sunburnt so badly to require a hospital stay. Ah, the joys of youth.
    - 374884848 3mo ago
      if you sleep outside train stations in france nowadays you gon have a fun time
- basisword 3mo ago
  I think it was much more popular before budget airlines became so big in Europe. When you can fly to most European cities for < €50 at anytime of the year taking lots of weekend breaks is affordable even for students.
edwinjm 3mo ago
I did Interrail when I finished studying in 1993. It was a wonderful experience. Visiting foreign countries, meeting people, experiencing crazy things. I can recommend it to everyone (especially as a young adult).
mft_ 3mo ago
> Would we do a trip like this again? It's certain a lot of travel. We weren't very spontaneous - most of the trip was planned out way in advance, along with hotels. Having 2-4 days in each place is like taking a series of minibreaks, which is delightful. But it can be exhausting. I don't want to complain that my diamond tiara is too tight, but there comes a point where there is such a thing a too much holiday. This deserves a little more unpicking. Something that I hear very few people discuss is that not all holidays are equal and you need to be aware of what you really need before choosing. If you want to see new places, people, cultures, food, whatever - that's one thing. But if you're tired and need to recharge (sadly, this was often my experience in a corporate job - an endless sawblade cycle of work -> recharge -> work -> recharge) then don't go interrailing - go somewhere quiet and plan to sleep and lie around for a week or two. City breaks and events (e.g. festivals, sports, etc.) fall into this category for me - they are fun and make life better, but expect to come home hopefully happier but also tireder than when you went.
- lbreakjai 3mo ago
  I think it really depends on your personality. I work with people in their late thirties that are refreshed by a long weekend with very little sleep in Ibiza, and would probably die of dread at the idea of spending a week doing nothing. Meanwhile, I'm about to spend ten days in the french mountains, and I hope to do nothing more than read books and go for long quiet walks.
ivanjermakov 3mo ago
Cost breakdown? EDIT: found it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889922 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889922
ks2048 3mo ago
Did a trip like this a few years ago. Highly recommended, if you have the opportunity! Wanted to do a write-up like this, but only got as far as the map, https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/ https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/ I wonder if they took the new "Rail Baltica" through the Baltics? That was one of weaker links in the train route - I used a bus between Vilnius and Riga.
- raphinou 3mo ago
  Did you use some specific tools to collect the data to be displayed on that map?
  - ks2048 3mo ago
    It took a bit of hacking, but most of the data was from the Eurail/Interrail Planner app. I used that book the tickets and it had an HTML export feature - showing your route on a web page - and I stripped the route from that.
- _visgean 3mo ago
  its still in progress https://www.railbaltica.org/progress-today/ https://www.railbaltica.org/progress-today/
bluebarbet 3mo ago
Good for them. A few years ago I traveled from France to Thailand almost entirely by train (plus three buses and a boat). It's possible. You need time, not necessarily lots of money. Adventure is guaranteed.

200 points by coinfused 3mo ago

hutattedonmyarm 3mo ago

I went on my first Interrail trip last year. It was a single country trip though. Can absolutely recommend it!

embedding-shape 3mo ago
Is it Interrail if it's just in one country? Isn't that just a normal rail pass then? :P
- pchangr 3mo ago
  Not all countries have a rail pass and not all countries offer a 100% discount pass. And even less offer a 100% discount on all trains and for non residents
  - embedding-shape 3mo ago
    Right, but then "Inter" = "Borrowed from Latin inter- (“between, amid”), a form of prepositional inter (“between”)". Seems more like parent did Intrarail to me.
    - pchangr 3mo ago
      OMG.. are we really doing this? T_T It’s just the marketing term…. “Interrail One Country Pass allows unlimited rail travel within one participating country, excluding the holder’s country of residence.” It’s a way of reinforcing eu identity.. they call it interrail because it connects you to other cultures or societies or whatever you want to call it
      - embedding-shape 3mo ago
        > OMG.. are we really doing this? T_T It’s just the marketing term…. Quick one-off jokes that commentators on HN take way to literally and start a whole diatribe about? I mean, apparently :D Relax, it's only a joke, I have no issues with Interrail and use it myself from time to time too... Not sure I'd agree it has anything to do with European or EU identity, but anyways, I guess some do :)
        bluebarbet 3mo ago
        Sorry you're being downvoted for your harmless and jovial asides. Really, downvoting is almost always toxic IMO, I wish HN would turn it off.
      - DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
        > allows unlimited rail travel within one participating country, excluding the holder’s country of residence One of the things that always bothered me because it's such an arbitrary rule and has hugely different effects for people from different countries. Like, people from Switzerland or Belgium can easily move around all over the place after a short domestic trip. For a few lucky fellers from Lichtenstein or Luxemburg the rule is practically non-existent on account of the small sizes of their countries, whereas someone from eastern France has to pay for a long-distance ticket across all of France if they want to explore the western part of Europe, and all they get is Spain and Portugal (and Andorra—do they have a train line?) with no way to visit Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechia, Slovenia or Germany without having to pay for a cross-country trip through France a second time. Also the age limitation for European citizens whereas non-Europeans have no such limit.
        pchangr 3mo ago
        I’d argue that most residents would likely have access to better offers locally. As for the age limit, I think it just lets you get a cheaper inter-rail, which is subsidized by the DiscoverEU. AFAIK, you can always buy a full interrail pass for all countries. And yes, non eu people can buy eurail.: but that one is much more expensive than the equivalent interrail, I think. Maybe I’m wrong about the last one tho

danshipt 3mo ago

Any estimate on how much would the trip have cost? Just Interrail price

deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
edent 3mo ago
The passes were about €500 each for first class. Each reservation was €3-€15. The overnight ferry was about €100 each.
- jmkd 3mo ago
  Wow that's a fantastic deal. I seem to remember it was about £280 in the 90s for standard class, 30 day unlimited.
- foresterre 3mo ago
  In addition, there's about 2x year a 25% sale and you have a year to activate the passes. The in southern Europe (e.g. France, Spain, Italy), required seat reservation is most common and most expensive. I don't mind requiring seat reservations, but that it is separate from the ticket price and significant (eg 15€/seat reservation in Italy), feels like price gouging. It also feels different from say the optional (and way lower priced seat reservations in German ICE's (high speed rail)). I rather pay for a "high speed rail supplement" instead of seat reservation haha :). I interrailed last year through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. In Germany I was lucky, I only had a small delay on the way back. Austria was exceptional in everything. On time, modern trains and facilities. I guess the food on the train was expensive and bland, but I've never seen a train where that's different. Slovenia was the weirdest and had the most delays. Train cars for which I had seat reservations consistently didn't exist or arrive. They use old stock, but that also made it kind of fun and there were great views. I couldn't rely on the time table though. Italy has lots of high speed rail, but required (paid) seat reservations. The problem is that for almost any medium-long distance there's no slower speed alternative. The normal speed stock is fine (can be taken to go to smaller cities) and was generally on time. Trains in Switzerland are exceptional too. Funnily enough, I did have fairly significant delays 2/5 times.

ricardobeat 3mo ago

> very little health and safety There is this thing called “common sense” :)

DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
Yeah, complains about stale too-warm air on the train and complains about staff airing the train during stops. This way you can't lose an argument either way.
- leoedin 3mo ago
  It's not a complaint. It's a comment. That would never happen in the UK - so it's interesting to see a different approach in different countries. It's obviously higher risk - there's no door to stop someone jumping out the train. Whether it's better or worse is left to the reader to decide. Similarly - I was once on a train in Italy which stopped at a station with platforms shorter than the train. We discovered this when we opened the door to find a big step down onto gravel. That's not something that happens in the UK. The biggest difference of course is that the UK has much higher train doors. So an open door without a platform is very high off the ground. Perhaps that's why we have a different culture around it.
  - Symbiote 3mo ago
    The UK also has the third-safest railway in Europe. Some of that will be the result of a safety culture which prevents staff from overriding a door lock. https://international-railway-safety-council.com/safety-statistics/ https://international-railway-safety-council.com/safety-stat...

jmkd 3mo ago

The best part of interailling for me was turning up to a major train station, looking at the giant departure board, choosing an enigmatic destination and just getting on the train. No booking or reservations or even planning at any point. Is this not possible any more?

edent 3mo ago
Yes. The app makes it really easy to do that. In our last trip we did it a few times. But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance.
- embedding-shape 3mo ago
  > But, as you get older, there's a certain joy in making plans in advance. Am I the only one who feels the opposite? I used to take great care in making plans, knowing what's up ahead, knowing what I should know and so on. Spontaneous moments like "Lets go to X" were very infrequent. Nowadays, as a Proper Adult, I much more like going places without knowing anything about them, with as little plans as possible, figuring out what the place is from the people I meet there, and only start reading about the place once I'm there.
  - kd5bjo 3mo ago
    I fall somewhere in the middle these days- I really like knowing in advance that I have a place to sleep each night and that I have a way to get there, but then just do whatever I feel like in the moment for everything else.
  - iso1631 3mo ago
    I never really planned in my youth, however as I'm older I have more responsibilities and planning in advance. We've just booked part of our summer family holiday for example
    - embedding-shape 3mo ago
      > however as I'm older I have more responsibilities Yeah, same here, I guess that's why I'm opting for less planning, not more. I guess some people are just wired differently, that's what makes the world so interesting probably :)

TrackerFF 3mo ago

Is interrail still a thing? It was popular in Europe back in the 70s and 80s, when young people could buy a interrail pass. Many of my older relatives (now in their 60s) did that back then, but it was more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s. By that time, budget airlines had become a thing, and summer/party trips to Spain / Mediterranean started to dominate my peers' summer vacations.

edent 3mo ago
No, I just imagined the trip… Yes, very much still a thing. We saw Interrail travellers of all ages. Lots of students going on a big adventure - but a decent number of more experienced travellers seeing the sights.
wink 3mo ago
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pchangr 3mo ago
Interrail is sometimes cheaper, specially as a student. Otherwise it’s usually still cheaper if you want to go to multiple stops
gib444 3mo ago
746,000 Interrail passes sold in 2024 https://www.interrail.com/en/magazine/did-you-know/rail-recap-2024 https://www.interrail.com/en/magazine/did-you-know/rail-reca...
worldsayshi 3mo ago
I've used Interrail every time I want to travel a longer distance across Europe by train. Spares me some of the stress of dealing with interruptions since I can often just hop on the next train. Unless it's fully booked...
Milner08 3mo ago
I did it in 2010 and I think the majority of my friends have done it over the years. At least around that time it still seemed very much alive for people in the UK.

kleiba2 3mo ago

Prediction: Germany is going to be your worst train experience.

embedding-shape 3mo ago
Prediction: You haven't trained a lot outside of Europe if you think the training experience in Germany would be "your worst train experience".
- Milner08 3mo ago
  Worst during the interrail trip. It was for me and it wasn't even close.
  - embedding-shape 3mo ago
    > Worst during the interrail trip. That wouldn't surprise me. "your worst train experience" still would, unless the person only taken trains in Europe. But the world is big, and some places are just on a different level. Ever taken a train in India? I'd like to hear those people complain about the German train experience :)
    - 4ggr0 3mo ago
      doesn't it say quite a bit about the german train system when you have to compare it to india to make it seem not that bad?
      - embedding-shape 3mo ago
        Not at all, India is great at many things, I think this comment might say more about you than what you replied to or trying to say :)
        4ggr0 3mo ago
        the comment i replied to used India as a bad example, all my comment says is "doesn't it say something about X if you have to use the worst example which comes to your mind to use as a counterpoint" i have no clue about indian railway, just tried to make a point about the fallacy.

Cockbrand 3mo ago

I remember that there had been a discussion about providing free Interrail tickets to all EU citizens at some age (18 or 19 maybe?), which I found a brilliant idea. I don't know whether this actually ever materialized, though.

haunter 3mo ago
Yes https://youth.europa.eu/discovereu_en https://youth.europa.eu/discovereu_en

raphinou 3mo ago

I would love to take an Interrail, eg to visit France, but it's x days in one month (8 days is 292€ per person) and doesn't match my travel habits. I would prefer to make short travels everyday rather than long travels 8 days of the month. Edit: global passes let you travel everyday of your pass, with passes of up to 3 months: https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass

cuvert 3mo ago
For small trips through France you'll probably get cheaper without this pass. When I'm in vacation I do 2-3 days in a city than move on. If I exclude Milano-Lyon, I don't think I ever payed more than 40€ through France and I did Lyon, Paris, Rennes, Brest, Nantes, Bordeaux and a few other cities. The only thing is that I book way in advance. When I returned from Germany, two months ago, the lady next to me was amazed that I payed Munchen-Verona 37€ while she did 100+.

gib444 3mo ago

> Eurostar St Pancras is dangerously crowded and needs tearing down Agreed. It's horrific. They need to get rid of some of the shops, knock through, and double or triple the size of the departure lounge. EES has made it even more chaotic. We do this all the time in the UK - give too much space to retail. You can understand why though - we spend like crazy at airports and railway stations. I did a first class Interrail earlier this year, not planning much, not staying in hostels. It was quite stressful as unsurprisingly Paris, Milan, Florence etc are popular and expensive places! Trying to chase good weather was annoying as it was a terrible winter in much Europe - we had all this flexibility but didn't want to go anywhere as everywhere was cloudy and rainy. We ended up abandoning it half way through, when we were in southern Spain during the terrible week of multiple derailments. We aren't religious but we took that as a sign to head home I'm still committed to trains but I wouldn't repeat the experience. I would base myself somewhere with good trains, stay somewhere a bit cheaper, and do day trips via train

leastangle 3mo ago

I Interrailed through Northern and Eastern Europe 20 years ago when it was mostly used by students? It was amazing and I really think it brings europeans closer together. Glad it is still around!

mrtksn 3mo ago

Just like with the Erasmus program, it’s a transformative experience. It immunizes you against the BS you see on the internet about countries and people, be it the hype or fear mongering kind of BS. I did Greece-Bulgaria-Turkey many years ago back in college and since can just turn blind eye to the stuff Turks may say about Greeks and vice versa with no effort. Just doesn't trigger me, I have seen the non-touristy parts of those countries on my journey and neither the hate nor the hype rings a bell. It's one of those low-key super successful government stuff. Maybe something like that should exist on global scale.

ben_w 3mo ago
> Maybe something like that should exist on global scale. Would certainly change things, e.g. the US looked far less glamorous when I actually visited it*, but there's a lot more variation in certain parts of the world than between nearby parts of continental Europe, e.g. Nairobi not only had some very nice looking newly built stuff (the first pictures for the city on Google Maps seem to be glamour shots), but also this: https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2442837,36.9207708,3a,75y,142.65h,90.54t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sB9hEkhWcipcGdButCwT2CA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-0.5426205811939155%26panoid%3DB9hEkhWcipcGdButCwT2CA%26yaw%3D142.65474904901717!7i16384!8i8192!4m6!3m5!1s0x182f1172d84d49a7:0xf7cf0254b297924c!8m2!3d-1.2920659!4d36.8219462!16zL20vMDVkNDk?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.google.de/maps/place/Nairobi,+Kenya/@-1.2442837,... * landed at SFO, even just the literal bed in the hotel room was larger than some entire rooms I've stayed in, then I look out of the windows and think "1980s parody of Butlins in 1960" ("Hi-de-Hi!" was part of my childhood TV).

AntonTrollback 3mo ago

Self promotion, support a long time HN reader and get your pass via https://allaboard.eu/eurail https://allaboard.eu/eurail or https://allaboard.eu/interrail https://allaboard.eu/interrail It’s actually more affordable via us, as prices are net and we do free refunds. Loosing the Stripe fee but it’s worth it.

edent 3mo ago
How do you handle seat reservation refunds? That was our most annoying experience with the Interrail app - a booking fee on top of the reservation, but little support when those trains were delayed or cancelled.
- AntonTrollback 3mo ago
  We do sell seat reservations (https://allaboard.eu/book https://allaboard.eu/book) and some are refundable but most are not. Depending on the operator. Delay or cancellation compensation is different. You can then contact our support and we’ll help with making that claim.
deleted 3mo ago
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dan_sbl 3mo ago
Just an FYI- your "Read more" link under "Seat Reservations" on both pages just leads back to the same page, rather than actually linking to anything offering more information.
- AntonTrollback 3mo ago
  Oh, thanks for taking the time to comment! Fixed now

Jeanette81 3mo ago

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chybexx 3mo ago

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immmmmm 3mo ago

I just love long rail trips, often do Switzerland-Tunis via Palermo to see my in law family. Best trip ever was Tbilisi-Zurich via Batumi, ferry to Odessa Kyiv and Vienna.

sph 3mo ago
Train travel is so great, even in the crappy trains. Just turn up at the station, sit down, and enjoy the sights. You don't even need a seatbelt. I wish to see high speed maglev transportation to supplant air travel in my lifetime.
- immmmmm 3mo ago
  Or maybe just change our habits, travel less and slower.
- bluebarbet 3mo ago
  In practice, those are two different types of train travel. The former exists only in countries with a rail heritage. Where countries are genuinely trying to replace air travel with high-speed rail (credit to them, it's much more sustainable), the new train stations are alas a bit like airports for trains. You generally can't just turn up and hop on. In China you can't even get into the train station without a booking.
  - Symbiote 3mo ago
    China requires showing identification to buy a long-distance train ticket. Other countries I'm familiar with (Spain, France, Germany, UK, Japan) certainly do let you turn up, buy a ticket, and get on. It will cost more than buying earlier.
    - bluebarbet 3mo ago
      >China requires showing identification to buy a long-distance train ticket. In China, ID and ticket are the same thing. You know that already. Europe and Japan (what I meant by "rail heritage") are indeed more relaxed. But even in Europe the newest high-speed network, Spain's, follows the airport template, with security check and departure lounge. You have to turn up 25 minutes ahead of departure. It's such a shame and so self-defeating.

haunter 3mo ago

For single countries though the Interrail not worth it, or more like make your own research For example in Hungary we have an unlimited pass for ~53€ a month, valid on all trains and multiple public transport options (almost everything in Budapest included) https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-full-price/ https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-ful... Whereas a 3 days in 1 month Interrail pass is 79€ https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pass/hungary https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pa...

pantalaimon 3mo ago
Same for Germany, we have the 63€/Month Deutschlandticket. It's only valid for regional trains (but also all local buses, subway and tram systems) though, so for long distance travel you have to switch trains a lot.
- ocihangir 3mo ago
  Same for Luxembourg, except it is all (train, bus, tram) free. You can only see so much though.
- hvb2 3mo ago
  That's a very recent addition though. And a heavily subsidized one at that. I think this would be more for people that are doing a many week (3 or more) trip. At that point I think most people would want to see more than 1 country in Europe as they're so different
- wongarsu 3mo ago
  And they made it really annoying to get for only one month. It's meant to be a subscription for locals That coupled with the just much nicer experience of high-speed rail (which is not included in the Deutschlandticket), I'd still call the Interrail pass worthwhile if you are visiting. Not the only good option, but one of the good options
Marciplan 3mo ago
It has that name for a reason though

jgrahamc 3mo ago

In the middle of my doctorate I had a mini-crisis of "I'm not smart enough and I'm never going to manage this", got mononucleosis, and decided the cure was the US equivalent (the USA Rail Pass: https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure-rail-pass.html). I spent weeks and weeks traveling around the US. The Amtrak system is much maligned but you get to move at a slow pace and see the country and meet people (some of which you would prefer to have not met). I highly recommend doing it if you want to get a sense of the scale and diversity of the US. During this trip, at the recommendation of a friend, I read (or tried to read) a number of "American classic" books which I would finish and then leave on the train for someone else to read. Catch in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, ... The only book I couldn't finish was, ironically, On The Road which I found utterly tedious.

cromka 3mo ago

"The crew just opened the doors to let a breeze in - very little health-and-safety culture here!" That's a bit presumptuous...

tokai 3mo ago
"Was a little strange seeing cables dripping down from the ceiling" The whole text is full of these weird takes on the most banal things.
- edent 3mo ago
  What's banal to you is exotic to me. I've seen tourists in London marvel at the most commonplace thing - and I think that's delightful.
  - quietsegfault 3mo ago
    I love to see tourists in my American city marvel at squirrels.
- DemocracyFTW2 3mo ago
  Yeah I mean the whole "OMG I have to pre-order my vegan meals??!" thing. Back in the day we had to WALK to school and when on a trip we brought along our hard-boiled eggs and meatballs wrapped in aluminum foil.
  - jaffa2 3mo ago
    > Yeah I mean the whole "OMG I have to pre-order my vegan meals??!" yeah that got me . not sure specifically but it felt a bit weird. Also I appreciate this post is about the interrailing, but it felt after reading all the y did was catch trains for the duration, but no mention of anything that they did or saw in all these places.
  - mxmilkiib 3mo ago
    WALK to school?! back when I were a lad, we had to CRAWL to school! what a great workout it was! and, for our packed lunches, we'd have a hard-boiled potato with a dod of ketchup, and some breadcrumbs if we were lucky, and we enjoyed it!!

Havoc 3mo ago

TIL there is a Stockholm to Helsinki ferry. I’ve done Helsinki Talinn and that was great.

madduci 3mo ago

I wonder how much more exhausting could have been if they decided to go much southern in Italy, where the service can be much more degraded

sph 3mo ago

Interrail used to be more popular years ago among young adults who had just finished high school. I did it with a few friends at the time, and it was an incredible experience of self-reliance, patience and just complete freedom. My best memory is sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Biarritz, France, on a mild summer night next to the Atlantic Ocean. Such a refreshing sleep. The next night we did the same, sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Modane, France, very high up in the Alps. Definitely didn't sleep as well with the cold air and weird looks.

xattt 3mo ago
How long was this experience? I have a sense that sleeping outdoors as part of an adventure is getting tarnished by the homelessness and mental health crisis (… which is a separate issue that can’t be appropriately addressed here). I live in a seasonal touristy area and I have to do double-takes as to whether someone is transient, or is just backpacking. The implication here is personal safety. The homeless individual could be unpredictable due to mental health, whereas the backpacker is likely to be neutral.
- sph 3mo ago
  Those were the only two times of outdoor sleep in my life to date. The itinerary was Milan - Zurich - Amsterdam - Paris - Biarritz - Modane - back to Italy, sleeping in either hotels or the closest camping site to the train station. IIRC it was a ticket for 20 days of unlimited travel, which we had to cut short as a friend did get sunburnt so badly to require a hospital stay. Ah, the joys of youth.
  - 374884848 3mo ago
    if you sleep outside train stations in france nowadays you gon have a fun time
basisword 3mo ago
I think it was much more popular before budget airlines became so big in Europe. When you can fly to most European cities for < €50 at anytime of the year taking lots of weekend breaks is affordable even for students.

edwinjm 3mo ago

I did Interrail when I finished studying in 1993. It was a wonderful experience. Visiting foreign countries, meeting people, experiencing crazy things. I can recommend it to everyone (especially as a young adult).

mft_ 3mo ago

> Would we do a trip like this again? It's certain a lot of travel. We weren't very spontaneous - most of the trip was planned out way in advance, along with hotels. Having 2-4 days in each place is like taking a series of minibreaks, which is delightful. But it can be exhausting. I don't want to complain that my diamond tiara is too tight, but there comes a point where there is such a thing a too much holiday. This deserves a little more unpicking. Something that I hear very few people discuss is that not all holidays are equal and you need to be aware of what you really need before choosing. If you want to see new places, people, cultures, food, whatever - that's one thing. But if you're tired and need to recharge (sadly, this was often my experience in a corporate job - an endless sawblade cycle of work -> recharge -> work -> recharge) then don't go interrailing - go somewhere quiet and plan to sleep and lie around for a week or two. City breaks and events (e.g. festivals, sports, etc.) fall into this category for me - they are fun and make life better, but expect to come home hopefully happier but also tireder than when you went.

lbreakjai 3mo ago
I think it really depends on your personality. I work with people in their late thirties that are refreshed by a long weekend with very little sleep in Ibiza, and would probably die of dread at the idea of spending a week doing nothing. Meanwhile, I'm about to spend ten days in the french mountains, and I hope to do nothing more than read books and go for long quiet walks.

ivanjermakov 3mo ago

Cost breakdown? EDIT: found it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889922 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889922

ks2048 3mo ago

Did a trip like this a few years ago. Highly recommended, if you have the opportunity! Wanted to do a write-up like this, but only got as far as the map, https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/ https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/ I wonder if they took the new "Rail Baltica" through the Baltics? That was one of weaker links in the train route - I used a bus between Vilnius and Riga.

raphinou 3mo ago
Did you use some specific tools to collect the data to be displayed on that map?
- ks2048 3mo ago
  It took a bit of hacking, but most of the data was from the Eurail/Interrail Planner app. I used that book the tickets and it had an HTML export feature - showing your route on a web page - and I stripped the route from that.
_visgean 3mo ago
its still in progress https://www.railbaltica.org/progress-today/ https://www.railbaltica.org/progress-today/

bluebarbet 3mo ago

Good for them. A few years ago I traveled from France to Thailand almost entirely by train (plus three buses and a boat). It's possible. You need time, not necessarily lots of money. Adventure is guaranteed.