More Interailing questions

Dancor

Ok, So Ive checked out other threads on this subject but still need some questions answered.

Myself and the girlfriend have decided to go for the month of July, this is the route we want to do, but is it practical for a month? fells like we are trying to fit in alot compared to other routes ive checked out.

Paris
Barcelona
South of France
Italy (Milan, Brescia, Rome)
Zagreb
Budapest
Bratislava
Krakow
Prague
Germany (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt)
Bruges
Amsterdam
Fly home

Were doing the usuals, packing light and about 50 Euro a day etc.

Is it better to fly to mainland Europe or go through England to France?

How can we book hostels in advance? We wont have a laptop or anything like that.

Thank you in advance for any answers/advice.

masseyno9

From what we did last year, that might be a lil bit much to try and fit in. We spent on average 3 days per city. Fly to mainland europe. It'll probably work out cheaper than going through uk.

Booking histels is handy, internet cafes are your friends, and most hostels have internet access anyway. hostelworld.com and hostelbookers.com are what we used i think.

have a ball!

KERPAL

we are goin in july and flyin to Paris. we have hostels booked for paris,amsterdam,berlin and krakow and after that we will do the aul toss a coin trick or somethin to decide where to go next.
we just thought that by having the first few hostels booked it would be handy and settle us in nicely, and as we get used to it all enjoy the adventure side of it!

Dancor

masseyno9 wrote: »

Booking histels is handy, internet cafes are your friends, and most hostels have internet access anyway. hostelworld.com and hostelbookers.com are what we used i think.

Lack of credit card may be a problem, We decided to fly into Beauvais airport, 50 quid on ryanair.

scruff321

think your actually doing too much in the space of time you have,me and my mates were away for almost 2 months interrailing and we didnt even cover that much although i suppose you could,just feel you'l be rushing it imo.

KERPAL

dancor wrote: »

Lack of credit card may be a problem, We decided to fly into Beauvais airport, 50 quid on ryanair.

Just get a debit/laser card from your bank, takes a week is all and it doesnt put you into credit, and will be so very handy in europe.

We were gonna go beauvais but saved ourselfs a tenner on the bus by going to charles de gaulle wit aer lingus for the same price

Dancor

KERPAL wrote: »

We were gonna go beauvais but saved ourselfs a tenner on the bus by going to charles de gaulle wit aer lingus for the same price

Did the same myself, thank god I checked Aer Lingus.

Scruff321, Im thinking the same, seen where I can cut out, possibly Rome and Bratislava.

RATM

If I had to knock off one place on that list it would be Bratislava, though Im sure some here might disagree.

It a pleasant enough city but has no real attractions per se and the whole 'Old Town' got a renovation a few years back- instead of laying down cobble stones to make the place retain a sense of age they installed slab paving in the pedestrianized areas giving it a very plastic feel. Which the British stag parties don't seem to mind at all.

And the fact that the biggest tourist attraction in Bratislava is a statue of a man climbing out of a manhole speaks volumes about the amount of things to do in the city.

If you miss Rome though then you're leaving out the Vatican Museum, up there as one of Europes greatest collections of art along with the British Museum, the Hermitage in St.Petersburg and the Louvre.
And if you're there on a Wednesday you can go along and see Pope Benny pontificate for a few hours on St.Peters Square:D

Vorsprung

I passed though Bratislava about 5 years ago, it was a ****hole then and if it hasn't changed much, it's definitely missable

CantGetNoSleep

bigjimthefirst wrote: »

I passed though Bratislava about 5 years ago, it was a ****hole then and if it hasn't changed much, it's definitely missable

It has, its gotten sh*tter, its full of tower blocks of delapidated looking apartments and grafitti covered streets, with ignorant people, and you will be surrounded by English stag parties. It was honestly the sh*ttest sh*thole i've ever been to.

OP - i'd cut down that route a bit, possibly by leaving out some of the more Western places - Holland, Belgium, Spain etc. I say this because we found them not half as interesting as the likes of Slovenia, Croatia etc. I'd definately try to spend a week in Croatia and go to more than Zagreb.

I'd definately get some form of a credit or debit card, even a 3v card, just to allow you to pay the deposit for a hostel a few days in advance, especially if you might be getting into any cities late in the evening. Most hostels you will be staying in have internet, so use hostelz.com or hostelworld.com to look for ones in your next city

Dancor

I have a laser card, its just that some sites dont take them, I applied for a credit card this morning, just to make things easier.
Route so far:
Fly into Paris
Barcelona
South of France
Italy (Brescia, Mantova)
Zagreb
Budapest
Krakow
Prague
Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt)
Bruges
Amsterdam
Fly home

Dancor

When getting a train, Can i just get strait on the train or do we have to que up for a ticket for every train we get?

joxer05

I would have to agree the other posters. Bratislava is a godforesaken hole! We got a really nice three star hotel their for about €15 a night. That was the high point! Nothing much to see, crap nightlife and we tried everywhere to buy tram tickets but unfortunately our notes were too big (even though it was worth roughly a tenner) and no where would give us coin change. The goddamn tram ticket cost 20c and we were caught the only time we used them when we were leaving the bloody place! Fined forty euro each!!!!

Sorry about the rant:) I've needed to get that of my chest for a while! As for the other cities you've picked:

Budapest - Great place, go to the baths, the castle (don't bother with the museum, wasn't gr8 imo), the bicycle guided tour was free and pretty good.

Krakow - Beautiful city, if you stay near the old town you can walk everywhere, Polish people are quite friendly, the castle is amazing and the caves are pretty good, main square is nice too. Probably one of the highlights of the trip.

Prague - Nice too, raining a bit when we were there.

Germany - No point going to Frankfurt at all, just a big financial city. Munich is brilliant, the beer gardens, sights etc, Cologne and Hamburg are also worth a visit, Berlin is very interesting and has brilliant nightlife.

You can just get straight on the train in 95% of cases. We only bothered queing if we were going on a long distance night train (which is generally a good idea to reserve).

Anyway getting tired now, if you have any more questions id be happy to help.

Vorsprung

dancor wrote: »

When getting a train, Can i just get strait on the train or do we have to que up for a ticket for every train we get?

You can just hop on the train if I remember rightly, however there are a few trains where you have to make a reservation (even if it's empty, it's a bit ridiculous) so that'll cost you a few euros here and there, but it has to be done at the ticket office before you hop on. If you want to take some of the faster trains (TGV/ICE) you'll probably have to pay a bit more on top of the interrailing ticket, but have a check.

Vorsprung

Just a couple of hosteling tips:

joxer05 wrote: »

Krakow - Beautiful city, if you stay near the old town you can walk everywhere, Polish people are quite friendly, the castle is amazing and the caves are pretty good, main square is nice too. Probably one of the highlights of the trip. Nathan's Villa Hostel was where I stayed, great craic and a stone's throw from the main square

Prague - Nice too, raining a bit when we were there. Traveller's hostel was good, can't remember about the location though!