Be flexible, pack light and bring a spork: Top tips for Interrailing in Europe

17.03.2024 - 00:33 / euronews.com / Saskia ODonoghue

As the days get ever longer and the mercury creeps up, many of us are thinking about summer travels.

With sustainability increasingly to the fore, train travel is becoming more popular.

Europe boasts one of the world’s best train networks and opens up destinations inaccessible by plane.

Interrailing around the continent has often been seen as the preserve of the young and those on a budget but now, with the rise of adult gap years and post-pandemic priority shifts, it’s an appealing prospect for many.

With the help of over 120,000 members of the Facebook community Interrail & Eurail Travelers, here are Euronews Travel’s top tips for making the most of the train trip of a lifetime.

The official Interrail website offers a wide variety of tickets under the umbrella of a ‘Global Pass’, meaning you can buy the one appropriate for the time you have and the amount of places you plan to cover.

They start at €212 for four days travel in one calendar month in second class and go up to €911 if you have three months to spare, plan to travel every day and won’t settle for anything but first class.

The Global Pass covers 33 countries and allows passengers to use any train within those nations. Seat reservation fees are not included in the cost but that doesn’t tend to be a problem on local or regional trains.

On most high-speed, international and night trains, Interrail does recommend booking seats as they fill up fast.

While planning to travel around several countries with different languages and cultures might seem overwhelming, Interrail’s own Rail Planner app comes highly recommended.

Use it to check train times and journey lengths to make the logistics of your trip easier..

Steve, a member of the Interrail & Eurail Travelers group, says it’s a necessity: “The Rail Planner app is more important than the clothes on your back.”

Other recommended route planning apps are Tripit, TrainLine and RailEurope, as well as Uber and Bolt which are increasingly venturing into public transport on top of taxis.

One thing the vast majority of people agree on is the importance of packing light.

“If [your bag] is too heavy/big to lift onto the luggage rack above your head, you are taking too much stuff.” That’s according to Robert, a member of the Facebook group - and it’s a sentiment shared by many who are old hands at interrailing.

Another group member, Lesley, says it’s absolutely crucial not to overpack in order to make the most of your holiday: “Travel light is my no 1 tip... the misery of lugging heavy cases around completely spoils the trip.”

While you might be the kind of person who is never photographed in the same outfit twice, an interrailing adventure is a good time to let loose and become an outfit repeater.

On Facebook, Judy