Europe by Train

[Steer]

Mrs Steer for a significant birthday is keen on 10 day trip to visit Amsterdam or Brussels, plus Berlin, (definitely) and then onto Vienna or Prague or maybe Paris. Stopping at each place for between 1 and 3 nights.

We have got a quote from a travel agent for just over £4k for the 4 of us, including all trains and budget hotels. That does not include food in most the hotels. This will be in August (school hols).

I am looking at the interrail tickets and of course we can probably do this all cheaper if we book everything ourselves. But I do think that booking ourselves will be a significant hassle - with lots of trains to book (even with interrail you have to book seats on the longer train journeys) and lots of hotels - which we would want to have within reasonable distance of the main train stations. I also worry that we are left standing alone on a foreign train platform with our 2 kids if for example the last train to Vienna is cancelled or if there is a train strike etc. whereas if we go with a travel agent there should be some backup from them if something goes wrong.

Has anyone got experience with this sort of holiday. Any advice on how to plan all this. I am outside my comfort zone, but my suggestion to do a "normal" holiday has not gone down well!

 

[MichaelDebeve]

I've said it before on a similar subject thread, cant seem to find it.

I would advise;

Go from Paris, to Berlin, (this is the important bit) and every disco you get in, make sure your heart is pumping for love. ...... <pumping for love>

 

[mbg42]

When I went to Italy and visited a few different cities I just booked everything seperate. Never had any issues with the flights and the trains we booked were always on time. Used Airbnb instead of booking hotels as we hardly spend any time in the rooms, just needed a decent location and a clean looking place plus you can also save money by cooking food there if needed.
BUT... I don't have any kids to ruin my holiday and waste my money!

 

[Capybara]

I use Interrail all the time so know the system pretty well but if I was in the position you are in of not having done it before then I think I might find the whole thing rather daunting. I just did a quick calculation in my head assuming 10-day passes, 2nd class and 10 nights in hotels (two rooms presumably and working on £100 per room per night) and I got to £3.5k without even thinking of any extras so £4k sounds OK given that the agent would be doing the work. You didn't say how you would be leaving or returning to the UK. I was assuming rail travel both ways and using Eurostar. You can use Interrail on Eurostar but the reservations are quite expensive and the numbers are restricted so if you are going in August you might find they had all gone. Anyway, there's a lot to think about and you haven't given full details of what you would be wanting to do so it's difficult to give much advice.

 

[Steer]

I use Interrail all the time so know the system pretty well but if I was in the position you are in of not having done it before then I think I might find the whole thing rather daunting. I just did a quick calculation in my head assuming 10-day passes, 2nd class and 10 nights in hotels (two rooms presumably and working on £100 per room per night) and I got to £3.5k without even thinking of any extras so £4k sounds OK given that the agent would be doing the work. You didn't say how you would be leaving or returning to the UK. I was assuming rail travel both ways and using Eurostar. You can use Interrail on Eurostar but the reservations are quite expensive and the numbers are restricted so if you are going in August you might find they had all gone. Anyway, there's a lot to think about and you haven't given full details of what you would be wanting to do so it's difficult to give much advice.

Thanks. That is helpful. Daunting is the right word for it. Yes - travel to Europe and back again would be on Eurostar.

I have not gone into our itinerary in any great detail here because we are still a little vague about exactly what we will do. The initial quote from the travel agent seems to have crept up in price because of the demand and price of Eurostar has gone up if we travel back via Paris (which seems to be the logical way of going about it), because of the Olympics.

 

[Gramsci]

The website www.seat61.com is very helpful on trains and I believe you can book tickets via it.

 

[wilkos_perm]

Mrs Steer for a significant birthday is keen on 10 day trip to visit Amsterdam or Brussels, plus Berlin, (definitely) and then onto Vienna or Prague or maybe Paris. Stopping at each place for between 1 and 3 nights.

We have got a quote from a travel agent for just over £4k for the 4 of us, including all trains and budget hotels. That does not include food in most the hotels. This will be in August (school hols).

I am looking at the interrail tickets and of course we can probably do this all cheaper if we book everything ourselves. But I do think that booking ourselves will be a significant hassle - with lots of trains to book (even with interrail you have to book seats on the longer train journeys) and lots of hotels - which we would want to have within reasonable distance of the main train stations. I also worry that we are left standing alone on a foreign train platform with our 2 kids if for example the last train to Vienna is cancelled or if there is a train strike etc. whereas if we go with a travel agent there should be some backup from them if something goes wrong.

Has anyone got experience with this sort of holiday. Any advice on how to plan all this. I am outside my comfort zone, but my suggestion to do a "normal" holiday has not gone down well!

I haven't done holidays like this using rail tickets, but i've booked multi stop holidays elsewhere in the world with flights, hotels etc.
You possibly won't do it much cheaper yourself, but you might find better value for money shopping around yourself. Better hotels, better locations etc. I wouldn't imagine if you're stuck on a train platform someone on a travel agent phone line in the UK would be much help in terms of instantly resolving the situation for you but i might be wrong?
It depends how much you can be bothered with the research. I love that stuff and would be confident of pulling together a better trip than a travel agent, but if you don't have the interest or time then maybe keep it simple. Do do you homework though. Are the hotels they're offering actually in good locations for the stations and city centres? Are the train times reasonable or are you losing entire days on trains etc..

 

[Brian Marwood]

You can book European train tickets on Trainline which I have done frequently without ever having a problem.

 

[Gordy1000]

Thanks. That is helpful. Daunting is the right word for it. Yes - travel to Europe and back again would be on Eurostar.

I have not gone into our itinerary in any great detail here because we are still a little vague about exactly what we will do. The initial quote from the travel agent seems to have crept up in price because of the demand and price of Eurostar has gone up if we travel back via Paris (which seems to be the logical way of going about it), because of the Olympics.

I work in the business and 4k looks a cracking deal for 4 of you - just be careful its not a lead in price and it ends up costing you a lot more money. Avoid Paris this time. The Olympics means prices are horrendously expensive.

 

[Cardiffdaffs]

I bought an Interail pass a few years ago ( before Covid). they are flexible, great value and easy to book seats via app.

Interrail Global Pass for Europe

The Interrail Global Pass is the fun and cheap way to see more of Europe. Travel to up to 33 countries with one train pass!

www.interrail.eu

 

[jam69]

The DB website is excellent for booking european rail journeys

 

[1finny]

I bought an Interail pass a few years ago ( before Covid). they are flexible, great value and easy to book seats via app.

Interrail Global Pass for Europe

The Interrail Global Pass is the fun and cheap way to see more of Europe. Travel to up to 33 countries with one train pass!

www.interrail.eu

We bought our inter rail passes in the Black Friday sale - 25% off. Less than £1000 each for first class for 2 months travel.

Not sure if you realised but in the link you posted they are 15% off at the moment too.
For the OP this is a great deal and you will save v going through an agent.

We leave early May and are doing Brussels, Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Naples, Ischia, Pisa, Zurich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo.
Before a week by a Swedish lake in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Ginger Travel mentions European rail travel on his website.

Rail fares: While airlines won't give fare discounts except for very small children, rail companies, particulalry in Europe, actively encourage family travel with steep discounts. Sometimes that's by way of a family or group ticket that anyone can buy, in other cases you need to sign up for a railcard to avail yourself of the offer. In the UK, for example, a family railcard costs £30, but immediately gives a 33% discount to adults and 60% for children 5-15 (under 5's are free, and in fact if you time it right you can use it with children up to their 17th birthday).

Interrail: This deserves it's own section! A particularly magificent benefit is that an adult Interrail pass allows up to 2 children under 12 to have a free pass. You can even go first class and it offers a fixed (low) fare on the Eurostar to boot. A family of five could, instead of flying from (say) Manchester to Croatia, take the train all the way there, stopping off in Paris and Venice, for a family round trip fare of less than £900 in first class!

Family passes to attractions: It's always worth checking how many children a family ticket includes. Often, some great attractions can include three children for little or no more than the cost of two adults. Such as the Biodome in Montreal, or the brilliant Deutsches Museum in Munich. Some tour companies will simply book separate adult and child tickets, without researching it (becuase it's easier). Not at Ginger Travel - if there's a discount available, you'll get it!

Five go on holiday - 5 Ginger Travel tips for travelling with 5!

1. Plan Ahead

gingertravel.co.uk

 

[GingerTravel]

How old are your kids? That will make a big difference to the price, both because the interrail tickets will be free for under 12s, and there will be more hotel options with rooms for 4.

I've done several of these trips including with my own family, so would be more than happy to give some advice or even quote you to see if it matches up.

One word of warning, Mrs GT was really up for the night train (Amsterdam - Munich) and then hated it!

 

[Steer]

How old are your kids? That will make a big difference to the price, both because the interrail tickets will be free for under 12s, and there will be more hotel options with rooms for 4.

I've done several of these trips including with my own family, so would be more than happy to give some advice or even quote you to see if it matches up.

One word of warning, Mrs GT was really up for the night train (Amsterdam - Munich) and then hated it!

Thanks

"Kids" is probably misleading from me - they are 19 and 13. Some hotels will not let you book a family room if they are over a certain age, and others do.

 

[GingerTravel]

Thanks

"Kids" is probably misleading from me - they are 19 and 13. Some hotels will not let you book a family room if they are over a certain age, and others do.

Similar ages to ours then. There are some extra ways to make savings with an interrail pass, generally by 'mixing and matching' with ordinary tickets which are cheap and using less 'interrail days'. E.g. Budapest to Vienna last year cost us €15 a ticket, whereas an extra day on an interrail pass would have been €45 or so. Also, consider a first class pass, particularly if you're travelling from the North East, as it'll get you four meals/drinks on the UK legs and generally comfier seats in Europe, which you'll appreciate if on trains most of the day.

Most places will let you book a family room if you speak to them(which again requires some sorting out), although depending on the hotel, it can actually work out cheaper to have one double and one twin.

My other thought is it looks from your OP like Berlin is a must, but while a great city, it is a good distance on the train and through some of the less interesting scenery. You might find that seeing some of central Europe will serve you better.

Do drop me a message if you'd like some help. I don't tend to get any discount on the cheapest budget hotels, but I do tend to get 3/4 star places at the same or not much more, often with breakfast. As an example we did 12 days last Easter to Amsterdam, Munich, Ljubljana, Croatia(Rijeka and Zagreb), Budapest and Vienna for £4.5k for 5 people, but five of the nights were in 5* hotels.

 

[NYboro]

We went to Swedish Lapland by train in November and used Tailor Made Rail for all the bookings - they used Interrail passes and also made the reservations where required. The only point I would make is that Deutsche Bahn make our railways look good. I don't think we caught one German train that was on time.

 

[1finny]

I've got some plans but would welcome any suggestions on what I might be missing

So far
4 nights Belgium (combination of Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges)
1 night Cologne
3 nights Munich (incl Salzburg visit)
3 nights Vienna
1 night Venice (been loads before)
2 nights Naples
4 nights Ischia


Then, we've got 11 days to get to Stockholm going via Strasburg, Hamburg and Copenhagen
Doing Oslo after Stockholm

exciting times

 

[GingerTravel]

I've got some plans but would welcome any suggestions on what I might be missing

So far
4 nights Belgium (combination of Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges)
1 night Cologne
3 nights Munich (incl Salzburg visit)
3 nights Vienna
1 night Venice (been loads before)
2 nights Naples
4 nights Ischia


Then, we've got 11 days to get to Stockholm going via Strasburg, Hamburg and Copenhagen
Doing Oslo after Stockholm

exciting times

Looks like a great trip. Tweaks to consider:

If you're planning to stay in Cologne on 4 May do Bonn instead as there's a fantastic fireworks display.

Rhein in Flammen - Das Original

Entlang der schönsten Rheinabschnitte finden jährlich von Mai und September die Feuerwerksspektakel Rhein in Flammen® statt. Bengalfeuer tauchen die Uferpromenaden und Sehenswürdigkeiten zwischen Rüdesheim und Bonn in ein zauberhaftes Rot. Eine festlich illuminierte Schiffsflotte fährt, umrahmt...

www.rhein-in-flammen.com

Dropping a night in Munich or Vienna and taking the slow route from Cologne down the Romantic Rhine (choose via Koblenz as your route, and maybe stop overnight in Wiesbaden or Mainz)

If you've done Venice, consider Ljubljana from Vienna (however a bit of a pain to get to Venice/Naples from there)

Couple of my clients did Turin and loved it.

 

[1finny]

Looks like a great trip. Tweaks to consider:

If you're planning to stay in Cologne on 4 May do Bonn instead as there's a fantastic fireworks display.

Rhein in Flammen - Das Original

Entlang der schönsten Rheinabschnitte finden jährlich von Mai und September die Feuerwerksspektakel Rhein in Flammen® statt. Bengalfeuer tauchen die Uferpromenaden und Sehenswürdigkeiten zwischen Rüdesheim und Bonn in ein zauberhaftes Rot. Eine festlich illuminierte Schiffsflotte fährt, umrahmt...

www.rhein-in-flammen.com

Dropping a night in Munich or Vienna and taking the slow route from Cologne down the Romantic Rhine (choose via Koblenz as your route, and maybe stop overnight in Wiesbaden or Mainz)

If you've done Venice, consider Ljubljana from Vienna (however a bit of a pain to get to Venice/Naples from there)

Couple of my clients did Turin and loved it.

Brilliant - much appreciated