Travelling by Train Through Europe

1finny

1finny

Well-known member
Heading to Napoli next year and fancy coming back by train with some stop offs. Thinking of taking 5 or so days to come back with a couple of stop offs - will prob use inter rail.

Venice, Paris, Brussels are all on the radar but just feel a bit ’well worn’ - anyone any experience of doing something like this and alternative stop off points?

Ta
 
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1finny said:
Heading to Napoli next year and fancy coming back by train with some stop offs. Thinking of taking 5 or so days to come back with a couple of stop offs - will prob use inter rail.

Venice, Paris, Brussels are all on the radar but just feel a bit ’well worn’ - anyone any experience of doing something like this and alternative stop off points?

Ta
Click to expand...

I would advise to head from Paris to Berlin, ....and every disco you get in, ....make sure your heart is pumping for love (pumping for love)
 
1finny said:
Heading to Napoli next year and fancy coming back by train with some stop offs. Thinking of taking 5 or so days to come back with a couple of stop offs - will prob use inter rail.

Venice, Paris, Brussels are all on the radar but just feel a bit ’well worn’ - anyone any experience of doing something like this and alternative stop off points?

Ta
Click to expand...
no experience of travelling on Interrail but I did work as a senior manager there for 4 years. I was in charge of the Eurail (none European travelers) and reservations business. don't buy a ticket till black Friday week or Christmas. that will be the next decent discount this year. They had a 50% discount (my mates idea) for the 50th anniversary a few months ago and that was so popular they hit their annual sales numbers! so there will be little promo activity until the end of the year.
 
I've done a bit of this but not sure how it would work with your itinerary.

Prague to Vienna to Budapest is very nice.

The Trenitalia route goes from Milan in the North all the way down to Naples (and beyond) in the South, stopping off in Florence and Rome.

Brussels to Brugge and Brussels to Gent are easy.
 
My route would be get to Bari, take ferry to Split, then head up to Zagreb.

From Z, either go:

1. Vienna, Prague, Berlin, or
2. Budapest, Krakow, Warsaw

Fly back from either Berlin or Warsaw or if time permits head up to Gdansk and fly back from there.

I've been looking at this (Croatia as a starting point) as something to do in the near future.
 
MichaelDebeve said:
I would advise to head from Paris to Berlin, ....and every disco you get in, ....make sure your heart is pumping for love (pumping for love)
Click to expand...

haha - my disco days are well behind me

Johnny Vincents Motorbike said:
may i be so bold as to bring to your attention - 'The man in seat 61'
one of my favourite and best sites on the inter-webby-thingy-mahjig.

he will do a lot of the hard planning for you

www.seat61.com

The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide

How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.
www.seat61.com
Click to expand...

top man, thanks for that
 
If you only have 5 days from Naples to get home you should probably head up to Milan and then take the scenic trains through Switzerland. Just my personal opinion but I'd probably skip Venice.

You can either go directly to Milan from Naples on the high speed train, or "I think" you can go from Naples to Verona - spend day 1 in Verona/Lake Garda (and then onto Milan the next day).

I'm doing an Italy trip in October and getting the same train from Rome to Verona - I'm 90% sure the same train comes from Naples but I could be wrong.

If you can't get the high speed train to Verona, I'd skip that too - Italian trains are either really really fast, or really really slow - there's no in between.

From Milan I'd take the Milan to Paris train to a place called "Spiez" - which is the closest station to Interlaken, for trips to Lauterbrunnen and other ridiculously good-looking places.

istockphoto-1364217752-612x612.jpg​

After this you'd probably have to go to either Bern or Basel for onward trips depending on where you'd go next.
 
Easterside_Red said:
The Trenitalia Frecciarossa can do Naples to Milan in 4 hours 15 minutes 👍
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Yeah they're 180mph+ (up to 240mph I think) and don't have any stops in between the main cities... I've got them booked for Rome -> Florence -> Verona in October.

I've been to Italy a few times - there are other trains which look like they're fast, but they are in fact very very very slow... So I'd definitely recommend booking in advance.
 
Mr Maz said:
no experience of travelling on Interrail but I did work as a senior manager there for 4 years. I was in charge of the Eurail (none European travelers) and reservations business. don't buy a ticket till black Friday week or Christmas. that will be the next decent discount this year. They had a 50% discount (my mates idea) for the 50th anniversary a few months ago and that was so popular they hit their annual sales numbers! so there will be little promo activity until the end of the year.
Click to expand...
That's the best advice you'll get on this thread.

If you haven't done so already, get on to the Interrail website and subscribe to their updates and you'll receive information about when offers are on. And with the (relatively) new electronic passes you don't have to specify your starting date until you actually leave which can be up to 11 months after your purchase. In the meantime, do a bit of homework on reservations and other fees as some trains require these and if you are not careful they can push the cost up.

And, @Mr Maz , please thank your mate on my behalf. I had a 2 month first class ticket earlier in the year for only £350!
 
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Theres a overnight train which runs between munich and budapest, saves you a nights accommodation, used to be about 60 quid for a bed in a 6 berth.
We get it sometimes when at oktoberfest.
Pop luggage in lockers at station, Spend a day in the beer gardens get the 1130ish sleeper, wake up in Budapest
The DB website is great for european rail timetables
 
BlindBoyGrunt said:
Munich is well worth a visit and it's on your way home.
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Munich is a very nice city. Well worth a visit. There are few modern buildings and the architecture is very traditional, with plenty of sky.

https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/welcome.html This is worth a messy visit.

Lots of the prominent buildings have strong associations with the Nazi party which, looking back at the photo's I innocently took at the time, left me with an uncomfortable feeling. But, that's history and travel - it can do that to you.

​

 
I did inter rail many years ago best advice is go to the website that is their red book equivalent and then plan your stops around the timetable, you’ll discover loads of new places….

1690535699440.png
 
Hap said:
Munich is a very nice city. Well worth a visit. There are few modern buildings and the architecture is very traditional, with plenty of sky.

https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/welcome.html This is worth a messy visit.

Lots of the prominent buildings have strong associations with the Nazi party which, looking back at the photo's I innocently took at the time, left me with an uncomfortable feeling. But, that's history and travel - it can do that to you.
Click to expand...

The waitresses in Hofbraeuhaus always amaze me. I saw one... she must have been 5 foot and 7 stone.... carrying about 20 tankards on top of each other. I struggled to carry 2.
 
Hap said:
Munich is a very nice city. Well worth a visit. There are few modern buildings and the architecture is very traditional, with plenty of sky.

https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/welcome.html This is worth a messy visit.

Lots of the prominent buildings have strong associations with the Nazi party which, looking back at the photo's I innocently took at the time, left me with an uncomfortable feeling. But, that's history and travel - it can do that to you.

​

Click to expand...
Interesting thing with Munich as opposed to the German cities on the Rhine and British Midland cities, is post war they recreated and re built as it had been pre war.
 
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