{"id":8818,"date":"2024-08-28T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=8818"},"modified":"2024-09-15T20:45:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T19:45:56","slug":"a-two-week-trip-around-europe-by-train-markandbensexcellentadventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/a-two-week-trip-around-europe-by-train-markandbensexcellentadventure.htm","title":{"rendered":"A two week trip around Europe by train #MarkAndBensExcellentAdventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My June\/July 2024 retrospective<\/a> was written as I was preparing to head off for a couple of weeks\u2019 travelling with my youngest son, Ben. Well, after a few weeks back at work and with August’s roundup on the horizon, I thought I’d look back over what we got up to on #MarkAndBensExcellentAdventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few words about Interrail\/Eurail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ben and I travelled by train, using a ticket called an Interrail pass<\/a>. Interrail has been around for years and works across 33 countries. It’s also known as Eurail. Confusingly, Eu<\/em>ropean residents use Interrail and inter<\/em>national visitors use Eurail. I know. It’s counter-intuitive. I just had to get over it, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference in practice. Oh yes, and “European” is defined by geography, not politics (so the UK is still European).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are various passes available – either global (which is European, not global!) or single country passes. Passes can be valid for a block of time, or for a certain number of days over a period. I spent \u20ac833 on two 15-day second class global passes (one youth, one adult). For reference, one train journey in the UK can cost hundreds of pounds, so that seems very good value. The passes can’t be used in your home country, except for one outbound and one inbound journey. For us that was a CIV<\/a> journey on any UK operator from Bedford to St Pancras International and onwards by Eurostar<\/a> to Amsterdam, and the return back from Lille to St Pancras International and on to Bedford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first “interrailed”, in the early 1990s, you couldn’t use Interrail on high speed rail services (e.g. TGV). Now you can, but you’ll pay a supplement for a seat reservation. Interrail reservation space on some trains is limited (so book ahead). Interrail\/Eurail will sell you the reservation, for a premium, or you can buy it from the in-country train operator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional me was interested in the “digital transformation” of Interrail since I last used the scheme. Basically, instead of a dog-eared piece of paper with journeys filled in by hand, it now uses an app. The app is pretty cool actually and shows where you are going\/have been (in map or list form) as well as helping to plan and activate journeys on your “pass”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a paper option, I think, but I didn’t use that. I also needed to download separate apps for various cities’ public transportation services. Normally they have a day pass that can save money but it varies from city to city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final point, in some places, an Interrail pass will provide other discounts. For example, in Interlaken, our travel on the BLS ferries<\/a> was included if we added it as a rail trip, and the funicular to Harder Kulm<\/a> was half price. Other discounts can be seen in the Interrail\/Eurail app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here we go, day by day, with a brief summary of what we got up to. It’s in bullets, because if I write it in prose you’ll never read it all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n