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Touring the old continent by train ... sounds romantic, doesn't it? If you think so too, wait to hear this: “Interrail". Don't you feel like preparing your backpack and going out to explore city after city, country after country? We, after more than 5 years with the idea in mind, finally decided to travel with this pass through one of the most interesting areas of Europe: the Balkans.

And to encourage more people to use this way of traveling, we will explain in an easy and simple way, how the Interrail works, how much it costs, how to plan the trip and, in short, everything you have to know to travel Europe by train.

Previous considerations

It is a global train pass that allows you to ride trains in a country or almost all of Europe, depending on the pass you choose.

For practical purposes, both passes are very similar. But depending on your country of residence you can opt for one or the other. The Interrail It is for those who reside in a European country, or have a passport from any of these countries. If you live outside Europe, your pass will be the Eurail.

Reserve your pass Interrail here

Reserve your pass Eurail here

There are 30 countries that accept this pass on their trains, that is, practically all of Europe. The countries that border on Eastern Europe that do accept it are (from north to south): Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

So, would be left out: obviously Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. In addition, they are not inside the Albania or Kosovo pass.

Keep in mind that in several countries, especially in the eastern part of Europe, there are not too many train connections, for example there is no Belgrade - Sarajevo route, or in countries like Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro or Macedonia there is practically only one route . All this you have to take into account when making the decision to buy the pass.

Also you will not be able to travel by country of residence. Although in some countries there is a discount on the train that takes you to the border or to the airport to leave your country, in Spain it is 30%.

We encourage you to take a look at the Interrail map to see everything more clearly.

There are two types of pass:

Global Pass: a global pass for the 30 countries of Europe that collaborate with Interrail.
One Country Pass: pass for a single country.

Within them there are two modalities:

Days in a period, the so-called “flexi pass” (for example 5 days out of 10 days): you can only travel a certain number of days. In that example, you can only travel 5 of the 10 days of the period of the pass. They do not have to be consecutive. Suitable for those who prefer to visit the sites more carefully, or who combine the train with other transport.
Continuous period: without mysteries, you travel when you want.

Obviously it depends on the pass and the duration of it:

Global Pass Same price regardless of the countries you visit.

5 days between 10 days: € 264.
10 days between 22 days: € 374.
15 continuous days: € 414.
22 continuous days: € 484.
1 continuous month: € 626

One Country Pass The price depends on the country. The passes are usually of type X days in a month. For example:

Italy: from € 118 (3 days in a month) to € 239 (8 days in a month).
Germany: from € 203 (3 days in a month) to € 313 (8 days in a month).
Spain: from € 173 (3 days in a month) to € 297 (8 days in a month).

These prices are for adult in second classIf you are a youngster under the age of 26, or an adventurous grandmother of 60 years or more, you will have very important discounts.

If you are traveling in first, that you know that the prices are much higher, and honestly, it is not worth it.

In addition to being able to use the trains of Europe, there are other benefits included in the pass (free or with discounts), such as some tickets ferriesof some buses, discounts in accommodation and tourist attractions. It is best that you enter the Interrail benefits page and check the countries that interest you.

By the way, the Eurostar high-speed train that connects London with France and Belgium is not included in the Interrail pass!

Those of before are the prices of the passes, with which you have covered the amount of the banknotesbut not the reservation of the same. For most high-speed trains and whenever you travel in berth on night trains, the reservation will be necessary, and therefore pay an extra for it. In our case, for a bunk on night trips in the Balkans area, the reservation was around € 6.

Also, for highly requested routes where there are certain probabilities of filling, in the summer months or on weekends, it is best to choose to book. In this case we advise you to approach the station and ask directly if you need a reservation or not for that route.

It is important to know this rule for countries that limit travel days. Means that you will only use one day trip if you take the night train after 7 p.m. and get to your last stop after 4 a.m., even if you get off before that time. In this way, you will be traveling two consecutive days but only one will tell you: the second.

This rule is not valid for the first day of travel, as the pass is valid from 00:01 of the first day of travel. For example, if the pass is from August 1 to 10, you will not be able to start the trip on July 31 on a train that leaves after 7 p.m.

Ideally, the interrail pass is perfect for travelers with an adventurous and romantic point, who enjoy planning their trips, interacting with local culture and people, who adapt quickly to new customs, who are in no hurry to arrive to places and enjoy almost as much destiny as the road.

There is a limitation: This pass is only for people residing in the EU. If it is not your case you can opt for the pass Eurail, with similar prices and plans. Eye! If you have a passport from an EU country but reside outside, you can opt for both Interrail and Eurail.

Before buying the Interrail pass you should be clear about the route and the countries where you are going to travel. This is very important as the price of the pass is the same, travel in the Nordic countries or the Balkans. What do you you have to consider?

First check out and calculate if it will be profitable Buy this pass. In some areas the trains are not too expensive and it is possible that buying the tickets one by one is cheaper than the price of the pass.

Obviously, keep in mind the duration of your trip

Think if the use is going to be continued during your trip or alone sporadic. If you are going to visit only a handful of places, you may want to get a flexi pass, of the type “X days in a period of time”.

In this sense, think about the possibility ofcombine transport and save some money by choosing a lower pass, for example by buying the 5-day pass between 10 days, instead of the continuous one, if there are short transfers between two cities that you can do by bus or blablacar.

It is very simple, the order must be made on-line with a maximum advance of 3 months, choosing the pass that interests you. You must put your personal data and fill in the start date of the pass. If you have screwed it up with any data, or want to change the date or name of a traveler, you can request a 100% refund of the unused pass, less a € 15 fee and place a new order. Shipments are made throughout Europe and are free.

Orders include, in addition to your pass Interrail, a guide of how to use it and a Map Very useful railway, with all lines and routes. All this for free and in the language you choose.

Reserve your pass Interrail here

Reserve your pass Eurail here

Plan the trip

Once your pass has arrived at your house, that you have opened the package and extended the map before you, excited by the adventure that awaits you, you will have to start planning, even if it is a minimal part, the trip. We give you some ideas.

Prepare your route taking into account schedules, connections, train duration, etc. There are several pages that can help you find the routes:

Interrail page, you also have your Rail Planner application for mobiles and tablets.

Search engine of the German train company integrated into the Rail CC website.

To search for bus schedules and prices you can do it from the Rome2Rio website or from GoEuro.

We recommend that if in doubt, go to the pages of the railway companies of each country. You can see the routes of each country on this page.

It is a good option to leave the accommodations reserved, especially if you travel in high season and in very tourist sites. We leave you the search engine of booking if you want to start now! In addition you can always pull Airbnb, if you become a new user from this link you have € 35 discount on your first reservation

Travel

You are already on the road! Now the good starts, but for everything to go "on rails", we give you some tips that can make your trip easier.

As we told you before, there are certain occasions when it is required Make the reservation of the trains (with their extra cost), these are: most high-speed trains and berths in night trains. It is also advisable do it on busy routes and in periods of high demand, such as the summer months or on weekends.

In the search engines that we have put before, it indicates if the reservation is necessary.

You have several possibilities to do it, depending on the countries and the train companies. There is no global system to make reservations, so you will have to adapt to each country. Although Interrail offers a help desk to make reservations, with a cost of € 8 per reservation (to which the cost of the reservation itself should be added). What we did as soon as we reached a station is to ask for the train that we would take from that same station to our next destination, if the reservation was mandatory or advisable, and in that case, leave it done.

But you can also make reservations directly with the railway companies of each country, through their websites or by phone. Google will help you find these companies 😉

How do I get money in foreign countries?

We always recommend carrying a special card that saves you commissions. Normally, traditional bank cards are going to charge you a fee for withdrawing money at other ATMs, and if you pay in currency it is not worse. Here we tell you the solutions to have money abroad, and more about the free cards we use: the Bnext card and the N26 card.

It is very simple, you must fill in the date in the travel calendar of your Interrail pass before getting on the first train, bus or free ferry you take every day, essential if you do not want to be fined! If you are trains without a reservation you do not need to go through the ticket office, go directly to the train and go!

Once there, the reviewer checks the data and will seal the route in the pass. On night trains it is possible for the reviewer to keep the ticket, which will return you in the morning when you wake up, how nice, huh?

It is a very easy procedure, but depending on the area where you are traveling, you may have to take out your passport. Among the countries that are part of the Schengen Treaty There will be absolutely nothing to do. For EU residents it will only be necessary to carry the ID. For the rest of the countries, we will need the passport, which is proven at the border crossing, sometimes they put a seal and sometimes not.

There are many tools that will get you out of trouble during your trip. Take note!

Obviously the Map What comes in the Interrail package is essential!
The Interrail Application Rail planner, perfect for checking schedules and routes.
Other applications like GoEuro for the bus schedule and prices.
Do not forget the of BlaBlaCar, it can help you a lot!
There are countries where you will not be worth with English, take a dictionary of the local language and frasarios to become the majete. Eye, there are even countries with another alphabet! Review the Cyrillic with us a little.
We use the application a lot Citymap, with which you download the maps of the cities and can then use offline.