What are interrail holidays?
I think of interrail holidays with great fondness. You often hear people say a holiday changed their life, and this one definitely changed mine.
Interrail holidays use a special train ticket to travel around Europe. There are 33 countries to explore, and covers all but a few special trains.
When I was in my late teens, going on an interrail holiday after leaving school or college was one of the things people did during their long summer holidays. You would travel by train for a month around Europe with a rucksack on your back and sleep the night at youth hostels or on the train.
It was like the Grand Tour that wealthy young men did in the 18th century to finish their education around Europe. Except when I went, even though I saw Rome, Athens, and the Greek Islands, studying art and culture wasn’t on my agenda.
History of the Interrail
The interrail pass started in 1972. A month’s pass for anyone under 21 covered 21 countries and cost £27.50. 87,000 young people bought a ticket that first year, which was a great success.
Gradually, the tickets evolved. The youth ticket age increased, a senior ticket was introduced, and all adults were included. The number of countries you could visit rose, and first or second-class tickets became available. Now, you have a whole host of options depending on how long you travel and how often you use the train.
Cost and Tickets
Tickets are divided into two main types.
Flexi Passes: You choose the number of days you want to travel within one or two months, which could be between four and fifteen days, e.g., seven days in one month. These tickets are best if you plan to travel only a few times and stay in each place for a while.
Continuous Passes: Allow you to travel by rail daily within the chosen period, e.g., 15 consecutive days. These tickets are best for those who want to see a lot and are always on the move.
A one month consecutive ticket costs
£441 = under 28
£588 = adult
£529 = 60 and over
They have a family pass whose price varies depending on the number of people in your family.
There are also cheaper passes if you only want to travel within one country. The Benelux pass covers three countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, but it is counted as a one-country pass.
You might be able to book normal tickets that are cheaper than the Interrail tickets if you book them in advance, but the Interrail tickets give you the freedom to travel wherever you fancy that day.
Who can buy a ticket?
To buy a ticket, you must be a European living in one of the participants’ countries or a citizen of that country. If you don’t qualify, don’t worry there is a similar pass called the Eurail.
What is an interrail holiday like?
If you do it on the cheap, it can be hard work but still very enjoyable. Arriving at a station and then walking to the youth hostel is tiring, especially as the youth hostels never seem to be on the same side of town as the train station and often up a hill. Sleeping in a dorm doesn’t usually allow a good night’s sleep, especially when you stay up half the night chatting to others about their travels.
The good thing about Interrail is that you don’t have to plan your route in advance, and if one of your midnight companions raves on and on about someplace, you can put it on your itinerary and see it for yourself.
During my trip, I had to sleep under a bush one night, occasionally had to sit on the floor of the train as it was the only available space, and once, after I got sunstroke, I looked so ill on a train that the guard gave me his berth to sleep in while he worked.
At the other end of the scale, when you have more money, you can book a first-class ticket, take a taxi to your hotel and spend the evening relaxing in the pool or hotel bar. You are also less likely to have your passport or cash stolen in the night. You can take a suitcase with you rather than a backpack; on the train, you are more likely to find free seats and a table to rest your coffee on.
In some countries, first-class seats aren’t much different from second-class seats, so it is up to you to decide if it is worth the extra money.
Booking a seat and paying extra
(Photo of seat)
You have to pay extra for some trains, often for high-speed trains. However, in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, and France, you often have to reserve seats for intercity and international trains, which costs around £12. Italy also charges for several trains that aren’t high-speed.
You also have to pay if you are overnighting on a train and booking a seat or berth.
The number of overnight trains and trains you can sleep on decreased considerably; however, in recent years, the numbers have started to increase again as more people prefer to take trains for long journeys as it is better for the environment.
Although the interrail digital pass that comes with your ticket allows you to make online reservations, it doesn’t cover all trains. In Spain, for example, people have had problems making reservations for high-speed trains from outside Spain. A possible solution is to use a booking agent.
What is excluded
You can’t travel on private train lines, such as Avlo in Spain, and it can’t be used on buses, trams, or the metro.
However, you can get discounts such as ferries, hotels, and attractions. You have to look up each country to see what is available. For example, you can get 20% off all tickets on Mediterranean Grimaldi Ferries in Italy.
How have things changed?
(Train in station)
Since I did an interrail holiday, things have changed a lot. For a start, trains are faster. You can now get to Italy by train in one day. The Channel tunnel wasn’t built when I travelled, so you had to get a ferry across the channel. You can now use Eurostar at a big discount, but they limit the seats, so book in advance during busy times.
You now have to pay for seat reservations for a lot of trains. I only had to pay extra for the trains I slept on. This meant some of the trains were so crowded that as many people sat on the floor as were sitting on seats, and going down the corridor to the toilet meant you had to step over people.
Nowadays, you have to fill in the date and time of your journey in your travel report before getting onto the train, or the train staff could fine you. I just jumped on a train that was probably going in the right direction; if we were wrong, it didn’t matter as my ticket covered me in all directions. There was no need to write down anything.
When I travelled, you didn’t get free travel in the UK if you were a UK citizen. Now, although you still can’t travel for free touring the country, you are allowed a continuous journey when you leave the country and on your return.
Now, you can go to 33 countries. There were fewer when I travelled, and some countries were part of the Soviet Union, so travel was restricted. I did travel to Yugoslavia, which has now split into 6 countries. A month was not enough to see everywhere I wanted to, and I expect now I would want at least a couple of months.
You no longer have to carry a huge timetable book. My future husband David had a massive book called The Thomas Cook Continental Timetable. We spent hours pouring over it, planning our routes and then adapting our plans as we felt like it on the journey. This book weighed a ton, so I was glad I wasn’t carrying it in my backpack. Nowadays, the information can be found on your phone.
We couldn’t keep in regular contact with home as we didn’t have mobile phones, so our parents must have worried a lot. We tried making a few phone calls using public phones but couldn’t get through in some countries.
Working out where the Youth Hostel is without a phone is another problem that has gone away. We would arrive at a station, and David would look at the sun, state which way north was, and then know which direction we should start walking in. I am still amazed today at his navigation ability.
How it changed my life
When I was 23 years old, I decided to do an interrail holiday with a couple of girls, but my dad wasn’t happy with me going around Europe without any males; he didn’t think it was safe. I decided to advertise for more companions. One of those who replied was David. At 6 foot 2, he looked able to protect me. During the trip, we found that we got on well, and 3 months after we got back, we got engaged, and 11 months after our holiday, we were married. Spending a month travelling together is a good test of your compatibility.
Environmentally friendly
(Photo of plant)
When I first travelled by interrail, no one considered the environment. Holiday train travel was for those who wanted to travel cheaply or loved trains.
Since we have become aware of the damage we are doing to the environment, more people are considering train travel. The journey has become part of the adventure. Now, people take their families on train holidays to get to a place or tour by train. Children under four do not need a pass, and two children under 12 can get a child pass for free with a single adult ticket. This makes a family holiday a reasonable price.
The retirees also make the most of the interrail tickets, sometimes opting for longer tickets and taking things leisurely. Although they often choose to travel by train as it is a comfortable way to travel, they also like to do their bit for the environment and leave a better world for the younger generations.
Trains produce 96.5 fewer carbon dioxide emissions than a comparable flight and are one of the most efficient means of transport.
Summary
My husband has a photo of me on our interrail holiday on his desk. I am on a Greek island, sitting on a wall by the sea. I look carefree and very happy. I wonder if I am the only one who remembers I was so happy because, at last, I could explore the island; I had just gotten over a bout of food poisoning.
An interrail holiday is an adventure. There is a sense of freedom. I loved it (except for the bit when I was ill), and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see Europe. You can see so much; unlike planes, the stations are usually in the centre of the cities.
I might be biased, but who knows, if you are single, you might find someone too. There are a lot of people in Europe, and one of them must meet your requirements.
Leave a Reply