5 Things to Remember Before You Start Your Interrailing Adventure

Interrailing will possibly the best adventure you go on in your life, being able to visit countless countries in one trip and explore a variety of cultures is amazing. But travelling around Europe with just your backpack and a phone isn’t as simple as you may think. There’s a lot to consider to make your trip safer, fun and to help you make the most out of your time, here are 5 things to remember for your Interrailing trip.

Travel Card

The days of traveller’s cheques and carrying large sums of cash are all in the past. Travel cards are one of the first things to attain before your trip as it keeps all your funds safe. It works like a debit card, you can withdraw small sums of cash in any country without being penalised, and you use your phone to transfer cash from your main bank account onto the card. This assures you that even if your card is lost or stolen, someone who finds it only has limited access to your funds, or better yet, no access, as you can lock the card from your phone. Have a browse at all the options available and pick up a travel card to ensure your trip doesn’t end in disaster!

Plan Out Your Route

If you speak to friends or anyone who has been Interrailing you might hear about two different ways to approach the trip. The first is to wing it, you have the ability to go wherever you want for however long you want, you can live life by the day and add some mystery to your trip, or you can plan. Although planning may sound a little boring, it helps you get every second of enjoyment out of your trip. Planning out which countries you want to visit and seeing them in an order with the shortest journeys helps avoid excess time on the trains, and you can trust anyone when they say you’ll be sick of sitting on trains with your travel pillow by the end of it, so try cut out as much train time as possible.

Check Reviews and Social Media

While planning out the countries is one area to remember, planning out hostels, camping sites and maybe even the occasional hotel will also help ensure a good experience. Some hostels tend to overbook on the assumption people won’t turn up. So, it’s important you check out what peoples experiences have been like with the more affordable places as it may save you one or two non-refundable deposits.

Entertainment is Essential

It might seem obvious but, there is a lot of train travel during Interrailing and while you might think you’ll just sleep on the trains, some of them aren’t as comfortable as what you’re used to. Bumpy small trains are pretty common in Europe and taking a tablet, book and anything else that can keep you entertained may help with passing time on the journey you can’t doze off on.

The Train Charges – Interrail Pass

Be aware that your Interrail ticket isn’t all-powerful, as some of the stations may ask for a booking fee to ensure your attendance. The longer trips tend to ask for a charge as they don’t want you changing your mind and getting the next train, as this will over time cost them money. So be aware of travel from Spain to Italy or the long journey’s there tends to be a charge and there can also be a charge for an overnight trip.

Hopefully, these 5 tips have changed your perspective ever so slightly and you’ll have a much safer and enjoyable trip in the end!