After two years of being stuck inside – where the closest thing to emerging oneself in the cuisines of new countries was through trying out a new restaurant on thuisbezorgd – I assume that most of us are glad that traveling is slowly becoming the norm again. With all the time stuck inside, it could even be that your ‘must-visit’ bucket list has increased considerably. If you don’t have any concrete July or August plans yet, why not seize the opportunities to check some of those countries off. Discover Europe with Interrail this summer, whether you'd like to visit Montenegro or Portugal.
You’ve probably heard of it. Several times in my life, someone has made me jealous by telling me about that cool, convenient train ticket they bought which let them travel across seven countries in one trip. Each time, I asked myself how that’s possible. Interrail, that’s how.
Imagine all you needed was one ticket to go to over 40,000 destinations throughout 33 European countries. That’s what Interrail is in one sentence. By purchasing the Interrail pass, you are granted access to next to all European trains, as well as some ferry companies. Most of the time, showing the ticket on your phone is enough to grab a seat on the train of your choice. In rare cases, an additional seat reservation has to be purchased in advance, such as for high-speed trains (TGV, Eurostar, Thalys, etc.) and all night trains.
It all depends on what you want to get out of your Europe trip, and how much time you have on your hands. With Interrail’s Global Pass, you can travel around 33 European countries, from Luxembourg to Serbia, and everything in between, if you’d like. If there’s one country you’re especially interested in exploring, maybe the One Country Pass makes more sense.
Within the Global Pass purchase, you can choose between several options as well. For example, if you’re designating August as your travel month, you could opt to take the train for four, five, seven, ten or fifteen days within that 31-day-period. On the other hand, if you know you’d like to see many countries within a short period of time, choosing consecutive travel makes the most sense. Your options are the following: 15, 22, 30, 60 or 90 days of train travel consecutively.
As Student Mobility has partnered with Interrail, you can purchase your Interrail Pass at the best student price on our website. Even better? Get a free ISIC student ID along with your ticket and get great discounts along the way.
Although you might certainly want to be spontaneous about your Interrail trip, it may make sense to do some of the planning in advance, especially considering that lodging is not included in your ticket. And, being stranded in a new city without a hostel bed to sleep in isn’t all that exciting in practice.
Make sure you avoid that horror scenario by having a rough outline of your route in mind before you set off. Aside from securing accommodation, there are two other reasons for pre-planning your trip: First, if you’re going as part of a larger group, selecting cities and countries in advance ensures that everyone can visit their ‘must-see’ destination. Second, as mentioned, some trains require reservations, particularly throughout France, Spain and Italy, so make sure you do that well in advance.
We hope you have inspired you to discover Europe with Interrail this summer. We've also come up with what we think is the, in our humble opinion, best travel route starting from the Netherlands. Check it out here.
