Firstly, I think it
is important to stress that backpacking with several people needs to be reasonably
planned out - think about turning up at a hostel and hoping they have 8 beds to
spare... Other than where we were going to spend specific nights, we went on our
trip reasonably open minded of what we’d get up to.
Travelling with a large group
I'd definitely say
that there were some disadvantages to backpacking as a large group: we didn't
really socialise with others much - we tended to take up an entire hostel room
and there were so many of us we didn't exactly feel the need to start to make
new friends along the way. When we all wanted to go to the same place to eat,
we did struggle to get a table (although less frequently than I’d anticipated).
However, being part
of a big group means you can each get to see and eat where you want to – being
with more people allowed us to split up along the way. We ended up splitting into
3 subgroups eating in Vienna and one of us even went off to meet German friends
in Berlin and being more than 2 - that didn’t leave someone alone.
As we were travelling
on a budget, we wanted to go for hostels to try and keep accommodation costs
down. In Budapest and Krakow, it ended up being cheaper for us to stay in an
apartment than 8 hostel beds. This was particularly welcome in Budapest, which was
halfway through our trip, as it gave us our own space to relax, cook and wash
our clothes for free in the washing machine! We often had the equivalent of “private”
hostel rooms as we’d take up entire rooms.
Deciding where to go
Brainstorming:
We
went round the group and each named one country/city that we wanted to visit
and had a look at where we’d visited before – ruling out visiting France from
the start! This also allowed us to start thinking more about making our way to
Eastern Europe as somewhere we’d collectively explored less...· Look at a map & research routes other Interrailers have been on:
o I found rail.cc extremely useful at suggesting multiple ways
to get from A -> B and where you can visit on route.
o A quick
google can yield some interesting routes too – I especially liked the idea of flying
to Istanbul and going on an old Orient Express route .
· Think about your time and budget:
Eurail
and Interrail tickets aren’t cheap and looking at what ticket is appropriate
for your price range and how long you aim to travel for.
Don’t underestimate train reservation fees.
I would
recommend (especially if you’re a big group) reserving some of your train
travel before you go – it’s lovely to be able to have a guaranteed seat for
long journeys and quite a few lines expect you to reserve beforehand (and these
little costs really do add up).
· Don’t rule out flying: Don’t forget about the cost of checking a bag.
It may
feel slightly against the Interrail vibe, but is does make sense – fly out then
work your way home means that the travel takes you where you want to with only
a rough direction and time frame. We decided to fly home from Prague as it was
a relatively cheap place to fly to the UK from.
 |
| Old Town Square, Prague |
How bad are the night trains?
The question that
caused a lot of deliberation. We went on three night trains for our longest
journeys - they were useful, but there were mixed opinions in the group…
Why you might want to go on a night train:
- A night’s accommodation while you travel
- Saving the day for exploring and doing longer journeys at night
Things you might want to consider:
- How well you will sleep – we reserved seats rather than beds due to the cost, it was possible to sleep in them (especially accompanied by a travel pillow), but some of us got so little sleep it ruled out the next day of sightseeing.
- Look at the time that the train arrives at your destination, chances are you won’t be able to check-in until the afternoon. We struggled to find somewhere to sit down and grab a bite early in the morning before lots of places open (especially on a Sunday).
- Disturbed sleep. You will get awoken at borders when you’re asked for your passport and your ticket will get checked at various points, if you don’t cope well will disturbed sleep this is not the option for you. One of our night trains stopped for 3 hours in the middle of the night as it waited for a delayed connecting train.
 |
| Marienplatz, Munich |
Our final route
Our 16 day trip was
planned using the Interrail 7 days travel in a month ticket:
London ->
Brussels -> Amsterdam (2 nights) -> Hannover -> Berlin (3 nights)
-> Munich -> Budapest (2 nights) -> Vienna (2 nights) -> Krakow (2 nights)
-> Prague (1 night)
Other useful resources
- I bought The RoughGuide to Europe on a Budget which came to be known as our trip bible. It is very handy to be able to read about basic things to do, places to eat and stay and language/culture tips as you arrive in each new place (it also provided a good activity for the train journeys!).
- booking.com and hostelworld.com were useful for finding places to stay in advance
Comments
Post a Comment