Interrailing: Tips, Tricks + Packing Advice

• Hotels vs Airbnb

We stayed in Airbnb’s for each place we went to (except for one). Although they were cheaper than most hotels, they were sometimes quite tricky to get in to because we either had to meet someone there or find the key. The actual front door to some places were quite hard to find. Although most of the Airbnbs we stayed in were really nice, you don’t really know what to expect. A few of the places we stayed in (especially the shared houses) were a little different from how we expected them to be from the website. This wasn’t much of a problem because we mainly stayed in places for only one or two nights, but if I were to do it again, I would probably book more hotels than Airbnb’s. One of our Airbnb’s flooded so we had to cancel our booking and try to find a hotel we could stay in quite last minute.

Airbnb’s are sometimes cheaper to book than hotels but they might not be exactly what they say they are on the website. If you don’t mind spending a bit of extra money for the security of a hotel then it’s worth booking hotels. You could try to stay in hostels too. Overall, our experience in the Airbnb’s were good, so I’d recommend researching them and contacting the host beforehand with any questions if you decide Airbnb’s would work for you.

• Close to the train station vs further away

Most of the Airbnb’s we stayed in were about a 40-minute walk away from the train station. We had to heavily rely on google maps to take us there because we had no idea how to get there ourselves. This was sometimes difficult when we had our rucksacks on and it was really hot. Most of the time we walked it, but in some places, (the ones even further away) we took trams and busses. I felt a little bit uncomfortable in some areas we had to walk through because sometimes they were a bit run down and we looked like wallies with our massive rucksacks that scream we’re tourists. In some areas also the locals did seem to stare at us which wasn’t a great feeling, but after a while you get used to standing out a bit and just deal with it. However, we just kept to ourselves, ran into no trouble and it was all part of the adventure.

Walking further away from the train station you’ll find most of the time that the further out you go, the less tourists and more locals. The great thing about this is that you get the see some of the ‘real’ areas of where you’re going. For example, in Berlin we stayed in a local area and we got to see Berlin from the local’s perspective rather than the glamourous tourist areas. I think this is important because most city centers are like Disneyland’s (especially in the summer) because most people there will be tourists and that’s not represent the rest of the country. If you stay in the more local areas you get to see the real city and not just all the tourist attractions, which is what real traveling is all about. Usually the more local areas are cheaper to stay in too.

• Plan, Plan, Plan

A lot of people think of an adventure as just going with the flow and seeing what happens. To an extent I agree, but at the same time, I like having the basics like accommodation and travel sorted and then just seeing what I fancy doing for the day. Planning your whole trip interrailing is really important if you want a smoother and less complicated time. I worry when things go wrong (which they will) but having back up plan helps me get through it. When things do go wrong though it is just part of travelling- so make the best of it. Sometimes things that weren’t planned make the best memories.

• Reserve your train seats

When you buy an interrailing pass it covers your train ticket, but it does not guarantee a seat! This is important to know because you have to pay to reserve seats (especially on long journeys) and sometimes it can be pretty pricy. On some journeys you don’t have to reserve a seat (usually shorter journeys or transfers) but on others you do. It’s really annoying not having a guaranteed seat, especially trying find space for yourself and your bags on a busy train. I suggest researching the trains online and reserving your seats beforehand. We didn’t do this, so we had to reserve seats for our next journey once we got to the train station. We didn’t know what times the trains were or how busy they would be. Luckily, we were able to get trains on every day we wanted to, but we did have to be flexible with the times and do a few transfer trains. Transfers actually aren’t that bad if you have good time to get from one platform to the other. Some of our reservations were about 4 euros each and on others they were about 40 euros each, so it’s defiantly worth looking at this beforehand and putting some money aside for it.

• Use a Pre-Paid Euro Card

By using a pre-paid euro card, you can load up the card with money before you go travelling and use the money on the card to pay for the things you need whilst traveling. This is a great way to budget yourself as you can only pay with what’s on the card and it works in most European countries and ones that don’t use euros e.g Poland and Prague. By doing this you don’t have to get several currency’s out in notes. I would still take out some euro notes just in case you can only pay by cash in some markets, shops ect.

• Key things to pack: (use a rucksack it’s so much easier than a suitcase)

*Passport and ID

*Folder holding interrail pass, reservation tickets and accommodation information

*About a week’s worth of light clothes (if going longer wash clothes whilst there)

*Washing soap leaves/ travel washing detergent (these usually work by just washing in the sink or in washing machines)

*Soup leaves (can use to wash hands, body and hair)

*Minimal skin care/ make-up (you’ll probably skip make-up most days)

*One pack-a-mac rain jacket (no need to bring more than one jacket- especially if it’s going to be hot)

*One pair of comfortable trainers/shoes and maybe a pair of flats

*Bobbles for long hair (I suggest doing braids because they look good, keep your hair out your face and hides greasy hair)

*Plasters

*Tissues

*Mini deodorant, shampoo, face wipes, moisturiser, after sun and roll on perfume

*Bug spray or bug bite cream

*SUNCREAM!

They are a few of my tips and tricks for interrailing, let me know if you have been interrailing and what your tips are.