Interrailing is a great way to explore Europe on a budget, buying a single ticket gives you the ability to travel an unlimited amount of journeys over a certain period. Whether you want to travel for 2 weeks or 2 months you can do it with the worry of various costs coming from your individual travel.
But while travelling around Europe with my backpack and ticket, I did stumble across some issues, and it’s worth noting these issues and putting something in place to avoid them!
Additional Charges
While the interrail ticket is an actual bargain to purchase, there does come some sneaky charges along the way, with good reason. During my experience, I wanted to travel from Barcelona to Rome, which is over 12 hours on the train, for an evening ticket the train station required a €50 booking fee to reassure them that you will be attending the trip. It might be a case that people tend to change their mind after booking and it leaves the trains in a rift where they might be turning away potential travellers. It’s worth assuming that some of the longer journey’s you’re plan will require you to pay a fee to book the travel.
Comfort
It’s always a smart idea to travel during the evening and save some money on accommodation during any long journey that deems it necessary. But one thing to note is your comfort on the train, buying premium travel accessories works out best in the long run, supporting your back and neck while you rest, so you don’t feel sore when you wake up. It’s also worth buying a thin blanket that you can also store away, not all trains around Europe are as comfortable as you are used to, so it’s worth preparing for the worst without taking up too much room in your backpack.
Travel Card
It isn’t a bright idea to leave a lot of money in your hostel while you venture around a city, and it isn’t a great idea to keep too much in your pocket either. The safest option is to take a travel card away with you, for multiple reasons. The travel card works in the same way you debit card does, you can withdraw money from cash machines and pay for a product via the card, but with this, you can move fund from your personal account to the travel card daily or weekly (whatever you need for a short time). Rather than have all you fund on the travel card a once you can money it when you need to, plus the travel cards tend to offer much better value than withdrawing with your current account.
