Interrailing around Europe: the good, the bad, and the INCONVENIENT

In 2024, both I and my partner finally took the plunge and set off on a trip that we had been talking about (and saving for…) for years. We bought an Interrail pass and set off with the hopes of exploring as much of Europe as we could. Planning to travel, primarily, by train. And, whilst I'd implore anyone who can to take a similar trip themselves. There are some things, about Interrailing particularly, that I wish I had known before.

Firstly, when you’re just starting off the app is a bit of a nightmare. And, if you like us you fly to your first destination. You may only realise this when you’re in another country, with another language and it can be challenging to find advice on how to activate your pass for the first travel day. Luckily, we found a very friendly train conductor in Prague who was able to show us how to activate our pass and was happy to accept it even though we should have activated it before boarding. That being said, save yourself the stress, watch a YouTube video and make sure you’re confident in how you activate your pass before you board a train!

Another thing we were forced to learn the hard way is that trains sell out/book up FAST. This wasn’t something we were particularly anticipating as we had gone out of season and thought we’d miss the summer rush. However, we didn’t, and it was still fairly busy in most of the train stations we went to. It is probably important to note that if you’re interrailing there are only a limited number of trains doing that route, if there’s only one each day, you want to make sure you can get on it. For journeys that require a seat reservation, and not all do, I encourage you to book as soon as possible. There were a few instances where we found ourselves sitting on the floor of a train station waiting for the next available train because our intended one had sold out.

An extra thing to know when it comes to train journeys that require seat reservations is that even if they don’t sell out, they aren’t always available to buy last minute. Many train journeys that require seat reservations only allow online bookings up until an hour or so before departure, with some even requiring days to post out physical tickets. Whilst this may not be of any concern to those of you who have a thorough plan. For us, we wanted this trip to be as spontaneous as possible so opted to book as we went along. When we realised, we could no longer reserve seats on the trains we had been planning to catch it was a little disconcerting. In addition, it isn’t always made clear whether there are no seats available or if it is simply too late to reserve them online, so knowing whether to make your way to the train station and try booking in person can be difficult.

A final thing I wish we’d known before our trip was that whilst Interrailing is a great way to explore Europe, it isn’t always possible to travel from one place to another by train. Some countries in Europe aren’t accessible by railway at all and some simply aren’t covered by the Interrail Pass. At the time of writing, these excluded countries include Russia, Ukraine, Albania and more. Moreover, we found that even when it came to countries which were covered, getting from one to the other wasn’t always an option by train. Whilst trying to get from Bulgaria to Greece we found there to be no connecting train available. Even though our passes could be used in both countries we had to figure out another means of transport to cross the border, ultimately opting for the Megabus.

In all the trip was incredible and I would recommend getting an Interrail Pass if you want to take an adventure around Europe. Whilst the initial cost of the pass may sting it is a fraction of what you may end up spending on transport without one. Not to mention, it’s a real comfort knowing that you can (more often than not…) get to where you need to go without spending a bunch of extra money. However, it’s definitely a good idea to set some extra travel money aside for those occasional bus trips and an emergency flight home should you need one.

Once you’ve familiarised yourself with the app it really isn’t too bad and if you reserve a seat as soon as possible it can provide such ease. Allowing you to just arrive at the train station knowing that you’re good to hop on the train as soon as it arrives. Nevertheless, when travelling things are bound to go wrong and challenges are very much to be expected. It’s just important to note that in the grand scheme of things a missed train or unexpected wait isn’t going to be detrimental, it's simply...inconvenient.