r/Interrail • u/Illustrious_Fix_8368 • May 13 '25
Itineraries Opinions on my trip pls!
Hi everyone,
I'm a 20 y.o french guy who plans to travel solo during 23 days in June.
The detail: 1 - Berlin: 2 days 2 - Warsaw: 2 days 3 - Krakow: 1 day 3 - Wien: 2 days 4 - Budapest: 1 day 5 - Bucharest: 2 days 6 - Sofia: 2 days 7 - Thessaloniki: 3 days
precision: these are full days, I am not taking into account the days when I will be in transit!
Total: 15 days, 8 days of travel, ~ 58h journey (includes a 15-hour night train between Budapest and Bucharest).
What do you guys think about it? Would you change anything? Thanks
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u/DoctorJa_Ke May 13 '25
You skip Amsterdam!?? 🤦🏻
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u/surgab May 13 '25
Amsterdam is close and an easy direct train ride from Paris. It’s more logical to keep it for a separate trip with less time and single tickets. It makes little sense to use interrail for short trips. In fact, OP might have been there many times already.
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u/Illustrious_Fix_8368 May 14 '25
Exactly! 1h30 from my city, cheap flights almost everyday
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u/Keyakinan- May 14 '25
Please don't fly for that small distance :x
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u/Gooses_Gooses May 14 '25
Unfortunately plane tickets are frequently cheaper than rail. Is it good for the environment? No. But people with less money deserve to travel too. Bring it up with the corporations, not individuals
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u/FreuleKeures May 13 '25
Just gonna be blunt: its a dumb plan. Budapest is not a one day town. Bucharest can be skipped all together. I've lived there, don't get me wrong. But there far nicer places. Shorten it, and pick citirs you can stay for at least 3 nights.
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u/BeginningAd4374 May 13 '25
I much preferred Bucharest than Budapest but true you need more than a day in Budapest
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u/Ralphior May 13 '25
Born and raised in Bucharest, I can agree. There's much nicer places in Romania
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u/WebOk934 May 13 '25
Slovakia’s capital Bratislava is only an hour from Vienna. A lot of people don’t think a lot of it but I think it’s an amazing little city with a lot to do for a single day. Would recommend a stop over!
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u/lavatrip United States May 13 '25
+1 I LOVED Bratislava. Such nice people, fantastic food/bars, amazing walkability, and overall very aesthetically pleasing and safe. No need to use an extra travel day from Vienna though, the train is only €10 round trip IIRC. Make sure to check out the “loo with a view” when you visit the UFO tower
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u/UmpireFabulous1380 May 15 '25
The train is 18 Euros return. It's also currently only running to Petrzalka which is on the "wrong" side of Bratislava for most tourism, so factor in a bus ride as well in your planning.
Flixbus and Regiojet bus are worth a look as they are cheap and quick (Regiojet is 5 Euros each way if booked in advance)2
u/SimonCopson May 13 '25
Definitely worth a trip to the Bratislava old town. Half a day is enough. It’s lovely. Love the contrast with the more brutal new town and ufo. We did FlixBus from Vienna on a day trip
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u/Haunting_Towel9005 May 13 '25
Boring
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u/BeginningAd4374 May 13 '25
Rude
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u/Haunting_Towel9005 May 13 '25
OP asked for opinions, I’ve stated mine. What is your problem?
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u/Illustrious_Fix_8368 May 14 '25
Can you elaborate?
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u/Haunting_Towel9005 May 14 '25
Feels rushed and too packed. Instead of just doing the capitals, I’d pick fewer countries but would visit smaller cities, too. Berlin is not representative of Germany, same for Warsaw and Budapest.
Also, as others commented, skipping Bucharest and Warsaw is definitely an option.
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u/kovuisattheparty May 13 '25
honestly from experience i’d suggest slowing it down a bit :)fewer cities, more time in each. your plan is super ambitious and you might end up spending more time on trains than actually enjoying these places!
budapest in a day isn’t doable. the city’s big, full of interesting spots, and in summer it can get exhausting (hot!) if you’re rushing. there’s so much history, cool architecture, and places like the thermal baths that deserve time. definitely give it at least two days if you can, or switch it out in favour of more time.
krakow in a day is possible since it’s compact, but if you can squeeze in another day it’s totally worth it. same with warsaw! two days works, but since you’re going off route to hit poland, make sure you’re actually interested in being there!!
vienna for two days makes sense. but berlin absolutely needs more. i spent four days there and still felt like i missed a lot. it’s a massive city with a lot of history, culture and awesome events going on that takes time to soak in.
bucharest, is cool in its own ways but unless you’re super curious about it you might be best off dropping it.
in the end it’s your trip! but from experience, the best memories usually come from staying long enough in a place to actually feel it, not just check it off a list- so try keeping this in mind. good luck!! :))
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u/Entrepreneur-CO May 13 '25
Looks great! It might be too much on this trip but former Yugoslavia is an unmissable stop.
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u/EmbarrassedBadger922 May 13 '25
There are no international trains from Bulgaria to Greece. You will have to fly or take a bus for that leg.
Additionaly Budapest isn't a 1 day city, you should add more time there.
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u/grinder0292 May 13 '25
Stay in Budapest longer, skip Warsaw but Prague in. Thessaloniki is ugly compared to Athens, fly from Budapest. Skip Bucharest and if you want to go to Bulgaria go to Varna instead of Sofia
Edit: if you need tips for Budapest outside the typical tourist spots, lived there over 10 years, pm me
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u/PositiveElixir May 13 '25
Thessaloniki is fun but 2 days should be enough. Honestly unless you're planning a day trip to Olympus (which is awesome) I'd recommend going to Athens instead
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u/GudbyeAmerica May 14 '25
Go to less places, that is way too much travel time in one trip but if you must then be sure to take lots of pictures because it will be a blur.
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u/sunnyboygr May 14 '25
All i can say is avoid travelling to Greece or within Greece with a train. They are a death trap.
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u/Illustrious_Fix_8368 May 14 '25
Oh, why?
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u/sunnyboygr May 14 '25
2 years after the most deadly head-on train collision, Greece hasn't implemented any automated safety measures. There are stationmasters who communicate verbally or on paper. The incompetent cunt that is still the prime minister to this day, states that the trains will be safe in a couple of years. Unions state that the trains are unsafe at the moment. Greece is a joke when it comes to important stuff like safety, for example, so be aware ( :
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u/pjf_cpp May 15 '25
Have you been to Athens before? Seems strange to me to spend 3 days in Thessaloniki rather rthan to push on to Athens.
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u/WillYeung May 15 '25
There are currently no trains from Sofia to Thessaloniki, no? Check the BDZ timetable
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u/SanderC4 May 15 '25
As someone who just did their Erasmus in Krakow it would be a shame to only stay there for 1 night. I found Krakow to be a wonderful city on itself and if you wanna visit Auschwitz and the Salt mines (which I would really recommend) you'd need at least 3 days
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u/Chemical-Stand733 May 15 '25
I'd say skip Warsaw and instead have 3 days in Krakow. You're going to want to go to Auschwitz (1 day), salt mines, and just generally wander around Krakow.
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u/Inevitable-Bad5953 May 18 '25
Having been to Sofia, it’s not at all a bad city to visit, it’s nice enough, but there’s not LOADS to do there and it’s not the type of city you can go sightseeing in (as much as other European cities anyway). In my opinion you’d be better off going to Varna or Burgas (I have been to Varna and was recommended to go to Burgas by many Bulgarians I met)
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u/No_Resort5363 May 18 '25
Depending on how much money you have, I did big zig zags so I could sleep on the train between stations, like Amsterdam to Warsaw, Warsaw to Paris, Paris to Prague, that kind of thing. Saves also of money. That said trains were a lot safer back then.
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u/Tight-Maybe-7408 May 18 '25
I mean what are you looking to do ? Eg are you wanting to see history, party, both, neither?
Budapest is pretty fun and I think underrated … would recommend increasing . Berlin history is super cool; bit of a hot take but I found the clubs to be a little too exclusionary to get into (though I will say, once you get in I found way more welcoming than in the USA).
To be blunt with ya man, your itinerary reads as “oh I want to say that I went on this trip “ versus the experience. I like to do about half a week to a week in a city (eg Prague or Vienna or something like that you probably only need 3-4 days but I’d do Paris in a week), but I’m also more in the mold of taking time to enjoy and reflect than jumping around quick
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u/sned777 United Kingdom May 13 '25
You could consider taking a day or so in Braşov, there are night trains there from Budapest too.
Braşov is smaller in general but the old town is bigger than Bucharest, it’s a popular spot and nice place. You also have mountains very close by.