Interrailing Europe

Your Guide to Interrailing Europe

Interrailing is an amazing, affordable way to visit up to 33 European countries for a set number of weeks or months. For me, interrailing Europe kick-started my love for travelling, experiencing the world and immersing myself in different cultures. I truly believe that if you have the means to, you should definitely interrail Europe as it’s a once in a lifetime experience.

If you’re planning on interrailing Europe, here’s a full guide on everything you need to know!

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Important Things to Know

What exactly is interrailing?

Interrailing Europe consists of travelling to various European countries solely by train. Europe has an incredible rail system with connecting national and international rail services. The best thing about interrailing Europe is that it offers flexibility and unlimited train travel to different destinations within a time period.

Who can interrail?

Interrailing isn’t just for European citizens it’s for all non-European citizens too! But there are different passes you have to get depending on your resident status. If you’re a European resident, you’ll need to get an InterRail pass. If you’re a non-European resident, you’ll need to get a Eurail pass. Both are rail passes the only difference is who can buy them. If you’re a European resident you won’t be eligible for a Eurail Pass and if you’re a non-European resident, you won’t be eligible for an InterRail pass. So it’s important that you purchase the correct pass when interrailing Europe.

What InterRail/Eurail Pass type should I get?

There are different kinds of interrailing passes you get depending on how long you want to be interrailing Europe and how many countries you’ll be visiting. But before discussing that, you’ll need to understand what travel days are.

A travel day is a 24-hour period in which you travel with your Interrail Pass. For example, if you take a train to travel from Budapest to Prague, that counts as one travel day. If you’re taking a night train that leaves on one day and arrives the next day, this still counts as one travel day. But keep in mind that you can’t use your pass to take a night train on your last travel day as the validity period will expire before midnight.

Now that we’ve gone over interrail travel days, here are the kind of interrail passes you can get with limited travel days within a time period:

4 days within 1 month
5 days within 1 month
7 days within 1 month
10 days within 2 months
15 days within 2 months

But if you want a bit more freedom, you can get interrail passes with unlimited travel days within a period:

15 days
22 days
1 month
2 months
3 months

Both kinds of passes (limited and unlimited travel day passes) are called Global Passes.

Alternatively, if you want to interrail around different places in one country, you can get the Interrail One Country Pass. You can use the Interrail One Country Pass in up to 24 European countries.

All Global Passes and One Country Passes don’t include seat or sleeper train reservations or other public transport (e.g. buses and trams).

What countries can I visit?

As I mentioned before, you can visit 33 countries using your interrailing pass:

Austria
Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany

Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Norway

Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Türkiye
UK

How to Plan an Interrail Trip

My best advice for planning your journeys for your interrailing trip is to download the Rail Planner app. This will help you plan which trains to go on in each country and tells you how long the journeys will take. It will also inform you whether seat reservations are required, which you’ll have to pay extra for.

When I planned an interrailing trip with my friends, we found this app very helpful. We wanted to interrail Europe on a budget, so that meant not paying extra for seat reservations unless it was very necessary. We were able to solely use our interrail passes for the majority of our journeys. The only journeys we had to pay reservations for were from Venice, Italy to Munich, Germany and from Brussels, Belgium back home to London, England (we took the Eurostar).

If you’re looking for a more in-depth guide on how to plan an interrail trip, check out my ultimate 5 step guide and tips on how to plan your trip on a budget!

Packing Essentials

When interrailing Europe, it’s important that you pack light. You’re gonna be taking your luggage with you on 4 or more journeys and trust me, it’s not gonna be easy if you bring heavy luggage.

Make sure you bring your travel documents with you, with your passport and interrail pass being the most important. A universal travel adapter will be handy too since Europe uses different plug types.

Also, it’s best if you bring some cash in the local currency of the countries you’ll be visiting. Not all European countries use the Euro as currency and sometimes cash payment is preferred instead of card payment.

For a full guide on what to pack when interrailing, make sure to check out my ultimate interrail packing list guide, which comes with a free downloadable checklist!

Interrailing Europe FAQs

Should I take a backpack or suitcase for interrailing?

It all depends on what you prefer! I personally took a medium suitcase and I had no trouble with it (apart from dragging it up a hill once). And since my friends and I booked Airbnbs we knew our suitcases will be safe.

If you prefer to take a backpack then don’t hesitate to do it! Taking a backpack might be better if you’re planning on taking more than 5 train journeys as it can get very tiring dragging a suitcase to many countries.

Honestly, it all depends on your preference!

Where can I book accommodation?

For more privacy, booking Airbnbs and hotels may be the best option! I chose Airbnbs as I was travelling with friends and we all wanted that privacy from strangers. But if you want to step out of your comfort zone, meet new people and not spend too much on accommodation, then Hostelworld is perfect for finding accommodation for your interrailing trip.

How do I make train reservations?

When planning your journey on the Rail Planner app, it will tell you which trains require a train reservation. When you click on the train reservation notice, it’ll show you how and when to book your reservations with direct links to help you do it!

Can I extend the validity of my Interrail pass?

Your Interrail/Eurail pass can’t be extended or upgraded once you’ve got it. This is why it’s important to plan ahead and think about exactly which countries you want to visit and how many travel days you’ll need to do so.