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First timer - help with exit from UK!

Hi,

We bought the 7 day pass on a bit of a whim and are now thinking over logistics. Considering possible taking it down to a 4 day trip instead with us paying some tickets ourselves We are travelling with an 8 and 10 year old and coming from Glasgow. My initial idea was Glasgow - London - Paris on day one but it’s going to be quite a long day so I’m trying to think of alternatives but not sure I can or if I’m picking up the pass rules correctly. I’ve put in bold the days I’m questioning:

Idea 1 - reducing down to 4 day pass:

  • Day 1: Glasgow to London and stop over for a night
  • Get the Eurostar (we would pay the Eurostar trip as it’s not much more than the seat reservations would be anyway).
  • Day 2: Paris to Black Forest 
  • Day 3: Black Forest to Paris
  • Eurostar home to London where we would stay a night or so
  • Day 4: London to Glasgow

Idea 2 - keeping 7 day pass:

  • Day 1: Glasgow to London and stop over for a night
  • Day 2: Get the Eurostar to Paris
  • Day 3: Paris to Black Forest 
  • Day 4: A stop somewhere TBC
  • Day 5:A stop somewhere TBC
  • Day 6: Eurostar home to London for the night
  • Day 7: London to Glasgow

With both options I’m unsure if I can do the overnight in London like that? I don’t mind at all that it’s using an extra day of the pass if it stops tired/grumpy children but just not sure it would be possible with the pass.

Thanks

12 replies

Hektor
Rank

No, that's not possible. You have just two travel days in your homecountry and you'd need three for this (if you really pay for a normal ticket from London to Paris). Just possible if you'd buy a normal ticket for the Eurostar back, too.

and1makes4

No, that's not possible. You have just two travel days in your homecountry and you'd need three for this (if you really pay for a normal ticket from London to Paris). Just possible if you'd buy a normal ticket for the Eurostar back, too.

Ahh Yes, I forgot to say it would be a return Eurostar ticket we’d get. So does this make sense?

  • Day 1: Glasgow to London and stop over for a night (using Interrail Pass)
  • Get the Eurostar (We pay independent of pass)
  • Day 2: Paris to Black Forest 
  • Day 3: Black Forest to Paris
  • Eurostar home to London where we would stay a night or so (We pay independent of pass) 
  • Day 4: London to Glasgow (using Interrail Pass)

I’m sure Seat61 said you couldn’t do an outbound journey then stop for a night which implies we need to physically leave the UK but on the Interrail site it said “You can use your Interrail Global Pass for one outbound and one inbound journey to/from your country of residence (this means you can travel to the exit or entry station, port, or airport)” but not sure if the Eurostar/London counts as and exit station in this scenario?

Thanks for your help.

Trying to avoid flying from now on so having my first foray into Interrail.
Hektor
Rank

That's no problem. You may also use your inbound day from a port or airport. Nobody knows if you did fly back to London. But I also think nobody cares.  

On the way to London from Glasgow it's the same. And nobody on the trains to London may know that you'll stay in London, too.

C
Rank
Badge +5

If using the TGV/ICE service from Paris into Germany you must reserve and there is an expensive supplement as well. If you give your itinerary in detail community members can suggest the best way to travel economically on this route. It will be slower though if cheaper.

Y
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Given that a travel day is from 0000 to 2359 (CET) or 2300 to 2259 (GMT) I see no problems doing Glasgow to Paris/lille/Brussels in a day. You can easily board a train in Glasgow and be in London by 1300 and then a 2 hour Eurostar to Lille (my preference - cheaper hotels and a nice smaller city. Plenty of trains from there.). The same on return a morning TGV gets you to London by lunchtime and plenty of trains back to Glasgow.

The Country of residence rule is simply that for up to 2 travel days you can travel in your COR (UK) as freely as if you were in any other country. There is no restrictions on how many trains you catch nor where you travel with them. You can use them in as many countries as you want in a travel day so travel completely within your COR or to cross a border in either direction is entirely up to you. I used my last pass for 2 fly out and E*/LNER back.

 

and1makes4

If using the TGV/ICE service from Paris into Germany you must reserve and there is an expensive supplement as well. If you give your itinerary in detail community members can suggest the best way to travel economically on this route. It will be slower though if cheaper.

Thank you for your reply. Once we’re a bit further into the idea I will post back. I love the planning stage but I think I may be overthinking this and making it harder than it should be!

Trying to avoid flying from now on so having my first foray into Interrail.
and1makes4

Given that a travel day is from 0000 to 2359 (CET) or 2300 to 2259 (GMT) I see no problems doing Glasgow to Paris/lille/Brussels in a day. You can easily board a train in Glasgow and be in London by 1300 and then a 2 hour Eurostar to Lille (my preference - cheaper hotels and a nice smaller city. Plenty of trains from there.). The same on return a morning TGV gets you to London by lunchtime and plenty of trains back to Glasgow.

The Country of residence rule is simply that for up to 2 travel days you can travel in your COR (UK) as freely as if you were in any other country. There is no restrictions on how many trains you catch nor where you travel with them. You can use them in as many countries as you want in a travel day so travel completely within your COR or to cross a border in either direction is entirely up to you. I used my last pass for 2 fly out and E*/LNER back.

 

Lille is a fantastic suggestion, thank you, it hadn’t crossed my mind to do anything other than straight to Paris. The timings look better and I can see it is much cheaper plus none of us have been before. Thanks!

Trying to avoid flying from now on so having my first foray into Interrail.
M
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +5

Other hint: go to BRUssel on that €*-or return via it. Usually has more empty space for passholders. And has direct ICE (forget that Thalys) to Cologne=Köln and onward on fine german ICE to Schwarzwald. (yes, that is a black forest) But f.e. LIlle also has a very few direct TGV (bypassing edge of Paris) to Strasbourg=lst stop in FR just before Rhine bridge with hourly shuttle to Offenburg, in the Bl.Fo. So you could save a bundle by staying there in lieu of LON.

HInt2: MOST smaller places in Bl.Fo offer the KONUS card, which gives you free local transport in the whole area, but NOT by HTL in the bigger cities (card is stillvalid there, f.e. Karlsruhe or Freiburg). On the site of Konuscard is a complete overview with links for booking.

And do not forget to eat some cake when there with the name!

Y
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Another extension easily done from Brussels/Black Forest is to Bavaria. I would advise Nuremberg as a great city to stay a few days and do day trips to nearby towns and cities. We stayed in the Ibis Hauptbahnof, which is 5 minutes from both the station and the main centre for 3 nights and visited Amberg, Regensburg and Bamberg, but even Munich is only an hour from there (by ICE).

WE came back from there via Frankfurt to connect with the ICE to Cologne and Brussels. An overnight in a nearby Mercure and then mid morning E* and home for teatime.

The main advice is do it in your own time and don’t try to do too much to justify the price of the pass.

As with the Konus card Mcadv advised Most countries/cities have local and regional transport offers. Venice for instance has a multi day tourist pass which seems expensive until you realise a single trip on a water bus can cost upwards of £6 per journey. 

Although still awaited Germany is supposed to be releasing a National regional pass at 49 euro for a month. That would be ideal for touring Bavaria, but most German regions have their own passes as well.

https://www.bahn.com/en/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets

and1makes4

Too many great answers so was hard to pic a best. Thank you so much to you all for your help.

Trying to avoid flying from now on so having my first foray into Interrail.
bagpie
Userlevel 1

I also would suggest avoiding Paris if your destination is Germany. I’m from near Oban and have done Glasgow to Cologne in one day, in time for dinner, admittedly without kids though. I still think Glasgow to Brussels is no problem in a single trip, also decent accommodation in London isn’t cheap. 
Another option to consider, and this is the route I’m taking next week, is via ferry Newcastle to Amsterdam. It’s costing us £48 each, each way including bus transfer from Newcastle / Amsterdam and that’s overnight so saves on an overnight accommodation stay. Food and drink on board is expensive but many folk just take a picnic. Our tickets from Glasgow to Newcastle were so cheap it was no point wasting a pass day on them. 
from Amsterdam you could easily get to Baden Wurttemberg in time for dinner, or take a more leisurely day and stop somewhere on the way, maybe on the Rhine. 

and1makes4

I also would suggest avoiding Paris if your destination is Germany. I’m from near Oban and have done Glasgow to Cologne in one day, in time for dinner, admittedly without kids though. I still think Glasgow to Brussels is no problem in a single trip, also decent accommodation in London isn’t cheap. 
Another option to consider, and this is the route I’m taking next week, is via ferry Newcastle to Amsterdam. It’s costing us £48 each, each way including bus transfer from Newcastle / Amsterdam and that’s overnight so saves on an overnight accommodation stay. Food and drink on board is expensive but many folk just take a picnic. Our tickets from Glasgow to Newcastle were so cheap it was no point wasting a pass day on them. 
from Amsterdam you could easily get to Baden Wurttemberg in time for dinner, or take a more leisurely day and stop somewhere on the way, maybe on the Rhine. 

We’ve been looking into the ferry funnily enough. We’re doing it in Oct for a week in Amsterdam too. Looking at our dates it’s only about £50 more than the supplements we’d need to pay anyway but I think it will be so much better for the kids. Current thinking is ferry then back via Paris (because the kids want to see it) and London (friends there so accommodation is fine). I feel we can have longer trips home because they’re back into the Summer hols whereas we want to start the holiday as fresh as possible.

Trying to avoid flying from now on so having my first foray into Interrail.

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