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Hello all, 
I would like to travel from Germany to the south of England by train at the end of March. On the Internet, I became aware of the Interrail ticket and think that the ticket "Global Pass 4 days in one month" is the most useful for me.However, some things are still unclear to me, since I im going to use the interrrail pass for the first time:

  • Does the validity (i.e. the one month) refer to the calendar month or to the month after the start of my first journey. Specifically: I would like to start my trip to England on 27.03. and return in mid-April. Are the three further trips then only possible until the end of March (new ticket for April necessary) or until 27.04.?
  • On my trip, I first have to change trains twice in Germany, then later in Brussels/Paris to the Eurostar and finally in London once more.  Logically, I will cross several countries. Will the whole trip still count as one of my four possible trips or does Germany-Belgium count as one and Belgium-England each extra? 
  • If I need two of my four tickets for the outward and return journeys: What do I have to consider for the remaining two journeys?  Can I use them for any train in England or are there further restrictions here? For further domestic journeys I am not allowed to use these before my departure/after my return - am I informed correctly in that point? 
  • Do I have to specify my route/train connection again before the individual journey? Do I have then accordingly train binding?Or can I simply board any train and use my Interrail Pass as a ticket, as long as no extra reservation (as with Eurostar) is necessary? 
  • If I have to specify my train connection:How does it behave here with passenger rights in case of delay etc., e.g. if I miss the ICE in Germany or in the worst case the reserved Eurostar (not self-inflicted)?

Thank you very much in advance! I am looking forward to answers!
Kind regards

  • Validity is one month and you can choose the start date. If you choose e.g. 27 March as the start date, then the last day of validity is 26 April.
  • You have 4 travel days (not tickets or trips or journeys) in a month and on each of those travel days, it does not matter how many trains you use and in how many countries you travel and it does not matter if you stay within one country or not. Only in your country of residence, you can use Interrail on a maximum of 2 of your travel days (the inbound/outbound journeys).
  • Interrail is valid in almost all trains in Great Britain. As far as I know, only one or two special airport trains are not included. See the GB country page for more details.
  • You do not have to specify in advance which trains you are going to use. The only thing you need to do is to fill in the travel diary (paper pass) or add the train to your trip and your pass (mobile pass) before boarding that train. And if a reservation is required, such as for Eurostar, you also need that of course. If you want to change plans at a moment's notice, that's no problem. You can always add more trains.
  • Passenger rights are the normal ones are specified in EU Regulation 1371/2007. E.g. if you miss your booked Eurostar because of a cancellation or delay, then the railways have to rebook you on the next available train with no extra costs and if you miss the last train, then they also have to arrange overnight accommodation at no extra costs. In such a case you don't need an extra travel day.

By the way, if you'd like a paper pass, Deutsche Bahn can sell a paper Interrail at their ticket offices.

The only downside for this trip is that the needed SUPPLment=Zuschlag, incl the obligatory SEAT REServation for €* is quite high-in fact even higher as the cheapest advance ticket or certainly a busticket. You could indeed do 2 dayreturn out from LON to places of interest somewhere in the UK. You can use the DB-ICE without any surcharge, can reserve if you want.

There is now also a newcomer in the UK low-cost train LuMo running LON-Edinburgh as only prebooked and this comp. is (since last oct/nov) also out of the pass-scheme. As for now, the normal hourly trains on this line MUST be reserved.

NOte/hintweis/tip: every now and then there are promotions for IR, mostly with 10 or 15% off. As you can in big DB Reisecenter just pop in and buy the pass, you do not have to buy it now and online. Just wait till a few days before travel and wait if you can maybe use this profit!

Hey everyone, 

thanks for the answers, which really help me a lot. 


On my trip I cross Belgium (change) and France (on the train without getting off). Do I have to inform myself about the current entry requirements for these two countries and register online in advance (if necessary) or is this not necessary when passing through? Can someone help me here? 

Thank you and kind regards

On my trip I cross Belgium (change) and France (on the train without getting off). Do I have to inform myself about the current entry requirements for these two countries and register online in advance (if necessary) or is this not necessary when passing through?

You should indeed check the entry requirements for each country. The website reopen.europa.eu is a good resource (except for the UK); the best is to click through to the national websites.

Entry and transit requirements are often slightly different but not always. In addition, your trip is still 2 months away and that's a very long time, during which a lot can change.

Hey, 

thanks a lot for your help and advices! 

 

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