Interrail Bucket List

I’m sure more will occur to me later, but here are a few off the top of my head:

Belgium: Bring a commodious rucksack and hire a bike at Ieper or Poperinge station, then cycle through the fields to the Abbey of Westvleteren to try and obtain a few bottles of what is often described at the best beer in all the world, to bring home as a souvenir. On a more sobering note, stop-off en-route at one of the numerous WW1 memorials or preserved trenches that dot the countryside throughout the area, and consider the positive effect of efforts toward European cooperation and integration since those times.

Finland: Go to the town of Lahti and its surroundings in August to try and catch a bit of the FIA Lahti Historic rally, one of the best places to catch iconic cars such as the Audi Quattro in competitive action and the only gravel-based event on the calendar.

Italy: Go one stop past Rome and sleep in the suburb of Capannelle, which sits at the edge of the ancient Roman Campagna; once a rustic, pastoral graveyard of Roman ruins abandoned during the ‘Dark Ages’, lyrically written about and painted during the Romantic movement, but now mostly disappeared due to urban sprawl. The next morning, stroll around a preserved section in the Parco degli Acquedotto, then head into Rome on foot along the Appian Way; one of the best surviving sections of Roman road in the world, in which the ruts worn by ancient carts can easily be seen. The road is peppered with the remnants of villas, monuments and tombs, including some hidden Christian catacombs which predate the religion’s legalisation and can be entered. You enter the city walls of Rome through the impressive Porta San Sebastiano, and arrive in the historic centre via the Baths of Caracalla and the Circus Maximus.

Norway: For an ‘edge-of-the-world’ experience, take the train to Bodø and sail across the astounding, mountain-bordered Vestfjorden to Moskenes on the Lofoten peninsula. It’s very Instagrammable and popular these days, but after a round of the vibrant and bustling cities that usually typify an Interrail trip it will still feel like a breath of fresh, open air. Climb one of the nearby peaks to admire the jagged curve of the coast out from the mainland into the middle of the Arctic ocean, or visit the museum of stockfish in Å to hear the remarkable story of how this air-dried delicacy was popularised in Italy by a Venetian sea captain who was shipwrecked on Lofoten in 1431. For the best chance of seeing the Northern Lights (strongest around the equinoxes, apparently), take a bus to Narvik at the other end of the peninsula and continue by train into Sweden to the Abisko tourist station, behind the mountain watershed where the skies are clearer.

1. In England, the journey from Newton Abbot to Exeter. Estuary views to start and end with track metres away from the sea in the middle section.
2. In Switzerland, The Glacier Express from Zermatt/Brig to Chur or beyond. Should have gone on it 10 years ago this coming Christmas but there was threat of avalanche.
3. In Italy/Switzerland The Centovalli Railway. This crosses 100 valleys on its route from Domodossola to Locarno. Truly magnificent views all the way, then the magic of Locarno!
4. Using a rail pass to wander southern Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Lindau, Fussen for example.