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planning first eurail trip very far in advance

  • August 17, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 190 views
M

hey y’all! i’m currently planning my first eurail trip for next may (i love planning things way far in advance), and i would love some advice on which stops to skip and which stops to definitely not miss! 

i love to explore nature and hike, and would love to visit smaller towns, but you’ll see that there are of course a few of the Really Big Stops in there. i’d hate to go to europe and not go to at least a few of the big stops. and of course i know that, honestly, none of these are small towns, they’re all pretty touristy, but they’re a tiny, tiny bit less touristy than some of the Big Giant Cities. 

my working list so far, in order, is

  1. bremen
  2. cologne
  3. heppenheim
  4. lauterbrunnen (+ interlaken)
  5. liechtenstein
  6. innsbruck
  7. ljubljana
  8. salzburg
  9. munich
  10. prague
  11. berlin

i’m planning on buying the 10 stops in 2 months eurail pass, but only spending about… 27 days total? i’ve only got a month total to travel. trying to whittle it down to 9 stops instead of 11. also trying to stay in that general area of countries.

any type of advice would be greatly appreciated! :) 

 

Best answer by ralderton

A couple of thoughts:

It’s 10 days, not 10 stops. On any day you take as many trains as you like, and stop off if you want.

11 places in 27 days sounds doable, but a tough schedule. I would try to drop at least one destination, and maybe build in a longer (4 nights or more) stop halfway through. It’s nice to fully unpack, relax, do some laundry, and maybe some day trips. Switzerland isn’t a bad place to do this, since the rail network is brilliant and you can get anywhere. (But it’s also expensive)

You might also consider the 22 day continuous pass. It’s a bit more expensive than the one you’re thinking of, but gives you a lot more flexibility to travel whenever you want - including short travel days that wouldn’t be worth using a pass day for. Assuming you’re staying a few days in Bremen and Berlin each, 22 days might cover you?

Nieke

3 replies

ralderton
Railmaster
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  • ralderton
  • Railmaster
  • Answer
  • August 17, 2025

A couple of thoughts:

It’s 10 days, not 10 stops. On any day you take as many trains as you like, and stop off if you want.

11 places in 27 days sounds doable, but a tough schedule. I would try to drop at least one destination, and maybe build in a longer (4 nights or more) stop halfway through. It’s nice to fully unpack, relax, do some laundry, and maybe some day trips. Switzerland isn’t a bad place to do this, since the rail network is brilliant and you can get anywhere. (But it’s also expensive)

You might also consider the 22 day continuous pass. It’s a bit more expensive than the one you’re thinking of, but gives you a lot more flexibility to travel whenever you want - including short travel days that wouldn’t be worth using a pass day for. Assuming you’re staying a few days in Bremen and Berlin each, 22 days might cover you?

M
D
Keeps calm and carries on
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  • Danhiel
  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • August 17, 2025

​@mmmmmsssss 

I suggest to skip the Liechtenstein, unless you have a special interest to stay in this country. It is not possible to visit Vaduz castle if you are not invited by the prince. You will cross it when you travel from Switzerland to Innsbruck via Buchs (unfortunately it doesn’t appear in the Rail Planner statistics). 

The information I provide may contain errors and are not official responses from Eurail/Interrail.
Nieke
Full steam ahead
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  • Nieke
  • Full steam ahead
  • August 22, 2025

Depending a bit on where your starting point is; i would personaly skip some places (unless you ofcourse would love to see them for a good reason)

Skip Lichtenstein, you will cross it anyway.

Bremen, Heppenheim and Salzburg are maybe less interesting compared to Cologne/Köln and Berlin.
Heppenheim is close to Frankfurt, could be an intersting city to visit.

Interlaken is absoluty amazing (big Switserland fan here), here you will most defnitly enjoy nature and insane mountains.

Innsbruck is worth the visit, some nice locations to see and a look out point on top of the mountain (absolutly worth it). Very lovely city.

Prague is absolutely a place you have to see, for this city you will need some time. I had 2 full days and still did not see it all.

 

Interseting travel scheme you have here, curious how it will turn out.

Not working for Interrail, but I would iff I could.
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