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2 Questions: Using Rail Europe and travelling in my home country

  • July 4, 2024
  • 4 replies
  • 155 views
K

Dear travellers! I’m planning to use interrail for the first time and now I am very confused: My husband, my daughter an I want to travel from northern germany to Barcelona and back in autumn holidays.

This ist our route:

Kiel - Mulhouse
Mulhouse - Barcelona
Barcelona - Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe - Kiel

Now I have 2 questions:

  1. Can i plan the trip with the app and do all the reservations about Rail Europe? (there are all reservations possible. About Interrail page not all reservations in france are possible)
  2. Are we allowed to travel from Karlsruhe to Kiel? Or is this not allowed because Germany is our home country??

Thanks for your help!!!

Best regards

Katja

Best answer by BrendanDB

What are your exact travel dates? Some reservations might not have opened for autumn.

The routes seems perfectly possible, but remember you’ll only have 2 inbound/outbound travel days (home country days), in which you can use your pass in Germany. For now I count three days in which you travel in Germany.

This is easily solved by or staying in Strasbourg when coming from Barcelona, or buying a normal (non-interrail) ticket Strasbourg-Karlsruhe to save your last home country travel day for the long stretch Karsruhe-Kiel (whatever works the best out for you).

Raileurope.com is indeed a good place to reserve your seats, as is DB or ÖBB for domestic trains in Germany.

Life is lika a road trip - enjoy each day and don't carry too much baggage.

    4 replies

    BrendanDB
    Full steam ahead
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    • BrendanDB
    • Full steam ahead
    • Answer
    • July 4, 2024

    What are your exact travel dates? Some reservations might not have opened for autumn.

    The routes seems perfectly possible, but remember you’ll only have 2 inbound/outbound travel days (home country days), in which you can use your pass in Germany. For now I count three days in which you travel in Germany.

    This is easily solved by or staying in Strasbourg when coming from Barcelona, or buying a normal (non-interrail) ticket Strasbourg-Karlsruhe to save your last home country travel day for the long stretch Karsruhe-Kiel (whatever works the best out for you).

    Raileurope.com is indeed a good place to reserve your seats, as is DB or ÖBB for domestic trains in Germany.

    K
    • KatjaS.
    • Author
    • Rail rookie
    • July 4, 2024

    The dates are:

    1. october: Kiel - Mulhouse
    2. october: Mulhouse - Barcelona
    1. october: Barcelona - somewhere
    2. ocotber: somewhere - Kiel

    Perhaps we use the way over Mulhouse again on our journey home. The costs for the reservation are much chaeper than a trip over Paris. In Karlsruhe we would like to visit friends. But that is noch so important….

    Life is lika a road trip - enjoy each day and don't carry too much baggage.
    K
    • KatjaS.
    • Author
    • Rail rookie
    • July 4, 2024

    The reservation for Kiel - Basel I will do about the bahn.de website.

    Life is lika a road trip - enjoy each day and don't carry too much baggage.
    V
    • vendjo
    • Rail rookie
    • July 4, 2024

    Unfortunately Rail Europe introduced a 7,45€ booking fee as of today – but apparently only once per booking, so if you book a bunch of reservations at once, especially for 3 people, you should still end up saving money compared to the Interrail reservation service.

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