Travelling by train

I'm genuinely curious are other people having as much issues as I am with booking trains/reserving seats and there being train strikes or construction or this dumb thing with sending paper tickets? I've had a nightmare of a trip because I have no experience with european summer and wondering if it's always this busy and messed up??? 

Hi all,I am planning on traveling through France with a one country pass. Do I need to activate my pass before I can make sear reservations in France or can I also make a reservation with a deactivated pass? Cheers,Martin

Hi! I want to ask an information about night trains. If I think the night train at 10 PM and I arrive at my destination the morning later (for example at 9 AM), I’ll need to use 2 days of my global pass?

Hello all,I study at Heidelberg University and am travelling home around the 17th of September to Edinburgh. I have a visa for Germany and want to use my Interrail pass as a way to visit some international friends I’ve made in Dusseldorf and such en route home.As such, I will be taking a few cases of belongings as I need to empty my Heidelberg flat. Are there are restrictions on the Eurotunnel luggage that you’ve encounter that should make me think again about using this pass as a cheaper way to scuttle around before returning home?

As an American, I am traveling to France with a vaccination record that shows 2 shots and one booster.  Last booster was 11 months ago September 21st, 2021.   I have also had and recovered from COVID just seven months ago.I believe I am fine to fly into the country, but I want to take Eurail speed train from Lyon to Paris while I am there.  Will I need to show any proof of updated vaccination (perhaps within 6 months) to be able to take Eurail as long as I am traveling in-country?

Hi! I have one question!  I used my inbound ticket from Slovakia to foreign country but I would like to come back to my country with plane. Is it possible for me to NOT use my outbound ticket?

Hi. I just learned that ticket for a dog for the train from Gliwice (Poland) to Wien (Austria) cost half a price of a normal human ticket and that is... A lot.Does anybody know if all international trains are like that? We want to go trough (Czech - only transit) Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and back ofc.Wanted to go with our 2 pups but if the fee will be the same in every international train, we will have to leave them behind. I just can't find that info.Please, let me know if you know, I will be VERY thankful.

Hi,Has anyone recently travelled from London to Paris? Do we need passenger locator form?Eurostar website does not show anything related to it.Thanks,

Hi, on August 18th-20th there are strikes in Britain, but i  didnt find an information about the eurostar trains. Does anyone know if they are affected? Do they run normally?

After all the problems we read about, I wonder whether anybody has any comments or experiences about getting value from a pass?Here is ours:We have 2 senior first class IR global passes for 10 days in 2 months, and have the first half of it planned next week. Out of interest I  checked the first class turn up and go prices of all the trains we have planned and amazed that these come in at nearly £1000 each and we have a second trip planned after that, which would be many hundreds in fares as well.The routing is:Siracuse to SalernoSalerno to BolognaBologna to NurembergNuremburg to BrusselsOOI our second trip on these passes are currently planned as:Monaco to VeniceVenice to Vienna2 days based in Vienna (Salzburg and Budapest?)Then Vienna to Prague.Brussels to Leeds3 Low cost flights from UK will be about £500 in totaI, compared with a minimum of £900 for home to London then Eurosta

Does somebody have a recent experience in the train Istanbul-Bucharest or Istanbul-Sofia? And could tell me how the ride was and if and how you have managed to get the reservation. 

Hi, I’m trying to get back to Paris from Frankfurt but can’t seem to book a ticket beyond Karlsruhe HBF. If anyone has some advice that would be great.I tried the Rail Planner/Eurail site and DB bahn.Thanks

I want to book tickets from Vienna to Hallstatt on December 26 and then from Hallstatt to Salzburg the next day. I know the details won’t be available yet as it’s still several months away but do trains actually run on Boxing Day? 

Hey everybody I'm in Valencia till Thursday and then in Barcelona till Saturday.Maybe there's somebody want to doing some stuff together.Looking forward to meet you! Dustin

 Hey! Is there anyone in barcelona and willing to meet? I am there from 15-17.8., then Valencia 17-19.8. :) very loooking forward to meet new people :) 

Hi! A week ago my phone broke so I had to buy a new one but when I got it I could not activate my Mobil pass because it was still connected to the old phone. I emailed interrail and they solve my problem but when I open the app all my trip was lost!! My interrail starts in 2 days and I did find most of the trains my friends have but there’s one that does not exist anymore. Before my old phone broke I screenshot all the QR codes of the trip and save them so I still have the QR code of that train but I don’t know if is going to be valid or if I can even use the QR codes.Please, what should I do? 

Hi,I'm travelling these days, if i take the train from Bamberg to Neurnberg (dep 08/12 h 23:39- ar 08/13 00:19), it'll cost 2 travel days? (Because the arrival time Is after midnight). maybe this Is a stupid question but i wanna be 100% sure.Thanks​​ 

Does anybody have any advice for finding the best backpacker’s travel insurance?? I am travelling from the UK to around 7/8 countries for three weeks in September with my partner and need to purchase health insurance. I have done some shopping around but cannot find anything reasonable, so would appreciate if anybody has some advice for ones they have used before. P.S. I have a GHIC card, but I am still looking for extra cover

Hi,The trains in Poland/Germany and to Prague were all pretty good, given the fairly warm/hot weather conditions last week.Is Railjet pretty much same standard? And is going from Vienna to Budapest also alright?Thanks 

Dear interrailersNew announced rail strikes in the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/aug/04/rail-strikes-august-tssa-unite-network-railI have a Eurostar reservation, returning from the UK with the train from 11:04 on the 18th of August to Brussels. Unfortunately, the train is not visible any more on the Eurostar website that day. I fear it’s cancelled, since on all other days there’s still a train at that time. On the other hand, the eurostar website keeps stating that they expect that “most trains will be running”.I didn’t receive an official word from Eurostar yet. The customer service seems flooded and really slow to respond. Did some of you possible managed to get more information from Eurostar in regard to possible cancellations on these strike days?Thanks for your collective wisdo

I'll be arriving sunday at 5AM in Padova but don't know how to spend my time until I can access the adress I am going to (surprise visit!) I have a huge backpack with me so I don't think I'll be allowed in anywhere/IDK where to safely store my luggage before I venture out into the city. Does anyone know places or a strategy I can use? I'm also parttime student so maybe I can enter study rooms or the university library?Thank you in advance!

Dear friends: Hello everyone!  Very happy to meet all of you.  This is the first time I travel by train. Since there are many trains to be changed and the adjacent times are relatively close, is there any app that can tell you the instructions for changing stations in advance, for example: it takes a few minutes to change the number of cars at several platforms.  ?

Hello everyone!I want to buy the BritRail Flexipass with the saver option (I´m traveling with my mom and sister) but I found that I can buy it from different companies. Do you know why the difference in price between ACPRail International and International Rail? Also, I´m concerned about where can I make the reservations and if they are mandatory to pay because if so, it's not worth it. 

Hello, I am looking for people who would like to accompany me one, a few days or more traveling the Balkan. I will take train wherever possible and would like to sleep in my tent where ever possible and otherwise in hostels. It is planned to go quickly to Romania. take a two day hike in the Kapats and then traveling via Bucharest to the Black Sea. Via Bulgaria I want to go to Istanbul and from there via Thessaloniki to Athens. From Athens I plan to take all countries along the Adriatic (Mediterranean coast) and go back home. I’m glad if my plan has awakened your interest. Feel free to contact me here!

To access first class lounges in Austria do you just need to show your first class interrail pass, or do you need to have a train seat reservation for the day in question? I was planning some day trips to Innsbruck and Salzburg using local trains on my 1st class Interrail pass, so would not be making any seat reservations for those days, but would like to make use of the lounges for refreshments if they are accessible.