In the summer of 2018, I planned an interrailing excursion around Europe with two of my friends. In this blog post I will provide a brief synopsis of all the locations we visited. We decided to do a combination of camping and staying in hostels because we were on a budget and would highly recommend this to anyone else thinking about doing the same. Lausanne, Switzerland The first stop on our journey was Lausanne, situated in the east of Switzerland. We stayed at Camping de Vidy campsite beside Lake Geneva. Following the first night in our tent, we spent our first full day exploring the town, which had magnificent views. The second day we were exhausted, so decided to have a beach day by the lake. We also hired a pedalo, enjoying the sun and the view of the mountains across the lake before drinking a few cocktails at the beach bar. Nice, France After an extremely early start (approximately 5am), we dismantled the tent in the rain and caught the train the Nice. Here we stayed in a hostel in the centre of the town, where we were upgraded to a private room with an ensuite. Our time in Nice comprised of exploring the city and the old town, along with some time on the beach. Nice was also where we made our first friends (a group of Americans) and had our first European night out. Turin, Italy On our way to Turin, the train had a stop in a quaint French village called Tende, which was an interesting experience. There was no platform at the station, so we jumped straight from the train onto the grass and were greeted by an array of animals including goats and alpacas. Our first day in Turin, we got the campsite minibus into the city to explore. However, after realising there wasn’t a lot to do in Turin, and the minibus forgetting to collect us from the town and take us back to the campsite, we decided that we should move on. Venice, Italy We decided to take a spontaneous detour to Venice, which wasn’t initially part of our plan. We booked a last-minute hostel but when we arrived were told we had been upgraded to a room in a 3-star hotel (you see that our accommodation being upgraded was gladly a running theme on our trip). We only had 24 hours in Venice, but it was so worth it as we explored the canals and ate pizza and gelato. Verona, Italy The next stop was Verona, where we stayed at a campsite at the top of a very long and very steep hill. Despite the efforts it took to lug all our bags up the hill in the heat, the views were beautiful at the top. Whilst in Verona, our American friends also happened to be there at the same time as us, so another night out was on the cards. Villach, Austria The next stop was Villach, a town in Austria. When we arrived at the campsite, we soon realised that we had turned up at the wrong one, and the campsite we had booked was in fact on the other side of the country. This was much to the amusement of the lady at reception! Fortunately, they had room for us anyway. Just by chance whilst we were there, the town was hosting a beer festival which was very intriguing with lots of people dressed in traditional clothing. Ljubljana, Slovenia After Villach, we made our way to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, which may have been our favourite location due to the lack of tourists. We stayed at a hostel here and were upgraded to a private room again! Here we went to the Museum of Illusions and went on a bar crawl. We also had a free bike tour which we found on ‘Couch surfer’ hosted by one of the locals, which was a great way to observe the city and meet lots of other travellers. I would highly recommend finding tours like this to do because it means you can go to places that you wouldn’t have gone on your own. Budapest, Hungary What would an interrailing trip be without a stop in Budapest? Here we booked an Airbnb, which was a small building at the end of the owner’s garden. This is also a great way to get tips about the area, such as public transport. Our hosts were very kind and helpful and gave us lots of advice. Our time here overlapped with the Sziget festival, so we booked tickets to go for a day. We also of course went to the thermal baths. Prague, Czech Republic By the time we reached Prague we were exhausted so most of our time was spent relaxing in the park. However, it was a great place to end our adventure before flying back home. Overall, the three weeks we spent interrailing were an amazing experience. We had a great time and would encourage anybody else to do the same if you have time. The main things I would recommend is to have a plan but don’t be afraid of changing it as you go along. Also meet as many people as you can because they can give you great advice.
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