Heading inter-railing this weekend, has anyone been before and where were the best cities to visit?
I'll be in Berlin this weekend and I know that I'll be in Seville a different weekend, does anyone know any Irish bars in either of these cities that would be showing the football or hurling?
go to Krakov and as much as eastern europe as possible, it so cheap for an interrailing trip and the cash you save you can spend in the big cities.
Quote from: Rav67 on July 03, 2008, 03:39:55 PM
Heading inter-railing this weekend, has anyone been before and where were the best cities to visit?
I'll be in Berlin this weekend and I know that I'll be in Seville a different weekend, does anyone know any Irish bars in either of these cities that would be showing the football or hurling?
Went inter-railing a good few years back and made the mistake of trying to fit in too much, with the result that some cities were just a blur afterwards and hard to recall which was which! A great holiday though.
Did it in 1985 so my tall tales are probably stale now.
How much is a ticket in young people's money now?
QuoteDid it in 1985 so my tall tales are probably stale now.
Shamrock Shore, was that you I saw on the train. :)
Places with cheap accommodation often have cheap train tickets, so you have to balance the saving on rail tcikets of using the interrail. It might make sense to go to Switzerland where trains are expensive. Nowadays there are cheap flights to many places, so it might make sense to go to a place you need a train to get to. So instead of Berlin maybe go to Dresden or Hamburg, go to Kosice instead of Bratislava etc.
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on July 03, 2008, 07:47:36 PM
Did it in 1985 so my tall tales are probably stale now.
How much is a ticket in young people's money now?
Getting the train as far as Portlaoise doesn't count SS :D
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on July 03, 2008, 07:47:36 PM
Did it in 1985 so my tall tales are probably stale now.
How much is a ticket in young people's money now?
Exactly what way does it work - can you just buy a ticket and hop on and off wherever ye want?
In 85 the ticket was IR£120 :o
As far as I can recall CIE offered 50% off but trains in mainland Europe were free but some were subject to a supplement (i.e. Italian robbing bastards).
Paris - my first encounter with an Espresso coffee. I thought 'Espresso' meant 'Instant' so imagine my horror when I got this doll's house cup of tar.
Missed Live Aid cos I didn't realise it was on. Was in some Youth Hostel in Heidleburg.
Decided not to go to Berlin cos it was too much hassle (how I regret that now)
Almost got arrested by both French and German police for literally arseing around.
Saw naked people in the park in Zurich which freaked me out.
Trains do run on time in Italy so, to Mr. Mussolini, (http://forum.football365.com/images/smiley_icons/adore.gif)
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on July 03, 2008, 07:47:36 PM
Did it in 1985 so my tall tales are probably stale now.
How much is a ticket in young people's money now?
You can get a junior ticket if you're under 25 like me, I'm paying £229 for 22 days continuous, so I can use the rail ticket any day or every day if I wanted. Pretty good value saying they have sleeper carriages in the trains so you can go overnight if its a long cross-country journey and save yourself from both being scunnered on the train and paying a night's accommodation!
How did you get on inter railing?
Im thinking about going next summer for 2-3 weeks, I have always fancied doing it and if i dont do it next summer i probably wont get the chance again.
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
probably best holiday i have ever been on, but its fairly hectic. i went around france and italy, trains were good and comfortable. monaco was the best place i visited, nice wasnt bad either. liked all the cities in italy apart from milan. didnt go to naples which i regret now.
thinking of heading again next year. anyone ever done austria switzerland slovenia etc?
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Spent a night in a Romanian jail, "fined" in France for possession of a minuscule amount of cannabis, almost died after coming of a motorbike on the Greek islands, witnessed the build-up to the Yugoslav wars and the aftermath of the Berlin wall. Throw in plenty of sessions, loads of sunshine, lots of pretty girls and the summer of '91 was probably the best ever.
Quote from: Donagh on November 24, 2008, 03:33:55 PM
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Spent a night in a Romanian jail, "fined" in France for possession of a minuscule amount of cannabis, almost died after coming of a motorbike on the Greek islands, witnessed the build-up to the Yugoslav wars and the aftermath of the Berlin wall. Throw in plenty of sessions, loads of sunshine, lots of pretty girls and the summer of '91 was probably the best ever.
C'mon Donagh, I believe most of it but the bit in bold :D
Quote from: Donagh on November 24, 2008, 03:33:55 PM
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Spent a night in a Romanian jail, "fined" in France for possession of a minuscule amount of cannabis, almost died after coming of a motorbike on the Greek islands, witnessed the build-up to the Yugoslav wars and the aftermath of the Berlin wall. Throw in plenty of sessions, loads of sunshine, lots of pretty girls and the summer of '91 was probably the best ever.
That must have been fun. Nicolae was still top dog then wasn't he. Travelled Romania back in 2003 myself and had a great time but even then the thought of a night in their clink would have scared the bejaysus outta me.
It wasn't pretty - straight out of some bleak Channel 4 documentary - no plaster on the walls, no bed, guards in blue boiler suits and steel toe-capped boots with revolvers tucked into their belts, no glass but bars on the windows, bucket in the corner and nothing to eat or drink. Was lucky enough that I wasn't in with any local crims but put in with two East Germans for a bit before being moved to a room of my own for the night. Thought the f**kers were going to shoot me and bury in a field somewhere.
They kicked me out the next day but not before pouring a cup of coffee over my passport as they were handing it back. All because I wouldn't give some cnut a bribe. The maddest thing was sitting in the train station the next day waiting to get deported back to Prague watching mile upon mile huge tanks going past - presumably the Russians going home.
went interrailing last summer, brilliant experience, something you have to do while your still young (ie under 30). Would advise anyone thinking of doing it to get the month long ticket, this way if you are travelling with a few friends you can fit everything in without too many arguments. Eastern Europe is brill, everythings a lot cheaper although do avoid Bratislava, its a hole. Would recommend all the usuals, Paris, Barca, Rome, Krakov (defo) Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam. In Eastern block be on your best behaviour as a lot of the police/transport police are crooked cnuts. Someone mentioned Naples, wanted to go there myself but there was a binman strike or something of that nature during the summer and there were regular riots so we avoided it. The bad things that happened were that some theif stole my trainers in the hostel in rome, the traffic police in prague fined us £70 for nt having a valid ticket on the subway and being detained in brussels airport as one of our party (complete dose) had some drugs on him!
Had 2 great tours back in the 80's. First one with the lads which saw us take in Brussels, Amsterdam, visited a pal who was running an Irish pub on the northern coast of Germany and then 28 hours down through Germany ,Italy to Brindisi that was some journey with trying to blag ourselves into first class before boarding a ferry which took us to Corfu - mad spot altogether - Italians and English trying to re-enact Hysel every night at the disco before heading back north via old Yugoslavia and stopping off in Paris - had no money left ended up sleeping in Train station for two nights.
Next one was much more civilised as went with the missus , cheap holiday as we were actually saving for a mortgage and wedding at the time. Did Paris ,Bordeaux,Biarritz, Nice, Heidelburg, Bruges and London.
Fantastic experiences both and would recommend it to everyone - Great way to experience Europe and meet people
So you's are all a bunch of druggies?? Interesting!
Paris is the furthest Ive been, nice spot, isn't it Nail? :D
In the 80's I wrote to the Romanian embassy in London to enquire about a visa, they didn't reply for 9 months by which time the trip was long over, so I turned around in Budapest. Hungary was surprisingly normal by East European standards then.
I also did one in Scandinavian parts, all the way up to the Artic circle, in July when it didn't get dark. At that time you could also go free on some of the ferries there.
Austria/Switzerland/Slovenia wouldn't be a bad idea, some of the train trips would be incredibly scenic, including the little narrow gauge railways in Switzerland. Mind you I also planned a scenic rail trip through Innsbruck but it was so foggy that I couldn't see the platform. Also tickets without the Interrail would be fairly expensive there. The Bohin railway line in Slovenia is the most scenic I've ever been on, it is an engineering marvel going from tunnel in mountain to bridge high over a valley.
It's class craic stiffler, if you're at all sociable you fall in with ones easy everywhere you go- we went Berlin Krakow Prague Venice Nice Madrid Algarve Seville. First 3 stops are very common ones for other Irish, particularly Berlin. If you go there stay in Generator Hostel, its the biggest hostel I've ever seen and it has a big bar, music at night and food so you could lie in it all day if you wanted! Plenty of American dolls running about, they're defintely your best chance of getting your end away. Aussie women tend to be a bit like Irish dolls in that they prefer their own men. I'm gonna take about 2-3 weeks off in the summer and probably go to Thailand but if I can't round up 4 or 5 boys for that I'll likely go inter-railing again. Any thoughts on what places you wanna go to? Make sure you get staying 3 nights in most places cos you don't wanna try to cram in too much.
Quote from: Rav67 on November 24, 2008, 06:40:49 PM
It's class craic stiffler, if you're at all sociable you fall in with ones easy everywhere you go- we went Berlin Krakow Prague Venice Nice Madrid Algarve Seville. First 3 stops are very common ones for other Irish, particularly Berlin. If you go there stay in Generator Hostel, its the biggest hostel I've ever seen and it has a big bar, music at night and food so you could lie in it all day if you wanted! Plenty of American dolls running about, they're defintely your best chance of getting your end away. Aussie women tend to be a bit like Irish dolls in that they prefer their own men. I'm gonna take about 2-3 weeks off in the summer and probably go to Thailand but if I can't round up 4 or 5 boys for that I'll likely go inter-railing again. Any thoughts on what places you wanna go to? Make sure you get staying 3 nights in most places cos you don't wanna try to cram in too much.
Tht rules you out rav, sure you went and hid in the water park in ayia napa because you didn't want people looking at you when you were dying!!
;)
Quote from: SidelineKick on November 24, 2008, 06:39:44 PM
Paris is the furthest Ive been, nice spot, isn't it Nail? :D
Fcukin lovely.
Like you can talk, you were likely still lying bokin your ring up in ur room at that time you lazy ****!
7 of us went the summer before last and about 7 others joined in and left us along the way. We started in Krakow. Class city, so much nicer than we expected. 6 pints of Warga Strong here will get the holiday off to a good start. Auchwitch was interesting for a day trip, but jokes to lighten to mood were not appreciated! It wasn't karma!
Went on to Prague then. Kinda seedy when you've a crowd of girls with ya. Went to a strip club with the laziest hoors in Europe. They just dandered round the poles. Got locked outa the hostel here, and having lost the phone in Krakow i hada spend the night outside.
From there we headed to Vienna and then on down to Dubrovnik, which was absolutely class. Nicest place I've ever been to. All the women were class, except the fat, ginger, fair skinned ones you could spot from the other end of town. They were Irish.
Then we headed for Milan, caught an AC V juve game in the san siro then on to Nice and finally Biarritz. Class holiday, although on the last night of the 3 weeks I came outa the pub full drunk and got knocked down crossing the road but sure these things happen.
A few pointers;
• If your from the north, get one of those E11 cards from the post office. If you need a doctor, just flash it and you don't have any hassle at the time with insurance etc. They'll just charge the NHS and then send a bill to you for the rest, which your travel insurance will pay.
• They don't stamp your rail pass in most trains, so if you need say 12 train journeys, just get a 10 journey pass and wing it the other times, its good craic avoiding the conductors anyway.
• They only sell drink in the really long journeys. Bring some with you for he short ones.
• Bring cards, and if there's some lad you don't know or want sleeping/snoring in your cabin, play bullshit.
• For the long journeys book your seat. It only costs around €1 and means yous are guaranteed seats together. Most cabins seat 6. When there were 9/10 of us we still bought all the seats in 2 cabins. Although we didn't do this all the time as you meet some interesting people on the trains. And some not very interesting feckers you went to school with.
• Get a rucksack and not one of those wheelie suitcases. If you're running to catch a train with one of those and you hit a kerb, your 20yards away before you realise you've just got the handle. Plus they take up too much room in the train.
• Kleenex travel packs = essential. Can't emphasise enough.
• Hostels don't provide towels. All the lads on our trip assumed they did, so it was a few days before there were any showers.
• Some crap bars around claiming to be Irish bars and the only thing Irish about them is the brand new hurley nailed to the bar, the tins of Guinness and a crap internet steam of GAA games that keeps cutting out. You'll discover that any other Irish about will have found the decent place to watch a game by the Sunday which actually has Irish people who live in the city drinking in it.
• Try the local drinks. Some beer beginning with K in a red&white can from Croatia is the nicest i've ever had.
• Do fun things link kayaking, surfing,skydiving etc You're only young once (i think) Note: If you go sea kayaking, put sun cream on your legs!!
Feck thats a while rant. Hope it helps somehow. The only thing i regret about interailling is that i didn't do it til the summer after final year and we only went for 3 weeks.
Any of you in first year of uni with no plans for the summer, go travelling! You'll regret in a few years when you're working and get crap holidays if you don't.
Great post wee donns, f**k I wanna go now!!
Quote from: WeeDonns on November 24, 2008, 06:57:30 PM
7 of us went the summer before last and about 7 others joined in and left us along the way. We started in Krakow. Class city, so much nicer than we expected. 6 pints of Warga Strong here will get the holiday off to a good start. Auchwitch was interesting for a day trip, but jokes to lighten to mood were not appreciated! It wasn't karma!
Went on to Prague then. Kinda seedy when you've a crowd of girls with ya. Went to a strip club with the laziest hoors in Europe. They just dandered round the poles. Got locked outa the hostel here, and having lost the phone in Krakow i hada spend the night outside.
From there we headed to Vienna and then on down to Dubrovnik, which was absolutely class. Nicest place I've ever been to. All the women were class, except the fat, ginger, fair skinned ones you could spot from the other end of town. They were Irish.
Then we headed for Milan, caught an AC V juve game in the san siro then on to Nice and finally Biarritz. Class holiday, although on the last night of the 3 weeks I came outa the pub full drunk and got knocked down crossing the road but sure these things happen.
A few pointers;
• If your from the north, get one of those E11 cards from the post office. If you need a doctor, just flash it and you don't have any hassle at the time with insurance etc. They'll just charge the NHS and then send a bill to you for the rest, which your travel insurance will pay.
• They don't stamp your rail pass in most trains, so if you need say 12 train journeys, just get a 10 journey pass and wing it the other times, its good craic avoiding the conductors anyway.
• They only sell drink in the really long journeys. Bring some with you for he short ones.
• Bring cards, and if there's some lad you don't know or want sleeping/snoring in your cabin, play bullshit.
• For the long journeys book your seat. It only costs around €1 and means yous are guaranteed seats together. Most cabins seat 6. When there were 9/10 of us we still bought all the seats in 2 cabins. Although we didn't do this all the time as you meet some interesting people on the trains. And some not very interesting feckers you went to school with.
• Get a rucksack and not one of those wheelie suitcases. If you're running to catch a train with one of those and you hit a kerb, your 20yards away before you realise you've just got the handle. Plus they take up too much room in the train.
• Kleenex travel packs = essential. Can't emphasise enough.
• Hostels don't provide towels. All the lads on our trip assumed they did, so it was a few days before there were any showers.
• Some crap bars around claiming to be Irish bars and the only thing Irish about them is the brand new hurley nailed to the bar, the tins of Guinness and a crap internet steam of GAA games that keeps cutting out. You'll discover that any other Irish about will have found the decent place to watch a game by the Sunday which actually has Irish people who live in the city drinking in it.
• Try the local drinks. Some beer beginning with K in a red&white can from Croatia is the nicest i've ever had.
• Do fun things link kayaking, surfing,skydiving etc You're only young once (i think) Note: If you go sea kayaking, put sun cream on your legs!!
Feck thats a while rant. Hope it helps somehow. The only thing i regret about interailling is that i didn't do it til the summer after final year and we only went for 3 weeks.
Any of you in first year of uni with no plans for the summer, go travelling! You'll regret in a few years when you're working and get crap holidays if you don't.
christ weedonns you've came up in the world if you're able to get that down ye. I do recall liftin half drank tinnies(and not that many of them) from our living room floor and you passed out!!
However if any of yous hoors are doin a holiday like that again gimme a shout!!
before we got wed. me and the missus did the inter-railing had a blast. flew to Paris first, during the world cup finals in France at the time (didn't see any games >:()
stayed in Paris for 2 nights, sampled the semi- final win. Paris was really buzzing open air concerts and like. then we headed to Lyon for 3 nights stayed in a hostel some craic. wife is used to hotels, was strange for her to sleep with girls ;) but we managed to get our own room. Lyon is a great city and the finals night was fantastic. well we had a little argument and i solved it walking into a tree while looking at these women, fecking hurt :D
after Lyon we head down to Nice, some spot and then we headed to Cannes and stayed in our first Camp site. Newcastle County Down it wasn't. the Campsites were amazing. stayed there for Bastille Day, wine on the beach and the fireworks going off in Nice, brillo. i could go on but we headed to Innsbruck, Bern, Switzerland by the lakes, then up to Munich to a campsite invaded by mad Irish men (no sleep). then Cologne and Amsterdam then finally Brussels
it's hard work no doubt, but looking back it was the best Holiday without doubt that we had as a couple. some craic some memory's great hospitality and loads more stories. loved to do it again
Just when you mention Auschwitz- went there one day and on the bus back to Krakow there were these 2 older men and a young protege dressed in biker gear and wearing Skrewdriver t-shirts (for those who don't know they're an English neo-nazi punk band with hits like "nigger I hate your face" and "smash smash the ira")! Was wondering if the neo-nazis who go there think Auschwitz is a big exaggerated conspiracy like the historian David Irving, or if they see it as a sort of shrine for them.
Quote from: armaghniac on November 24, 2008, 06:40:41 PM
Mind you I also planned a scenic rail trip through Innsbruck but it was so foggy that I couldn't see the platform.
On a Funtrek years ago, I missed the chance to go to Piz Gloria and the revolving restaurant made famous by James Bond, and when I later saw photos others had taken, I was determined that it would be included in some future trip. Four years later I went out of my way to include it on an inter-rail itinerary but it was so damn foggy we could hardly see the fingers on our outstretched hands! So we sat in this revolving resturant in the Alps and bought postcards of what we WOULD have seen if it wasn't foggy.
wrecked_em how many feckin user accounts do you have?
Palestine street, those were the days my friend! me and the big lad were just agreeing there today that we're gonna head to the states in the summer. Thinking of doing route 66 if you're up for it?
Great post wee dons, thanks everyone else for their replies.
Thinking of going for about 15-20 days, so I'm guess 5 cities should be the most i will see right.
I have heard good things about Krakow, Amsterdam is a must, also i wouldn't mind spending a bit of time in Bulgaria/Croatia. I'm thinking of going mid July, so everywhere should be warm at that stage.
I have been to Berlin on a stag there last month, so I'm not at all fussed about going back to Germany. Also I'm going to heading to Italy for the ireland match in April, so i don't mind giving it a miss.
Anyone reccommend some cities/towns that are a must on a euro rail trip?
QuoteI have been to Berlin on a stag there last month,
Exactly, don't go to places at the end of a cheap flight where you'll be again, like Amsterdam.
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
How did you get on inter railing?
Im thinking about going next summer for 2-3 weeks, I have always fancied doing it and if i dont do it next summer i probably wont get the chance again.
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Who alls going on that Stiffler? Sounds like right craic....See how many cities you can get full in the space of a month!!
Quote from: The Watcher Pat on November 25, 2008, 09:59:34 PM
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
How did you get on inter railing?
Im thinking about going next summer for 2-3 weeks, I have always fancied doing it and if i dont do it next summer i probably wont get the chance again.
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Who alls going on that Stiffler? Sounds like right craic....See how many cities you can get full in the space of a month!!
Bout 4 or 5 lads talking bout it now- but keep it quiet from the poof, i dont want him tagging along ;)
Quote from: stiffler on November 25, 2008, 10:08:22 PM
Quote from: The Watcher Pat on November 25, 2008, 09:59:34 PM
Quote from: stiffler on November 24, 2008, 03:04:39 PM
How did you get on inter railing?
Im thinking about going next summer for 2-3 weeks, I have always fancied doing it and if i dont do it next summer i probably wont get the chance again.
Anyone wanna share their inter railing experience?
Who alls going on that Stiffler? Sounds like right craic....See how many cities you can get full in the space of a month!!
Bout 4 or 5 lads talking bout it now- but keep it quiet from the poof, i dont want him tagging along ;)
So post it on a forum that he's on as well??
He's under the thumb anyway..
Pat you should go on leave from your job, and go off the rails inter-railing!
Quote from: stiffler on November 26, 2008, 06:03:54 PM
Pat you should go on leave from your job, and go off the rails inter-railing!
Who knows i might!!
I'm half off the rails as it is anyway!