The Young Lady's Guide to... Interrailing

Interrailing. Also known as “taking a month to travel round Europe on a series of occasionally-dodgy trains”. It’s not the sort of thing you could imagine a true Young Lady doing… However, I can promise you, it’s something every Young (or not so Young!) lady MUST cross off her bucket list.

My personal experience of interrailing occurred in June 2012. My boyfriend, Alex, and I, embarked upon 23 days of sun, sea, and… sight-seeing. We made the decision to primarily stick to Western Europe, though we spent about a week wandering around Budapest, Prague and other Eastern cities.

This post will just be a little introduction to the Interrailing Etiquette, and I’ll do some more indepth posts on each place we visited.

Rules of Interrailling;

• ·      ALWAYS book a seat, especially on night trains
• ·      Against popular opinion, DON’T just pitch up and hope to find a cheap hostel. They will all be full, and the ones that won’t will be full of bedbugs
• ·      DO wear suncream. Exhibit A: Alex’s neck (don't ask)
• ·      DON’T feel like you have to spend loads of money! Some of the best things to do are free – walking around, getting picnics in parks
• ·      DO pack light. You WILL be hauling those bags everywhere, and if you can’t lift it (and don’t have a lovely boyfriend who will carry it for you) you’re basically screwed
• ·      DON’T be afraid to take valuables with you; so long as you’re not a twat who throws them about everywhere, people aren’t likely to mug you
• ·      DO hit up relatives and friends etc for places to stay
• ·      DON’T be afraid of booking hostels if that’s what you like; personally, staying in hotels was always more fun for me, but that’s because I didn’t feel like socialising!!
• ·      DO go with someone you know you’ll get on with, even when you’re smelly and grumpy enough to kick a bin (which I actually did in Vienna). You’re going to be spending a LOT of quality time together, so make sure you actually really like them…
• ·      DON’T forget your camera! There will be so many incredible memories, it’s only right to capture them on film
• ·      DO consider bringing your iPad (if you have one) – it’s small enough to hide in a day bag, and you can connect to wifi everywhere to show off about how cool your trip is. Plus you can play endless games of chess during your endless train journeys (Alex won every time… I just didn’t get better!)
• ·      DO plan! Trip Advisor should be your NBF 

So there you have the basic rules for surviving an Interrailing trip! If anyone has any questions, don't forget; theyoungladysguide@gmail.com

Love,

Blaise

useful links:

http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-passes/interrail-global-pass

http://www.tripadvisor.com

http://www.booking.com/

http://www.hostelbookers.com