How To Enjoy Interrailing When You’re Older and Wiser

Suppose you ever headed off to the continent in your university summer holidays. In that case, chances are you booked an interrail ticket and spent a month in a haze of cheap red wine and dodgy youth hostels carrying an oversized backpack.

But interrailing isn’t just for students. It’s also a fantastic option for older travellers. Tickets – even 1st class Interrail options – are now open for all ages, and you might find that interrailing the second time around is an even more rewarding experience. Older and wiser, you can make the most of this fantastic and brilliant value way of touring the continent.

Be Creative With Your Route

If you’ve not seen much of Europe before, a grand whistlestop tour may be the best way to experience Interrail. But if you’re going interrailing for a second time, you’ve likely seen a fair bit of Europe already. You’ve probably been to many of the continent’s capital cities on mini breaks and trips over the years. So plan your trip more creatively and seek out some of the lesser-known gems of Europe.

For example, if you’re travelling from the French Mediterranean coast to Spain, consider stopping at splendid, historic Girona rather than Barcelona. Heading to Portugal? Try Porto rather than the more obvious – but also fantastic – capital Lisbon.

Or focus on an in-depth exploration of one or two countries. Southern Germany, for example, is packed with cultural, friendly small riverside cities and winegrowing towns, perfect for exploring by train or combining train trips with some hiking, biking and river cruising.

Italy’s another obvious choice for exploring more closely. Why not take a trip from its Alpine and Germanic-influenced north all the way down via Rome to Naples and the south for a culture-packed journey of surprising contrasts?

I took the opportunity of a wedding invite in Istanbul to hoof it across Europe from west to east, seeing the countries and cultures change as I left western Europe and entered the Balkans.

Scandinavia also lends itself to epic adventures – travel north through Germany to the Jutland peninsula and Denmark, then up the length of Norway to the Arctic Circle. These are just a few ideas to get you thinking.

Get Strategic With Sleeper Carriages

If you dispensed with sleeper cars during your first time Interrailing to crash in a regular train seat and save a few quid, you’d be looking forward to experiencing the full sleeper experience.

Sleeper carriages are fantastic, but it’s not as easy to get a good night’s sleep in one as you might hope for. Trains are noisy, and there are almost constant flickering lights from outside at night. Packing earplugs and an eye mask is a top tip for a better night’s kip.

You may also be surprised that sleeper cars are mixed-sex, and you could share them with anyone. However, if you don’t mind spending a bit extra and are travelling with others, how about reserving the entire sleeper compartment for yourself? It could help avoid a few awkward moments and is more secure.

If you do end up sharing, then a spot of advice from a habitual nighttime bathroom visitor – nab the bottom bunk if at all possible. It’ll make any nighttime’ comfort trips’ less disruptive to fellow passengers and much easier for yourself, as clambering up the small ladder to the top bunk is always a bit of a balancing act.

However you approach it, a night in a sleeper carriage is unlikely to leave you as rested as a night in your own bed. So to survive the sleeper train experience, break up long journeys with a night in a sleeper carriage, then the next night in a city hotel or hostel, you’ll stay fresh and ready to enjoy your trip.

For Europeans interrailing in Britain, why not book a trip (you will need to pay a supplement for the sleeper carriage) on the Night Riviera Sleeper from London to Penzance to experience the delights of Cornwall and southwest England?

Eat onboard

Many long-distance European trains have buffet cars. There’s something very appealing about tucking into a hot meal on a train as you watch the scenery pass by. Perhaps it conjures up an Orient Express-style experience. Before you get carried away, don’t expect fine dining, but you can certainly eat more civilly than just tucking into a jumbo pack of crisps and half a baguette.

But you’d be well advised to take a big bottle of water with you and pack some emergency snacks, as buffet car opening times can be erratic, and there’s nothing worse than a long train journey in the heat with no water and an empty stomach.

Get to Know the Locals

If you’re an older traveller, you’re probably less bothered with finding the in-crowd to hang out with than having a rewarding break where you really get to know the places you’re visiting. Yes, it’s always fun to share a beer and some traveller’s tales with fellow interrailers, but getting to know the locals and being introduced to their culture and local food and drink is even better.

So you may want to stay off the typical tourist trail and seek out smaller towns and villages to stay in. Book into a homely B&B and get to know your hosts. Italy is particularly good for this. You’ll find that accommodation there – especially away from the major cities – is more likely to be family run and with its own idiosyncratic quirks, plus very likely offering delicious and genuine home-cooked food.

Ask the locals for tips and advice to help form your adventures. It’s often that the best restaurants and points of interest aren’t in the guidebooks – get talking and be prepared to change your plans as you go along.

Treat Yourself

To do the full interrail experience, yes, you’ll want to take sleeper trains and might even fancy meeting fellow travellers at hostels if you’re young at heart. But you can’t live like a student for the whole journey, so do yourself a favour and book yourself a treat in a nice hotel along the way somewhere.

Spain’s parador hotels offer a touch of luxury in beautiful, historic surroundings. In Italy, how about an agriturismo or nice family-run B&B? Accommodation prices in Eastern Europe and the Balkans are much more reasonable than in western Europe as well, and you can often nab yourself a real bargain.

The same goes for food. Saving a few Euros by eating a baguette and cheap supermarket cheese in a city centre park isn’t quite the best way to experience the local cuisine. Eating out well doesn’t have to be expensive in Europe if you’re savvy.

In Rome, for example, avoid the tourist hotspots around Plaza Navona and head instead across the Tiber to Trastevere, where you can eat fantastic local specialities in a genuine trattoria for less than 20 Euros. In France, try taking your main meal of the day at midday in a local bistro where lunchtime set menus for office workers can be much better valued than a la carte evening offerings.

And in much of Eastern Europe, there really is little point in trying to economise by buying picnic food as processed supermarket fare is likely to cost as much if not more than a hot tasty meal in a local cafe. Try ‘cevapi’ meatballs in Bosnia and Serbia or a hot pastry ‘burek’ in Croatia for a quick snack like the locals.

And Finally…

If you’re travelling alone, then it’s likely that age has not dimmed your sense of adventure and youthful outlook on life. Don’t forget that you are Interrailing; part of the fun is meeting fellow travellers en route.

You’ll get to meet people plus make your money stretch further, giving you more chances to treat yourself by booking the occasional night in a travellers’ hostel. If you don’t fancy the idea of dorm rooms and being disturbed by drunken revellers or snoring roommates, don’t worry. Most hostels offer private rooms where you can take advantage of this kind of accommodation’s social nature and value without slumming it.

The main thing to remember, though, is that Interrailing is one of the best ways to get to know Europe. It combines adventure with practicality, and you can choose the style of your trip, whether you fancy a nostalgic rerun of your student days or a more cultural journey of discovery. And for non-European citizens and residents, a Eurail Pass gives you the same travel benefits and experiences.

Image credits: pitel, blackbulb