Inter-railing: Planning My Trip

In less than 1 month I'm off with a group of 10 (yes 10) friends for an 18 day inter-rail trip around Eastern Europe! To say I'm excited is an understatement!! I've been lucky enough to have visited the majority of Western Europe, but for me Eastern Europe has remained relatively untouched. So, in an attempt to see and do as much as possible we've got a pretty packed itinerary and are cramming in a whopping 6 countries! We fly into Prague, Czech Republic and make our way through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, finally ending up in Bucharest, Romania where we fly home. This may seem like a lot to squeeze into 18 days, but we've planned it to a tee and hope to have enough time to explore an area in each country for a couple of days at a time.

Thanks to the oh-so-wonderful Brexit this trip is now going to work out quite a bit more expensive than we first anticipated. Not that I want to dwell on the current embarrassing state of my country, but we really have done ourselves over. Moving swiftly on..

We're planning on using the inter-rail 5 days within 15, under-26, 2nd class ticket. This comes in at a sweet 200 euros, or around £170. This means we have all of our trains covered while we're out there, with the exception of a quick journey between Ljubljana and Lake Bled. Some of our trains will need to be pre-booked but the rest have the option of either pre-booking or just turning up on the day. As we have already pre-booked our hostels, we'll probably also pre-book trains, just to make sure we don't miss out due to a fully booked train on the day!

6 countries in 18 days may sound quite ambitious, but we've put together an itinerary to make the most out of our time and to keep us from getting distracted or staying in one place too long!

Stop 1 - Prague
Accommodation: St Christopher's Inn
Length of stay: 2 days, 3 nights
Must see: Exploring the city, going on a walking tour and sampling Prague's infamous nightlife will be the main priorities for stop number 1 on the inter-rail journey!

Stop 2 - Vienna
Accommodation: Do Step Inn
Length of stay: 1 day, 1 night
Must see: We've only got a limited amount of time in Vienna so need to cram in as much as possible. This will definitely involve a walking tour (yep, I love them), possibly a museum or gallery and a nice evening meal and drinks. I'm hoping our stay in Vienna will be a quiet affair, but you never know...

Stop 3: Ljubljana
Accommodation: Hostel Celica
Length of stay: 2 days, 2 nights
Must see: There may be a running theme here, but I'd also love to do a walking tour on our first day in Ljubljana! I'd also like to check out the castle and the city is supposed to have a lovely café culture; so people watching, latte in hand will also be happening.

Stop 4: Lake Bled
Accommodation: camping
Length of stay: 3 days, 3 nights
Must see: The lake, obviously. As the majority of the trip is city based, we'll be spending our time at Lake Bled chilling out and soaking up the sun! Rowing and swimming in the lake and relaxing on the shore will be how we spend the majority of our time.

Stop 5: Zagreb
Accommodation: My Way Hostel
Length of stay: 1.5 days, 2 nights
Must see: We obviously want to see as much of the city as we can, but our main priority is to do a day trip to Plitvice Lakes. The lakes are supposed to be stunning and are roughly a 3 hour drive from Zagreb.

Stop 6: Belgrade
Accommodation: Hedonist Hostel
Length of stay: 3 days, 3 nights
Must see: Another walking tour is on the cards in Belgrade, obviously. The nightlife here is also supposed to be amazing, so we'll be going on a few nights out for sure! I'd also like to spend some time chilling at Ada Ciganlija, an island in the middle of the river, where you can swim or relax on the beach.

Stop 8: Bucharest
Accommodation: Antique Hostel
Length of stay: 4 days, 3 nights
Must see: As well as exploring the city and nightlife of Bucharest, we also plan on taking a day trip out of the city to Transylvania. Once in Transylvania there really is only one thing to see; the home of Dracula, Bran Castle.

The countdown is now well and truly on.. get me on that train!!

Have you been inter-railing? Have you got any recommendations?