I always planned on interrailing Europe, the idea of travelling from country to country by rail has always been such a romantic idea in my head.

For me, when I was planning my Europe interrailing trip, I knew exactly where I wanted to go.

It was just a case of looking at a map and linking the places together and coming up with the logistics.

Everyone should interrail Europe at some point, whether it’s for a few weeks, or months.

It’s an incredible experience and so doable!

With no borders, you could find yourself in Switzerland for breakfast and then walk across to Germany for lunch!

Even if you’re not big on planning trips, interrailing Europe is so user friendly and generally pretty safe too.

What I love about interrailing or euro-railing is that you can make it as long or as short as you want, it just depends on how much time you have and how much money you have.

You can easily interrail Europe on a travel budget, in fact, I’ve done it myself. I wrote a blog post about cutting costs whilst interrailing- check it out here.

If you need some extra tips on budgeting, I have also written a post on creating your own realistic travel budget- here!

This itinerary took me 5 weeks, but it could definitely be completed in a shorter amount of time if you just wanted a taster of each place.

Shall we crack on then?

Amsterdam

I began my journey in the home of the clogs, Amsterdam.

I went interrailing round Europe with two other friends, which was absolutely awesome!

Saying that, I’d happily do it on my own too.

As soon as we arrived in the capital after a tiring…wait for it… 45-minute flight from Liverpool, my friend came out with:

“What language do they speak in Amsterdam, is it…HOLLANDAISE?”

Me: “NO, that’s the SAUCE!”

That set the perfect tone for the rest of the trip!

What I loved doing in Amsterdam was simply wandering the streets and getting lost amongst the canals.

Also, the cute little pubs on canal corners seemed so traditional, it was nice to immerse in the local culture by having a beer overlooking the boats of an evening.

The great thing about Amsterdam is that you could literally walk everywhere in the city. I don’t think we even caught a tram or bus once.

If you tactically position yourself near the centre, you can easily access most attractions.

We stayed in an all female hostel streets away from the Anne Frank museum.

This was a great base for everywhere we wanted to visit.

Must dos in Amsterdam:

• Anne Frank House– TIP: Book tickets in advance or face the longest queues!
• Van Gough museum
• The Jordaan
• I Love Amsterdam sign
• Walk the canals
• Fondue- Take a look at some of the top fondue restaurants in Amsterdam 

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Hamburg

Hamburg was one of my favourite places to visit on this trip.

Probably because it was unexpectedly epic.

You hear a lot about how amazing Amsterdam and Berlin and Vienna are, that you almost have these preexisting expectations.

Arriving into Hamburg on the train, which wasn’t too far from Amsterdam, was impressive with all the boats and the harbour.

I can definitely see how The Beatles saw Hamburg as a home from home.

Such a lovely and welcoming city, it’s definitely somewhere I would return to in a heartbeat.

With the port and the expansive parks and impressive streets, it’s not one to miss!

There are a few different parks in Hamburg, you could spend a day walking around a few.

It’s funny because on a hot day you’ll see the locals go to the park and dip their feet in the streams.

Must dos:

• Harbour boat tour
• Wander the parks

Berlin

This was such an interesting city, I guess the mixture between the modern architecture and the history surrounding the city gives it it’s character.

There’s a lot to see in Berlin, so it’s worth spending some extra days there.

So many historical sites to see along with shopping and arty and architectural spots if that’s your cup of tea.

It’s quite a diverse city, so you can kind of make the trip whatever you intend it to be!

This stop for us, was quite a history orientated which included visiting the different historical sites, war museums and a tour of Sachsenhausen. 

Must dos:

• Berlin wall
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Holocaust memorial
• Hitler’s bunker
• Brandenburg gate
• Walking tour- a great tour company is Sandemans New Europe

Prague

Prague is notorious for stag and hen parties and therefore known for being home to rowdy clubs, bars and cheap booze.

I, on the other hand, had a vastly different experience when I went.

Some people are surprised when I tell them how lovely Prague actually is.

I had a more cultural experience, which made my trip super interesting and perhaps more memorable than others.

One of the highlights for me was the free walking tour, which was absolutely brilliant!

The guide told us all about the history of the Czech Republic and Prague and we were taken all over the city to practically every main site!

If we had visited each site independently, it wouldn’t have been half as fascinating.

Once you have that background knowledge about a place, you see it through different eyes and it certainly adds flavour to your experience.

The streets of Prague are so beautiful, and the architecture is breathtaking!

We had a few days extra in Prague and so did an excursion to Terezin, a propaganda concentration camp.

This place was so eye-opening.

It was about an hour train ride from Prague to this eerie town where the former concentration camp was based.

It was explained as a kind of “show” camp where a propaganda film was made to demonstrate how well people were doing there, in order to counter the rumours about extermination at the camps.

Must dos:

• Charles Bridge
• Wenceslas Square
• Old Town square
• Prague Beer brewery
• Lennon wall- John Lennon inspired political graffiti

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Bratislava

There isn’t a great deal to do in Bratislava, and in hindsight, I would have probably skipped this destination.

We only spent one night here and that was probably enough.

On the one evening that we had in Bratislava, we decided to have a meal and some drinks in the main square.

As we were sat playing cards outside at a bar, the heavens opened!

Saying it was raining cats and dogs is an understatement…

It was raining a whole zoo!

Anyway, we bundled inside the bar and watched as the chairs and tables outside of the bar were blown away down the road, with the rain coming down in buckets.

After waiting inside the bar for about 40 minutes, the storm seemed to die down a little and we decided to venture out back to our apartment.

I couldn’t believe the streets were covered in branches, massive puddles, (which were more like small lakes) and stuff everywhere.

You wouldn’t have thought that a mere 40 minutes of storm could do as much damage as it did!

Once we got back to the apartment, I realized that I had left my window open…

The bed sat directly under the window, which, as you can imagine was absolutely soaked!

Luckily there was spare bedding in one of the wardrobes…

Must dos:

• Bratislava castle

Budapest

The weather continued to be appalling in Budapest too!

Although one day gave us fairly nice weather, so we headed to one of the famous baths!

This was a bucket list moment for me.

This was my second time in Budapest, but the first time was not a baths-appropriate time of year.

Saying that, if you’re a clean freak or don’t like particularly close unhygienic contact with strangers, you’ll not find these baths a pleasant experience, shall we say!

It was absolutely packed with people!

There were multiple pools, outside and inside. The indoor pools were more like hot tubs filled to the brim with people, shoulder to shoulder.

I personally couldn’t stay in there long; it was steamy and quite gross.

Must dos:

• Parliament building
• Boat ride down the Danube
• Taste “Goulash”  
• Go to the baths (even if you stand outside, the buildings are immense)

Vienna

One thing you just have to do while in Vienna is to sit in a traditional Viennese patisserie and have coffee and cake!

This particular one that I went to, (I cannot remember the name of) was amazing, a pianist was playing, it was so Viennese!

The culture in Austria is vastly different to that in Hungary, so it was quite interesting to notice the switch with just one train journey!

Ah, the wonders of interrailing Europe!

Must dos:

• Schonbrunn Palace
• Schonbrunner gardens
• Peterskirche chruch
• Go to a Viennese cafe!

Salzburg

The hills are alive!

Being honest, there’s not loads to do in Salzburg.

A few days here is sufficient, but it’s so worth a visit!

The place is so picturesque, surrounded by beautiful mountains and wondrous nature.

If you listen carefully you can hear the distant sound of singing echoing around the mountains…along with some nuns skipping down the road…

If you’re not a “Sound of Music” fan, you may not realise but Salzburg is where this musical is based and filmed!

For those of us who are fans….it’s super exciting!

Although it was quite pricey, I had to go on The Sound of Music tour.

It was a few hours long and basically consisted of a busload of American tourists being carted to a few sites that were shown on the movie.

Along with a tour guide who tried to crack as many Sound of Music jokes as physically possible.

The tour included seeing the Von Trapp residence (from a distance), the greenhouse where they sing “16 going on 17”, the church where Maria and the Captain get married and a few spots where they sing “Do Rae Me”.

Although it was a fun experience, all in all, it was quite an anticlimax of a tour and was evidently a money-making method rather than a well thought out, valuable experience.

BUT, there was no way that I would have missed seeing those sites whilst in Salzburg.

In hindsight, I would have maybe tried to use either public transport or a taxi to get me to these different locations, without having to follow a crowd load of people around.

It perhaps took away from the experience.

It cost about 40 Euros– I definitely felt as though I had been ripped off as the different locations were accessible to the public.

Must dos:

• Mirabell palace
• Salzburg cathedral
• Mozart’s birthplace
• Residenzplatz

Munich

Munich is a necessity!

I must admit, when I first arrived at the central train station, I thought it wasn’t a particularly pleasant place.

Once I had ventured a bit further into the centre of the city, I really appreciated how lovely it was.

Obviously, the famous Oktoberfest is held here.

When I was there during the summer, it felt like one big beer fest party too!

With extensive beer gardens with hundreds, if not thousands, of people sitting on benches and queuing for the biggest beers you’ve ever seen!

We went to this massive HB beer hall, the atmosphere was incredible!  

If you want to get a true sense of the German or Bavarian (I should say) culture, you have to visit Munich!

It has a different vibe to Hamburg and Berlin, I guess because it is a Bavarian city.

I could have definitely stayed longer to do some of the extra day trips.

But that’s for another time!

Must dos:

• Marienplatz
• English garden
• Dachau- concentration camp
• Nuremburg day trip
• Neuschwanstein castle

Luxembourg

I would recommend venturing a bit farther than Luxembourg City if you do plan on going to Luxembourg.

We spent one day in Luxembourg City and that was sufficient!

Try the rural parts of Luxembourg- there are some beautiful landscapes!

We stayed at a campsite about an hour out of Luxembourg City. It was the end of the trip and all we wanted to do was relax!

So, we booked a few days in a cabin which had an outdoor decking area with a BBQ!

We stocked up on beers and food and spent a few days enjoying the sun and looking back on the great trip we’d had.

To conclude…

If you’re looking for adventure, interrailing Europe should be next on your bucket list!

I mean, you can totally tailor your interrail route to suit you.

Definitely check out my tips for cutting costs whilst interrailing Europe, there’s some unique ideas in there that are worth knowing before interrailing!

For me, this was the ideal route planner, as it gave a taster of different aspects of Europe.

The idea of hopping on and off trains wherever you fancy is also the traveller’s dream!

It’s such a flexible way to travel and definitely beats getting on and off flights for sure!

Yours,

Holly