Interrailing, need a wee bit o' help

[ccfcman]

Hey all need help big time please =)

Myself and my mate will be getting the Interrail €400 Global pass in late Aug/early Sept for a month or so [I'll be 20 and he'll be 19 @ the time of departure hopefully that wont affect freedom as it sorta does in Cork :rolleyes: ] .

Just wondering can people recommend somewhere really good to stay/eat/drink/party [really cheap also?] for the destinations below? If you can only help at one destination its great and any more is greatly appreciated. I've read quite a bit on the places we're gonna head to but I'd like to get a feel of them from people's comments/experiences =)

We're leaving from Cork, Ireland--->Paris--->Brussles&Gent--->Amsterdam--->Berlin--->Prague--->Krakow---->Bratislava--->Vienna
--->Rome--->then we're gonna really explore The Balkans =)

Also will there be a good night life during Sept. in these places? Our foreign languages are limited to English, Irish and French so we'll try our best with the ladies, or just get laughed at :o

[Peadar]

Barney's Breakfast Bar (http://www.igougo.com/planning/journalEntryDining.asp?journalID=37452&entryID=22533&n=Barney's+Breakfast+Bar) in Amsterdam is great for a feed and some chillout tunes.

There's an Irish bar and an Australian bar in Vienna that are grand but you get Bavarian beer in the local bars. The same is true for most cities.
I went to see the Vienna Mozart Orchestra (http://www.mozart.co.at/rkonzertewien_en.htm) while in Austria and it was amazing.

[Schumi]

There's a great place in Berlin near Friedrichstasse train station for breakfast (well it was their lunch menu but we used it for breakfast :D ). It does great sausages, white pudding style things and nice chicken and pork. I can't remember the name of the place but it's on the opposite side of the river from the station on the corner at the end of the pedestrian bridge.

[drinkfeckarse]

www.hotel-prague.cz

Cheap as chips :)

[green army]

me and a mate went interrailing a few years ago and it was great craic. we went to paris, brussels and amsterdam. did you go to paris for the ireland game in october then you should probably know a few places to stay. we stayed in a hostel in brussels for €7 a night(incl contiental breakfast) and the room was massive. i cant remember the name of it. i will check when i finish work and let you know. in amsterdam we stayed in dirty nellys youth hostel for €20 a night (incl contiental breakfast). its in the seedy part of the city. happy days!! i have more details at home- i will let you know.

[cullenswood]

I went interrailing a couple of years ago and went to basically all of those places but didn't book any accomodation in advance. Got accomodation when we got off the train in each city. Krakow was the cheapest with some youth hostel (can't remember the name now, but will PM you with it tomorrow) only costing 8 euros a nite. Two or three of the places we stayed in were run by old women renting rooms out in their houses for a few cheap bucks. I reckon that is the cheapest way of doing it anyway.

The most expensive place we stayed in was Amsterdam, but still managed to get a room in some womans house for 30 squids a nite. It had a full sound system and TV and video player in it!! Very trusting woman!

[shedite]

Did it two years ago but stayed away from the places you mention. Did Prague alright- mental gaff. There's a nice little village about 2hrs south called Ceske Kromlov which is basically like Prague before it got taken over by tourists. WELL worth a visit.

Also if you're goin to the balkans, make sure you get out to some of the islands off south croatia. We only made it to Hvar which was amazing but Brac is also meant to be cool.

Don't bother making any plans for nights. They are the best nights (although the biggest nightclub in Europe in Prague is well worth a visit).

[Troy.McClure]

Lonely Planets Europe on a Shoestring will set you right. I didnt like Belgium, Brataslava is only ok, 2 nights is enough but stay for about 5 in Krakow and call in to Maurice in The Irish Arms. Sleep rough if you want to do something a bit different. Do a bit of planning but not too much, leave room for winging it (we went to Ibiza instead of staying in Switzerland). Yanks are the easiest to chat up, just act nearly as dumb as them, but a bit smarter and you'll be fine ;)

[James]

There's a nice little village about 2hrs south called Ceske Kromlov which is basically like Prague before it got taken over by tourists. WELL worth a visit.

as is brno, olomouc, ceske budovice.. valmez.. great great towns in Czech
people much friendlier then in prague

[Beavis]

Were heading out interailling too,heard you can go down as far as Morocco,think we might head down that way and take in the spanish resorts .Hoping to catch boat to Amsterdam for Dance Valley(5-7 August). Anyone have any information on getting tickets or even have some tips if you've been there

[James]

oh and stay away from this (http://www.inyourpocket.com/cr/prague/en/venue?id=CZPGENN0051) ****ehole

about as bleedin oirish as they come
last time i was in there i got given out to for abusing the channel 4 documentary guys filming a brit lads on stag weekender thing

bar owner came over to me and in his best cockney.. goes.. ease up mate .. the boys are only having a giraffe!!
\i kid u not

[finlma]

I did the same with a few mates a couple of years ago. You'll have great fun but sleeping in the trains is a knightmare. I'd recommend as much time in the Balkans as possible. Also, when you're in Slovakia go to the Tatras Mountains. Its a great break from the cities, really cheap and fantastic scenery.
When I went inter-railing Bosnia wasn't included but we took a bus to Sarajevo and it was well worth it. You should go there if you have a chance.
Make sure you go to Dubrovnik in Croatia - one of the most amazing cities in the world. Ljubljana has the best looking women in the world.

[A face]

Italy in August is Fiere Augusta which is on 15th ... but that is nothing to go on .... most Italians shut up shop and go to the sea for the whole month. (hard to get accomidation by sea at that time) In Rome and Florence you should be OK as they are touristie places but most other towns will seem like ghost towns and remember everything is closed between 12-4. (buy water BEFORE the shops close !!). Stay away from Venice ... it stinks in August.

In Siena, The Palio is the Tuscany's most celebrated festival and takes place on July 2nd and August 16th each year in the Campo. It is a bareback horse race. The jockeys represent the 17 contrade (parishes) and the horses are chosen by the drawing of straws and are blessed at the local contrada churches. The races are preceded by heavy betting and pageantry, but only last about 90 seconds each. You wont be there for the races though :D .... Totally recommend this, dont bring lots with ya, like any concert or weekender ... be prepared everything so dont bring a camcorder or any thing expensive.

Also .... when passing through towns, ask about the markets (marcato) and different festivals.

And you can pre-book (prenotato) train seats on InterCity trains, handy if you dont want to stand all the way.

[Bluebeard]

My top five travel tips for your ramblings

The Tatry mountains in Slovakia are a must, though 5 hours train outside of Bratislava. Tatranska Lomnica has a good campsite (I pitched my tent there higher above sea level than it was possible to get to in Ireland). Definite must is getting the cable car to the top of the highest peak in the Carpathians - snow covered even in mid July - I watched Superman III in Slovak in the little pub/shop up there before coming back down.

Florence is quite a nice little spot if you are into your art / architecture / literature / football, but nearby Lucca, home of Lucchese (in Serie C now) is also a great Tuscan base (much nicer than Pisa for staying in), but I don't know if it has a hostel (went with the girlfriend). Didn't rate Venice so highly, but it's worth seeing if you have the dosh.

Good youth Hostel at Lake Bled in Slovenia - not much of a nightlife, but a great lake for a swim, and this wonderful mountainy life. Gorgeous island in the middle of the lake - can be swum to. Beware, it does get crowded at parts in the summer. Has the odd rowing regatta too. Bland supermarket type place is convenient. The hostel has a couple of decent bars nearby, but most importantly the town tends to attract, and caters well, for young (and sometimes nubile, if your lucky) English speakers.

In Serbia, I would definitely see if the Exit Noise Festival is on in Novi Sad when you are nearby - excellent festival will be in it's 6th year if still going on the banks of the Danube. Great people, good buzz and life is very laid back (or was when I was there). Funnily enough a town with 2 Irish pubs, and no Irish resident. Who'da thunk it? Great fruit markets. Of all of Serbia, the northern part (Voivodina Province) is a necessary acclimitisation process - they use both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets - Cyrillic only in the rest of the country.

In Austria, try to get a way into the mountains - my girlfriend really recommends Salzburg, though I haven't been. Personally, I loved Graz - decent football team, gorgeous city, fine views from the local Schlossberg, and on the way to Lubliana, and Italy (sort of). The IHA hostel is a little pricey (€24 pernight in 2005), but buffet breakfast, as you know, means stocking up for lunch too.

Other highlights for me on your trip would be loking for the signs in Amsterdam pointing the direction of former Batman Adam West :D , the ****ing boy near the Grand Marche in Brussels (a statue, that is), anything and everything in Vienna, and Hungarian women, and female Croatian Football fans, as acclaimed on the Sabrina thread.

Oh, and a visit to European Capital of Culture 2005 should definitely be on your list :D :D :D

[eoinh]

Hey all need help big time please =)

Myself and my mate will be getting the Interrail €400 Global pass in late Aug/early Sept for a month or so [I'll be 20 and he'll be 19 @ the time of departure hopefully that wont affect freedom as it sorta does in Cork :rolleyes: ] .

Just wondering can people recommend somewhere really good to stay/eat/drink/party [really cheap also?] for the destinations below? If you can only help at one destination its great and any more is greatly appreciated. I've read quite a bit on the places we're gonna head to but I'd like to get a feel of them from people's comments/experiences =)

We're leaving from Cork, Ireland--->Paris--->Brussles&Gent--->Amsterdam--->Berlin--->Prague--->Krakow---->Bratislava--->Vienna
--->Rome--->then we're gonna really explore The Balkans =)

Also will there be a good night life during Sept. in these places? Our foreign languages are limited to English, Irish and French so we'll try our best with the ladies, or just get laughed at :o

September is the perfect time to go - easily. Perfect for travelling, everything still open but youve just missed the huge rush plus weather is still very good but not unbearably hot. Ild recommend though heading for a German city as well as they are the most "welcoming" especially a city that doesnt see huge tourist inflows maybe a university town like Mainz (Bundesliga football as well). If youre in Vienna (which is a great city but not too welcoming) maybe head for Salzburg before you head to Rome

[Dricky]

Were heading out interailling too,heard you can go down as far as Morocco,think we might head down that way and take in the spanish resorts .Hoping to catch boat to Amsterdam for Dance Valley(5-7 August). Anyone have any information on getting tickets or even have some tips if you've been there

Dance Valley, no buses run after so it's a long walk, bring a sleeping bag.

[Dricky]

Interrailing, well worth it, the night train are great, wake up in a new city. Hostels are fine and most places you can get a room if you want.
Budapest has a one week rock festival on every year if you can aim for a couple of days for that it is well worth it. Sunny sunny sunny.... class trip

[niamh]

"We're leaving from Cork, Ireland--->Paris--->Brussles&Gent--->Amsterdam--->Berlin--->Prague--->Krakow---->Bratislava--->Vienna
--->Rome--->then we're gonna really explore The Balkans =)"




There's a great little hostel near the U-bahn in the Turkish district in Berlin. It's on the web. http://www.backpacker.de/ Nice, cheap places to eat around it. The walking tour of the City is fantastic - really different way to see the City. We have a great laugh there, a City a lot more interesting than it sounds.

Prague: Prague is a beautiful city. Lots of tourists. Beware of being ripped off -foodwise- but we camped there for EUR3 a night I think.

Krakow: We stayed at the Strawberry hostel, which was on the University campus. People were at the station willing to take you there with all your gear but it's not that far by tram either. Lots of cheap places to drink and eat there and the hostel organises buses daily to Auschwitz, which is mainly why we went there. It's actually a beautiful city but you'll get fleeced by speaking English so coupla focail as Gaelge agus beidh tu ceart go leor.

Vienna: Also stayed in the Strawberry hostel there as well. Easy enough to get to from the train station. Eating and drinking is not cheap there but it is no more expensive than Dublin. There's was a great Irish pub but can't for the life of me remember where it was or what it was called!!

Anyhow, hope some of this helps.
We had great craic.

[James]

good scam ppl try in prague is a few guys in uniforms or sometimes without will approach you as you get off the trams / underground subway and ask for your tickets or id or passport.
As soon as you reach for wallet/passport they run with it

oh and some vocab..

pivo = beer
ti si krasnia = works very well on women :)

trying to remember few more phrases vocab

[Dricky]

good scam ppl try in prague is a few guys in uniforms or sometimes without will approach you as you get off the trams / underground subway and as for tickets or id. As soon as you reach for wallet they run with it

pivo = beer
ti si krasnia = works very well on women :)

Taxi meter is another rip off.

[James]

jeasus yeah the old taxi scam.
if ye are going anywhere in czech get a quote from the driver beforehand

[fosterdollar]

ti si krasnia = works very well on women :)


"Where is the nearest place i can get eggs to boil my socks?", yeah?

[Green Tribe]

definitely visit Zakopane, a mountain resort in the Tatry mountains in southern Poland, the mountains extend into Slovakia, which is much cheaper than Poland, but Poland is quite cheap too. Zakopane is brill, u can travel from krakow no problem, try Okocim beer, yum! and bigos soup(u will fart a lot but it is really tasty :D ) as someone mentioned earlier, go to auschwitz. Polish people are really into all things Celtic and irish, esp music so this might impress the girls(though Polish women tend to be of the gold-digger type)

jestes bardzo piekna moja kochana ( yest-tesh barrd-so pee-yenka moy-ya ko-hanna) you are very beautiful

kocham cie ( ko-ham chay) i love you :eek:

lubie sie adam malysz (loo-bien shieng adam ma-wish) i like adam malysz( very popular ski-jumping hero in Poland)

Czesc, jak sie masz? (cheshst, yak shieng mash?) hi/hello how are you?

ok, enough of the Polish lesson. have fun!!
x Julie

[Donal81]

We stayed in Warsaw for two days and weren't too impressed. Krakow is a beautiful city. I can't remember the name of the hostel we stayed in but it was listed in the hostel guide we got from Usit. You can get a train to Oswiecim (home of Auschwitz and Birkenau) from one of the train stations there, it's about two hours away.

Budapest is amazing and well worth spending time in. As with Prague, depending on the season, I guess, you'll be met with guys as you come off the train offering accommodation deals. In Prague, we got a 3 star hotel for next to nothing as a result. The same thing happened in Budapest so don't write them off as chancers immediately.

[Dricky]

Bring something to wedge the door for Poland although they do give you locks for at night. on the trains.

If you like dumplings you'll be happy as a pig in s.h!te in CZR Hun Pol.

Munich is a great city and you can do the transfer by train from there, the women there are stunning feck sake even the men are as well. VEry cool city, great for a bit of Bitburger and chilling.

[Bluebeard]

definitely visit Zakopane, a mountain resort in the Tatry mountains in southern Poland, the mountains extend into Slovakia, which is much cheaper than Poland, but Poland is quite cheap too. Zakopane is brill, u can travel from krakow no problem, try Okocim beer, yum! and bigos soup(u will fart a lot but it is really tasty :D ) as someone mentioned earlier, go to auschwitz. Polish people are really into all things Celtic and irish, esp music so this might impress the girls(though Polish women tend to be of the gold-digger type)

You can get a bus to the Polish Border from Tatranska Lomnica, and as fara as I remember, connect with a bus after customs / border police that will take you to Zakopane - I remember that I really wanted to do that on my travels, but I was kind of bunched with a time-table I had to keep roughly to in order to meet a mate in Bucharest. I strolled to the Polish side's National Park, which was impressiove enough too. The area is well worth a week or two, I reckon.

Someday when I have money..... ;)