This is what I found out during my Interrail trip in September – October 2023. You might find it useful, you might think it very tedious.
Wheelie Bag or Rucksack?
I know you are dying to know the answer to this big question.
We decided on small wheeled suitcases that we usually use as cabin luggage. They were perfectly good for our needs, which are modest
We packed carefully fitted most of our stuff in our wheelies. We both took small rucksacks to put out valuables (phone, passport, Chromebook) and food in so we could have them with us on the train. Its a well know fact foreigners will try and steal your bags if given the opportunity. Its best to sleep with one eye open.
Often we could put our wheelies above us on luggage racks, sometimes they went on racks at the end of the carriage. We secretly laughed at people with bags bigger than themselves that they could barely drag down the corridor. Ha ha ha you fools!
We never wished we had big rucksacks, they are heavy and needless. This isn’t Thailand in 1984, its Europe in 2023 where we have proper paving (mostly).
Wheelies are noisy on cobbled streets, and you have to be careful on kerbs. Julie lost a wheel from her wheelie and had to buy another one in Siena
What clothes to take?
Travelling in early Autumn in Europe I had clothes for 2 seasons, because I thought it would be cool in October. But it was hot all the time!
4 tee shirts – wore them all. The blue stripy one was my favourite
2 shorts – wore most of the time
4 pairs socks – wore occasionally with trainers
2 thin jumpers – wore very rarely
5 pants
1 jeans
1 hiking trousers – wore once in the rain
2 long sleeve shirts – for evenings out, wore rarely
I pair hiking sandals – wore constantly and they got stinky
2 pair trainers – wore occasionally
I pair swimming shorts
I microfiber towel – very good for the beach
Sun lotion
Bug repellent
Corkscrew – no screw caps on bottles in France
Earbuds
Hat/cap – i had to wash it after a month
Sunglasses
Battery pack for mobile – using Google maps uses lots of power
We stayed in small apartments, often (not always) with washing machines. Occasionally I would shower with my smalls on the floor and stomp them with shampoo.
This was enough because I could regularly wash stuff.
Food
We decide that we would rather have extra days on holiday rather than have lots of meals out. So we had occasional moderately priced meals out, but mostly cooked in our flat.
A baguette in France costs 1 Euro, which is a bargain.
Navigation
The Interrail app is fantastic for finding the train you want and getting the ticket as a QR code. It made planning our route quite straightforward.
The best source of advice is the website “The Man in Seat 61”. He has been everywhere in Europe and his train travel website is amazingly comprehensive.
The view Interrail app doesn’t show all the small regional stations in Italy when you look for stations between cities.
So I used the Trenitalia app (available in English) to find the trains I wanted.
Accomodation
We used Airbnb or Booking.com to find self catering flats. Paris (of course) was most expensive and Golfe Juan was the cheapest. Its a small beach town between Cannes and Antibes. We got a small flat with a swimming pool for £56 a night!
With an Interrail pass you can get cheaper accommodation by being close to a station away from the centre, which we did in Salzburg and Munich.
Eurostar Connection
With Interrail you are allowed one travel day from your home to Europe, so we booked a journey from Whitton ( our local station) to Paris (via St Pancras). To take Eurostar it a £30 surcharge each way and places are limited, so book early.
Sleeping
Take a sleep mask for accommodation with thin curtains.
New City
Find the Tourist Information office for free maps and finding out about places to see. It’s also useful to find where to buy bus/tram/metro tickets.
DON’T put Paris Metro tickets next to your phone, it wipes them out!
CityMapper is available in some big cities and is a useful alternative to Google Maps
Paying for stuff
I have my bank cards in Google Wallet on my Android phone that uses NFC. I used it all the time and it never failed.
We had some Euros to pay for toilets in stations and some small items.
timharnesstravels 