Hi guys,

Me and some friends are planning to interrail around Europe next September. My friend said that a budget of about £1000 would be needed for this to be viable. However, she thought the passes were only about £100 and from looking myself, I can only find a pass that costs £367. We are not particularly well off (some of us will hopefully be graduating from university in the summer, others are continuing students) and I am now worried that we won't be able to afford to go.

We are planning to travel for a month with our rough plan being to visit Paris, Belgium, Luxembourg, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Italy and Czech Republic. We will probably get the Eurostar to either Paris or Brussels to begin the trip. Does anyone know of any cheaper passes or at least if it is worth shelling out that much money for?

Thanks

Lets address this:

1. There is no way you can see 5 countries and four cities in one month and do any one country justice. Unless you intend on only seeing a few cities in each country and staying only a day or so, it'll be one long train trip. The good news is if you stick to your plan, you'll get your moneys worth out of your railpass.

2. There is a direct and positive relationship to speed of travel and cost of travel. In short, the faster you go, the more it will cost you.(unless you find cheap flights all the time) The more often you move, the more it will cost you.

3. There is a direct relationship between number of places one visits in a short time, and travel time. Every time you move places, you lose about half a day, at least. Unless you intend on getting a nervous breakdown seeing things the moment you arrive, and never settling anywhere, that is.

So, you visit 9 cities. Good. Count on losing 3-4 days of visiting time to actually arrive and get settled, take a shower, eat after travelling, etc.

This is a start.

Next: We need a real budget from you, at which time we can tell you if you have enough, and what you have enough FOR.