Mr LGD has been wanting to do an Interrail adventure in Europe for a while. We have also been trying to fly less. So, last December we finally booked the time in the diary. Timing is tricky, as we have an allotment, balcony, and community garden to consider. But we also don’t want it to be super cold in our destinations. Travel was mid to late October. Mostly off season for the places we were going, so it was quieter. Accidentally coincided with Swiss school holidays, but this was not problematic.

Eurostar at St Pancras

The booking was helped by Interrail having a sale in October 2025. I believe they do this three times a year to encourage advance bookings. In 2025 it was 15% off. Getting a first class ticket wasn’t that much more expensive, it meant more space, lounge access at some stations, more luggage space, and an at seat food / drinks service.

Planning the trip

Mr LGD took inspiration from the Interrail website, and travel companies that organise rail tours. We also had a music festival in Amsterdam (ADE) to finish the trip with. So that gave us a good place to start, ironically.

Positive News has some great inspiration here.

Think about the kind of holiday you want, city culture, nature and the outdoors or a combination of both?

Mountains and a glacier in Switzerland

Advantages of train over plane

• No mission to get to / from the airport. These can be quite far out of the city / location you are visiting.
• Much shorter time hanging about and queuing. Even Eurostar is only 45mins to an hour check in at peak times.
• Sleeper trains save a night in a hotel. But make sure your next hotel has an early check in, just in case you need an afternoon nap!
• Approx 1% of the CO2 emissions of flying.
• Less luggage restrictions on liquids, sizes and number of bags. Although you need to be able to carry them!
• No waiting at baggage reclaim.
• The view out of the window is much better. Plug into your favourite podcast, or music, and watch the scenery drift past.
• Need to get some life admin, or work, done? The trains mostly had good WiFi. But where it didn’t the 5g signal was so good it didn’t matter.

Very ergonomic tray and drinks holder on German train.

How Interrail works

We purchased a 7 day pass, there is 1 year to use it, and it allows you to have 7 travel days in one month. You can travel as much as you wish on a travel day.

A train that finishes after midnight, only counts as one day, the day the journey commences.

Some trains, such as the Eurostar and NightJet, require a seat reservation which you need to book in advance, and pay extra for. On Eurostar with a 1st class interrail pass you get to travel in Eurostar Plus but there are limited seats that can be used with the Interrail pass, so book early. You can make seat reservation on other trains, and it is advisable on busy routes. For example our trip from Innsbruck to Vienna, the train was very busy. It’s about 8 euros to make a seat reservation, but more on Eurostar.

Once you have bought your pass on the website most trips are organised, and booked, via the Interrail app.

Screenshot from the app planning section

For non booked (or spontaneous journeys) you can look up the train times on the Interrail app. You only have to activate a trip when you know you are getting a train. If plans change you can still change this. E.g. you get to the station early, and want to get the earlier train.

A travel day counts from when you leave not arrive. Be careful of departure times near midnight. May have to manually enter the time in the app to ensure the right travel day is activated.

Screenshot from the app showing our journeys

You can change your mind about a planned travel day up to midnight the day before.

If using the app for more than one person make sure to copy the journeys to each persons profile and activate the travel day.

For reserved seating, you can use the Interrail app, or the train companies website,  and reserve this directly. Other companies have an option to say you have an Interrail pass.

For sleeper cabins on the NightJet we booked these around 3 months in advance as they get booked up. Cost is around 100 Euros extra per person for a private sleeper cabin.

Train picnic dinner on the Night Jet

Our route

1. London St Pancras to Aachen (change at Brussels)
2. Aachen to Cologne
3. Night Train Cologne to Zurich
4. Zurich to Pontresina (change at Chur)
5. Pontresina to Innsbruck (change at Chur)
6. Innsbruck to Vienna
7. Night train Vienna to Amsterdam

Things we learnt along the way / top tips

• Trains can be quite warm, even in autumn, so layer.
• Trains will often arrive early, and the time on the timetable is the departure time.
• As with UK trains the carriage order / location of 1st class carriages on the platform, is on the display boards. Helping you be in the right spot for your seat reservations.
• Most announcements in the countries we travelled in were in multiple languages.
• OBB, the Austrian train company, have quite a bit of Bio (organic) drinks and food! Also more vegetarian items than we expected.
• On Eurostar Plus you can preorder meals for dietary requirements.

• Good to have snacks as a back up in case the food is not so good, or they have run out.
• Hotels are very well insulated, and the air con is often turned off in autumn to save energy. Make sure you have ear plugs to enable sleeping with the window open, and a thin flat top sheet as the duvets can be very thick.
• Germany is a big fan of cash, make sure you have some coins for public toilets (especially in stations) and paying for smaller items. Check if restaurants / cafes take cards, not all do.
• Amex is not popular in Germany or Austria.
• Automated luggage storage at Cologne is amazing. Super easy to use. This is quite common in some European countries.
• Take a power pack in case of any issues with plug sockets not fitting your adapter, or not working. Charge up the power pack when staying somewhere with suitable power sockets / cables attachments.
• Take around half the amount of underwear you need, plan in a stop with a few nights to sort washing. We just hand washed in the bath, rolled in a towel, and hung up.
• Many hotels have an option to not have the room fully serviced and they donate money to charity.
• If you have a 1st class rail pass you can use the lounge at stations. This often had food, drinks and nice toilets. The size will depend on the location.

NightJet trains

The NightJet Cologne to Zurich was not showing on main departure board, which was quite a worry! We had to ask where it was, turned out the departure time was different to what we had booked. If you are booking quite a way in advance do be aware the timings can change slightly.

The train ended up leaving over an hour later than it should, but made up the time on route. You can get 25% refund if over an hour delayed on arrival time. We were in an old style train, the cabins are quite tight as we expected. It did have a little sink. All very clean including the shared toilets. These cabins are easier with backpacks / top loading cases, rather than cases that open like a book.

Breakfast is ordered on a card when you arrive, lots of veggie and organic options, can also request vegan option. Came with very little single use plastic even a reusable hot drink cup!

The NightJet Vienna to Amsterdam was the more modern carriages with the beds across the window in Comfort cabins. Plus a toilet with sink and mini shower. A table, and more space under the bed for two bags, made it a nicer experience than our first NightJet. They are also more sound proofed so you hear less from other cabins.

Pontresina

Many hotels offer a free travel pass for cable cars / local  buses and trains if you are staying more than one night. It is a QR code for buses and trains, but pick up physical card for ski lifts / cable cars. This has a deposit. When you return it, get this back in cash.

Innsbruck

Our hotel gave us a public transport travel card with our stay as we were there for two nights.

Things we would do differently

Research pre paid credit cards to save on transaction fees.

Will use the interrail pass to get to St Pancreas next time. We live in Stratford so can’t use this on TFL, but can use it on Elizabeth and rail lines within London.