Well only you can say whether the price is acceptable - after all it's you who has a budget and knows exactly how much you have available to spend!

That said, the price seems quite reasonable to me - you can get a lot of mileage in a month's use. IF you can sleep on a train, a couchette supplement is not a bad idea, but do treat yourselves to the occasional night on terra firma ... you can get very tired of the 'rocking' movement, even when not actually on a train!

The trick is to plan your itinerary carefully, and then be aware of any bank holidays which might make your journeys cramped and stressful. I think you'll have a great time!

Thanks for the quick reply!

We are budgeting, but it's not too strict (I have savings I can dig into if need be). So £285 for travel is fine, but all I'm wondering is whether just buying each rail ticket individually as we travel would be cheaper (i.e. does the Inter-rail pass actually save any money)?

Many thanks, Dave

Yes Dave it does! And many countries do not let you buy their passes once you are in the country itself! Interrail is well respected and known by railway staff, so you shouldn't have many problems.

Now get a map, and decide your planned itinerary (yes there will be times when you miss a train or decide to stay shorter or longer in one place!!) then try http://www.deutschebahn.de for timings and connections. They are usually very reliable and you can ask in English too!

You might decide to travel with the month in question's Thomas Cook European Guide (red) to have immediate hardcopy when you are actually on the move. Looking forward to hearing more of your plans!

Okay Inter-rail sounds cool then, we'll get a pass each! Thanks a lot!

We do have an itinerary, we just weren't sure the best/cheapest way to travel, but we wanted to go by train anyway because it sounds really romantic and beautiful. Our rough plans are:

Flight to Amsterdam on the 26th and spend two nights -- Get an overnight train to Copenhagem (where that link you posted will come in handy, so thank you for that!) -- Spend a few nights in Krakok -- Couple of nights in Vienna, or maybe Prague, or maybe even Budapest (spur of the moment decision probably) -- somewhere along the Dalmation Coast in Croatia for 2-4 days -- Venice for two nights (already booked!) -- Spend a week down south in Italy with family (free food and bed!!!) -- Spend a couple of days travelling west by train, detouring through Switzerland, checking out Southern France, before getting to Spain -- In Spain check out a couple of cities, nothing confirmed -- Head down to Morocco for a few days/nights (my girlfriend's found some nice places, I forget where though) -- Back up to Madrid to fly home to Luton-London

Sound good??? We want to get away over Xmas too, not sure where yet, but we were thinking Scandinavia in more detail, but seeing as we're both students I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves
Thanks for your help, and if you have any other tips or hints I would really appreciate hearing from you!

Dave

http://www.seat61.com is probably the best sourceof train info on the 'net

Sweden at christmas time is amazing, i was there that time of year a while ago. Trains there are clean and reliable - why not cross into sweden from copenhagen? takes about 20 mins to get into malmo.

thare are some very cheap hotels in sweden called 'formule 1' they have them in uk too. Theyre about £21 for the room per night. You can book them online at http://www.accor.com theyre part of the accor chain, i believe they also have hotels throughtout france and spain too.

Have a great trip, inter rail is somehting i always wanted to do, but i fell pregnant so were waiting til shes oldd enough to carry her own back pack!

Caroline & Kirsten

If it's only 20 minutes then we will have to seriously consider moving on to Sweden, it all depends on how much time we think we have. We were thinking of checking out Scandinavia this Xmas anyway, and now you've said how nice Sweden is at that time I think the idea is even stronger. Thanks to everyone for all your replies, really appreciate it!

it might be worth still doing the scandinavia thing separately at xmas anyway, we picked up flights with ryan air from stansted for £25 per person return flying into gothenburg, but i know you can get flights into malmo or copenhagen (denmark) too all for good prices. if i were you id give copenhagen a miss on this trip and make a big one near to xmas then you will have time to do it all rather than rushing it! (plenty of time to get up north to stockholm then - or start there and work south then fly home from malmo (flights out of malmo are generally cheaper than copenhagen)

Have a great time - im green with envy here!!

Buses in sweden around the local towns are good too.

Caroline & Kirsten

Incidentally don't forget that some cities offer discount cards that could be very useful for free local transport and museum entries etc. I know that Amsterdam and Copenhagen do, and have used them to good effect! Try looking at city centre websites - the Copenhagen one is called the Copenhagen Card etc.

When in Copenhagen, do try to visit the Tuborg Brewery - good free samples at the end of the visit - and Tivoli Gardens at night on the days when they have a midnight-ish firework display!

If you can give more itinerary details, I'm sure members can offer more suggestions.

I was, however, a bit concerned about your heading down to Morocco. It certainly can be done, but you will need to take particular care of personal and food hygiene down there, and there is potentially a great deal of time to be lost when arriving because of border controls etc. However, I strongly recommend the Picasso museum (book timed tickets in advance on the web) and Picasso birth house in Malaga, a much maligned city, often just used as an access point to the Costa del Sol.

tivoli gardens was amazing, i think we were there around the 23rd of december and its christmas decorations, lights, ice sculptures etc...... were fabulous, and best of all its no bother to find! direct;y across from the train station!!

i dont know if youre students or not, but i am (was) and i know you can get good discounts with your student card in amsterdam - and i would assume throughout the whole of europe!

Caroline & Kirsten

Hmmm, my girlfriend is fulltime at college, but I'm only part-time for now, until next year where I will be fulltime at Uni -- so I won't discounts will I?

Alsacienne, can you please elaborate on what you said about Morocco; I've been warned about drinking from tap water, but are there other dangers I should be aware of? Also, how much time does crossing the border take, is it unbearable??

Thanks for all your tips and advice, Dave

Hi Dave!

I was on a tour of Morocco over the New Year, and though I would like to consider myself a reasonably experienced traveller, I found it was a world away from what I've already seen! In a positive way I mean!

From the Rough Guide and the Guide du Routard, it would seem that the immigration points on arrival can be very slow, and there are a lot of folk who would like to sell you illegal substances. If you are a student and not a wrinklie like me, you risk more hassle. Also beware of being separated from your belongings ... the Moroccans are incredibly friendly but there are always the minority who cause trouble and Tangier and the land border with Ceuta can be stressful. Also Morocco doesn't have the frequency of trains that you might need to get somewhere relatively fast (which they aren't!), and you should investigate bus services or long distance taxis (Mercedes, locally called Grand Taxis which you pay per seat).

I would recommend Fes if you have only time to visit one place, but do take a tour or get a guide because the souk is extensive, and you might get lost or miss the best bits. Marrakech is also wonderful to visit, and Meknes is probably the most authentic and least touristy city.

Train stations are not usually to be found in the centre of town - usually in the Ville Nouvelle, or modern quarter. Make sure you find secure hotel accommodation! By the way, it's rather too easy to acquire the runs, which will wreck any travelling for a few days (if you only suffer lightly) and I don't really recommend train loos except for the German ICE trains and the Swiss modern rolling stock!! NOT a nice place to spend a journey, and you may not get enough seating to lie flat ......

Hope this helps - sorry to sound to be doom and gloom, but it's always best to be prepared for the worst and then rejoice when it doesn't happen.