Eurail is a company that sells train passes and tickets for European railroads. Eurail is also the love of my life right now. Why? Well, thanks to Eurail, my summer just got even more epic. You see, I’m turning 30 on the 30th of August this year (it’s my Champagne Birthday, yall!) and was already thinking that I wanted to do something really fun to commemorate adding another notch on the decade belt. Thankfully, I didn’t have to think too long nor hard- with Eurail’s help, I’m adding some more destinations to my summer travel itinerary with a week-long solo train adventure in Europe. Can you guess where I’m going?
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know that I wrote a post back in April detailing my crazy heavy travel itinerary. This spring I loaded up on England travel, making it a point to learn more about the country I now call home. I also managed to travel further afield, sneaking in a long weekend jaunts to the French Riviera and Norway. All of these were short trips since I work full-time, teaching English and French at a high school in London.
However, as of this Friday, school’s out for summer and I have two whole months of holiday! And therefore ready to embark on the summer portion of my travels.
As I detailed in my post explaining my summer itinerary, for six weeks of this summer I’ll be travelling non-stop. From early July to mid-August will be discovering new lands and revisiting old favourites: I’m off to Spain, Israel, Jordan, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Sweden.
Could my summer get any more exciting?!? Well, yes, actually. I’ve decided: after exploring Scandinavia and the Baltics, Eurail will take me from Vienna back to London on the train.
How did this come about? Well, I don’t know if I told you, but Eurail is the official sponsor for our Girls Running with Bulls project in Spain this July. They generously provided 2-month Global Passes to our female travel blogger crew. I’ll be using the pass in Spain next week, but since my pass is valid until the end of August, I figured I’d get the most out of it by crafting this trip.
The itinerary so far: I’ll travel in Austria for a bit, then stop in the tiny country of Liechtenstein (because, why the heck not!?). From there I’ll go to Switzerland for a day or two, then onward to Luxembourg before heading home to London.
However, nothing is set in stone. This is the beauty of having a Global Pass: nothing has to be set in stone.
So I’ll be making things up as I go along, going wherever the wind takes me.
I’m thrilled to celebrate my 30th birthday trainin’ it up in Europe. I’m also thrilled by the thought of travelling solo– while I love travelling with Liebling, it’s a great feeling to be able to do your own thing once in a while (for the record, Liebling wont be at home crying over my absence, he’s off on a boys’ trip to Croatia)!
Do you like riding on trains? Have you ever done a train trip in Europe? What do you think of the destinations I’ve chosen? Any tips or recommendations?
91 Comments
Your pure joy and excitement about traveling makes me get up and explore every time I read your blog. No joke, headed out to see a temple here in Korea and I thought I was just going to lay about all day. Thanks for the motivation.
hehe aww thank you!!
When I was 22, I spent the summer taking the train by myself all over Europe, using Eurail the whole way. It was absolutely fantastic, and I can’t wait to do a journey like that again! I absolutely love train travel…you are going to have such an amazing time!
I’m definitely going to be asking you for tips, Brenna!! Thanks!
Once again everything sounds magical and amazing. My brief experience with trains in Europe was thankfully restricted to an overnight Poland/Ukraine border nightmare, but I imagine your destinations will be less filled with casual smugglers, machine guns and dogs.
Friends with more experience told me that the best way to maximize your miles and minimize your expenses was to take overnight trains and sleep on them, then walk cities during the day. I’d prefer to spend more time in places than eating canned dinners and accumulating poor hygiene, and I’m sure you’ll be sorting yourself just fine at will.
Just don’t forget your passport and I’m sure this will be a 30th birthday to remember.
That’s because it is magical and amazing! Europe in the summer- can’t get any better than that! I have taken a bit of a sketchy night train from Krakow to Prague, but somehow I made it fun (as I always do)! It’s a definite plan of mine to take some overnight trains, I agree that it’s a good way to save money on accommodation. 🙂
I love riding on trains and Europe is the best. I’ve always wanted to go to the Baltic, lived in Switzerland for over a year and have an ancestral home in Liechtenstein. Check out Balzers. And Sweden is a fav. Love Stockholm but travelling north is spectacular.
Prof. Balzer! How cool that you have roots in Liechtenstein- I’ve never met anyone from there! Will be sure to look you up. 😉
Friends and I will also be (not in the train) Switzerland in August. Ours is a car trip around Europe though, not train. Perhaps we will catch you at some point. I traveled only from Amsterdam to Germany and vice versa on an intercity train. It was an ok experiencats really notning much to say there. I do want to experience a night train though. Heard/read very good stuff about that. Train trips in Russia are also epic if you venture out that way too somehow btw. Oh and most importantly biggest congrats on that EuRail hookup! You are a smart cookie and I’m sure you’ll have a blast of a solo trip (that in itself is super & brave)!
I hate driving so train for me it is! I’m a big scaredy cat on the road 🙂 Would love to meet up with you somewhere along the way so please keep me posted! You can always email me :-). I would love to do the Trans-Siberian but I don’t have the time at the moment! Thanks for your support!
I rode Eurostar from London to Paris (and back) and I loved it! Europe has a much better rail system than America (IMHO).
I love the places you have selected and I can’t wait to see your beautiful photographs and delectable food choices!
I agree!! Way cheaper, too!! Oh boy, I’m SO going to over-indulge food-wise on this trip!
A dream trip! I haven’t traveled extensively in Europe or by train, but I definitely plan to do so in the near future.
I think the European countryside is just stunning and seeing it by train really allows you to appreciate it!
L’année dernière mon fils (23 ans) (et 3 copains) a fait Genève-Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Budapest-Venise-Genève en un peu plus de 3 semaines avec une carte Interrail. Seulement 2 trains de nuits, puis ils avaient réservé les auberges de jeunesse et campings quelques mois avant. Ils ont adoré !
Salut Annie!!! J’ai trop hate d’entamer le voyage! J’adore voyager en train, j’ai vraiment l’impression de voir beaucoup plus de choses! Je meurs d’envie de faire le meme voyage qu’a fait votre fils et ses copains! J’ai jamais visite Geneve ni Venise; faudra peut-etre les ajouter a mon itineraire! Merci de votre commentaire, je sais pas si c’etait votre premiere visite a mon site mais j’espere que vous reviendrez- faut vraiment que je commence a bloguer en francais!!!
Your summer just keeps getting better and better. A teensy weensy part of me is jealous but the larger part of me is excited for you and inspired to get my house in order so I too can spend the summer traipsing around Europe by train.
Are you going to splurge and perhaps take a part of your journey in a sleeper car pretend you are back in the days when train travel was glamorous?
A moderate splurge may be necessary since it’s my birthday 🙂 .
Great post, your itinerary just reached a whole new level! Fantastic that you are going to cover so many destinations, look forward to following you through the blog on your travels 🙂
Thanks for your support, C!
Great plans, and I’m sure Liebling will have an awesome time with the boys in Croatia too! Switzerland and Liechtenstein have some beautiful scenery.
Ooh, will have to pick your brain about them!
I had a Eurail pass last Fall and it was amazing. You will see such diversity in the trains from country to country.
Amazing how much diversity there is in such a small space!
GIRL!!! That (non)plan sounds amazing! That’s the best way to do it. And I LOVE train trips, they always make me think of the movie Before Sunrise… lol. Can’t wait to read all about it!! xo
I think it’s going to be great fun!
I have only been on the train in Peru to Aguas Caliente to see Machu Picchu. I did enjoy it and would love to do a Eurail adventure such as yours! As always, you keep me wanting to read more!
Question. How are sleeping accommodations, typically on a train?
I actually really adore sleeping in the sleeping cars in a train! I’m cheap, so I’ve only slept in the berths for six people- basically 3 bunk beds on either side of the car. I love the “chug-chug” of the train- it lulls me to sleep!
Congrats! I think this would be a great and memorable way to celebrate your 30th. I just came back from Jordan and am now dying to visit Israel too. But what an itinerary you have mapped up. Enjoy! Can’t wait to hear about it when you get back.
I hope to take the Eurail soon…If you ever get to stop by in Cologne (Germany) would love to meet up…I am so jealous of the travel plan…have fun as always.
1. i’ve been to lichtenstein when i was 11. i think we stopped only for a toilet break, but saw where the royalty lived. epic.
2. hmmmm.m…. maybe i should get a pass. you know, for when i’m footloose and fancy free next summer? maybe oneika would like to join me for some hopping of the globe? hmmm….
This sounds so fun! I love train travel (yes, even in the UK since for the most part my trains have run reasonably on time), so I’d love to do a trip like this.
I love traveling by train. I can’t believe you got free tickets and you’re being sponsored to run with the bulls. This “girls running with bulls” thing is a brilliant idea, I have to admit.
I wonder if I can get sponsored for something like “really slow guy who’s almost certainly going to get impaled on a horn running away from bulls while screaming like a girl”. Ok, the title needs some work, but it does promise quality entertainment….
Noooo waaaaay! I am going to turn 30 on august 29th 🙂 And I am a Global Pass specialist, (used it in 2010 and 2011 loved it) last year I did a 36 hours train ride from Bratislava to Istanbul, it was just wonderful. Usually I take a 22 days pass, but wow a global pass for 2 months, amazing, I can’t wait to read your stories 😉
Ooh bon anniversaire! Tu es vierge comme moi alors.. 🙂 C’est la troisieme fois que j’utilise ce genre de pass- quand j’habitais en France j’ai pris un pass Interrail, le premier pour 12 jours et le deuxieme pour 16 jours!
Oui vierges poweeeeeer. Amuse-toi bien! Je te suis sur facebook et tu m’as vraiment donné envie de faire un tour en Jordanie.
Merci merci!!! Voyager en Jordanie vaut vraiment la peine!
You have an amazing life! You deserve it though, must be tough fitting in all your travel, teaching and fun. Hope it’s not too tough settling back into school 🙂
Such an inspiration! !!
Laying back reading through your blog.
I am looking to do a but if traveling on the rail. I haven’t decided the cities yet. Do you recommend starting in London. Is there a pass I can purchase to hop in and off withleisure.
Also, I plan on going to Sweden in December. What are your recommendations for tours off the beaten track.
NEVER USE EURAIL is the advice of this retired traveller…the tickets have so much fine print and ‘rules’ you will end up being fined as we were..EURAIL are resellers…and its better to purchase your tickets just like the locals do.. directly from the railways…EURAIL in our view seem to delight in creating a massive rules regime..You have been warned…NEVER USE EURAIL.. purchase your tickets at the station…Rob
I just came across your blog and I love it. I will show it to my daughter tonight after work. I hope she gets inspired by your travels, because she is 16 and wants to Travel the world. I hope her Dreams come true!!
I love this. Thank you for putting the idea in my head. I hope to train travel across Europe soon.
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