For decades, I was an Interrail sceptic. It was down to my early travel history. My first venture abroad, aged 13, was a school day trip to Dieppe in northern France – an experience that was at least as exciting as man setting foot on the Moon, which happened in the same month. That excursion included inhaling clouds of Gauloises cigarette smoke and battling with Gallic plumbing of the kind that would terrify the bravest astronaut. Yet I sailed back to Newhaven enriched and enthralled by the exotic world beyond.
I craved the opportunity to explore Europe beyond a few hours on the Normandy coast. By the time I was 17, the unlimited travel pass known as Interrail had been invented. Just the thing.
But the maths put me off: I would need to work for a month to earn enough to buy one. I preferred to avoid the work component (something I have since been doing successfully for decades) and hitchhike instead. Yes, I saw more than my fair share of ghastly service stations on the edge of trading estates rather than roaming around Renaissance icons in Europe’s most beautiful cities. But I stretched my meagre adventure budget as far as the Greek islands.
Since then the travel landscape has been transformed for the better, thanks to the low-cost revolution in the skies. Crawley (my home town) to Corfu? Next April there is no need to pay more than £29 on easyJet. Almost any journey from Britain to almost anywhere in Europe is going to be cheaper by air.
Some rail organisations are learning, belatedly, from the budget airlines. Spain, which has the best high-speed rail network in Europe, also has ferocious competition between train operators: Madrid to the Med for £10 is not difficult to find. France, too, is expanding the excellent Ouigo network of repurposed TGV trains running on no-frills principles.
Further north, the theory of transport as a public good has taken hold: Luxembourg abolished train fares in 2020, and Germany has brought in the Deutschlandticket: unlimited travel for a calendar month for €58 (£51) on all but the fastest trains, with local trams, buses and ferries thrown in.
Once in eastern Europe, fares are broadly halved. For many trips, I concluded, Interrail looks an irrelevant, expensive option.
What changed my mind? Well, it wasn’t my first Interrail adventure in June 2023. I chose to explore Scandinavia, where the unlimited travel ticket would, I thought, deliver the best value.
In fact, half of the six trains I planned to take were cancelled in part or in full. I spent too long on rail-replacement buses (and one rail-replacement taxi) and ended up having to hitch across the Arctic from Kiruna to Narvik in Norway.
Yet two travellers persuaded me to give the concept another go: Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries. Handily, they are the authors of Europe by Rail, and patiently explained the multiple benefits. For example, I could begin my journey anywhere in Britain on the outbound journey, whether to an airport or London St Pancras International for Eurostar.
At a time when Eurostar is maximising revenue to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, Interrail provides a cut-price option. If you have an Interrail pass, you need only pay a £25-£30 supplement to use the service, basically reflecting the tolls the train operator must pay for each passenger transported through the Channel Tunnel.
The most budget-conscious Interrail route can be found by focusing in the northern nations: Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland. By doing so, you can avoid the supplements that are payable by pass holders on high-speed trains in France, Italy and Spain. (I was clobbered for €35/£30 for an on-train supplement that I didn’t know I needed for a fairly ordinary Intercité service across southern France.)
For Alpine adventures, the term that comes to mind is “no-brainer”. For an afternoon trip through Switzerland last summer, my ticket cost an ambitious £88. The entry-level, “four days in a month” Interrail pass – in the current 25 per cent off sale – costs barely twice as much. It’s priced at £186, or even less for those with the good fortune to be under 28 or over 59. And it delivers many more memories.
You can buy such a ticket by 9am GMT on Wednesday 17 December and begin to use it any time within 11 months.
And that is why I will be waking at 7am on Wednesday. I shall have time in the two hours before the deal expires to buy four passes, which should be more than enough for my European rail needs during 2026.
According to the terms and conditions, I need not start using the last one until mid-November next year. Through my chosen retailer, AllAboard, I have the option to cancel for a full refund if I am not able to use them all.
Still not tempted? Consider the top-of-the-range, three-month continuous pass in first class for £845. That is less than £10 per day. No wonder you see so few hitchhikers these days.
Read more Plane and Train Talk from Simon Calder here
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