On May 25, 2022 we started our our 2 month long interrail journey through Europe from the Netherlands. Those who have been following us for some time know that we also went interrailing in the autumn of 2021. Although we share quite a lot will via Instagram, we like to write a blog about out travel every couple of weeks, so we can share everything with you in more detail.
If you are curious about our journey, keep reading ahead!
Countries: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy
Days on the road: 14
Distance: 3270 km
Number of trains: 27
Time on the train: 1 day, 14 hours and 51 minutes
Germany - Munich
On our first day we wanted to cross Germany as quickly as possible to reach Austria. We looked on the interrail app and decided that it's best to spend our first night in Munich, before continuing further to Austria. Munich is a city we both had never been to and it was nice we could spend some time there.
Could we manage to explore Munich? Not really, apart from a walk down the main street to the city centre (which was quite crowded)
Austria - Linz & Vienna
After a reasonable (vegan) breakfast at the hotel the next morning, we continued our journey on the train to Austria. Unfortunately the weather forecast was not so good and we decided to go to a place where it was reasonable weather. We finally arrived in Linz-Pichling. At the Pichlingersee there is a campsite and here we decided to set up our tent for the first time on this journey.
The next day we took the train to Linz. We walked around town and bought breakfast, which we enjoyed alongside the river Danube. Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the train station and see if we could visit another place. One of the first trains to leave was for Vienna, so we decided to board that train. During this interrail trip we notice that we often find the train journeys more fun than the destination itself, as there is so much to see along the way! In Vienna we walked to the castle of Belvedere.
From Austria we planned to travel to Lake Balaton in Hungary, because of the good weather forecast.
Hungary - Győr & Budapest
Another thing we really like about our interrailling is that we can stop anywhere and discover new places (thanks to our 2 month unlimited global pass) We therefore decided to stop for a day in Győr, a town in Hungary just across the border from Austria. We slept in a hotel here and were very glad that we chose to visit this small city. It's a very nice, historical and colorful town. There was a nice vibe and coincidentally there was also a small festival.
The next day we continued our journey to Budapest. We both had visited Budapest before, but hadn't seen a lot of it. Here we had a cosy studio, where we could also cook. We love to cook while travelling and had missed this in hotels and while camping, where it is often difficult to do so. So the first thing we did was to buy some groceries. The follwing two days we cooked dishes like chickpea curry and biryani, both of which are quite nutritious and filling meals.
The next day we took a long walk through the city and visited many places of interest such as: Budavári Palota, Halászbástya, Országház, St. Stephen's Basilica and the shoes on the Danube Quay.
Budapest is an amazing city and there are many beautiful attractions to visit. After more than 20,000 steps we thought that we sshould call it a day, and we went back to our studio. The next day we walked to the largest park in Budapest, where you can also visit the Vajdahunyad Castle.
We ended up staying in Budapest for 4 nights, and mainly due to the cosiness of our studio, combined with the luxury to cook. Also, we didn't really know where we wanted to go (negatives of being too spontaneous) The plan before was to go to Lake Balaton in Hungary, but the weather forecast kept getting worse. And with thunderstorms and a lot of rain, you would rather not lie in a small tent. As we were chasing good weather, we decided to travel to Italy as soon as possible.
Slovenia - Ljubljana
It is quite difficult to travel from Budapest to as far as southern Italy in one day. That's why we decided to make a stop in Ljubljana, a city where we had both been several times. The train ride was the most beautiful so far, especially the part between Vienna and Graz. After a train ride of about 11 hours we arrived in Ljubljana in the evening.
Italy - Bologna, Sorrento, Pompeii and Naples
Our first stop in Italy was the city of Bologna. In the morning we had booked a hotel and when you follow us on Instagram, you know the story we are going to tell. We had booked a hotel for 53 euros with breakfast and also opposite the station. Too good to be true for a big city, and it indeed was! Arriving at the reception, the guy at the recption wanted our credit card, because the price we had booked was incorrect and he still had to discuss what price would be. Of course we did not agree to this and in the end we were allowed to stay the night for the amount we booked for. Afterwards, this room turned that the normal price for that day was a whopping 175 euros and the day after even more than 300 euros! We had some luxury for a day which otherwise we would never have paid for.
Due to a public holiday in Italy, it was really busy in the city. We did find that there was a very nice atmosphere and Amit always sees many comparisons with India in Italy.
The next day we continued our journey towards Sorrento, a place we had chosen to really take it easy and enjoy the weather. The camping we chose also had a swimming pool, and we both were looking forward to swim. Once there, it turned out to be one of the most touristic places in Italy. Fortunately we had chosen a campsite which was in a quiet area.
We ended up staying at this campsite for 5 nights! We had a nice camping spot between the trees and could also work from here due to the good wifi connection, and make use of the pool once done working. This way we could really enjoy our stay. One thing we would like to mention is that we found the food options in Italy very difficult as vegans. We could not cook ourselves as there was no kitchen and therefore had to rely on food in the supermarket and in restaurants (with hardly any plantbased options. We ended up eating a lot of watermelon and pizza (with tomato paste and some veggies on top).
During our stay in Sorrento we also visited Pompeii. We were hesitant at first to visit this ancient roman city, as we are both not very big history enthusiasts. We saw on the internet that one can visit Pompeii for free on the first Sunday of every month. Coincidentally, we were there on the first Sunday of the month, so we did finally go there.
We are so glad we went in the end, as we found it very interesting to see how the romans lived. What we found very disappointing is that there are no information boards anywhere so you have no idea where you are actually walking and what you see. One important tip, take an audio tour!
After a great time in Sorrento, we decided to take the train to Naples. We had received many warnings beforehand, so we (mainly Daniëlle actually) was more scared than necessary. In many ways we found Naples to resemble India (New Delhi), the hustle and bustle on the streets and cars hardly following traffic rules. But also the busy atmosphere (in a nice way) and the products that are sold on the street (cheap fruits and vegetables). We really enjoyed our day in Naples. A must visit place is Orto Botanico di Napoli and the fruit/vegetable market near Porta Capuana.
We also had a pleasant evening in Naples with two toursits from Serbia, who spend the night in the same accommodation. This is one of the things we love about travelling, meeting people with whom we can have fun and interesting conversations. We ended up talking with them for almost 3 hours in the evening!
This was unfortunately also our last night in Italy, as we decided to continue our journey further up north to Switzerland due to the improving weather there.
On Thursday, 9th June, we will travel further. Curious where we are going next? Then follow us on Instagram or wait for the next detailed travel update in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoyed reading our first update.