Interrail Adventure No. 1
As an extravagant drunk purchase I bought myself a 1 month interrail pass (fortunately there was a sale on at the time) for £281 to be used within 12 months. I kind of forgot about it until it was almost due to expire! So decided to activate it and see what I could do with a few long weekends away in the time I had.
This post is about my Interrail Adventure No. 1, flying into Geneva on a Thursday and out of Milan on a Monday. For this trip, I was very disorganised! I booked the flights 2 days before travelling and decided what I would do, where I would take the train to and where I would stay that night on the day of travel. It was certainly an adventure! Due to my poor planning, I found out quite quickly that my roaming data did not apply to Switzerland (though it does to pretty much everywhere else in Europe) and the plug is different to other countries in Europe so in some hostels I couldn’t charge my phone (a challenge because that’s where my Interrail ticket was)! I flew because with the Eurostar you have to pay a 30 euro reservation fee each way just to get from London to Paris. It was also quicker.
On the train I ended up travelling:
- Thursday
- 12:32pm-12:39pm Geneve-Aeroport to Meyrin (change at Geneve)
- 5:01pm-5:12pm Zimeysa to Geneve
- 7:50pm-8:05pm Geneve to Nyon
- Friday
- 12:43pm-2:26 Nyon to Bern (change at Lausanne)
- 4:04pm-4:51pm Bern to Interlaken West
- Saturday
- 8:22am-8:55am Interlakan West to Lauterbrunnen (change at Interlaken Ost)
- 10:32am-11:04am Lauterbrunnen to Interlakan West (change at Interlaken Ost)
- 2:05pm-4:14pm Interlaken West to Zurich Hbf
- Sunday
- 8:38am-10:22am Baden to Chur (change at Zurich Hbf)
- 11:05am-12:18pm Chur to Disentis/Muster (Glacier Express)
- 1:14pm-6:17pm Disentis/Muster to Milan Central (change at Andermatt, Goeschenen, Cadenazzo)
- Monday
- 12:20am-1:20am Milan Centra to Malpensa Airport (coach)
Day 1 Thursday
- Flew: Birmingham to Geneva 9:05am-11:45am EasyJet £41.99
- Trains: Geneve Aeroport-Meyrin. Zimeysa-Geneve. Geneve-Nyon.
- Location: Geneva
- Hostel: Nyon Hostel £33.82 including breakfast
- Did: CERN tour, saw the United Nations Office at Geneva, saw Broken Chair, walked along the River Rhone to see Jet d'Eau but it wasn't running at the time.
- Spent: 94p water, £2.67 bus
Day 1 I flew into Geneva and spent most of the day at CERN. You had to book a tour an hour before (to be likely to get a spot). The tours were free but I was surprised how long I was there for. You got a lanyard for free though which acted as a nice souvenir for myself! I wouldn’t actually necessarily recommend the tour- it’s not something I would do again, despite being a huge nerd!
After, I saw some of the sights of Geneva, including the UN buildings.
Day 2 Friday
- Trains: Nyon-Bern. Bern-Interlaken.
- Location: Bern and Interlaken
- Hostel: Alplodge Interlaken £36.28
- Did: wandered around the beautiful Bern, an all you can eat chocolate making workshop.
- Spent: £61.40 chocolate workshop
Day 2 I headed over to Bern, a city which I really loved. I could have spent a lot more time here! I felt as though everywhere you looked there was something new and beautiful to see. There were also lots of little shops which looked cool. I recommend walking to both bridges (Kirchenfeldbrücke and Nydegg Bridge) for some lovely views across the city.
After Bern I went to Interlaken, which was a really pretty train journey, filled with lakes and mountains towards the end (sit on the left side of the train in the direction of travel). Interlaken overlooks all the mountains and is pretty. I really recommend the hostel I stayed in (or its attached hotel). It had a rooftop terrace with some amazing views. I would also recommend getting the breakfast, which (when booked online was 13 euros, more expensive booking in person) included wine, at least 10 cheeses, meats, pastries, fancy dried fruit, so many lovely things- and again with a beautiful view!
That night I did a chocolate workshop at Funky Chocolate. It was OK, it felt a little rushed. It was almost eat as much chocolate as you feel it is polite to because I was eating but no-one else seemed to. It was expensive if you didn’t eat the chocolate! But you get to take 3 bars that you make yourself home, which is a nice touch.
Day 3 Saturday
- Trains: Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen return, Interlaken-Zurich, Zurich-Baden return.
- Location: Lauterbrunnen, Zurich
- Hostel: Jugendherberge Baden £42.59 including breakfast
- Did: saw the waterfalls at Lauterbrunnen. Wandered around Zurich. Ate cheese fondue.
- Spent: £13 breakfast. £13.69 train to Lauterbrunnen. £6.04 gifts. £27.90 fondue.
Day 3 I went over to see Lauterbrunnen, a town with a waterfall in the background. It cost 13 euros to travel there from Interlaken return- it wasn’t included in the Interrail pass. It was pretty but only a very short stop. I was hoping to do the waterfall walk but the train was shut because it was March.
Next up was Zurich. I was well aware that the next day was going to be on the train so this was really my last guaranteed opportunity to get some fondue in, despite Zurich being one of the most expensive cities to visit in the world (maybe poor planning on my part!). So fondue was certainly on the list- and it didn’t disappoint! I also saw the posh buildings including Fraumünster Church, the Grossmünster etc. Zurich to me seemed very expensive and posh. I preferred Bern or even Interlaken. It was still a really nice place to visit but it was very busy with tourists.
Day 4 Sunday
- Trains: Baden-Chur. Chur-Andermatt (Glacier Express). Andermatt-Milano Centrale.
- Location: Glacier Express.
- Hostel: Centrale Hostel Milano £22
- Did: Panoramic first class train.
- Spent: £26.10 Glacier Express. £20.69 fine. 68p water. £2.52 gifts.
On my final actual day, I fully planned the day around going on the Glacier Express to see the beautiful views out of the train window. But I was really disappointed. The Interrail website is very misleading. It looks as though with any Interrail pass you can get a second class ticket for the same cost as a first class, so I did. But once on board, I was asked to pay an additional fee. I decided to pay some of the fee but get off at the next stop because the fee was too high. I actually really strongly recommend not paying for the Glacial Express and instead taking the normal trains- they follow the same route so you get the same beautiful views. My carriage on the normal train was totally empty (on the express, it was sold out and staff were constantly pushing past- quite rudely- to provide passengers with food). You could also take better photos on the normal train because you could move further back so you didn’t have as much glare. On the express, the Wi-Fi didn’t work, the anti-glare windows didn’t work, the audio guide was two sentences maybe every 30 minutes. You're better off on a normal train. The only difference is there's a little window at the top on the express.
Whichever route you choose, the views were outstanding! And at the top of the mountains, it started to snow! The route from Chur to Andermatt was beautiful!
I then continued my onward journey to Milan. I had booked a hostel in Milan before realising public transport didn’t go early enough in the morning for me to reach my train- doh! But I used their Wi-Fi, charged my devices and tried to nap for a few hours. At least it was only £22! I also grabbed myself a pizza- when in Rome, right!
Day 5 Monday
- Flew: Milan to Manchester 5:50am-7am Ryanair £23
- Spent: £8.84 bus to airport.
I got the last bus at night/earliest bus in the morning and then slept at the airport before my flight back to the UK, having had a lovely adventure around Switzerland.
Total Cost
- Flights £64.99
- Accommodation £134.69
- Food £42.52
- Activities £107.94
- Extra transport £25.20.
- Gifts £8.56
- Total £383.90
