Interrail Adventure No. 2
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. 2, taking the Eurostar to Brussels on Friday and back from Paris on Tuesday. While I was far more organised than on my Interrail Adventure No. 1 (I actually knew what trains I was going to and which hostels I’d be staying at before setting off!), I only booked my Eurostar and made these plans two days before travelling! That meant I had to change there and back to two different places and also meant I had to travel very early on the Saturday, having to stay overnight in London on the Friday.
On the train I ended up travelling:
- Friday
- 9:30pm-11:16pm Hinckley to London St Pancras (change at Leicester)
- Saturday
- 7:01am-10:05am London St Pancras Intl to Brussels Midi
- 10:23am-10:27am Brussels Midi to Brussels Central
- 11:41am-12:09pm Brussels Central to Uccle-Stalle (change at Brussels Midi)
- 2:24pm-8:58pm Uccle-Stalle to Karlsruhe Hbf (change at Brussels Midi, Frankfurt)
- Sunday
- 7:02am-8:42am Karlsruhe Hbf to Triberg
- 10:43am-12:16pm Triberg to Konstanz
- 2:39pm-8:22pm Konstanz to Luxembourg (change at Offenburg, Strasbourg, Metz Ville)
- Monday
- 2:16pm-3:17pm Luxembourg to Metz Ville
- 5:21pm-9:23pm Metz Ville to Paris Est (change at Bar Le Duc)
- Tuesday
- 8:43am-10am Paris Nord to London St Pancras Intl
- 10:46am-12:30pm London Euston to Hinckley (via Nuneaton)
Day 1 Friday UK
- Trains: Hinckley-London
- Location: London
- Hostel: Generator London £33.58
- Spent: £17.95 train to London. £1.60 coffee at Pret (their filter coffee is super cheap, even at airports and train stations!). Total £19.55
Day 1 all I did was travel down to London ready for the early Eurostar Saturday. With an Interail pass you can only travel within your home country on two separate days. Because I booked the Eurostar last minute and could only get the earliest train, I had to get to London the night before which would have taken my second day- that’s why I paid for the train from Hinckley. Booking in advance for the Eurostar would have saved me the hostel and train (£51.53) but I did all this last minute instead!
Day 2 Saturday 8th April Belgium
- Trains: Eurostar London - Brussels Midi - Brussels Central - Brussels Midi - Uccle-Calevoet - Karslruhe
- Location: London, Brussels, Karslruhe
- Hostel: Gästehaus Kaiserpassage £22.96
- Did: a quick pitstop in Brussels, scuba diving at Nemo 33
- Spent: £6.40 waffle. £3.56 frites. £60.64 dive. Total £70.60
Today I ate a Brussels waffle in Brussels with triple Belgium chocolate in Grand Palace (from Waffle Factory) and of course some frites but in a far less glamorous location, Brussels Midi train station!
But the main purpose of today was to go scuba diving in one of the deepest pools in the world at Nemo 33, at 33m! Unfortunately though I didn't have a buddy so I was advised to book onto a scuba refresh, which cost £60.64 because it's a course. But it did mean I got a guided tour! It’s not something I would do again though. It would be great for learners but really it is diving in a swimming pool so it’s fairly small and there’s not too much to look at. It was however a good opportunity to test out my GoPro for the first time!
Day 3 Sunday 9th April Germany
- Trains: Karlsruhe - Triberg (via Offenburg) - Konstanz - Luxembourg
- Location: Karslruhe, Triberg Falls, Konstanz, Luxembourg
- Hostel: Youth Hostel Luxembourg £30.84
- Did: A short hike at Triberg Falls, ate a black forest gateau in the Black Forest, had a wander around the Konstanz, climbed the tower of Münster Unserer Lieben Frau, admired the scenic train route from Offenburg to Konstanz
- Spent: £1.33 pretzel. £6.02 black forest gateau and a hot chocolate. £2.16 water. £3.70 iced coffee. £2.20 student ticket to climb the tower. Total £15.41
Sunday was Germany day and I had a lot on my Black Forest to do list! I treated myself to a pretzel from Backwerk (like the McDonalds’s of Pretzels) to help fuel my hike. I really loved Triberg and I could have spent a whole day wandering the trails there. It was really beautiful. Also I was expecting to pay an admission fee but I arrived before opening time so got to go in for free!
After a quick pit stop on my walk back to the train station for some cake, I continued on the renowned Offenburg to Konstanz scenic train route. If I’m being honest though, I strongly recommend getting off the train and exploring the Black Forest instead of passing through. Two weeks before, I did a scenic train route in Switzerland and preferred it to the German one. It was still pretty but I wouldn’t recommend purposely travelling 2h one way in the wrong direction to go for a visit.
I wanted to make the train journey worth it so got off at Konstaz. There is however only a train every 2h so it ended up a longer stop than I actually needed. I strolled around Wessenbergstraße, around Marktstätte, Konstaz Port and Münster Unserer Lieben Frau.
The view from the tower of Münster Unserer Lieben Frau was really nice if in the area but I’m not sure I would make a special trip to go see it or the harbour.
Day 4 Monday 10th April Luxembourg/France
- Trains: Luxembourg - Metz Ville - Paris
- Location: Luxembourg, Metz, Paris
- Hostel: St Christopher's Inn Paris Gare du Nord £26.18
- Did: Wandered around the Eimaïschen Easter fair, explored the beautiful views of Luxembourg, rode the Ascenseur Panoramique, visited Fort Thüngen (also free and a great place, near the toilets on the ground floor to get a bit of a tunnely cave walk in if Bock Casemates is shut, like during my visit), spent 2h exploring Metz including German Gate, Metz Cathedral and New Temple.
- Spent: £2.19 souvenir. £4.40 hot dog. £3.36 gifts. 88p chocolate milk (the dairy in Luxembourg was delicious!). £2.28 two macarons. £5 crepe. £2.95 snacks. Total £21.06
My Luxembourg day was most of the day (until 2pm) wandering without a plan around Luxembourg. It was amazing! I strongly recommend a visit to Luxembourg city. I only really visited to tick a country off the map but I really enjoyed it!
I wandered around the Eimaïschen Easter fair (do it early in the morning because it was heaving by midday! If you get given a coloured egg- it is a real hardboiled egg!), which I didn’t know was on until I arrived. Then I explored the beautiful views of Luxembourg. I was planning to make myself a walking tour but actually I recommend just wandering around the city walls. You don’t have to look for amazing views- they are everywhere! All public transport in the country is free and this includes the Ascenseur Panoramique, a free panoramic lift, which I strongly recommend.
One thing I really wanted to do during my visit was see some caves, the Bock Casemates, but they were shut during my visit. If you want to get your tunnel cave fix, I recommend giving Fort Thüngen a go. It had lovely views over the city, was free to visit, near the toilets on the ground floor there was a bit of a creepy tunnely cave walk.
Then I had a 2h stopover in Metz so I decided to make the most of it and explore. It was quite a rough place in areas so I wouldn’t want to be here alone at night. But the churches there were amazing. I visited German Gate, Metz Cathedral and New Temple. If you have a stopover here, I recommend nipping off and seeing Metz Cathedral for sure!
Day 5 Tuesday 11th April UK
- Trains: Eurostar Paris. London-Hinckley
- London. Train London - Hinckley
- Location: Paris, London, home
- Spent: £1.58 coffee. Total £1.58
My final day was just heading on back over to the UK from Paris and then back home, early in the morning.
Total Cost
- Accommodation: £113.56
- Food £41.86
- Activities £62.84
- Extra transport: £74.19 (including Eurostar reservation fee of £56.24)
- Gifts and souvenirs £5.55
- Total £298
