Interrail Adventure No. 3
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. 3, flying in
and out of Klagenfurt on some cheap Ryanair flights from London Stansted (£40.28
return). This was my most in advanced planned trip, because I booked the
flights and decided my rough routes and hostels a couple weeks before departure.
Please note this blog post contains photos of human remains because I visited some crypts.
On the train I ended up travelling:
- Friday
- 6:09pm-11:02pm Klagenfurt Annabichl to Vienna (change at Friesach In Kaernten, Brick/Mur)
- Saturday
- 8:17am-9:23am Vienna to Bratislava
- 2:06pm-3:36pm Bratislava to Brno
- Sunday
- 11:29am-12:49pm Brno to Vienna
- Monday
- 10:18am-2:30pm Vienna to Launsdorf Hochosteritz (change at Treibach-Althofen)
- 4:31pm-5pm Launsdorf Hochosteritz to Klagenfurt Hbf
- 7:04pm-7:09pm Klagenfurt Hbf to Klagenfurt Annabichl
Day 1 Friday
- Flew: Stansted to Klagenfurt 2:05pm-4:45pm Ryanair
- Trains: Klagenfurt Annabichl - Vienna
- Location: Stansted Airport, Vienna
- Hostel: a&o Wien Hauptbahnhof Sonnwendgasse £20.20
- Spent: £7.75 coffee and chips at the airport. Total £7.75.
Day 1 all I did was travel, although the train journey was
really beautiful, better (in my opinion) than the black forest train route!
Day 2 Saturday
- Trains: Vienna - Bratislava - Brno
- Location: Bratislava, Brno
- Hostel: Bunker 10-Z £27.73 including breakfast
- Did: Bratislava Castle Hill, UFO Tower, The Cumil Statue, The Blue Church and garlic soup in Bratislava. Capuchin Monastery, Bunker 10-Z, saw some nice architecture and looked at some city views in Brno.
- Spent: £5.27 reservation for Bratislava to Brno train. £4.71 student tower entry student. £4.47 rooftop beer. £8.04 garlic soup and beer. £2.78 gifts and a snack. £3.85 Capuchin Monastery entry. Total £29.12
My first real day of the trip was split into Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) and Brno (a city in the Czech Republic). I set off on what ended up being a 15km walk around the whole of Bratislava, seeing the sights as I pootled along. First, I walked up to Bratislava Castle, for some good views of the city (although in my opinion these were better from the UFO, just because they then included the castle too) and to see the castle up close.
After, I went up UFO Tower and had a beer in the rooftop bar. The very best views at the UFO were reserved for restaurant dining only but by waiting for others to go, I still got a nice view in. The looking platform at the top was quite small. I thought the best views were in the restaurant.
Next was a short walk to the Cumil statue, which is a small statue of a man near a manhole cover. I work in sewage so had to see this famous statue but it was very touristy, with lots of people trying to get selfies.
I went to go and see The Blue Church, which was different and pretty but was shut during my visit.
The final stop on the Bratislava visit was the Slovak Pub for a dark Monastery beer and garlic soup in a bread bowl.
In Brno, my first stop was to visit the Capuchin Monastery for some scary mummified bodies because it was going to shut soon.
Then I did a self-tour of Bunker 10-Z, an actual nuclear shelter (one for the Fallout fans, like me!) which was free if you were staying in the hostel. It was a really cool hostel to stay at. How many opportunities do you have to say you spent the night in a nuclear bunker! Plus it was really cheap, was a really central location and included a free breakfast. I really recommend!
I went for short walk around, to visit some architecture (Parnas Fountain, Kostel sv. Jakuba and the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul) before heading to go look at some nice views across the city from both Denis Gardens and Špilberk Castle. Both were free but the latter of which was prettier in my opinion.
Day 3 Sunday
- Trains: Brno - Vienna
- Location: Brno, Vienna
- Hotel: Kolping Wien Zentral. It should have cost £59.95 but I had a free Hotels.com night so the cost was £6.67. Including breakfast.
- Did: Ossuary at the Church of St James, Old Town Hall and a tour at the Labyrinth under the vegetable market in Brno. Visited the Austrian National Library, saw some pretty buildings, wandered Prater Theme Park, Cafe Sachier Wien and ate a street hotdog in Vienna.
- Spent: £11.76 combined entry to the ossuary and labyrinth. £1.93 tower student entry. £3.04 burger and chips. £7.10 24h Vienna public transport pass. Austrian National Library student £6.64. Cafe Sacher £16.81. Ferris Wheel £11.98. Hot dog £3.54. Total £62.81
I spent the morning of Day 3 in Brno. I visited the Ossuary
at the Church of St James to go see some skeletons. I thought the Ossuary at
the Church of St James and the Capuchin Monastery (from the day before) were
really good and creepy too, although small. But I also did the tour at the
Labyrinth Under the Vegetable Market, which I would not recommend as an English
speaker because the tour is not translated. It was also relatively expensive.
Next up I climbed the tower of Old Town Hall for some views
across the city at a great price.
I finished my Brno trip and took the train to Vienna. In Vienna, I headed straight to the Austrian National Library because it was right at the top of my Vienna list. It was so beautiful!
After, I wandered aimlessly around the city, marvelling at the pretty buildings (including the Hofburg, Maria-Theresien-Denkmal, at Michaelerplatz, Kaiser-Franz-Denkmal, Vienna Opera House and the Column of Pest). I really recommend going inside St Stephen's Cathedral and St Peter's Catholic Church because they are just as pretty on the outside as they are within.
One thing I really enjoyed was Prater Theme Park, which was free to enter. I only rode the Viennese Giant Ferris Wheel but it was cool to wander around and get a bit of a different vibe from the actual city.
I rounded off my day with a few food things on my list. I had an original Sachetorte from Cafe Sachier Wien (I had to queue for over 45 mins. The cake was OK but I’m not entirely sure it was worth it) and a classic Austrian street hotdog (which was delicious and cheap!).
Day 4 Monday
- Trains: Vienna - Launsdorf Hochosteritz - Klagenfurt Hbf - Klagenfurt Annabichl
- Flew: Klagenfurt to Stansted 9:50pm-10:30pm Ryanair
- Location: Vienna, Hochosterwitz Castle, Klagenfurt
- Did: Naschmarkt, admired Hochosterwitz Castle, a stroll around Klagenfurt including a visit to a Harry Potter cafe
- Spent: 30p water, £7.61 Harry Potter cafe butterbeer and Hagrid's cake. Total: £7.91
On my final day of the holiday, I headed for a stroll around
Naschmarkt in Vienna, which was a big outdoor market.
Then en route to Klagenfurt, I decided to get off the train to admire the nearby Hochosterwitz Castle near Launsdorf Hochosteritz.
I had just enough time to have a quick look around Klagenfurt before heading to The Phoenix Book Café, a Harry Potter café where I got butterbeer and Hagrid's cake (the cake looked so cool and was so tasty!).
I finally got the train back to the airport on my last train of my Interrail adventures!
Total Cost
- Flights £40.28
- Accommodation £54.60
- Food £52.56
- Activities £40.87
- Extra transport: £36.11 (excluding fuel to travel from Hinckley to Bishops Stortford but including airport parking £17.69 on JustPark and train to/from airport £6.05)
- Gifts and souvenirs £1.78
- Total £226.29
