My best memory is sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Biarritz, France, on a mild summer night next to the Atlantic Ocean. Such a refreshing sleep.

The next night we did the same, sleeping under the stars outside the train station of Modane, France, very high up in the Alps. Definitely didn't sleep as well with the cold air and weird looks.

Is this not possible any more?

For example in Hungary we have an unlimited pass for ~53€ a month, valid on all trains and multiple public transport options (almost everything in Budapest included) https://bkk.hu/en/tickets-and-passes/prices/hungary-pass-ful...

Whereas a 3 days in 1 month Interrail pass is 79€ https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/one-country-pa...

Wanted to do a write-up like this, but only got as far as the map,

https://kenschutte.com/europe-2023/

I wonder if they took the new "Rail Baltica" through the Baltics? That was one of weaker links in the train route - I used a bus between Vilnius and Riga.

This deserves a little more unpicking.

Something that I hear very few people discuss is that not all holidays are equal and you need to be aware of what you really need before choosing.

If you want to see new places, people, cultures, food, whatever - that's one thing. But if you're tired and need to recharge (sadly, this was often my experience in a corporate job - an endless sawblade cycle of work -> recharge -> work -> recharge) then don't go interrailing - go somewhere quiet and plan to sleep and lie around for a week or two. City breaks and events (e.g. festivals, sports, etc.) fall into this category for me - they are fun and make life better, but expect to come home hopefully happier but also tireder than when you went.

I spent weeks and weeks traveling around the US. The Amtrak system is much maligned but you get to move at a slow pace and see the country and meet people (some of which you would prefer to have not met).

I highly recommend doing it if you want to get a sense of the scale and diversity of the US.

During this trip, at the recommendation of a friend, I read (or tried to read) a number of "American classic" books which I would finish and then leave on the train for someone else to read. Catch in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, ... The only book I couldn't finish was, ironically, On The Road which I found utterly tedious.

Edit: global passes let you travel everyday of your pass, with passes of up to 3 months: https://www.interrail.com/en/interrail-passes/global-pass

Just doesn't trigger me, I have seen the non-touristy parts of those countries on my journey and neither the hate nor the hype rings a bell. It's one of those low-key super successful government stuff. Maybe something like that should exist on global scale.

EDIT: found it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48889922

There is this thing called “common sense” :)

That's a bit presumptuous...

I’ve done Helsinki Talinn and that was great.

It’s actually more affordable via us, as prices are net and we do free refunds. Loosing the Stripe fee but it’s worth it.

Agreed. It's horrific. They need to get rid of some of the shops, knock through, and double or triple the size of the departure lounge. EES has made it even more chaotic.

We do this all the time in the UK - give too much space to retail. You can understand why though - we spend like crazy at airports and railway stations.

I did a first class Interrail earlier this year, not planning much, not staying in hostels. It was quite stressful as unsurprisingly Paris, Milan, Florence etc are popular and expensive places! Trying to chase good weather was annoying as it was a terrible winter in much Europe - we had all this flexibility but didn't want to go anywhere as everywhere was cloudy and rainy.

We ended up abandoning it half way through, when we were in southern Spain during the terrible week of multiple derailments. We aren't religious but we took that as a sign to head home

I'm still committed to trains but I wouldn't repeat the experience. I would base myself somewhere with good trains, stay somewhere a bit cheaper, and do day trips via train