Planning a Family Interrail Adventure Through Europe (With Teens in Tow)
- Sarah Green
- Sep 1
- 4 min read
Where to start? Good question.
Summer holidays are always a bit weird when you live in Saudi. By the time July hits, it’s like living on Mars — blistering heat, empty streets, and a desperate need to escape. If you’re lucky, you can hop on a plane and exodus back to Europe where the breeze exists and you're not melting into the pavement.
Personally, I’ve never hung around long enough to experience the true Saudi summer. I’m always out by early July — and this year, we turned that escape into a full-blown European Interrail adventure. For those outside Europe, “Interrailing” is a term people use to describe travelling across Europe by train — usually with an Interrail Pass, which lets you hop on and off trains in up to 33 countries for one fixed price. We didn’t actually use the pass in the end (more on that later), but I’m still calling it an Interrail adventure because… well, we did travel over 2,400 miles by train, crossing borders and eating a lot of station snacks. Same vibe, just more spreadsheets and more travel apps than you can poke a stick at.
Early Planning, Big Dreams
We started planning back in spring. My 13-year-old got properly into it — spreadsheets, YouTube videos, ChatGPT queries, full travel planner energy. I’d done interrailing back in the late '80s, which gave me a whiff of nostalgia, but Europe (and my standards) have changed.
If you’re thinking about Interrail with teens, I can confirm that giving them some control over the route planning is a brilliant way to get them invested.
We used Trainline & Train Pal to get a rough idea of prices, then cross-checked with the Interrail website and a few national rail operators. I held off booking because I needed to renew my passport. I didn’t want to leave it until Christmas, so I did it as soon as we landed in the UK… and then anxiously waited for the text that it was on its way back.
Meanwhile, panic kicked in — a friend mentioned that her son couldn’t get Eurostar tickets from London to Paris and ended up training it to Plymouth, ferry to Sandtander,train to Paris. That’s when I realised summer train travel in Europe is no joke. If you want those good fast trains, you book months in advance.
Why We Didn’t Use an Interrail Pass in the End
Even though I priced it all up using an Interrail pass, we didn’t end up using it.
Here’s why:
Booking each journey individually gave me more control — especially when I needed to travel on specific days and stick to our schedule. Solo parenting across countries is not the time to leave anything to chance.
And here’s the kicker — many fast trains require seat reservations, even if you’ve paid for an Interrail pass. Eurostar, TGV, ICE, Thalys… all need them, and those reservations aren’t free. They cost extra, and seats run out fast in summer.
We also wanted to travel on our dates and picked up a few bargain first-class upgrades for longer journeys. All in all, we spent around €400 more than the Interrail pass would have cost — but it meant comfy seats, guaranteed bookings, and zero stress.
Interrail Pass vs. Booking Each Journey
Verdict: The Interrail pass looks like a good deal, but if you want certainty, comfort, and set dates — especially in the summer — booking direct wins.
Our Route: Just Over 2,400 Miles by Train
Here was our route:
London → Paris
Paris → Amsterdam
Amsterdam → Vejle (for Legoland)
Vejle → Copenhagen
Copenhagen → Berlin
Berlin → Luzern
Luzern → Versoix
Versoix → Zermatt
Zermatt → Fiesch
Fiesch → Domodossola
Domodossola → Milan
Why this route? One child wanted to go to Disneyland, the other to Legoland. The rest was about visiting friends in Switzerland and testing out the magic of cross-border train travel.
Tools That Actually Helped
These are the sites and apps that proved genuinely helpful:
Rome2Rio — Best for seeing all travel options between two places (train, bus, flight, ferry)
Rail Europe — Useful for booking tickets across multiple countries
Interrail/Eurail Planner — Great for visualising routes and checking reservation needs
DB Navigator — Not just for Germany! Real-time train updates and platform info
Trainline — Very user-friendly for international tickets (UK based company)
TrainPal - Competitor to Trainline and good to compare prices (often cheaper)
Seat61 — The train travel bible
Bonus apps:
Rail Planner (works offline)
Omio (compare trains, ferries, buses, flights and a really useful interactive map)
SBB Mobile (for Swiss trains)
NS App (for Dutch trains)
Trenitalia (for Italian trains)
DSM (for Danish trains)
Budgeting & Accommodation Tips
I set an optimistic accommodation budget of €100 per night. Realistically, we averaged about €160 per night for basic 2-star hotels and hostels, mostly in capital cities.
Best value: Berlin. We stayed at Meininger Hotels — comfy, clean, and with a communal atmosphere.
Most fun: Copenhagen. We stayed at Cabinn, but Next House looks like the better bet for sociable families.
My non-negotiables:
A space to cook our own meals (massive cost-saver)
A launderette onsite (aka a washing machine and a dryer)
A bar or café in the building (for adult decompression)
Private rooms (we all needed to collapse at the end of the day)
Good wifi (obvs)
Planning a European rail trip as a solo parent is a challenge — but once it’s all in motion, it’s one of the most rewarding ways to travel.
Would I do it again? Yes. Would I book earlier? Definitely. Would I pack lighter? Without question.
If you’re dreaming of Interrail with teens or planning a similar European train adventure, it’s absolutely doable. Plan ahead, allow for flexibility, and don’t underestimate the power of a first-class train seat and a quiet bar in the hotel lobby.
Got questions about planning your own Interrail adventure? Drop them in the comments — or ask my 13-year-old. He’s basically a certified logistics manager now.
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