How to InterRail on a student budget

InterRailing for a month around Europe entailed me being food-poisoned, head-butted and endlessly lost – but it was still undoubtedly the best month of my life, even on a tight student budget.

Although I was relatively tight-fisted with my cash during the month, there were a couple of tricks I missed out on. Here’s what I’d do differently if I were to do it all over again:

Consider the route

For starters, I’d do my route in reverse – spending the majority of the trip in the east and avoiding the tourist traps and more costly parts of western Europe. I feel like I missed out on vast parts of Croatia. I’d have gone to Dubrovnik, and seen the blue caves on the island of Vis, and maybe spent a night in Zagreb.

Look at transport options

I’d recommend getting a bus to Paris or Brussels from London, as opposed to flying out to your first destination or using the Eurotunnel. You can do this for £20 to £30, which would have saved me the cost of several buses, a ferry and a train reservation from Calais to Paris.

It would have allowed me to validate my InterRail pass after a couple of days in Paris, as I wouldn’t have needed to use any trains to get to the French capital. By validating it on the day I left Paris, I’d have been able to save two travel days on my pass.

Shop around

Food and drink are among the biggest costs of going away and my wallet certainly suffered because of my appetite at times. The most cost-effective way of surviving is to invest in bread, meat and nuts from supermarkets. But sometimes the convenience of a café or restaurant got the better of me, resulting in my spending more than I’d budgeted for.

Having a student budget doesn’t mean you have to miss out on awesome experiences though. After a month away in Europe, it was difficult to whittle my top favourite moments down to five. But here’s my selection of activities that might serve a student budget well:

1) Bastille Day

A great event to schedule your whole trip around, Bastille Day falls on 14 July and is a national celebration in France. The firework display from the Eiffel Tower was surreal and the whole event is free. The orchestra that accompanied the show made the experience something special.

2) Kayaking in Croatia

I spent a day kayaking down the river Cetna in Croatia. It was reasonably priced and great value for money at around £20 for the day. The scenery was beautiful. We covered eight miles of the river and vast portions were in fast white water currents. If you’re an adrenaline junky, Croatia is the ideal place to get your fix, with lots of variety and far better prices than the UK and western Europe as a whole.

3) Lake Zurich

I rented a motor boat with an American friend from the hostel and we spent two hours out on the water, between the mountains and the city. It was 30 degrees and the sky was cloudless, but this was one of the most expensive things I did on the whole trip.

If you really want to pinch pennies, avoid rental or excursion costs and simply hike any of the mountains in Switzerland to explore the views. Or if you’re really looking to spend as little as possible, avoid Switzerland entirely as it’s very expensive.

4) Rent a scooter in Hvar

Scooters are a fun, cheap and effective way to get around, especially on an island in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. I spent around £10 to rent a scooter for a day, during which time I managed to work my way around the coastal roads on the Croatian island. I’d highly recommend this, especially in eastern Europe, where the prices aren’t so steep.

5) Paddle boarding in Bled

Bled is a small town in Slovenia, set in the heart of the Julian Alps. It’s built around a freshwater lake and accommodates a tiny island with a church. I took a paddle board out on the lake – effectively a surfboard but wider, which you stand on and use to navigate your way around the lake with the long paddle. A couple of hours on the paddle board cost around £6 – something I’d do again in a heartbeat.

For more on Philip’s InterRailing odyssey, check out his blog.