How to use an Interrail pass
- Richard Hammond
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Here's my step-by-step guide to how to use the European Interrail pass for travel by train across Europe based on my experience of using it.
Interrail is an all-in-one rail pass for those who intend to do multiple journeys in a specific time frame. It used to be just for young people, but it can now be used by anyone – adults, children, youths and seniors – for unlimited train travel on scheduled train services of the national train operators in 33 countries across Europe (NB it doesn't include Morocco).
The idea is that by buying one pass, you'll save money compared with having to pay for lots of individual train journeys, and it comes with a downloadable app ('Interrail Journey Planner App') where you log your journeys and activate your pass on all your travel days, so it keeps everything in one mobile digital place, which can make the process of arranging multiple journeys and tickets much easier to organise.
The Interrail pass is for people who live in the UK as well as for those who live in Europe.
There is also the Eurail pass, which (somewhat confusingly as it's called 'Eurail'), is for people who live outside of Europe, ie. for those who live in America, Australasia, Asia or Africa.
This guide is all about using the Interrail pass, which can be bought from Trainline or RailEurope.
Here are my 6 steps to using an Interrail pass:
Photos: Interrail, Cologne Tourism, Richard Hammond.
Step 1: Choose a Global pass or a One-Country pass
Global Pass covers all of Europe - see prices below
One-Country Pass covers just one country - prices vary per country. An adult pass for France and Italy, for instance, costs about £175 for 4 days (in one month), in Spain it's about £200, and in Germany it's about £230.
Both the Global Pass and the One-Country Pass include one day's outbound travel and another day's inbound travel in your home country, and you can make any number of train journeys on that one travel day. So if you live in the UK that means you can use it for travel within the UK to say get to London to board the Eurostar to Paris, Brussels, Lille and Amsterdam (and further afield so long as the subsequent leg of your connecting train is on the same day) - all as part of your one one outbound travel day. So for instance, if you're travelling from Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham or Manchester, you could use this one day outbound travel on the train to London and also on the Eurostar across the Channel and then on to say Cologne (so long as the train gets to Cologne the same day that your train from those UK cities departed). For Eurostar, you do have to pay a fixed price supplement of €35 one-way in Standard Class (if you have a 2nd class Interrail pass) or €40 one-way in Plus (if you have a 1st class Interrail pass). For more information on travelling to Europe by Eurostar, see my Guide to Eurostar.
Step 2: Choose Flexi or Continuous
Flexi: you choose a fixed number of travel days that can be used, from which you can pick and choose the dates to travel that suit you. These travel days can be bought in the following allocations: 4 days, 5 days, 7 days (to be used within 1 month), and 10 days or 15 days (to be used within 2 moths). The Flexi pass means you don't have to use the travel days consecutively. For instance, if you buy the 5-day allocation, you could use up one travel day and then use another travel a week later and you will have only used up 2 of your 5 days allocation.
Continuous: allows you to travel as much as you want during a set period. For instance, if you want to travel to lots of different places within two weeks, you should buy a 15-day continuous pass, which will enable you to travel as much as you want within those 15 days. This can be bought in the following timeframes: 15 days, 22 days, 1 month, 2 months or 3 months.
Step 3: Choose 2nd class or 1st class travel 2nd class is the standard class in most trains and come with comfortable seating, free wi-fi and spacious luggage compartments. Depending on the service, 1st class can have extended seating and more legroom; chef-prepared meals; extra luggage space, and private lounge areas (including at stations pre-travel).
Prices for the Interrail Global Pass (all prices in £ British Pounds Sterling)
NB Children (aged 0-11) go free when travelling with someone over 18 using an Interrail pass;
Youth = under 28 on first day of when trips starts; Senior = over 60 on first day of when trips starts
2nd Class Global Pass | 1st Class Global Pass | |||||
Adult | Youth | Senior | Adult | Youth | Senior | |
4 days in 1 month FLEXI | £246 | £184 | £222 | £319 | £239 | £287 |
5 days in 1 month FLEXI | £277 | £208 | £249 | £359 | £269 | £323 |
7 days in 1 month FLEXI | £331 | £249 | £298 | £431 | £323 | £387 |
10 days in 2 month FLEXI | £389 | £291 | £350 | £505 | £378 | £454 |
15 days in 2 month FLEXI | £481 | £361 | £433 | £625 | £468 | £562 |
15 DAYS CONTINUOUS | £414 | £311 | £372 | £538 | £403 | £484 |
22 DAYS CONTINUOUS | £510 | £383 | £458 | £662 | £496 | £595 |
1 MONTH CONTINUOUS | £606 | £454 | £545 | £786 | £590 | £707 |
2 MONTHS CONTINUOUS | £719 | £539 | £646 | £934 | £699 | £840 |
3 MONTHS CONTINUOUS | £832 | £624 | £748 | £1,081 | £810 | £972 |
One-Country Pass
Prices vary per country, so it's best to check the latest prices when you search for tickets on Trainline or RailEurope.
Step 4: Purchase your Interrail pass
Interrail passes can be bought on both Trainline and RailEurope.
Step 5: Set up your mobile pass on the Interrail Rail Planner App
If you don't have the Interrail app already on your phone, download it for iPhone (iOS 16.0 and later) and Android (6.0 and later). When you've purchased the Interrail pass, you'll be sent a mobile pass number by email that you use to load the pass into the Interrail app. You then just need to set up a 'Trip' within the app that acts as a holding folder where you can store the train journeys that you intend to take. The app allows you to search train schedules so you can plan your route and add multiple train journeys to your 'Trip' folder until you decide which train you actually want to use the pass for. On the morning you travel – when you're certain of the train you'll take – you then move that train journey in your 'Trip' folder into your mobile pass which activates it (as it's your first train of the day, the app will ask you confirm that you want to use is as one of your travel days). This process acts to validate the pass for that train and the QR code it generates can then be scanned by the train's ticket inspector. Here's handy video showing how to set up the mobile pass:
Step 6: Make Reservations where necessary
Find our whether you need to make a reservation for the train journeys you intend to take and make reservations for those that do
This is super important: Your Interrail pass is completely distinct from any reservations you make. Don't assume that because you've activated your trip and marked a journey in the Interrail app that you are guaranteed to have a seat for that journey. All the app does is make the pass valid for that journey. In some cases you don't need to reserve a seat (such as on many regional trains) but you must check whether or not you do, and if you do, then you must do this as you won't be allowed on board without the seat reservation. Most high-speed trains and night trains require a seat reservation and they're often mandatory on routes such as Eurostar, TGV, AVE, etc. If there is a fee to pay to reserve the seat, this fee will be in addition to the fee you paid for the Interrail pass. You can check in the Interrail app if your journey requires a reservation or whether you can board the train without one. For more information on the popular sleeper routes, see our Guide to Night Trains of Europe.
Here are some other bits of useful information about using the Interrail pass
Using the Interrail Pass on ferries between Italy and Greece
You can use the Interrail Global Pass for travel on the ferries between Italy and Greece using any of these three ferry companies that operate ferry services between the two countries: Superfast Ferries, Minoan Lines and Blue Star Ferries.
Greek Islands Pass
There's a separate Greek Islands Pass for domestic travel between those Greek islands that are served from the Greek port Piraeus (Athens): it's a Flexi pass and you can buy either a 4-day Flexi pass (to be used within a month) or a 6-day Flexi pass (again to be used within a month), which includes two 'international travel days' (from and to Italy to the Greek port of Patras) and free transfer from Patras to and from the domestic Greek port of Piraeus. First class is only available for the 6-day pass. You will need to reserve a seat on the ferries, but it's free. For the international ferries you'll need to make the reservations via Super Fast Ferries, while for the domestic ferries you need to make the reservations via Blue Star Ferries, Hellenic Seaways and Anek.
Below are the costs for the pass:
Prices for Greek Islands Pass (all prices in £ British Pounds Sterling)
2nd Class Greek Islands Pass | 1st Class Greek Islands Pass | |||||
Adult | Youth | Senior | Adult | Youth | Senior | |
4 days in 1 month FLEXI | £112 | £84 | £102 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
6 days in 1 month FLEXI | £204 | £153 | £184 | £226 | £171 | £203 |
Here's a taste of Greek island life in Naxos and the Small Cyclades:
To plan train travel in Europe: Flight-Free Journey Planner
See also:
How to transfer between train stations in Paris
Happy Green Travelling!
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