Whilst I’ve travelled on trains across Europe, this was my first time using an Interrail pass since the late 1980s. Interrailing has changed significantly since then. It’s no longer the preserve of youngsters as anyone can buy a travel pass now. Although sadly it’s often not as simple as jumping on the next available train.
I bought my Interrail pass (5 travel days in a month) in the November Black Friday sale at a 25% discount. At the time I had no plans for where I’d use it. It was only after I decided on a trip to Spain that I realised I’d chosen one of the most Interrail pass unfriendly countries in Europe!
Don’t get me wrong, train travel in Spain is easy and comfortable. It’s the mandatory seat reservations which make using the pass expensive and difficult. In the end I based my trip around the cheaper reservations (12€ rather than 35€ per journey), which I could book via the Interrail website. Additionally, some train seat reservations can only be booked in Spain, which made planning the trip a bit of a headache! So where did I go?
Day 1: Home to Nimes, France
My Interrail journey started with a GWR train to London and the Eurostar to Paris. The Eurostar has a 30€ seat reservation fee (each way) so worth bearing this in mind if you’re considering Interrail. I zipped acros Paris to Gare du Lyon and then had a 3 hour journey to Nimes. I’d been a little worried about validating my pass and making the train connections but it was straightforward and all the trains were on time. Time to relax!
I arrived in Nimes as the sun was setting and walked to my Airbnb. It was very central, which on a Saturday night was not necessarily a good thing. Thumping music and a party atmosphere prevailed outside my room until the early hours. This, combined with a strong smell of sewage coming from the bathroom, made for a sleepless night!
Day 2: In Nimes
I was up early, having made a decision (and a booking) in the night to change to different accommodation. I should have taken the reviews about bringing earplugs more seriously!
After a pain au chocolat overlooking the Roman amphitheatre I joined a walking tour of Nimes. I’ve done plenty of these in other cities as I find they’re a good way to get orientated. Rather surprisingly there were only three other people on the tour and two of these were the guide’s friends. It was a good tour which ended in the Jardíns de la Fontaine, which I’d planned to visit anyway.
Later that day I moved to my new accommodation; it was a 15 minute walk and a world away from my previous one. I had an early evening and a good night’s sleep. Breakfast was included, with homemade yoghurt, cake and jams on offer.
Day 3: Nimes to Cordoba, Spain
This was a long travel day, starting with a seven hour train journey from Nimes to Madrid. I sat with another Interrailer, Gunther from Germany, and we passed the time chatting about life in our home countries. I also helped a family who were on their second Interrail day but hadn’t managed to enable the pass.
One of the reasons I chose to go by train is because I love sitting and watching the world go by. From a plane you can only see clouds, but on a train you can watch the landscape change as you travel through. One of the most surprising aspects for me was how green Spain was. However it has rained a LOT over the last month!
I had a couple of hours between trains in Madrid, but spent most of these eating, before moving onto my final journey of the day to Cordoba. I met my family in Cordoba railway station, as they’d flown into Malaga earlier in the day, and then we walked to our Airbnb. It took us 45 minutes but as I’d spent most of the day sitting down it was good to be on my feet.
Days 4-6: Cordoba, Spain
We stayed just outside the old city in a fantastic flat on the far side of the Roman bridge. Our street was lined with fragrant orange and lemon trees, I loved their smell.
We spent two full days in Cordoba. The highlight was the Mosque-Cathedral, an incredible building (hint, go at 8.30am when it is free). I took many photos but none of them do it justice.
We also visited Palacio de Viana, the Alcazar, the Jewish area and the patios (gardens) in the old part of the city. Our evenings were spent on the rooftop terrace of the Hesperia hotel, watching the sun set and the lights of the old town come on.
On our third day we took a taxi to Medina Azahara, a few kilometres out of town where we were excited to see a group of bee-eaters (and the archeological site too).
Days 7-8: Cordoba to Malaga train, overnight in Casa Olea
We left Cordoba on a non-Interrail train to Malaga, from where my daughter flew home and we picked up a hire car. After a stressful time navigating out of the city we drove via Iznájar so I could meet an old school friend who I hadn’t seen for 40 years. We then spent two restful days at Casa Olea, a small hotel in the Subbetica region of Andalusia. Nightingales sang outside our window and I enjoyed some excellent vegetarian food.
We spent a day walking in the canyon at Zuheros, once again wowed by the bird life. We also visited war defences from the Civil War and a watchtower. I didn’t want to leave!
Days 9-10: (Hire car) Bermejo
From Casa Olea we drove to Torcal de Antequera, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its unusual rock formations. This was followed by another ‘interesting’ drive, which resulted in a detour due to a ford being rather deeper than the car.
We finally arrived at our Airbnb in Bermejo. This was a traditional house in a small village which was home to many barking dogs and crowing roosters.
The main attraction in the area is the Caminito del Ray. Once famous as one of the most dangerous walks in the world it’s now a safe walkway along the edge of a gorge. That said, it’s still not suitable for vertigo sufferers as the walkway is 100 metres up the side of the cliff face! It’s a very popular walk but access is restricted to timed slots so it wasn’t as busy as I feared it might be.
Day 11: Malaga to Girona
Another long travel day, leaving the Airbnb early to reach Malaga train station by 9am. I dropped the car off, said goodbye to the family and took my train to Madrid. I had some time to spare in the capital so after I got over the shock of how cold it was (12C) I visited the botanic garden. The gardens had a great tulip display, but it was rather hard to access due to the sheer number of influencers posing for photographs in front of them.
I arrived in Girona at dusk. My accommodation was a 20 minute walk uphill to the old town. I stayed in Pension Bellmirall, which I’d highly recommend, as long as you can cope with a tiny bathroom. Once more I was treated to evening entertainment as the locals were rehearsing for their Easter parade, drumming until almost midnight.
Day 12: Girona then overnight train to Paris
I had most of the day spare in Girona so went on a whistlestop tour of the sights. Starting with the Arab baths, I then walked along the city walls, looked at the cathedral, visited the museum of Jewish history and the house of architect Rafael Masó before finally walking across Eiffel bridge back to the railway station.
I took a late afternoon train to Narbonne, ate a pizza in front of the cathedral and then caught the overnight Intercitie de Nuit to Paris. From previous experience I knew I wouldn’t get much sleep, and this was the case!
Day 13: Paris to home
Leaving Paris was almost a disaster. Despite arriving 3 hours before my train I only managed to get into the departure lounge 10 minutes before it was due to leave. For some unknown reason the queues to get through passport control were static and I’m sure many people missed the train. I was sent an email shortly after departure apologising for the passport delay and advising me I could catch a different train if I hadn’t made the one I was booked on.
Aside from this my journey home was straightforward. Even the UK trains were on time!
Would I go interrailing again?
Yes, primarily because I bought two passes in the sale and I still need to use the second one.
I was very impressed by the Spanish trains. They often arrived ahead of their scheduled time. They were clean, spacious and very fast. It’s a world away from travelling across the UK on Cross Country trains. However, next time I’ll probably choose a country which doesn’t have mandatory seat reservations so that I have more flexibility with the pass.
Challenge complete
Challenge completed. Pop over to read the full list of my 60 things to do before I’m 60.