Use the German national rail company website for train schedules anywhere in Europe:
http://reiseauskunft…

You are probably right that a rail pass won’t save — based on the assumption that you’re UK residents and would have to buy an interrail pass based on UK pricing. You can find out about interrail at: http://www.interrail… Price point to point tickets for comparison to interrail pass on the individual national rail company websites. The links are in a sticky at the top of this forum and under “transportation” on the “travel tips” tab.

Hey guys, just overwhelmed with getting a train from Berlin to Bern. I’ve been on the German national rail company but with the various Berlin stations popping up, i don’t know which one is which! What are the chances of me getting to my next destination if i ask help from the Hostel staff a day before i leave? I don’t think getting any sort of interrail pass will benefit me, so i’ll most likely buy a ticket on the same day i’m leaving.

There are really only 2 major train station in Berlin, Hbf (main station) and Zoological gardens. The others are subway stations or even bus stations.. Just click on the first one that just says “Berlin” which searches the major stations and picks the major station that’s best for your route or click on Berlin HBf, the main station, which I believe will also switch to the other main station if that’s what’s best for your route. To Berne i’m pretty sure it’s Hbf.

On the German rail website, you will probably find advance purchase special fares that are far cheaper than what you’ll pay at the station on departure day.

The web site for the Berlin Inn Hostel seems to say that the Hauptbahnhof is the most convenient station. In any event, they are all interconnected and easily reached by local transportation, so I would use Hauptbahnhof for planning purposes. Actually, a low cost airline might be a better option for this rather long leg. On a long rail trip, the low cost tickets sell out early, so unless you have a pass, buying at the last minute is often not a good option. Our last German train trip (Berlin to Braunschweig and back) cost half the walk-up fare because I bought it a few weeks early).

Once you have a destination, contact where you will be staying and ask them which train station is most convenient. Many towns have multiple stations.

I would ask why you want to visit Berne; it is not the most scenic place in Switzerland as it is not near the mountains. You should get a better idea of your itinerary before settling on Berne. Somewhere in Eastern CH might be more scenic and more convenient for the rest of your trip. Many people want to get up into the mountains in Switzerland.

Thanks for clearing that up Oldlady and Cleve. Unfortunately Inn Berlin got fully booked so i got my place booked at Grand Hostel Berlin. They were helpful and provided me with clear instructions on how to get there from the airport.

I’ll do some extra digging for ticket prices and will try and book beforehand.

Thanks Cleve for bringing up Switzerland, i want to go there but i’m not 100% sure on where i should visit. I was planning on going to Interlaken for a day and then Rosegarden for another. I’ve heard great things about Grindelwald so i think i’ll visit there instead. I just don’t want to make the mistake of trying to cram too many places in a short period of time

Okay i’ve got a lot of planning out of the way. I managed to book my hostels in Berlin, Interlaken and Rome. Planning on getting a train from debahn and then getting a train using the swiss train service. I’ve decided to scrap Slovenia and leave it for next time and will spend another FULL day in Venice. Are the trains from Rome to Venice frequent. I’ve heard that it is relatively easy to buy a ticket on the same day. But i might book in advance just to make sure.

Hate to see you scrap Slovenia. I would highly recommend scrapping Switzerland instead. Slovenia is just as scenic, far cheaper, much, much friendlier and actually a whole lot easier to navigate in “English only.”

Venice is a great visit, but it’s very expensive and very compact. While you could easily spend a week there, 2 full days is adequate to see the major sights and get a feel for the place.

I could add it back in after i look at how much i have left to spend. But i think i’d rather reserve Slovenia for another trip where i can spend more time there instead of rushing around. I will be arriving to Venice somewhat in the afternoon so i would have had another FULL day to explore Venice before going to my next destination. This is why i decided to add another FULL day to venice so its 2 full days instead of 1.

I’ve also got into a bit of a bumble with Lufthansa, I ordered my ticket soon and having found no way to change the booking i had to cancel. Now looking at it, they’ve took the money out and i’m not sure if i’ll get a refund.

Decided to go to Ljubljana after all! What would you recommend is the best way for me to get back to the UK? At the moment i’m thinking of grabbing a train back into Berlin from Ljubljana and catching my flight the next day, straight back into Manchester.

When planning your visit to Venice, be sure to pick the right train station. One is on the mainland where it is not scenic but it inexpensive; the other Santa Lucia, is on the island, so when you walk out of the station, the first thing you see is the grand canal; I think that is a sight everyone remembers. We stayed ten days in Venice and enjoyed it, and didn’t run out of things to see, but I was with someone I love, and it is a very romantic place. Plenty of people have enjoyed two days there (the days are crowded with cruise ship passengers; the evenings are far more pleasant, but many of the sites are closed.)

Sorry to hear about your trouble with the airline ticket. Many people buy discounted tickets (those are heavily advertised) but they come with many restrictions, and few people seem to take the time to read the conditions of the ticket. If you got a discounted ticket, and if Luthansa is like most airlines, they will charge you a harsh fee for changing or cancelling the ticket, but they will give you a credit for the balance of what you paid, but that credit comes with restrictions also, two that I recall are that you must use it one their airline, and you must use it within a year (a year from the date of your initial flight, if I recall correctly). The best hope of a good resolution is to call a Lufthansa agent, plead ignorance, and ask them how to best salvage your trip. Good luck.

I’m sure you will enjoy Interlaken. It is not up in the mountains, but is convenient to getting there.

I believe the one i’m taking from Rome will head to St Lucia. After some looking around it seems hostes/hotels are expensive in the centre of Venice (Duh!) So i booked a small place called Antica Villa Graziella just outside, in Mestre. So getting in and out of Venice should be no problem at all

I’m looking forward to Interlaken! There’s a lot of things to do and the distances to some of the places are not far.

As for getting to Lljublana is there any other way apart from getting a train to trieste and then to Ljubljana? Some people say there used to be trains going direct from Venice but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Unfortunately the ticket i booked was non refundable, one of the many restrictions on the cheap ticket (cost me £79 for a return) and they wont refund at all now. i called them up and the person was ignorant so i had enough and just had to face with the loss. I don’t want to waste too much time time catching up to them. I’ll be sure to book my ticket when i’m 100% i’ve got everything else booked and sorted.

Venice to Ljubljana via Trieste takes longer than other options. Fastest routing is under 6 hours and involves 3 connections, with one leg by bus. Search on the German rail website — it shows bus connections if the bus is operated by a national rail company, or in cases where it’s a better option than traveling strictly by train.

Was scouting the net and i found someone mention this company. I can get a bus from Mestre (my hostel is within walking distance from there) from Venice and it’ll go direct to Ljubljana. It’ll only take a few hours too. Anyone heard of them? Here’s the link

http://www.drd.si/en…