I think taking the bikes is not anywhere worth the hassle. You'll probably end up paying more in baggage for them on trains than you'll save on metro rides. As notes, metro rides are often very cheap -- also many of these cities are very walkable. Having a bike will be a real hassle, and it won't save you much money. Just rent one if you want one for the day. Some cities like Paris have a free bike system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velib
Dave
Cheers for the thoughts on bikes.
we hadn't really looked into it, we just thought "hey lets pick up some cheapo bikes and take them". if its true you need to have them in bags on eurostar, tgv etc we won't bother, but we thought that if it ever did become costly/a hassle, then we'd just ditch them and walk. but thanks for the advice we probably won't now- to be honest the idea of renting hadn't crossed my mind at all, it's a good idea.
cheers
Nothing wrong with that idea, it's just impractible to mix an interrail trip with a bike trip. Renting bikes can get expensive, too, but I doubt this would exceed the amount spent on buying bikes/transport fees.
BTW, who made this itinerary? Everyone of you got one week to scheme? Nevertheless, you should take a glance at your itinerary again and do some more research:
a) you claim you intend to rely on nighttrains a lot, but note that there are no nighttrains Paris-Bern, Lugano-Bologna, Ljubljana-Cesky Krumlov or any other stretch of your journey with the exception of Prague-Brussels (yet there's not even a direct train, you'll have to change at least once).
b) as far as I know, the ferry Ancona-Zadar is not included in interrail, you won't even get a reduction.
c) you're spending a larger chunk of your time in Croatia/Slovenia, yet your pass will likely not be very useful there, as trains won't get you to/from Novalja, the few trainrides you'll do in Slovenia are rather short and train travel in this part of Europe is still rather cheap.
So a '10 days in 22 days' interrail pass would be more appropriate.
There are nighttrains from Paris-Bern- as with much of the rest of the trip- there are just a couple of changes on some.
Yeah we are getting a 10 in 22 day pass due to the time spent in Croatia. We beleive this will be easier than buying tickets each time, despite the fact tickets may be cheaper in Croatia/Slovenia etc.
And you are correct- the ferry does not incur a reduction- but its not overly expensive anyway.
James, sorry i can't offer any advice, but i can possibly meet the beer proposal!
Me and my friends are planning a similar trip for the summer (we're all 18 also, and are looking to go for three weeks, albeit to mainly different locations) - however, we are looking to start off with Paris and Bern as our first two ports of call, but have been struggling to find a night train service between the two. Where did you find your information regarding this, and for night trains in general. I would be extremely grateful if you could post whichever website or company you used.
Thanks,
Will
Seems we have a different approach to nighttravel, changing trains in Verona at 3 a.m. or Salzburg at 4 a.m. won't give you much rest, and certainly wouldn't appeal to me. Further, a lot of these nighttrains you're considering don't even have reclining seats, but you'll find out yourself. Happy travels!
Will, use seat61.com and the german site bahn- there's a link on seat61.com if this doesn't work:
there is a nighttrain, but it isn't direct, i think it changes in Strasbourg and takes 10 hours (leaving at 22:45, arr. at 9) which is a long time but since its overnight i don't think we'll mind...
Where else are you heading to?
James