"An unforgettable experience that marks you."

 Hi!! Today I'm here to tell my story, the wonderful experience I lived with DiscoverEU that in certain way it changed my life. That's why I want to encourage everyone to travel and embark on this adventure without fear. I am very grateful to have participated in this program and to have been able to make the most of it. 

My interrail with DiscoverEU in 2023 lasted from July 8th to August 1st, 3 weeks. The first two weeks I travelled with 3 friends, and the last week they returned home, and I decided to continue traveling alone. I come from a city near Malaga and because I live so far from the border, it was not possible for me to go to France in a single day by train, so we decided to take a super cheap plane to Paris, thus saving time and money. 

Our itinerary then begins in Paris, later Stuttgart, Salzburg, Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Milan. I continued to Vienna (night train and seventh day of travel) and then went to Bratislava to take a very cheap flight that took me to Kaunas (Lithuania), and then I visited Riga and Tallinn. I travelled through the Baltics by bus (cheap and with a better connection than the train), it was beautiful, worth going and very underrated. Initially this was not the itinerary, but in the end, we ended up doing an open route and I attended the Baltic meetups, something I had not planned at the beginning. 

The good thing about the interrail pass was that we had enough flexibility to cancel a train and get on another one that would take us to another city quickly. I remember that going to Pisa was completely improvised. I am aware that we went to many expensive cities, but with enough time in advance, we were able to find cheap hotels and hostels.

 Many people are afraid of solo traveling but there are really many advantages, mainly you can do whatever you want without depending on other people. When I solo travelled in my interrail, I was just scared at first but then I met people along the way, and I had an even better time. To this day I still have contact with the friends I made and this year I will visit some of them. This doesn’t mean that traveling in a group isn’t good, I advise taking a long group trip only with trusted people willing to explore and travel and not just "go on vacation." I could give many tips on what to do and what not to do but I will mainly say that organization and communication is essential. If you are going to move a lot, it is better to wear a backpack, I survived with it by washing the clothes in the way.

 To conclude, I want to say that my organization and planning skills have increased exponentially, I feel much more independent, and I am not afraid to travel alone. I learned a lot about other countries and their cultures, and the truth is that I am very grateful for living in Europe and the fact that I can travel safely. DiscoverEU is a perfect opportunity, free trains, it convinced me enough to try it and travel :) I hope that your trip doesn't remain as a planning anecdote, put it into practice, it will be worth it. If I could do it again, I would do it 100%!

Updated on Lundi, 10/02/2025