Europe travel: On track for an Interrail trip across France, Italy and Austria

With rucksacks on our backs, my wife, our two teenage children and I were about to embark on an interrailing tour of France, Italy, Austria and Belgium.

Inspired by the BBC’s Race Across the World, our trip had been months in the making with hours of discussions, pouring over maps and spreadsheets, searching the internet, joining social media sites for advice from fellow travellers and looking at which towns, cities and countries we wanted to explore.

At last we’d bought our Interrail tickets, sorted our train reservations and booked our accommodation for each leg of the journey.

We’d decided to stop off at some of the less-visited destinations but for the first leg of the journey we headed to London St Pancras and then onto the Eurostar bound for Paris.

Our overnight stay in the French capital coincided with the start of the 2024 Olympic Games. We’d heard that morning news that the French high-speed rail system had been hit by terrorist attacks but, thankfully, our cross-Channel train was unaffected.

We were staying overnight in the Vincennes area of the city - just a few stops along the Metro line and within easy reach of the major attractions. Our hotel was also just a few yards from one of the Olympic fan zones at the Château de Vincennes - and after a good sleep it was an ideal start to our day in the city.

When travelling by train to mainland Europe there are just a few initial destinations and so we’d only ever seen Paris as a quick stop on our journey towards the warmer and dryer climes of the south.

However, in our 24 hours we packed in visits to see the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Sacre Ceour followed by a walk along the Champs-Élysées.

We then had time to try out our Olympic badminton and table tennis skills at the Hotel de Ville fanzone before heading for a bite to eat and then to the Gare d'Austerlitz for our sleeper train south.

Night trains in Europe offer a variety of accommodation ranging from upright seats to private couchettes. We opted for a couchette for the four of us on our SNCF Intercité de Nuit but you can also book a bed in a shared compartment if you’re travelling as a couple or alone.

The couchettes have pull down bunk beds and SNCF provide you with sheets, a pillow and a blanket along with bottled water and a facemask and earplugs. There are toilets and washrooms in each carriage and at some stations there is the luxury of a shower.

Despite being warned not to expect much rest, all four of us had a reasonable night’s sleep before our arrival in Toulouse at 6.30am for our hour’s connection to the medieval city of Carcassonne - our next destination in the Languedoc area of France.

Carcassonne is a city of two halves. To the north is the Bastide Saint-Louis with its colourful buildings and shops - and railway station. Across the River Aude is the more famous medieval Cité - a stunning walled town with 52 towers and three kilometres of ramparts.

We were staying at the Hotel du Roi, outside the city walls and just across the river, which gave a fantastic view of the battlements.

We booked in, enjoyed some of the spa facilities before heading off into the 30-degree heat of the city walls.

The World Heritage Site has a complex history, dating back to the second century BC, eventually leading to the construction of the castle in the 12th century. It later fell into ruin, eventually being restored by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century.

Today it is a major tourist destination with its many shops, restaurants and attractions both within and outside the walls.

Our time in Carcassonne included a visit to the castle and along the battlements, a guided tour around the walls and into the city, and a virtual reality film. Our guide shared the history of the city as she braved the baking heat to share her expert knowledge.

At night the walls are illuminated and the Cité takes on a magical atmosphere as tourists wine and dine in the many restaurants and explore the shops selling local goods, gifts and crafts.

Carcassonne is an impressive location and somewhere we will no doubt return to, but after a night’s stay in our hotel, the rucksacks were on and we headed back to the station and south-east towards the Côte d'Azur.

Our journey took us via Marseilles to Nice - Capital of the French Riviera - for an overnight stay before heading on across the Italian border.

This brief visit saw us enjoy a stroll along the Promenade des Anglais and a late evening’s dip in the Mediterranean.

Many interrailers just set off for the continent and then take it day to day deciding where to go next and finding accommodation as they arrive at their next location.

We however decided to get everything planned ahead of time, making sure we could book tickets and get reasonably cheap accommodation for a family of four.

We’d chosen a mix of hotels, AirBnB rentals and hostels - as it was here in Nice. Situated close to Nice Ville station, it was ideal for a quick departure the following morning.

Our train along the Mediterranean coast was the busiest we encountered - it was standing room only as passengers headed to the beaches of Monte-Carlo. The train runs metres from the Mediterranean, and it was tempting to jump off and spend a day swimming alongside the rich and famous.

But Italy and the culinary city Bologna called - our stop for the next few nights.

Famed for ragù bolognese and its 40km of arched porticoes, the city is also home to the world’s oldest university and is known for its many towers, built by the city’s richest families. Today there are just 15 towers remaining and the two most prominent, known as the Due Torri, are a landmark of the city. These are currently closed for vital construction work but we climbed the city’s clock tower for a view of Bologna’s rooftops.

The city also boasts more than 50 museums ranging from archaeology and industry to art and music. Many of these can be visited as part of the Bologna Welcome Card scheme which we made use of. It also gives you free access to a guided walking tour of the city, rides on the hop-on-hop-off bus and on the San Luca Express which connecting the centre to the basilica situated on the hillside surrounding the city.

You can also take a walk from the centre of Bologna along the porticoes to San Luca, the destination of many religious pilgrimages. The portico connecting Porta Saragozza to the sanctuary is 3.5 km - the longest colonnade in the world boasting 666 archways.

Bologna has many restaurants where you can sample pasta, pizza and ragu, along with street cafes and bars - whether you want to experience the hustle and bustle of the city centre, the history of the university quarter or the quieter areas in the suburbs.

But after exploring the history and sampling the culinary delights of Bologna it was time to leave Italy and head across the alps into Austria.

We could have travelled along the scenic Brenner Pass but due to timings and route restrictions we opted to journey via the Austrian town of Villach, Drava in the province of Carinthia, and near the Italian and Slovenian borders.

We arrived at just the right time to experience the Villacher Kirchtag, Austria’s largest traditional festival which was first held in 1936. The town was full of men, women and children in lederhosen and traditional dress enjoying dance, music, food and beer. It was a real traditional Austrian welcome after leaving Italy and the Mediterranean just a few hours earlier.

After a brief visit we were back on board the train and heading across Austria towards our destination of Salzburg - the final stop before heading to Brussels and our Eurostar home.

Our route took us through some stunning and picturesque landscapes including the Gastein Valley and High Tauern mountain range.

Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and Austria’s fourth largest city is also famed as the home to the Von Trapp family and the setting for the Sound of Music. Spanning the River Salzach, it is at the foot of the eastern Alps and the north-western gateway from Germany.

During our visit to the picturesque city we took time to stroll through the Mirabell Gardens, along the river bank, visited the Baroque magnificence of the Dom and then boarded the funicular railway to reach the 11th century Hohensalzburg Castle with its stunning views of the city. Also on our list was a visit to the Museum of Modern Art which houses many permanent and temporary exhibitions.

It is a city of culture with festivals, concerts and operas taking place especially during the summer months in its historic concert halls, churches and palaces.

For tourists, the Salzburg Card gives admission to all city attractions and museums - as well as free travel on public transport.

As we left Salzburg and Austria on the overnight train to Brussels our journey was nearly at an end.

After a couple of hours in Brussels it was on to London via the Eurostar and home.

Our journey had come to an end after travelling through six countries and experiencing a many places we would never have visited otherwise.

Our interrailing expedition had given us a taster of Europe’s many amazing towns and cities, some of which are off the regular tourist list. It had been a whistlestop tour but a great way to experience new places at a different pace - packing plenty into our days and then resting in train carriages as the continent swept past and we moved on to the next destination.

I’d been apprehensive of the whole expedition, concerned as to how easy it would be to use the Interrail tickets, and get on the right trains each with our belongings packed into the rucksack on our back.

But as we arrived back at our local railway station and walked the short journey home we were already planning our next rail expedition, which other destinations we’d like to visit while leaving the car at home. There’s no doubt we’ll be back on board soon exploring Europe and letting the train take the strain.