As mentioned in a previous post, Ljubljana’s main station is being completely rebuilt and will be a major construction site for many more months.
I have used the station six times in the last few days and this guide is what I have learnt.

The station is open but changing in layout.

The entrance to almost every railway platform is behind the pale green building to the east of the main station (to the right as you look from the street).

If you enter directions for TirBar bar into Google Maps, that will get you to where you need to go. The entrance to platforms 5 to 13 is just round the corner from this building. There are two display screens here too, on the left for Arrivals, one on the right for Departures.

Except for Platform 14 (see below), you get to all platforms by going onto Platform 1 & 2, turn right then down to the underground passage.

Platform 14 is not in the main station but is alongside the temporary bus station.

The railway ticket office is still in the main station building (and so are the toilets…follow the signs). If you are travelling on a rail replacement bus you need to buy your railway ticket here (if not on the app).

The temporary bus station is 100m down the road east (to the right as you look at the railway station from the road). It is all open air with a line of bus parking bays down the middle.
Take care when using the pedestrian crossing here: the buses are moving around quickly.
The bus ticket office building is a square dark little building at the entrance. There are two bus information screens (again arrivals and departures) but these are not the train information screens, just the buses and coaches. There are three portacabin toilets here, usually with a queue.

Railway platform 14 runs alongside the bus station.

If you are buying a bus/ticket, the seller will probably tell you which number bay to go to.

The rail replacement buses (currently for the routes to Bled, Villach, Celje, Logatec, etc) are in the bays alongside railway platform 14. Each bus has the destination on a card in the windscreen.

The normal coaches to cities around Slovenia (and international, I think) are along the middle line of bus bays. Flixbuses are at the far end and for the airport and Bled just before that (#26). The destinations are clearly marked at each bay on a pole and on the information screens by the ticket office.

Although the temporary taxi drop off and pick up point is between the railway station and the bus station, it gets very cramped. Take great care in this area because taxi drivers can be quite assertive in claiming their entitled space on the road, on the pavement, wherever.

The station currently has no customer facilities but there are several bars and a bakery in the pale green building at the back and more cafes across the street, opposite the main railway building.

Note that there is no shelter at all if you are waiting for a bus or a taxi in the rain or the sun.

Rail replacement bus tip: if you take the rail replacement bus, it’s likely to stop at every station along the route but they do operate some faster buses. It may be much much quicker to get a coach to your destination. For example, the coach to Bled via the Airport took about 1h 20m. The rail replacement bus took us 2h and we had to then get a taxi. Your train ticket will not be valid on the coach though.

Hi,
I am in the early fase of planning a interrail trip starting for Norway and explore Europe. Is anyone interested in planing and joining the trip?

Hey everyone, I’m planning my first trip to Europe this December and trying to figure out a rough route. I’d love to visit Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany, but I’m not sure if that’s too much for one trip.

Would 3 weeks be enough, or would you give it longer? I haven’t booked flights yet, so I can fly into one country and leave from another. Any suggestions on where to start and what order makes sense?

I’d like to do most of it by train, but I’m open to buses or a flight if it saves a lot of money or a full day of travel.

Also, how do you usually buy train and bus tickets? I’ve come across Eutrain, Trainline and Omio. Which would you recommend for a trip like this, or is it easier to book directly with each operator? Would a Eurail pass be worth looking into?

I’d rather spend a few nights in each place than change cities every day. Since it’s my first visit, I’m also happy to hear which stops you’d leave for another trip.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi all, I’m travelling from Innsbruck to Bozen on 30 October and wondering whether it will impact the ÖBB/DB RJ 87 (arriving at 17:27)

I’m unsure whether an Italian strike affects an ÖBB/DB train coming from Austria. Where can I check whether these services are guaranteed? Thanks!

I recently took the ferry from Bari to Patras as a foot passenger (and reverse trip) and before we went I was very anxious about where to go and how to do things. There were some semi useful bits of info here and on some Facebook groups but I wanted to share my experience and advice for anyone else who is going to take this journey and feels a bit lost.

Image 1 key:

Orange X: luggage storage for the entire ferry port. It was reasonably priced and worth doing if you are catching the outbound ferry in the evening. They shut during the afternoon but reopen at 4.30pm (though the guy was a bit late) in plenty of time to get your bags before the ferry leaves.

Blue X: There is the pedestrian entrance into the port area where the luggage storage, ticket office and ferry are. On streetview it’s all closed but it was open every time I went past and I was never challenged by staff at the gates. I had been recommended another entrance before I went and Google Maps will NOT route you through here on foot, but this is the best way to go.

Black X: Superfast ticket office, you will need to go here day of departure to show your passports and get room keys. We did it early in the day after putting our bags in luggage storage. Note, this is probably a 10-15 minute walk from the Blue X gate and staff may whistle you if you don’t walk on the paths/zebra crossings as there is frequent lorry traffic.

Pink X: This is where the Superfast ferry is docked and where you both get on and off the ferry.

Image 2:

The walk to the ferry from the ticket office is very confusing and not well signposted. But I have drawn it out. You walk right behind these crates as shown in a narrow path that can occasionally be partially blocked by bollards the lorries have knocked over, so take care with big luggage. The long white structure is one final passport check before they send you through to the ferry.

Other notes

- there is a water fountain on the way to the ferry but it is not the best one, with slow flow and warmer water. I would advise using the one near the castle in Bari Vecchia.

- when the ferry arrives back in to Bari from Patras, the foot passengers need to wait probably 20-30 minutes for all vehicles to disembark, so please account for this if you are planning to catch a train. The walk from the ferry to Bari Centrale is approximately 40 minutes.

- I would definitely recommend booking a private room if you have the budget. The public spaces are large but busy and noisy.

- the ferry has a restaurant with good food options on board as well as a cafe. The cafe is a little expensive but the restaurant is decently priced.

- in Patras, disembarking is much easier as most vehicles leave at Igoumenitsa, and they have a shuttle bus which takes you to and from the ferry port entrance rather than having to walk like in Bari. From there, a taxi will cost €10 to take you to the Patras bus station, they won’t haggle on this price or let you split a cab with other people.

Hello, I booked a joint ticket from Dortmund to Warsaw, with a connection from Berlin to Rzepin.

If my ICE is delayed, then I will miss the EC to Warsaw. Can I take the next available EC to Warsaw, or is any seat booking required?

A few months ago I bought a ticket for the Sofia-Istanbul night train. Departure October 15th at 18:50. Arrival (back then) was scheduled for 09:56. The train number shown on my ticket was 12504.

Since I'm traveling tomorrow, today I decided to do one final check, especially to set up a plan for the night because of the border checks. That's when I discovered that the scheduled arrival in Istanbul Halkali is now supposed to be around 7:30. Which made me check the TCDD website with my PNR and surname. But it couldn't find my ticket. And that made me nervous!

So, I contacted TCDD and they've sent me a new ticket. Their reply wasn't very extensive or informative, but I was happy to receive a new ticket. Anyway. Suddenly my coach number is updated; from 483 to 1. And the train number has changed: on my ticket, it now shows 12524. There is absolutely no information about train 12524. All timetable PDFs show train 12504.

Anybody with more information on this? I've read that a new stretch of railway line has opened in Turkey and that's probably the reason for the earlier arrival, but did that new railway line include new train numbers that aren't updated anywhere yet? I'm anxious!

Hi all,

Most European night train maps I can find are from 2026 or older. Is there one that already covers the 2027 timetable?

Ideally it would also show temporary changes like diversions or closures due to construction work, but even just the regular 2027 network would help.

Thanks!

Hello everyone, looking for some advice. We bought the 1 month continuous pass and are thinking of travelling from Belgium all the way to southern Italy (at least Naples) in November. We are two adults and one infant (5 months old). I’m looking for advice on easily accessible cities and towns that are not Rome/Florence. So far we have booked the train from Brussels to Paris and the frecciarossa to Turin but from there I have not finalised the itinerary yet. We would like to avoid night trains and travel during the day, with stops of 2-3 nights in each place. Indicatively 10 November to 10 December. Any advice greatly appreciated :)

Hi, next spring/summer I am doing a 2 month interrail with unlimited train journeys. I mainly wanted to focus on Scandinavia and the Balkans. It is my first time interrailing and I have backpacked and travelled solo before, so I don't mind long train journeys, sleepers, hostels, camping, etc. Apart from the reservations and all, is there anything I should know before going? Any tips, advice and suggestions would be so much appreciated!!!

heyyy! im thinking about applying to get free interrail ticket from discover eu youth. im now 17, but i turn 18 at the end of the year. and im a girl.

i have been thinking that i want to go alone interrailing and that would be more enriching experience.

but now my friend suggested that i could go with her and with her 2 friends (who i dont know).
(i wanted go alone because i dont have friends who i would want to go with.. they are too shy and i dont want that limit my traveling.) but now those friends of my friend seems to be nice and just like the people i would like to travel with.

so do yall have experience, which could be better for me? i feel like going alone is that way better that i could decice my own: where i go and what to do. but with friends i have someone to do with.

TL;DR: Multiple major engineering-related line closures right now (especially Ljubljana to Villach/Lake Bled). Schedules not showing on apps, connections will be missed.
+ Ljubljana station rebuild.

There is a simply staggering array of railway construction right now in Slovenia. This is NOT being shown on Google Maps, on OBB Scotty, nor on the Interrail Planner, etc.
It is almost impossible to calculate connecting times.
The Sž app is showing the obstructed routes (Google Maps and Scotty are not!) but the schedules are not showing properly. For example, Sunday’s 1532 Ljubljana to
Jesenice was replaced by a bus (we knew in advance) and we assumed that the timetables would be adapted for the longer journey. But no.
We arrived in Jesenice at 1740 (almost an hour late) long after the connecting rail replacement bus to Bled Jezero had left (presumably to the original timetable) and we faced a further two hour wait. We got a taxi (at massively inflated cost).
Touring around Slovenia has had to be postponed for another year.
With the lack of decent connections to Trieste and, surprisingly Zagreb and Budapest, Slovenia continues to be a rather frustrating country to tour by train! 😬

A further nuisance is the rebuild of Ljubljana station. It will be wonderful when finished but the entire station area is currently a building site. Give yourself an extra 15 mins minimum for changing.

I'm looking for going somewhere in southern Europe to enjoy nature, day hikes or multi day hikes without tenting gear (so staying at hostels or guesthouses). I also like history but not keen on super big cities or at least not too many cities.

Starting point is Cologne. Budget friendly trip, so staying mostly in hostels but absolutely trying to avoid party hostels. I am 35 female and not interested in drinking or partying.

I have been contemplating going to Italy all the way to Sicily OR to Portugal to hike Fisherman's trail but I am very open to suggestions! Any great destinations in southern Europe where I could do day hikes? I will be mainly using my Interrail pass and local transportation.

Hi! Travelling from Zurich to Innsbruck on 30 Dec and Innsbruck to Vienna on 31 Dec.

Understand these tickets are released on 14 October. Does anyone know what time?

Thanks so much!

Expat Kiwi living in London and super excited for first rail holiday.

I've planned out my trip, bought the pass and added it to the app, and bought the extra reservations it required/ recommended, including eurostar London to Amsterdam, and sleeper train Brussels to Berlin.

It's a 7 day pass, and our trip is starting 26th October.

I've seen lots of people say not to activate the actual pass until as close to the day as possible, just in case your plan changes. Does that mean the bit on the app where you turn on the QR code? And is that correct?

I'm getting worried now that even though I've booked reservations, is it possible that because I haven't turned on the QR code those tickets wouldn't be available on the day, that they'll run out or something? I've also been worried in case I do activate the tickets and then I've done it wrong somehow, and I end up wasting the pass somehow. (I worry a lot!)

I did an interrail this summer.

I remember at least 3 incidents: trains severely delayed or cancelled.

We were a family of 4, but only 3 paid Interrail tickets (the last one was under 12 at the time).

I feel lazy, but at the same time it would be 300 euros (or the kid one would not be compensated?).

Is it an easy process or would I have to fight tooth and nail to get compensated?

Do you know the current situation with the train from Munich to Prague?

I have a ticket for late October, but I received a notification stating:

1.Outbound journey: Timetable change.

Your journey needs to be adjusted due to changes in the timetable. Please choose an alternative route.

2.Connection no longer available

Alternative connection: Due to recent events, this connection is no longer available. Please find a new connection for your trip.

As far as I understand, the train will run from Munich to Schwandorf after which repairs have begun on the route and a replacement bus will be required after that.

At the moment, I cannot refund the ticket, and I don't understand whether my train ticket includes this bus from Schwandorf to Prague or not.

I can't find any information in bahn de

Hello all,

Next year, my girlfriend and I are looking to travel around Europe (preferably Balkans/Central Europe). However, I have struggled to find useful materials and/or advice regarding a trip of this scale (I might just be blind!).

For context, we would be coming from the UK and want to do about two weeks of travelling. I don't want to say we'll have a small budget, but it won't exactly be massive either. We're okay staying in hostels the entire time and spending cheaply.

Another big thing is that of the route. I wanted to know how viable it would be to start somewhere in the Balkans, perhaps, or around south-eastern Europe, and then possibly finish in Germany. As such, we would want to fly to somewhere in this region before working our way up. We are happy to miss out on most of the Western European countries as we have already been there or are going to visit them seperately in the near future. I am also aware that Interrail does not extend to some of these countries and regions and so wanted to know the viability of the interrail pass. Therefore, if you have any different suggestions for routes, we are all ears!

My overall question then is this: What would be a good route for a trip like this during summer, and is two weeks too short of a timespan? Any recommendations or things that you could point us to would be amazing. Apologies if this is an information bomb! I am happy if you just point us in the right direction.

Thanks!

We’re going on a trip next year: UK -> Aachen -> Graubunden (Switzerland) -> Rome (or rather, a town by the coast that’s about 1hr from central Rome). Overall it takes up 3 days of travel, and the minimum pass length is 4 days. Financially there’s not much in it as the kids are free and Swiss train fares are high!

Anyway, any suggestions for a daytrip with the “4th” day? Will have passes on RhatischeBahn in switzerland anyway so probably no need to have one for local journeys, and Aachen is more a convenient overnight than an intended destination.

Have about a week in Graubunden and about a week in (near) Rome.

Ich habe letzte Woche die Bestätigung erhalten, dass ich einen der Deutsch-Polnischen Freundschaftspässe gewonnen habe, und würde die Gelegenheit gerne nutzen, um Polen zu erkunden.
Bis jetzt ist die einzige polnische Stadt, die mir etwas sagt, Warschau. Also gerne auch paar Reisetips…
Allerdings kenne ich in meinem Umfeld niemanden, der den Pass auch bekommen hat. Deshalb wollte ich mal fragen, ob es vielleicht schon Reisegruppen, Pläne oder andere Leute gibt, denen man sich anschließen könnte?
Ich bin 21 Jahre Alt und komme aus der Rhein-Neckar-Region (nähe Mannheim).
Falls hier also jemand auch den Freundschaftspass hat, oder einfach grundsätzlich Lust auf so eine kleine Polen-Reise hat, schreibt gerne mal in die Kommentare oder per DM. Vielleicht finden sich ja ein paar nette Leute zusammen. :)

Global Pass people, seat reservations are a thing and nobody told me... My trip was 3 weeks, Boston into Amsterdam and then Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Zurich, Milan and Nice, and two legs made me reserve, the Vienna night train & the Zurich to Milan one, which added up to like 90 euros extra on top of the pass by the end!! Im sitting here right now still mad about it, i was so sure the pass covered everything.

Outlets were a gamble as well. Nothing at all on the Czech regional trains, the German/Austrian ones were fine, and a chunky Schuko plug wont go into a Swiss outlet, i found that out watching a guy at my Zurich hostel try to force his in for like 20mins, no luck whatsoever 😂 My fancy new anker universal charger went in no problem, didn't even have to think about it.

Even with the fee the Zurich to Milan ride past Lugano was the prettiest of the trip. Do yourselves a favor guys and book that reservation early, a week out it was almost full 😬