Wandering Europe on an Interrail pass is a rite of passage for many younger people. But does the idea have the same appeal with partner and child in tow? When I told my friend I was going interrailing, she laughed. So will you be listening to The Cure and trying to snog year-old boys?
Unlikely — although I knew what she meant. Back in my twenties I, like everyone I knew, went interrailing. I looked at the Interrail sites interrail. That did it. I planned our trip and my partner Richard, our seven-year-old daughter Hani and I took off for two-and-a-half weeks over the Easter holidays.
After getting the Eurostar to Brussels we took a train to Cologne then boarded the sleeper to Vienna — or in our case, the non-sleeper. It started well. We settled Hani into the top bunk and sat back with our complimentary mini bottles of prosecco and gazed at the twinkling lights of passing castles and villages along the Rhine. Four hours later I was squashed into the top bunk while she was snoring below.
She even started writing a diary. The soporific motion of the train, the scrolling scenery and, not least, copious audio books and picnics helped. In Ljubljana we walked through cobbled streets up to the castle, where Hani was transfixed by the remains of a pit into which prisoners were once hurled.
But it was time to swap cities for wilderness, and a two-hour bus ride took us to Lake Bohinj. Deep in the Triglav national park , Lake Bohinj is less spoiled than its glamorous sister, Lake Bled , and has a surfeit of attractions: mountains, a lake, boats, a gorge, alpine flowers, hiking trails and skiing. It even smelt similar: slightly woody, with lates decor that made me feel strangely at home. The road ends at Lake Bohinj, whose calm, clear waters are glorious for swimming in the summer the hostel rents canoes and paddleboards, as well as bikes.
