Europe by Rail: The ultimate challenge, 30 countries in 30 days

One Dave, One Inter Rail pass, One Europe.

The ultimate adventure to visit 30 countries in 30 days, it’s going to be a Summer to remember!

Enjoying Europe like an Espresso And its about time too.

At the end of this month I will be turning 25, which means this is the last chance I will be able to use an Inter Rail pass.

At least I can enjoy my last youthful Summer in style.

Back in 2006 I was lucky enough to travel around Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland with an InterRail pass.

I would love to revisit that exact same path which I took all those years ago, as well as exploring countries I’ve yet to visit.

That’s how I ended up with this unique idea.

I aim to show everyone how you can make the most out of an InterRail pass and use it to the full to explore Europe.

That’s why I want to take you along with me on this unique journey by rail.

30 Days, 30 countries, all by using one Interrail Pass.

To keep you up to date, I will be writing a blog post every day as well as tweeting about my journey, posting pictures on my Instagram account and creating fun GoPro videos for my Youtube channel.

It’s going to be full of adventure every step of the way.

In order to make the trip a little more challenging I have set out a few rules to keep it interesting:

Rules for the challenge

• Starting and ending point will be The Netherlands
• Stick to a €10 per a day budget
• Only use transportation that is provided with the InterRail pass
• Travel with only hand luggage
• Visit as many local friends as possible
• Take all Night train options
• Avoid guidebooks and use local knowledge as best as possible
• Try something new every day
• Visit every mainland European country (excludes islands such as UK, Iceland, Cyprus, Ireland)

Yep, that means no flying just good old trains and track’s the whole way around.

It’s been a vision of mine to do this for many years, I did blog about attempting to plan this trip back in 2012.

I just never got around to doing it, now having to face my age, its never been a better time to give it a shot.

The whole idea behind this project is a pipeline dream of mine to cover all the countries in the world over the span of a year.

I want to use this challenge to test my endurance to see if the rest of the world could be possible and use this as a stepping stone to the bigger project in mind.

Who knows, this could be the start of something big!

I have always been fascinated by trains, I just hope I never get bored with them.

For me they are the most enjoyable way to travel, you never know what great book you will read, the scenery you will experience or the people you will sit next to.

Just something about Trains that bring the magic to travel for.

I hope you’re excited about this adventure as much as I am and I hope you’re looking forward to following me as I InterRail around Europe.

Who knows, maybe I might be visiting a city close to you? Feel free to message me, would be great to stop off and meet you along the way.

I will be departing at the end of June, so until then I will create blog posts all about how I will be preparing for this big trip such as the routes I will be taking and much much more, so stay tuned!

Lets explore Europe by Rail!