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Comment by TrackerFF | Hacker News Reader

Is interrail still a thing? It was popular in Europe back in the 70s and 80s, when young people could buy a interrail pass. Many of my older relatives (now in their 60s) did that back then, but it was more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s. By that time, budget airlines had become a thing, and summer/party trips to Spain / Mediterranean started to dominate my peers' summer vacations.

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"more or less dead when I was old enough in the early 00s"

Think it was just your peer group then. It's still very much a thing. Did it in my youth twice, once at 16 years once at 18 around 2010. I know my cousin who is >10 years younger than me also did it sometime in the last 5 years. Among my peers it was fairly common but it was not done by the majority. If I'd have to guess I'd say 10-20% did it at some point towards the end of highschool.

We also did party trips but that's just a different kind of trip and doesn't really mean the other thing is dead.

No, I just imagined the trip…

Yes, very much still a thing. We saw Interrail travellers of all ages. Lots of students going on a big adventure - but a decent number of more experienced travellers seeing the sights.

746,000 Interrail passes sold in 2024

https://www.interrail.com/en/magazine/did-you-know/rail-reca...

When I graduated uni in the late 2010s it was still quite popular. Budget airlines have made trips to southern Europe a lot more popular/feasible for a boozy weekend with mates, but for people who want to go backpacking for a month or two Interrail still made a lot of sense, at that time at least.

Any of the series of jetlag the game[0] set in Europe basically function as a free advertisement for eurail.

0: https://www.youtube.com/@jetlagthegame

I've used Interrail every time I want to travel a longer distance across Europe by train. Spares me some of the stress of dealing with interruptions since I can often just hop on the next train. Unless it's fully booked...

I got a month-long Eurail pass in the mid 2000s. It was a great experience for me. Only a few places I chose/needed to buy a ticket. I don't know if it's still a good value, though.

I did it in 2010 and I think the majority of my friends have done it over the years. At least around that time it still seemed very much alive for people in the UK.

It's still a thing and I was gearing up to do it in the 00s. But I accepted a job offer and my freewheeling days were over.

Interrail is sometimes cheaper, specially as a student. Otherwise it’s usually still cheaper if you want to go to multiple stops

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