Conditions of use of your InterRail Pass
What is an InterRail Pass?
An InterRail Pass entitles you to unlimited train travel in one or more countries during a certain period. The validity depends on the InterRail Pass you select. You don't need to buy point-to-point tickets, which will save you time and money.
Valid in which countries?
The InterRail Global Pass is valid in all 30 InterRail countries, except in your own country of residence. In your own country, you can buy a return ticket to the border or airport with a high discount.
An InterRail One Country Pass is valid in one country of your choice, but not in your own country. Note that not all countries participating in the Global Pass offer a One Country Pass. There is no One Country Pass for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg can only be combined with the Benelux Pass.
If you want to take a train that crosses a country where your InterRail Pass is not valid, you should buy a separate ticket from border to border to cover that part of the trip.
How long is it valid?
You can choose from InterRail Passes with a continuous validity (for example 22 days non-stop) or Passes with a flexible validity (for example 10 travel days within 22 days).
Who can buy an InterRail Pass?
You can buy an InterRail Pass if your country of residence for at least 6 months has been:
- one of the Inter Rail community members:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom; - one of the other European countries:
Aland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Faeroer Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Russia, San Marino, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Ukraine, Vatican.
Train staff will check your residency in your travel document, so make sure that you bring the right identification documents. People from non-European countries can buy a Eurail Pass for train travel in Europe.
Which InterRail Pass for which age?
Anyone can buy an InterRail Pass. There are several price levels depending upon your age and the preferred class:
- Customers aged 26 and older on the first day of travel can buy an Adult Pass, valid in 1st or 2nd class;
- Customers aged 12 up to and including 25 years old can buy a discounted Youth Pass, which is only valid for 2nd class train travel;
- Customers aged 4 up to 12 years old get a Child discount of 50% on the fare of an Adult Pass, 1st or 2nd class;
- Children aged 0 up to and including 3 travel for free (they may not have their own seat).
Travel Conditions
The InterRail Pass can be bought up to three months before the beginning of its validity.
The InterRail Pass is personal and non-transferable: it can be used by the bearer only and no one else.
When using the InterRail Pass, you may be asked to show your identity card, passport or residence permit. This is to prove your date of birth and country of residence. The controller will check that the information written on your Pass (e.g your name, passport/identity card number, country of residence etc…) matches those details given on your piece of identity.
If your InterRail Pass gets lost or stolen, it cannot be re-issued or refunded. A refund may only be obtained if the pass is returned before the first date of validity.
Special Train Surcharges
Special rules/tariffs may apply for specific trains.
The holder must pay charges and supplements, in particular, those levied for:
- (compulsory) seat reservations (sometimes including services
- the use of global price trains with compulsory reservation
- the use of sleeping accommodation (couchettes, beds and sleeperettes)
- the use of cabins, berths and reclining seats on ships of the shipping companies
- Season supplements during the months June to September on the shipping lines Superfast Ferries and Blue Star Ferries between Italy and Greece
- port taxes
- meals, which are included in the supplement of some trains
- other services offered on board trains (telephone, newspapers etc.)
Fore more information, see Special Trains.
Extra Pass Benefits
Holders of an InterRail Pass can benefit of bonuses. A bonus can only be obtained:
- on presentation of your InterRail Pass
- within the overall validity of your InterRail Passs
- if your InterRail Pass is valid in the country in which the bonus is granted
- generally only from the local ticket office, call-centre or website of the company granting the bonus.
There are two kinds of bonuses, namely those entitling to free passage/entrance and those granting a reduction. For holders of an InterRail Pass with flexible validity, the use of a free travel bonus can only occur on a day of which the date has been filled in into the calendar. Please note that the use of a reduction does not require the use of a travel day of a ‘flexi’ pass.
For details regarding the specific pass benefits, see Extra Pass Benefits.
When can you travel?
You can start your first rail trip anytime after 00.00 hours on the first day your Pass is valid. You must finish your last trip by midnight (24.00 hours) on the last day of validity. You can make as many rail trips as you want on the days your Pass is valid.
Flexi Pass?
Do you have a 5- or 10-day flexible (Flexi) InterRail Global Pass? Then you can travel on 5 or 10 separate days of your choice, anytime between midnight of one day to the next, within the period of validity of your Pass.
Travelling overnight?
A travel day normally lasts from midnight to midnight. Is your first trip of the day a direct overnight train departing after 19.00 hours? Then you can fill in the next day's date on the calendar of your InterRail Pass. This is known as the '7 pm rule'. Please note: travel cannot begin before 00h01 on the first day of the overall validity period of the Pass. If the first validity day is for example Wednesday 6 August, you cannot use the '7 pm rule' on Tuesday the 5th yet.
The Artesia de Nuit night trains on the route Paris to Rome and vice versa leave a few minutes before 19.00 (7pm). Travelers are nonetheless allowed to inscribe the date of the next day into the travel calendar!
If you use an overnight ferry covered by the InterRail Pass, you may enter either the date of departure or arrival.
Fill in the Travel Calendar!
When travelling with a flexi Pass (like a 5- or 10-day Global Pass) it is important that you record the date of each journey in the Travel Calendar (printed on the Pass). You must write in ink and you should fill it in before boarding the train. Not doing so is the same as travelling without a ticket, which means you risk a large fine. The month should be written below the day, see the example Pass.
Be very careful filling in the date. If you make a mistake you cannot correct it, as this could be interpreted as fraud. If you make a mistake you will have to enter the correct date in the next travel day box and consequently lose a travel day.
Travel Report and survey
Your InterRail Pass consists of a ticket and a cover. Each time before boarding a train, bus or boat, it is important that you record your trip in the Travel Report on the pass cover. If you travel without having entered the trip in the Travel Report, you risk a fine and payment of a full fare ticket. Control staff are authorised to charge a fine of € 50 maximum (or the equivalent in local currency) and ask for payment of a full fare ticket. When you return the Travel Report after your trip, we will send you a free InterRail Souvenir!
Combining One Country Passes
When you want to travel from one country to the next, you would need to use a travel day on both One Country Passes. To save a travel day, you can use only one Pass in the country where you travel the longest distance and buy a separate ticket for the short leg of the trip in the other country. Normally you can buy this ticket already at the station of the city of departure. See also the FAQ.