Where in the world am I? Eurail Travel planning
Hi there, I’m Dr. Mary Travelbest. I’m in San Diego now, sharing my best travel ideas and working on another book for you to enjoy: 5 Steps to Solo Travel, Part C. I’m about to launch on a 90-day trip around the world.
Listener Story Spotlight
I want to tell you about a listener named Kristen. Kristen loves to travel. She recently received a Fullbright Scholarship and took a trip with her husband and sons to a foreign country, Portugal, for several months. She’s full of great travel ideas and will be helpful as I continue to travel and make my adventures more mobile. She’s encouraging me to keep going in my travels and is a professor in Southern California.
Quick fire FAQ:
The FAQ for today is:
Do you find that air travel dries your sinuses? Do you get dry and scratchy throats afterward?
Yes, it happens. Let’s talk about how to rid yourself of this in advance.
How to avoid the dryness of airline flights?
The answer:
My solution is Saline Nasal Spray.
I bought the 1.5-oz size for $4.00, which will last my entire trip. Before you get dry sinuses, squirt some in each nostril and then relax as it goes to work. What are the ingredients? Water, sodium chloride, disodium phosphate, benzyl alcohol, sodium phosphate, and benzalkonium chloride. Water and salt.
There are three ways to use it: Squeeze twice in each nostril, and it delivers a spray, a stream, and a drop upside down. Take your pick.
60-second confidence challenge
Advice for Active Seniors :
“There is no shame in prioritizing and slowing down vs. overdoing. Most injuries happen when people are rushing. “Go slower, arrive sooner” is a helpful mantra.” (Ellen McCabe)
If you like today’s Confidence Challenge, Chapter 2 of my book dives deeper
buy it on Amazon or https://www.5stepstosolotravel.com
See Book A for addressing all of these items.
Today’s destination is Eurail Travel Planning
I said:
You are traveling in Europe in the Summer of 2025. You arrive in Athens, Greece, then go to Krakow, Warsaw, Poland, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and end in Edinburgh, Scotland, where you leave the EU. You will travel for five weeks. How many days will you want to use the Eurail pass for trains and ferries? Plan the trip, including seat fees and senior discounts with these countries, and suggest other places that would be a good stopping point or worth seeing. I am a solo woman in my prime. Include a mention of the low-cost airlines that I should take when not on the train or ferry.
Answer:
1 Where a Eurail day genuinely saves you money
Below is every leg: (a) scenic or pricey at full fare and (b) covered or discounted by the pass if the trip is a low-fare train, like under $10.regional hop, we skip the past day and just pay cash—why burn powder you might need later?
1 Day 3 Athens → Kalabaka €3 IC seat
Sunset over Meteora cliffs—worth the four-hour train.
2 Day 5 Kalabaka → ThessalonÃki free (regional) No supplement, but one more travel day.
3 Day 9 Krakow → OÅ›wiÄ™cim (return) free (regional) Auschwitz day trip; counts once.
4 Day 11 Krakow → Warsaw (EIP) ~PLN 35 ≈ €8
High‑speed, mandatory seat.
5 Day 13 Warsaw → GdaÅ„sk or ToruÅ„ (optional) PLN 3 ≈ €0.70 Use if you “dive” north.
6 Day 16 Tallinn → Helsinki ferry deck = free; cabin = ‑20 %
Tallink Silja
It counts oas ne travel day.
7 Day 17 Helsinki → Tampere & back €0–€6 VR seat
Eurail
Pendolino; book in app.
8 Day 19 Helsinki o/night ferry → Stockholm deck = free; cabin –20 % Same Tallink perk.
9 Day 21 Stockholm → Uppsala (return) €0 (regional) Same‑day out‑and‑back.
10 Day 22 Stockholm → Gothenburg ≈ €7 SJ seat
Eurail Community
3 h X2000.
11 Day 23 Gothenburg → Oslo free No reservations.
12 Day 25 Oslo → Bergen ≈ NOK 50 ≈ €4 seat Bergensbanen panorama.
13 Day 26 Bergen → FlÃ¥m train + Nærøyfjord boat boat covered A rail‑and‑fjord combo.
14 Day 30 Copenhagen → Roskilde day‑trip ≈ €9 seat
Eurail
Vikings have & an easy return.
15 Day 32 Edinburgh → Inverness £0–£5 seat UK still in the Eurail network.
* Fees are 2ᵈ ‑class, summer 2025 published rates.
Total Eurail travel days = 15 – the cap of the 15‑days‑in‑2‑months Senior Global Pass
2 What about the long, awkward gaps?
Why wrestle with two‑day rail marathons when a 90‑minute hop costs less than your hostel?
Segment Suggested airline(s) Typical July fare if bought 3 mo ahead
ThessalonÃki ✈ Krakow Ryanair, Aegean €55–€85
Warsaw ✈ Tallinn airBaltic, LOT, Ryanair €45–€90
Bergen ✈ Copenhagen Norwegian, SAS €65–€110
Copenhagen ✈ Edinburgh easyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian €40–€80
Question: could you train ThessalonÃki→Krakow via Budapest? Yes—but it burns 2‑3 pass days plus €30‑€45 in night‑train supplements. The low‑cost flight is simply cheaper and quicker.
3 Five‑week skeleton itinerary
Week Base & ideas Safety‑first extras for a 65‑yr‑old solo traveler
1 Athens 3 d – dawn Acropolis, Plaka food walk → train to Meteora 2 d (monastery sunsets) → ThessalonÃki 2 d for Byzantine walls & waterfront. Central hotels near Syntagma & Aristotelous squares; use the eat taxi app after dark.
2 Fly to Krakow 3 d (+ Auschwitz) → Warsaw 2 d → optional day to ToruÅ„ or GdaÅ„sk. Women‑only dorms at Greg & Tom (Krakow) and OkiDoki (Warsaw); trains arrive before dusk.
3 Fly to Tallinn 2 d → ferry to Helsinki 3 d with day‑trip to Tampere—Telliskivi creative city, Suomenlinna flat walks; Bolt taxis for late returns.
4 Night ferry to Stockholm 3 d (+ Uppsala) → train to Gothenburg 2 d → rail to Oslo 2 d. Stockholm hostel “City Backpackers” has curtained bunks; carry Rail Planner live‑trip link to share location.
5 Oslo‑Bergen rail & fjords 3 d → Fly to Copenhagen 3 d (+ Roskilde) → Fly to Edinburgh; finish with Highlands loop 4 d (Inverness, Aviemore hikes) before departure. Fjord cruise boats have good handrails; Scottish B&Bs offer single rooms beside stations.
4 Is the pass still worth it?
That’s $200-250 saved, plus the flexibility to reroute if wildfires, strikes, or your whims intervene.
5 Quick checklist before you lock it in
Buy the Senior Global Pass (15 days/2 months) before prices rise.
Book the four trains with limited seats (EIP Poland, X2000 Sweden, Bergensbanen, Copenhagen reservations) as soon as reservations open—usually 60–90 days in advance.
Use the Rail Planner app to activate travel days on the morning you board; keep two blanks until the very end in case you shuffle plans.
Flights: watch Friday flash sales on Ryanair/Norwegian; they routinely drop < €30.
Pack a light, wheeled 40‑L bag—no one checks size on regional trains, but lugging a 20 kg suitcase up ferry gangways is zero fun.
Bottom line
A skeptical eye shows the numbers add up: 15 Eurail travel days + four strategic low‑cost flights cover an ambitious five‑week arc for under-in rail/ferry costs and ~€250 in airfares. You keep maximum flexibility, minimize marathon journey fatigue, and “dive” into side trips whenever the mood strikes.
Smart Move and Slip up pairings
Pack the small bag. Try it. Don’t take the big suitcase.
60-second confidence challenge
If you like today’s Confidence Challenge, Chapter 2 of my book dives deeper—link in the description.
I traveled to France for the first time on a budget over an extended weekend. She got a bargain airfare from San Diego to Paris, and a friend invited her to stay with her. Do you have a friend like this? Take them up on the offer. The author was a contestant in the Worldwide Competition of Beaujolais Wine Fest, held in Paris annually. The author represented the USA, and the team ranked second in this global competition. We created a short skit representing the colorful history of the USA, and our team performed this at 41 locations along The Avenue des Champs-Élysées. When you go to Paris, make your reservations in advance for the Eiffel Tower. We could only get a reservation at 11:15 pm, several weeks in advance. That is a don’t miss experience as an independent traveler.
Resources Roundup
Why should you go? Keep on saying “yes” because you know you should.
Stepping out of your comfort zone allows you to enjoy life, innovate, explore, appreciate nature, and create your personal pleasure experience. You can make a confidence spike when you face your fear of going alone as it builds your independence. Facing your fears is a well-known method of building inner strength. (Source: ILSC http://www.ilsc.com/blog/2011/12/how-can-traveling-help-in-developing-a-persons-character-and-personality/
You will naturally face some problems on your journey. For example, health problems, delays in traffic, oversleeping, money problems, and others. These kinds of issues help develop your skills in personal responsibilities and adaptability, according to an expert in travel education, India’s Kanako Imamoto. The skills of adaptability and responsibility are built through the process of dealing with problems.
You will also have experiences, and that is important. One of these is about communications. We can’t travel without communicating with others because there are many people involved in travel and moving around, and sometimes, you’ll be on a trip with others. So you can develop the ability to cooperate with others.
If you are looking for more solo female resources, you can find several tips and ways to navigate the pitfalls with Journey Woman or other great resources.
The away mantra is to go and find peace where you rest and bring good to others.
You can travel solo and never be alone. Dr. Travelbest.
Thanks for listening.
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