Eurorail for Paddy

scenic eurorail pic of train on stone trestle entering a mountainIt’s such exciting news for European residents.

For years them bloody tourists have been able to purchase this thing called “Eurorail” wherein the holder can travel with impunity across sovereign European country lines as if all the trains were part of the same system. There were certain problems with zones (the UK didn’t participate for ages, as I recall) and days the passes weren’t valid.

Well, from 10th April Europeans get on the bandwagon too! Now European residents can purchase an “InterRail” pass valid in 31 European countries (including the Ireland and the UK). What’s more, it’s pretty cheap. A month-long unlimited pass is less than €600.

I’ve mentioned the joys and downsides of traveling Ireland by rail before, as well as the fact that you’ll need to wait until 2008 to get from Galway to Limerick directly, but in general trains are the fastest, safest and most comfortable way to get from point A to point B.

The official interRail announcement is here.

Bootsnall’s euroRail page is here.

And the RTE news story is here.