4 Essential Items for An Interrailing Adventure

editor — Mon, 25 May 2026 10:41:56 +0000

So you’re going interrailing. Great! You’ve hopefully bought the right Interrail pass, reserved any necessary tickets, and downloaded your route onto the app, not to mention booked a few hotel rooms.

When you’re about to shoot off on your first train, the excitement is palpable. I know; I’ve been there – twice! Going on an interrail adventure with friends, a partner, or even solo is one of the most memorable ways to travel Europe and see the continent entirely from the ground. You’re always moving through somewhere, meeting new locals, and (hopefully) trying new foods.

But hold on a second there, chief! I know you’re keen to kickstart your adventure, but before you go, there are a few things you need to take with you that are absolute non-negotiables. Let me tell you more about them.

A Good Camera

Look, when I say good, I don’t mean it needs to be a $1000 DSLR or anything – just a camera that’s able to take the kind of pictures you like. When I went, I took a 20-year-old Fujifilm digital camera because I’m in love with Y2k-style photos that have a slightly vintage, warmer look.

“But why not just use your phone?” I hear you ask. Well, I’m not going to stop you, but I think that when we take photos with our phones, it is never as deliberate as when we use a camera. Nothing beats lining up the frame for the best photo. On top of that, we spend more than enough time on our phones, so I firmly believe that anything that stops you spending more time on a screen is a good thing – especially on the trip of a lifetime.

After you’ve returned home and have taken lots of amazing photos, you can put them in a photo album and enjoy them for years to come. So please, I implore you – see the world through a lens, not just another screen.

Read: The Fashion of Slow Travel: Exploring Jaipur’s Ancient Textile Arts and Heritage Sanctuaries

The Right Backpack

When you’re interrailing, you don’t want to lug an enormous suitcase around. You want a backpack that’s big enough to fit in all of the essentials that you need: clothes, spare shoes, gadgets, and essential travel documents and identification, not to mention food and drink.

But you need to strike the right balance between having enough storage and being practical. You’ll be walking through busy city centres and crowded train stations – perhaps under time pressure and in high temperatures. The sweet spot for me is somewhere between 35 and 50 litres. A backpack in this range will be big enough for everything you need, while still being well-balanced and easy to carry.

You can get a good backpack online, in outdoor shops, and secondhand.

Comfortable Walking Shoes

Next up is one that I didn’t get right on my first interrailing trip. Trust me – it’s an important one. On my first trip, I’d ventured out on the assumption that I wouldn’t really need anything too practical on my feet because I’d spend most of my time sitting on trains.

I was so very wrong. It turns out that I actually spent a significant amount of time on foot, exploring cities or – God forbid – walking along countryside trails or hiking up mountain paths. My poor Vans just weren’t cut out for the strain I put them through.

So the second time around, I bought some so-called ‘hiking trainers’ that were much better for the task at hand. They looked good while being supportive enough to take me through 30,000-step days through cobbled streets and up mountain passes. Walking boots would also be a fine choice, but they aren’t as practical for travel days on trains, and take up a lot of backpack space.

A Sleeping Mask

Hear me out. Interailing is tiring work, especially with all of the stops and starts, train chasing, and exploring when you’re staying in a new location. When you’ve got a train journey ahead of you (especially in the evening), it’s often a good opportunity for some much-needed shut-eye. But the problem with a lot of these trains is that they’re awfully bright.

So if you’re the kind of person who struggles to settle in anything but a mattress, you’re probably going to struggle. That’s why a sleeping mask is an actual godsend. It makes getting some rest much more attainable, and helps give you the energy you need to get from A to B, through to Z. If you can get a blackout mask, that’s even better. For something so cheap, it’s hard to think of anything else you could take that will give you better bang for your buck.

Conclusion

Before you go interrailing, you’ll probably have a super long list full of everything from deodorant to a good book. The items on this list aren’t necessarily going to make the difference between life and death, but they’re the kind of items that you might kick yourself for forgetting.

Take a good camera so you can capture your memories in your own post-adventure photo albums; take the right backpack so you can carry everything you need; take the right footwear so you can eat up the miles; and, finally, take a sleeping mask so you can rest properly after all those steps.