Post #1271613

2026-04-05 08:22 UTC

@dubiousblur I was joking 2 years ago during my trip to Malaga that one could do Malaga-London in one day if the stars align, and likely beyond due to the favorable timezone change: https://mastodon.social/@cycling_on_rails/113338759404620938 I took a safe option from Zurich though, with 1 stop on each way to explore Barcelona and Montpellier. I could afford that as I had the privilege to be able to spend 3 days travelling each way.

Replies (2)

@dubiousblur@social.treehouse.systems 2026-04-05 08:37

@cycling_on_rails the safe option is the sensible option, definitely, but limiting it to two days has important effects. I’m pretty sure the four day Interrail ticket is heavily used by people who treat them as a return ticket for long distances. :) Certainly I have! This seems wrong but is an interesting wrinkle in the discussion of ticket costs. There is in fact a maximum fare for cross Europe travel by train for up to a certain distance, and it’s the distance you can go in two days (or four, one way). No wonder SNCF limits the numbers, never mind the reservation fee profiteering 😬

Open ##1271614
@dubiousblur@social.treehouse.systems 2026-04-05 10:25

@cycling_on_rails looks like you can’t do that at the moment, due to how few the trains from Barcelona to France are now.

Open ##1271615