8 Easy Ways To Save Money While Interrailing 2026

If like me, you’re interrailing with a pretty fixed budget and need to cut some costs along the way, then this is the blog for you.

I’m sharing my tried and tested tips that are guaranteed to save you money as you travel. But before we dive in, you might still be figuring out your exact budget – click here to read my complete guide to budgeting for up to three months of interrailing.

Now, let’s get into those money-saving tips…

Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links, so if you do make a purchase through them I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Tip 1: Get reduced price café quality food with TooGoodToGo

If you haven’t heard of TooGoodToGo, this is your sign to download the app. Essentially, it’s a platform that helps reduce food waste by offering cafés and restaurants the chance to sell their left over food from the day at a fraction of the cost.

So you can feel good about your wallet and stomach, but also the planet. I used TooGoodToGo many times across Europe to get whole selections of sandwiches and pastries for just a couple of Euros which would often feed me for lunch and dinner. Plus, this is still café quality food and perfectly fresh from the day, they just won’t be able to keep it overnight so you’ll often get to try tasty treats in the process.

This is just one of the apps I now wouldn’t travel without – discover the full list here.

Tip 2: Choose accommodation with cooking facilities

My next tip is to step into your chef era. Unless you’re travelling in countries that are much cheaper, generally eating out across Europe is going to be one of your biggest costs. To check if this is the case for you, you can find the average cost of food and drink in the countries you’ll be visiting in my blog here.

And while TooGoodToGo is great for finding cheaper lunches and dinners, you might be able to save even more money by cooking yourself. Which is why I generally always look for accommodation that has cooking facilities. Whether that’s a shared hostel kitchen, a hotel room microwave and kettle or AirBnB apartment with a small stove. This will give you the chance to cook easy meals for literal pennies.

For instance, while interrailing for three months, we had a rule that we would only eat one meal out each day – lunch or dinner. The rest, we would make ourselves with supplies from the supermarket or grocery store. This might sound a bit harsh but we genuinely loved the meals we made and you can get more of a feel for local life shopping for local produce.

Some of our staples were porridge or granola with fruit for breakfast, packed sandwiches or a salad for lunch and pasta with a sauce and veggies for dinner.

Tip 3: Make use of Interrail discounts

Another key money-saving opportunity is to maximise your Interrail pass. With your account you unlock lots of extra discounts across Europe for entertainment, food, travel and more. Simply open your Interrail app and look at the offers available in your area, you can also search some of them online here.

Once you get in the habit of doing this, you can start planning ahead to make the most of the discounts.

Tip 4: Book train seat reservations in advance + in off-peak hours

While your Interrail pass covers all your train tickets, some trains do require a seat reservation which is an additional fee. Now this only applies to high speed and night trains so you don’t need to worry that the cost is going to grow with every train.

Over three months, I took 161 train journeys and only needed seat reservations for less than 10 of them. So it’s not a major cost but can add up if you’re not prepared. You can find the average cost of seat reservations in my blog here. My biggest advice for bringing the cost of them down is booking as early as you can.

The closer to your travel time, not only are seats going to get booked up but they get more expensive too. Plus, I found booking seats on off-peak trains was significantly cheaper than during the morning rush or evening commute home. So plan ahead and get your seats booked to save some precious cash.

Tip 5: Take advantage of free walking tours

Now let’s talk activities – one of the best things you can do in a new city is take a walking tour. You’ll learn so much about the history and culture in a couple of hours, plus you’ll start getting your bearings quicker too. The best part is, in most cities there are companies offering tours for free, you just tip the guide as much as you can afford / feel is right for the service you got.

I’ve done so many of these not just in Europe but all over the world and the standard is generally fantastic. You’ll have super knowledgable guides and discover lots of hidden gems you wouldn’t on your own. It’s also a good chance to meet people if you’re solo travelling – just strike up a conversation as you walk and go from there!

The best places to find these tours is generally Tripadvisor and Freetour.

Tip 6: Build up discount credits in apps like Booking.com

When it comes to accommodation, a great way to start saving is to build up discounts on platforms like Booking.com. Once you’ve booked a couple of hotels, guest houses or even hostels on their app, you’ll start moving into their Genius rewards scheme.

I can now save up to 20% on accommodation bookings because I’ve been loyal to the platform. This does not mean I’ve booked every single night through them, but where the best option is on Booking.com I’ll book through them versus Trivago or Hotels.com. It pays to be a little consistent!

Tip 7: Make use of eSIMs

My next tip not only saves you money on phone data but is way easier than getting a physical SIM card while travelling. Welcome to the world of eSIMs – I only discovered these last year but they’re now a travel staple.

If you live outside Europe or have left the EU like us Brits, your mobile data is likely to be capped or restricted which can make travel pretty tricky. Essentially, instead of hunting down a local SIM card to be able to more affordably make calls, send texts and use mobile data, you can buy an eSIM from companies like Airalo.

They offer eSIMs for almost every country and region in the world at really good prices without even needing to leave your hostel or hotel. Find their range of eSIMs that cover the whole of Europe here.

Tip 8: Plan your route in advance

Last but by no means least, the best tip I could give is to get planning. While you can still maintain spontaneity, having at least a rough idea of where your Interrail route will take you, the countries you want to visit and when will give you the chance to book some key elements in advance.

For instance, accommodation in capitals gets booked up pretty early since COVID so don’t risk being left with slim pickings that are all on the more expensive side. Take the time to book these key elements as early as you can. During my three month trip, I tended to book 3-4 weeks ahead as I went. This will still give you flexibility to change and adapt but enough time to find the best spots and secure the best prices.

For inspiration – you can find my complete three month interrail route here, detailing everywhere I stopped and the best things to do and see in each country.

There we have it, eight super easy tips to save you real money while travelling. I hope these have helped you cut some costs and allowed you to travel for a little longer!

And if you have any of your own tips to add or questions – please share them in the comments as there’s no such thing as too many money-saving tips 😂

Did you find this guide helpful? Please consider buying me a coffee to support my blog, thank you!