It started in 1959, when a handful of post-war European countries agreed to make it easier to cross the continent's borders by train. There was no fixed route, and no fixed destination – the journey itself was the point. Travellers took it from there: meeting in dining cars, crossing paths on platforms, striking up conversations across languages and time zones. Nearly seven decades on, that founding spirit of openness and human connection is still what Interrail is really about.
Because the appeal was never simply about covering ground. One Interrail Pass gives you the freedom to explore up to 33 European countries by train – choosing your own route, following a whim, staying longer in the places that get under your skin. It's an invitation to go beyond the obvious hotspots and experience Europe's languages, landscapes and communities at the pace they deserve. To travel deeper, not just further.
And that's the thing about a good journey: the most important part isn't where it takes you. It's who you come home as.
Discover more at interrail.com/the-interrail-effect and follow @interraileu
Your prize
One lucky reader and their co-traveller will win two Global Interrail Passes, each valid for seven travel days within one month, in 2nd Class – the freedom of up to 33 countries, entirely on your terms. Total prize value: €762.
The question is: How many countries can you explore with the Interrail Pass?
Competition closes: 14th October 2026
Escapism is solely responsible for the running of the giveaway competition and ensure the competition is in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, advertising standards, Interrail giveaway terms and conditions, and social media platform rules. The giveaway competition shall: - be open to entry for individuals aged 18 years or older. - not be open to entry for any Escapism’s family members, spouses and partners and any other individual who Escapism has a close personal relationship with. Selecting and announcing the winner. - Escapism must select and announce the winner within 7 calendar days of the giveaway competition closing for entry. - The winner must be selected by way of random and impartial selection. - Escapism must retain evidence demonstrating random and impartial selection process and must be able to provide such evidence to Interrail upon request within 5 calendar days. - Interrail reserves the right to suspend, cancel, or refuse issuance of any Prize at any time, where it reasonably determines that the giveaway competition has not been conducted fairly or in compliance law or with this Agreement. Following selection of the winner, Escapism will be responsible for contacting the winner in accordance with its competition Terms & Conditions. Escapism will instruct the winner to contact Interrail directly at press@interrail.com, copying Escapism into the email, in order to arrange fulfilment of the Prize. Escapism will not provide the winner’s personal data directly to Interrail. Any personal data subsequently provided by the winner to Interrail will be provided directly by the winner for the purpose of arranging and fulfilling the Prize and will be processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including GDPR 2016/679. Interrail will endeavour to issue each Prize to the winner(s) within a period of 28 calendar days of being notified who the winner(s) is(are). Interrail Passes must be activated within 11 months of the issue date