5 Essential Travel Style tips for Interrailing

Here’s how to look fabulous while you travel Europe…

If there’s anything we’ve learned over our many collective years of backpacking, it’s that travelling light is key. That means your rucksack space is going to be limited and you might have to perfect your sink-washing skills. But cutting back on your packing space shouldn’t mean you have to sacrifice your style – it will however require a little bit of forward planning. Being the fashion fans that we are, we’ve done the hard work for you and brainstormed the essential travel style tips to help you make the most of your first interrail trip.

Comfort is king

First things first – check out the weather. Are you going in summer or winter? Where abouts in Europe are you heading? Make sure you bring appropriate clothes or you’ll be suffering later… Chances are if you’re heading off in the peak season it’s going to be pretty hot… Denim shorts and a crop top might be an awesome beach outfit, but it’s not gonna be comfortable for lugging your backpack about. Find the happy medium between practical and cool – think hareem pants and loose t-shirts, relaxed dresses and kaftans…

If you’re heading to a mix of climates, set yourself up for life and get yourself a puffer jacket from an outdoors shop. It’ll seriously save your life on any slightly chilly or rainy occasion, without taking up tons of space in your bag. Down ones are best because they squish up really small for easy shove-age into your backpack – not to mention they’re the comfiest thing EVER and (bonus) pretty on trend at the mo.

Be realistic

Why does going on holiday blind us to making sensible wardrobe decisions? A hint of European summer and the image is there: a new you – tanned, confident and so much more stylish than your home town self. Holiday you wears a giant floppy hat. She owns the beach in that slightly scratchy dress you bought from fat face in 2009 and never wore. She strides confidently in those weird wedges that home you always has to take off after 5 minutes.

Newsflash. Sorry but home you and holiday you are 100% the same person. You will not wear those shorts – they are just as uncomfortable on holiday as they are at home. The really nice “summery” top you bought still fits weirdly when it’s 35 degrees as when it’s 15.

Bringing clothes that aren’t comfortable and don’t fit your personality is just a waste of space which you’ll kick yourself for later. Only bring clothes that you 100% will wear and feel totally at ease in. The last thing you want to be stressing about on holiday is whether you’re going to get a blister from your never-worn jelly shoes

Mix and Match

Stick to a staple set of colours for your packing and you’ll be able to mix and match to maximum effect. Black, white and grey staples are always a good start – then chuck in some coloured accessories for a bit of variety. Plus, you can get the best use out of your items whatever the occasion – the same pair of black jeans can work just as well for a chilled day checking out the sights as hitting the bars later on. Just throw on a nice leather jacket or some cool earrings and a red lip and you’re good to go.

Keep it Casual

We can 100% guarantee that you will never ever see anyone wear a pair of heels while interrailing. Same goes for Kim-K style jumpsuits, flashy going out bags and vamped up makeup. Now is not the time guys. You’re going to be busy meeting tons of new people and seeing a new city every other day – ain’t nobody got time to be putting on 10 layers of contour before going out. Don’t even bother taking it because it’ll just annoy everyone else in your dorm room and take up tons of precious rucksack space that you could be saving for awesome souvenirs… European summers are all about simple, casual outfits with that continental chic – dress down and next thing you know you’ll be taken for a local on the streets of Rome.

Minimal Maintenance

If you’ve ever lived out of a suitcase before, you’ll be aware of the toll this can take on your precious garms – if you’re opting for a backpack, multiply this issue by 10. It doesn’t matter how careful you are – there is no way to avoid that weird damp backpack smell, nor the extreme level of creasing that will befall your shirts and shorts. HOWEVER there are some ways you can keep your wardrobe looking fresh and minimise the impact on your style.

Obviously the first tip is to only bring items of clothing that don’t require a lot of maintenance. Avoid at all costs anything Viscose, Linen or pure cotton, which will crease like a bitch at the first sign of crumpling. Instead stick to flowy and stretchy materials – the kind that you can dry on a washing line and never have to iron.
Jeans are super slow to dry and smell really gross when damp, so stick to dark colours – this will avoid having to wash them all the time when you inevitably spill Rioja on them.
Use packing cubes to help organise your rucksack into sections to help keep stuff clean and tidy.
Do NOT under any circumstances take anything delicate/expensive/hand-wash only. It will 100% get ruined – just save yourself the hassle and stick to the basics.
If you need to wash stuff, take some string with you and a few pegs to rig up a makeshift washing line between dorm-bunks.
If stuff gets a bit crumpled (which it definitely will), Try blasting your items with a hairdryer on high heat to get out the worst of the creases. You’re welcome!

At the end of the day you’re on holiday – so if you’ve got a killer set of basics that make you feel relaxed, comfy and confident you’ll be ticking every box. You’re not only travelling to capture those perfect instagram moments… you’re also getting away from everything, seeing new sights and meeting people. So use our travel style tips to keep yourself looking fabulous – but we reckon you’ll be more worried about making the most of your awesome trip anyway!

Euroventure are the Interrailing Experts, and have been sorting out trips for over 5 years. We know the best ways to travel Europe: we know all the ins and outs of travelling by public transport have the best partner hostels and know the best routes for different types of travellers.

Travel independently, but ditch the stress. You just tell us where you want to go and we’ll sort out the best train passes, reservations and hostels for you. Then we package them all up in a beautifully personalised travel pack complete with recommendations, maps and directions – not to mention a 24 hour helpline in case of any problems.

Sound good? Take a look at our set trips and book online in minutes, or create your own route with the help of one of our expert trip planners.