Wow, 1 month is €619 (for over 25s). Steep.

berlin train station has wank staff.

If you are referring to the act of inter-racial gang-banging, I'd go hit the arse first

Simon, John - thanks for the info! I wasn't planning on touching Eastern Europe but it looks like I have to fit Krakow into my itinerary somewhere. It sounds amazing. I don't think I'll be going near Italy this time around but I'll keep it in mind. I've been to most major cities in Germany at this stage (Hamburg on 3 occasions for a total of 7/8 days - I love it!) so I'm going to leave that country until we spend the usual days in between HP and HOA.

I'd do it to avoid seeing your bleedin mush again.

Yeah myself and Alice did it in 2008 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. We got a six week ticket and started in Berlin. We did a week in Stockholm before hand then got a flight to Berlin for 20quid. We did 12 countries, alot of people do 2-4 countries/cities but I thought that seemed like a waste of a ticket and an opportunity, we wanted to do and see as much as possible and not waste any time. In some places we spent 1 day, because really places like Bratislava haven't got much worth seeing or that would convince you to spend an extended amount of time there, other places we spent 4 or 5 days because places like Athens are absolutely amazing.

We did most of our travelling on night trains to avoid wasting time that could be spent seeing and doing things, this also cut the cost of hostels a fair bit. Some night trains have a bad reputation and are notoriously dangerous, we never had a bad experience but if you don't feel comfortable do yourself a favour and pay the extra 5 or 10 quid and get a bunk, if you're sharing with mates it most likely just be ye in the room and you get a decent nights sleep and its still cheaper than hostels in most places. The route we took was Berlin-Prague-Krakow-Bratislava-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Sofia-Thessaloniki-Athens-Patras-Bari-Rome-Barcelona-Alicante, then flew home. I highly recommend Berlin but, being a metalhead you're bound to be there plenty in the future so I wouldnt spend too long there. Prague, Krakow and Budapest are absolutely beautiful and must-sees (each city is cheaper than the last too, which is a bonus). While in Prague check out the ST. Vitus Cathedral and go to the Bone Church/ the Ossuary in Kutna Hora, about and hour outside Prague by train. Prague also has the cheapest and most amazing vegetarian restaraunt, I'll find the details if you're interested. Deadly metal bar called 'Hell's Bells' in Prague too. Krakow is a killer city too, while there go check out Auschwitz-Birkenau which isn't too far by train. Wouldn't bother with Bratislava, not much there. Vienna is a pretty cool place but we arrived over a national holiday so there was fuck all open. Budapest is the business, we arranged to arrive while the Sziget festival was on, its one of the biggest music festivals in the world and goes on for 7 days, amazing food and buzz aswell as some killer bands, we caught Carcass at it. The statue park with all the old communist statues is well worth checking out, pretty surreal. Belgrade is worth seeing for the absolute state of the place, there are shanty towns about ten minutes outside of the capital and you can really see the effects of the war on the city even now. Try goulash whilst there. Sofia hasn't got much to it, again its pretty surreal and probably how you would imagine the Eastern Europe to look. Thessaloniki has some cool record stores, was only there for a day but it was a nice day. Athens is an amazing city, deadly record stores and historical sites, make it your business to meet Jim and Greg from EatMetal Records, two of the soundest cunts you could meet. Rome is deadly for a few days, lots to see, some good clubs, no metal and from what I experienced crap yet ridiculously priced food. Barcelona is a fucking deadly city, really beautiful place with a beach at the bottom of the main shopping street, tons of museums, galleries, record stores and metal bars and surprisingly cheap. Don't go to Alicante, we went to visit it family but it's just a kip full of Irish and English criminals and scumbags. I wish we could have gotten to get to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey and Romania but unfortunately the trains just didn't run often enough and they were too big/awkward to get to. By all accounts of all the travellers we met, Romania is a dodgy shithole, I'd like to have gone to see for myself but thats what we heard.

I'd advise planning your route wisely, plan to be in cities with a particularly good nightlife over weekends, the likes of Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Athens, Rome and Barcelona are all deadly at night. Travel by night trains where possible to save time and money. Drink every night and try different bars, meet as many people, particularly locals, as you can and drink and eat where they do. Be confident dealing with staff in places like restaraunts and train stations to ensure you're not getting ripped off and if you think you are, you probably are so don't take any shit.

I hope some of that helps.

I never went interailing in the end. Everyone bailed so I ended up in fucking Magaluf..