How to Travel by Train Around Europe with Discounts: A Guide for Over-60s with the Help of AI (France, the UK and Interrail)
They had been talking about taking this trip for years.
You know the kind of trips that always come up in conversation
“One day we'll go.”
“When we have the time.”
“We really should do it.”
Until one day they stopped talking about it and decided to actually do it.
They are two friends of mine, and each of them already had a pretty clear idea of which cities they wanted to visit.
The problem came afterwards trains, discounts for over-60s, different cards depending on the country, apps, reservations, changing prices and websites that sometimes seem designed to make things as difficult as possible.
And that's where I came in.
Not to organise their trip.
The trip is theirs, and the decisions are theirs too.
My role has been to teach them something I use more and more
how they can use AI to help organise everything that comes up along the way.
A question about a train, a senior discount card, a route, accommodation, an app they don't understand…
Instead of calling me every five minutes to ask what they should do, I taught them to ask AI.
And that's how our little experiment began.
They bring the cities and the desire to travel.
AI helps put some order into the chaos.
And in the meantime, I teach them how to ask the right questions.
The first question wasn't “Where are we going?”
It was more like:
“How can we do all this without paying more than we need to?”
That's when we discovered that travelling around Europe by train when you're over 60 can have some advantages, but every country has its own rules.
And this is where AI proved particularly useful.
Instead of jumping from one website to another trying to understand every fare, we could explain what we wanted to do and ask what options we had.
For example:
“We are two travellers over 60 and we want to travel around several European cities by train for about three weeks.We want to know what discounts are available, which cards we need and whether it makes more sense to buy tickets separately or use a pass.”
And from there, we started pulling at the thread.
One thing we learnt very quickly, though.
AI can be incredibly useful for finding an answer and helping you understand it, but when money is involved
the official website always has the final say.
AI helped us get our bearings.
Then we checked everything.
Before starting on the three routes, another question came up
“How do we get to the first city without the journey there eating up a big part of the budget?”
Because organising London → York → Edinburgh is one thing. Getting to London from Spain is another.
So we also gave AI that information
departure city, approximate dates, luggage and preferences.
We asked it to compare flights, trains and different combinations.
And that's when we learnt something else
it's not always worth insisting on doing the entire journey by train.
AI helped us compare the cost and travel time of getting to the first city on each route and, from there, they decided which option made the most sense for them.
The “border butterfly effect”: crossing into France without paying more than necessary
One of the first things we discovered was that travelling directly from Spain to France isn't always the cheapest option.
Buying a direct international ticket can mean that a different fare structure comes into play.
So we asked AI something much more specific:
“I want to travel from Spain to France by train.I am over 60 and have a Renfe Tarjeta Dorada.Does it make more sense to buy the whole journey as one ticket or split it into two tickets? Explain where the Spanish discount ends and how I can continue from France.”
And this brought up one of those things that, if you don't know it exists, you probably wouldn't even think to ask about.
One possibility is to use the Renfe Tarjeta Dorada as far as the last Spanish station and continue from there using the French system.
In Cataluña, for example, one option may be to travel as far as Portbou and continue towards Cerbère.
In the Basque Country, the alternative is Irún and Hendaye.
One important point on AVE and Larga Distancia services, the Tarjeta Dorada discount is 25%.
The 40% discount applies to other services and specific conditions, so it's always worth checking which type of train you're travelling on before doing the maths.
The point of using AI here wasn't for it simply to tell us “do this.”
It was being able to ask:
“Why is this ticket so expensive?”
And then:
“What happens if I split the journey?”
Sometimes the best way to save money isn't to find a special offer.
It's to understand why you're paying that price.
But we didn't want to stop with one route and say:
“This looks like the cheapest option.”
So we tested the idea with three completely different trips.
We gave AI the routes they were considering and asked it to compare the different options:
individual tickets, senior cards, passes, discounts, reservations and, above all, how much each alternative might cost.
We weren't asking AI to tell us which trip to take.
We wanted something much simpler:
to know how to pay a fair price for the trip they had already decided to take.
And that's where three very different situations appeared.
One in the UK, another in France and another crossing Germany, Denmark and Norway.
And it was interesting to see that what could be a good option in one country didn't necessarily make sense in another.
To make the comparison, we used a three-week trip in the shoulder season as a reference and assumed that tickets would be bought in advance.
These are indicative train prices. The same route can cost considerably more or less depending on when you travel.
Let's look at the three.
Route 1: United Kingdom — London, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh
One of the routes we planned was around three weeks:
London → York → Newcastle → Edinburgh → Glasgow → Lake District → London
And here another card appeared.
Senior Railcard
For travellers aged 60 and over, the Senior Railcard offers discounts on many train journeys in Great Britain.
The card currently costs around £35 a year and normally gives a 33% discount on eligible journeys.
But what interested us was using AI to find out whether it would actually be worthwhile.
We gave it the itinerary and asked:
“Roughly calculate how much it would cost us to make these journeys by buying the tickets separately and how much we could save by using a Senior Railcard.Take into account that some tickets may be Advance fares and that we want a certain amount of flexibility.”
The answer gave us a first idea.
Without the card, a route like this could cost approximately £250–£300, depending on the dates and when the tickets are bought.
With the Railcard, the cost could drop to around £170–£200.
In other words, an estimated saving of around £70–£100, although the figures depend heavily on the dates and fares available.
And another word appeared that we had to learn:
Advance.
These are tickets that, when bought in advance for a specific train, can be considerably cheaper.
AI helped us understand the difference between:
flexible tickets;
Advance tickets;
the Railcard discount;
and the conditions attached to each fare.
But there was one thing we had to make very clear
The Senior Railcard does not work on Eurostar.
You cannot use it to get a discount on the international Eurostar journey.
The card is useful for travelling around Great Britain once you're there.
And this is exactly the kind of detail that's worth asking AI about before buying anything.
What if we are exhausted by the end?
Another question we asked AI was much less technical:
“After three weeks travelling around the UK by train, does it make sense to return to Spain by train, or would it be better to fly from London?”
Because planning a trip is also about knowing when to stop making it complicated.
AI can compare travel times, connections and prices, but the final decision is ours.
If, after Glasgow or the Lake District, we're completely exhausted, a flight might suddenly sound like a wonderful idea.
And that's it.
Route 2: France — three weeks by train
The second route looked like this:
Paris → Bordeaux → Toulouse → Nice or Marseille → Lyon → Strasbourg → Paris
Here we came across another card.
Carte Avantage Senior
The Carte Avantage Senior is designed for travellers aged 60 and over and provides discounts on eligible SNCF journeys.
The card costs €49 per year, although the conditions, discounts and price caps should always be checked when buying.
And here AI once again became our “translator”.
Because reading:
“30% discount and capped prices on certain journeys.”
is one thing.
Understanding:
“How much am I actually going to pay if I make these six journeys?”
is another.
We gave it the complete route and asked:
“We are over 60 and are going to make these journeys around France. Explain how the Carte Avantage Senior works, what discount we can get and how the price caps affect our tickets.”
Then we did something I highly recommend:
we asked it to put the information into a table.
Departure city.
Arrival city.
Approximate price without the card.
Approximate price with the card.
And possible reservations.
Suddenly, something that had seemed like a complete mess started to make sense.
As a reference, a journey like this could cost approximately €350–€450 when buying the journeys separately, while with the card, depending on the fares available, it could come down to around €250–€300.
These aren't prices we should treat as definitive.
They're numbers that help us decide whether an option is worth investigating.
And that's one of the things I like most about using AI:
first, it helps you decide what is worth looking into.
Then you go to the official source and check.
The card can be purchased through SNCF and managed digitally using SNCF Connect.
Route 3: Germany, Denmark and Norway
Things became considerably more complicated here.
The route we planned was:
Freiburg → Frankfurt or Cologne → Hamburg → Copenhagen → Oslo → Bergen → return
Three countries.
A lot of kilometres.
And Norway isn't exactly a cheap country for train travel.
So we asked directly:
“For three weeks travelling through Germany, Denmark and Norway, does it make more sense to buy each ticket separately or use Interrail?We are over 60 and want to have some days when we don't travel by train.”
And that's where Interrail Senior appeared.
For European residents aged 60 and over, the relevant pass is Interrail Senior.
Not Eurail.
AI had to explain that difference to us too because, once you start searching online, it's very easy to mix everything up.
Why Interrail instead of buying every ticket separately?
On a route involving several countries, the comparison starts to make sense.
One option is to buy every journey separately.
Another is to use a flexible pass that allows you to choose specific travel days.
For example, a 15-day Flexi pass can be interesting for a trip lasting several weeks because you don't have to use a train every single day.
We can spend three days in Copenhagen.
Or stay for several days enjoying the fjords.
And we're not “using up” a travel day simply because we aren't taking a train.
But then another one of those small questions appeared that can completely change the budget:
“Are reservations included?”
Not necessarily.
Depending on the train and the route, mandatory reservations or supplements may apply.
That's why, when using Interrail, we ask AI questions such as:
“Looking at this route, tell me which trains may require a reservation and roughly how much each reservation might cost.”
That gives us a more realistic estimate.
A pass costing around €500 in second class may seem expensive compared with an individual ticket.
But if the individual journeys end up costing €700–€900, the comparison changes.
And then we have to add any applicable reservation fees.
Again:
First we calculate.
Then we check.
Only then do we buy.
AI also helped us with the little things
And this is where, for me, the real beauty of all this lies.
Because the biggest problem when organising a trip usually isn't one single question.
It's fifty small questions.
Is this station far from the city centre?
Do we need a reservation?
Does this train allow large suitcases?
How much time do we have between one train and the next?
Would it make sense to stay near the station?
Is it better to arrive in the morning or in the afternoon?
Do we need an app?
Is this reservation included with Interrail?
Where do we buy it?
Is this the official website?
And when you're organising a long trip, all those little doubts can become exhausting.
That's where AI was incredibly useful.
One question at a time.
No embarrassment about asking something that seems obvious.
No need to understand the entire website before you can even get started.
The apps that ended up on their phones
In the end, we used several apps and tools.
SNCF Connect
For French trains and managing tickets.
Rail Planner
Essential if you're using Interrail.
It allows you to check timetables and manage your digital pass, including features that don't require a permanent internet connection.
Trainline
It can be useful for comparing certain journeys and checking options, although before buying, we like to check whether we can purchase the ticket directly from the railway operator.
Trenitalia
If the route includes Italy, it can also be worth checking its fares and conditions directly.
And here we used AI again:
“I have these four apps.Explain what each one is for and which one I should use for each part of the trip.”
It sounds silly.
Until you have five apps open and have no idea which one you actually need.
And then came the hotels
Because, of course, the train gets you from one city to another.
But then you have to sleep.
We also used AI here to compare options according to our route.
It wasn't simply a matter of asking:
“Find cheap hotels.”
We gave it more information:
“We arrive by train in the afternoon, we have suitcases and we want to stay near the station.We are looking for a simple, well-rated hotel with free cancellation.”
The answer changes completely.
Because the better you explain to AI what you need, the more useful the answer can be.
For the UK, we were interested in looking at options close to the stations, including chains such as Premier Inn and Travelodge.
In France, it could also make sense to look for rural accommodation if we were leaving the major cities.
And in Norway, especially around the fjords, cabins can be an interesting alternative to hotels.
But exactly the same as with trains
AI helps us search and compare.
We make the booking ourselves and check the conditions before paying.
And one rule we want to follow throughout the trip:
never pay outside the official booking platform just because someone tells us it will be cheaper.
What we actually learnt
When we started, we thought using AI meant asking one question and waiting for an answer.
No.
What we learnt was how to have a conversation with it.
First:
“What cards are available for people over 60?”
Then:
“Can I use them as a Spanish citizen?”
Then:
“What about for this route?”
Then:
“Compare the price with and without the card.”
Then:
“What are the conditions?”
And finally:
“Now tell me what I need to check on the official website before I buy.”
And so, question by question, we gradually put the trip together.
Three routes and one conclusion
In the end, we had three very different journeys
Route | Tool | Approximate cost | Estimated saving |
United Kingdom | Senior Railcard | £35/year | £70–£100 |
France | Carte Avantage Senior | €49/year | €100–€150 |
Germany + Denmark + Norway | Interrail Senior | ≈€500 | €150–€300 |
These are indicative figures.
Fares, discounts, reservations and conditions can change, so they should always be checked before buying.
And perhaps that's precisely what this trip has taught us most.
AI didn't get us a free trip.
It didn't make the decisions for us either.
What it did was much more practical:
it helped us understand a whole lot of things that would otherwise have taken us hours to work out.
And for someone who has been thinking for years:
“One day I'll take that trip…”
sometimes having a tool that helps you move from “one day” to “let's see how we can do it” is already a pretty big push.
AI answers
I'm over 60 and I want to organise a train trip around Europe. Where do I start?
Start with the cities, not the tickets.
Tell AI:
I am over 60 and I want to take a three-week trip around Europe.
These are the cities I want to visit [list of cities].
I am travelling from Spain.
I want to travel mainly by train.
Help me compare the different cards, discounts and Interrail options so I can see what might work best for me.
Don't assume any prices.
Tell me what information I should check on the official websites.
And from there, don't try to solve everything at once.
Ask one question.
Check it.
Ask the next one.
And keep going.
Because perhaps that's the best way to use AI when travelling:
not to let it take the trip for you, but to make the trip stop feeling like a complete mess.
If you think this might help someone, feel free to share it.
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