Until this summer, Simon Glover, 52, his wife Rachel, 49, and their 11-year-old son George had never Interrailed. “We’ve always done a fly-and-flop,” he told The i Paper. “That’s been great, but our son is an only child, and recently he’s started to get a bit bored if he doesn’t find somebody to play with.”
So this year, they decided to change course. “One of the main reasons we chose to go Interrailing is because George can travel for free before he turns 12. We waited until the Black Friday sale last year and bought two five day Global first class passes. We’ve always enjoyed train travel because – when it works – it’s nice to sit and watch the world go by.”
The Glovers are not alone. The UK continues to be one of Interrail’s strongest markets, with annual pass sales growing from nearly 72,000 in 2022 to more than 116,000 in 2025. Young travellers constitute the largest group purchasing Interrail passes, with more than 325,000 Youth passes sold last year, representing around half of all sales.
However, a spokesperson said the ticketing platform – whose passes cover most trains in Europe – is seeing “growing interest from adults, families and seniors.”
Passes are free for children aged four to 11 (no passes are required for under-fours), although supplementary seat reservations for international and high-speed trains apply to passengers over four.
