Interrailing at 50: reliving our backpacking days … in style

The European rail pass offers two friends a second bite at their youth, as they savour bars, views and food from Amsterdam to Copenhagen

It’s 2am on a Monday in the Oosterbar nightclub in Amsterdam, and Dolly and I are looking at each other more than a little fuzzily as the DJ shows no sign of letting up. In our bleary gazes is the unspoken recognition that our train to Berlin leaves at 7am. Was this midlife-crisis decision to relive part of our misspent youth by going Interrailing such a good idea after all? At 50, aren’t we too old for all this?

Luckily, long rail journeys lend themselves beautifully to “old lady cat-napping”, as Dolly dubs it. But we do make the effort to stay awake for most of our journeys, not wanting to miss the thrill of sitting back in our seats and watching the cities and landscapes of Europe slide past our window like movie reels.