What is an outbound or inbound journey?

When travelling with an Interrail Global Pass, you can use 1 travel day to leave your country of residence (outbound journey) and 1 travel day to return (inbound journey), with multiple train transfers included. You can use these journeys in your country at any stage of your Pass’s validity by using one of your travel days (note: the outbound and inbound journeys are not extra travel days).

When adding a journey to your Pass to travel in your country of residence, you’ll be prompted to use an outbound or inbound journey. You need to be online to add these journeys to your Pass. 

Sometimes, you’ll have more than 2 journeys depending on your country of residence. This is because, in some countries, it may take longer than 1 day to cross the border. Once you’ve used your outbound and inbound journeys: you won't be able to add an additional journey to your Pass to travel on trains in your home country.

Simplifying Interrail's outbound/inbound rule for a seamless travel experience

Your Interrail Global Pass (valid in 33 countries) is your ticket to freedom and flexibility outside your home country.

With the inbound/outbound rule, you can use your Global Pass for one outbound trip to cross the border for an unforgettable adventure with Interrail.
 

Once you’ve finished exploring Europe by train, you can return by rail with one inbound trip back to your home country at any time.
 

Explore Europe on your terms.

• You can also use your outbound or inbound rule to reach an airport or ferry port in your home country if you want to start Interrail far away from home.
• You’re not obliged to use your inbound or outbound trips—you can use them on your terms based on your plans and budget.
• You can return to your home country before you’ve used all your travel days. However, once you've returned to your home station and the respective travel day ends, the domestic train magic fades away, too (meaning you need to buy a regular ticket to cross the border again).
• Stopovers are allowed on your last travel day, but be sure to add your final destination in the Rail Planner app—especially if you have a connection in your home country.
• You can leave your home country by night train, but you cannot use your last travel day past midnight. Make sure you have reached your final destination before midnight to avoid any possible fines. More information regarding how such a return journey would be possible can be found here.

Pro Tip:

You can still use your Global Pass once your holiday ends if you have unused travel days (while your Pass is valid). You will need to purchase a regular train ticket to cross the border again, but once you cross the border, you can use your Pass to its full potential once more.