#DiscoverEU is the EU initiative that gives free #train travel passes to 18 year olds. In 2025, around 76k train passes were made available, split across two rounds. Applicants had to submit an application and do a little quiz on the European #Youth Portal.
When did the very first round of Discover #EU take place?
#DiscoverEU was launched in June 2018, as its own programme.
In 2021 it was integrated into Erasmus+.
The next round of applications starts on 8th April! You have to be born between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2008 to be eligible.
Are you 18 years old and resident of one of the EU Member States or third countries associated to Erasmus+? Get ready to explore Europe!When is the next round?It will take place between 8 and 22 April 2026 (opening and closure at 12:00:00 midday Brussels time), just before the European Youth Week 2026. An ‘Apply Now’ button will appear on this page on D-Day.
@hpod16 EU countries do their best to keep the EU budget tiny, costing each of us a cup of coffee a day, which results in the inability to finance what could be the coolest 🇪🇺 rite of passage: every single EUropean who turns 18 could automatically get their #DiscoverEU Interrail pass in the mail. No quizes, no application, no draw.
But we refuse to properly finance the EU, so now the first contact of hundreds of thousands of teenagers with a formal process of their Union is a rejection email.
@Veza85UE @hpod16 everywhere there's increasing pressure with student housing, because, well, Airbnb & similia. Travel is also more expensive now than it used to be. My interrail experience mainly concerned regional trains with no supplement for Interrail pass.
Now those trains are getting scarcer in favour of high speed connection with seat reservations and a supplement fare.
I'm not saying we should cancel Interrail or Discover EU, but we should focus more on accessibility and infrastructure.
@s1m0n4 @hpod16 I stand by my: "You can just DO things!" credo.
It's hardly a sabbatical even now, it's 7 days during an available travel period of (I think) 18 months, so nobody has to go after graduation. Or at all, this would obviously be optional.
As a Union, we can just DO things (together). There's enough learned helplessness among our politicians as it is, imo, and the order of magnitude between infrastructure costs and this isn't even comparable.
Hannah Grace
Veza85UE
s1m0n4