How to get one of the (free) Interrail tickets to travel around Europe this summer

There's 15,000 tickets up for grabs

Teenagers throughout the European Union are being given the chance to win a free Interrail pass for up to 30 days this summer. The EU-funded pilot scheme, called DiscoverEU, will see up to 15,000 passes available to 18-year-olds in the 28 EU Member States. The cut-off birthdate to be able to qualify for one of the passes is July 1, 2018. The applications for the tickets, which are worth up to £400 each, opens on June 12. The DiscoverEU 2018 site says that applications will close on June 26, with the winner selection starring the next day. Any of the lucky winners will be notified in early July. You can apply solo, or with some of your pals - the applications are open to groups as big as five. The tickets must start in one of the 28 EU Member States, between July and September this year. They can be used for anywhere between 1 and 30 days, heading to at least one and up to four cross-border destinations. Manfred Weber, EPP Group Chairman, said:

“The DiscoverEU initiative is not about a free train ticket. It is about a new vision for Europe, a new way to really involve our young generations in the kind of Europe they want, to make Europe real in their daily lives. "This project will enable young people from all the EU Member States to discover the beauty and diversity of our continent, to get to know and become friends with young people from other countries all over Europe and discover all the richness of their differences. "It will also allow them to realise what unites them and contribute to a feeling of European identity."