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Travel Tips: Trains & Rail Passes

Great post—lots of good advice. On our last trip, we did a cost comparison and found that the pass was a big savings for us, even after paying for seats on some German trains and all Italian trains. In my experience, when planning single train trips, It can be quite challenging to get advance quotes on train ticket prices that will take you from one European country to another, do you have any tips for that? Especially on the early booking specials they often only give you the price when you book… As for seat reservations, I have traveled twice on the sleeper train from Stuttgart Germany to Amsterdam.

I know I will be doing this once we get to the Europe leg of our travels. This was timely for me. I want to plan a month trip for next year and just looked at the train passes for Europe this weekend. This gives me a great foundation to check prices and see what will work best. Great run down. There were a number of legs that had to be on a bus so the pass would have been wasted. I just bought my rail travel as required. When it was coming to an end, I had planned on using the Eurail pass but the super cheap airline fares got me where I needed to go so much faster and for marginally less!

To each their own! Great post, my friend and I are looking to travel for a month after working in London for two and are going to be getting train passes. Does anyone know what the difference if any is between Eurail or Raileurope? Is it better to buy from one rather then the other? Any advice or information would help. Cheers, Patrick. Kudos on an honest post!

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They were all booked on the day of and were pricier than I wanted, but still cheaper than a rail pass. I think it really depends on where you go. Passes in the Benelux area, for instance, are rarely worth it because single tickets are so inexpensive and very few trains need reservations. But for long, inter-country journeys from Germany or France or Scandinavia, for instance , I think the pass is worth it.

Especially if you take 1st class — you can get access to the lounges, and have free wifi on board most of the time. With rail passes I would caution to ensure you have reservations for international borders while remaining flexible the rest of the time especially through France. Using trains helped a lot with my budget to see and do more and the best meals I had were on trains travelling through Italy Great way to meet people to. Best parts of my trip a cou.

I have never used a rail pass but it always seems way too complicated to me. I booked last-minute on a couple of trains in Italy and it was very expensive, but it is usually unlike me to do this. I booked a train in advance from Toulouse to Nice and it was much cheaper. Generally I think trains tend to be a rip-off for what you get and the budget airlines make it easier to fly. I prefer trains in Europe to flying since the experience is so much nicer but if the tickets are very expensive, I will fly instead.

I remember being frustrated by the number of reservation fees I had to pay, but I never bothered to figure out how much money I was actually saving. For long-distance trips in Europe, budget airlines are often a better alternative! But more options are opening up to compete with the low-cost airlines.

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For example, in France there is now the idTGV, which is a discount option. They have dedicated cars on some of the same routes as standard TGV trains with less frills.

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I have not found the rail passes to be worth it in the past few years, because with some passes if you missed the reserved train, your pass for that train is money wasted. With airlines arriving more than an hour late sometimes, reserving a train 2 hours after arrival is rsky business. The Japan Rail Pass may be pretty darn pricey but it does give the turn up and ride freedom you want. One of the best journey I took a few years ago was by boat from Barcelona to Rome — it cost under 50 euros and in my mind I pretended It was the golden age of travel as I watched the Med surroundme for nearly a day.

A lower cost alternative to travel in Europe is going by private car through websites such as bessermitfahren. A number of similar no cost websites have proliferated as the main one mitfahrgelegenheit. Some drivers limit you on amount of luggage you can bring, state their driving style, request no smokers or smokers OK, state if they are looking for a talkative or non talkative type of person, number of seats available, and so on. Often get you faster to your destination faster than by train which may have multiple stops and usually less then half the price of a normal train ticket.

I have met some interesting people this way as well.

The Best Rail Passes in Europe

Even back then you had to pay for seat reservations on certain trains like TGVs so not sure what the good ole days are that others are referencing! Back then, before terrorist attacks, we could arrive in the middle of big cities and for next to nothing, stash our luggage at the train station. So you were unencumbered while you walked around town to have lunch or find a nice hotel. Now, sadly, those days are long gone. Arriving in the center of cities is a huge advantage over the distant airports and the expense of taxis to town.

Just something to think about. We actually looked into the Eurorail and InterRail passes for our three months through Europe this summer. I just get so extremely when looking at the prices for the passes! I think those train prices are insane when compared to flight prices in Europe. I hate spending time in trains, even more with those high prices. No thank you! But anyway we chose to just take our bikes around Europe for three months this summer. Will be fun! Thanks for the break down, though. I think it depends on the type of pass and how you plan to travel.

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Since I am a residence in Italy, I could not use this pass so I bought my tickets as normal. First of all, Eurail website indicates TGV of France has limited seats for Eurail, which is true; but more importantly, and not indicated on the website, instead of a booking fee as it is for Italian high-speed trains, TGV actually has a special price for the pass holders! In Italy, the pass in general works better, you can book all the high-speed trains Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, and Frecciabianca with a booking fee of 10 euro, and regional train InterCity which requires reservation with booking fee 3 euro.

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I am a student currently studying abroad in Paris, France until its December a week before Christmas. What do you recommend? Do you think a Euro-rail Pass is smart and efficient means for traveling? You really just have to look…I really enjoyed looking and reading through your travel adventures. Keep it up! This has made my decision easier.

I am going all over Europe for the entire month of April but I have to buy the ticket now if I want the discount. I got a bit lost in your math to be perfectly honest. If I am just going from north to south italy one day, would a reservation still be required and put me out quite a bit? But I am right it buying the eurorail month ticket, correct? Overnight trains have a fee.

An In-Depth Guide to Eurail Passes 12222 Edition

I got a bit lost in your math to be perfectly honest. Let Rail Europe deliver tips, deals, and offers to your inbox Sign up The information is required by Rail Europe to process your subscription to Rail Europe newsletter. To exercise this right, please click here. Seat reservations are not that high. How to Know If You Need a Rail Pass To figure out whether you want to buy a rail pass, sketch out your itinerary , then answer the following questions: The more time you expect to spend on the train, the more likely you'll want a pass.

I think this article was pretty helpful. I only booked this about a week in advance. Going from Munich to Berlin on the ICE fast train would have cost me about 50 euros on the fast train if I booked it well in advance but I bought a ticket for the slow train the day I was set to leave and it only cost me I believe 18 euros.

This site will let you type in your departure location and it leaves many options for destination. By doing this, I was able to fly from Manchester, England to Berlin for 19 euros and from Venice to London also for 19 euros. I never planned on visiting Venice, but I found a cheap ticket there and ended up loving it.

The rent on an apartment alone for that amount of time would have been almost the same.

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Europe really IS doable on any budget. Amazing article, Matt! I was lucky to get an InterRail pass on a special winter discount when I went for a 3-week trip. Learned the hard way that sleeper trains are a ripoff. Thanks for the article, its helping me a lot! But I have one question, does pre-booking a ticket automatically means that you will have a specific date to travel? Or you can buy a ticket in advance if you know which country you are going to visit, and use them when you want?

Do you think I should definitely get a global pass if I plan to travel about 3 months in Europe? You have lots of country combos to choose from. Prices vary because the rail system in each country has a different fare structure. There is no need to get an expensive Eurail pass in Belgium. The national rail network in Belgium has its own cheap pass that allows any number of travelers to share one journey ticket, making each journey cost very little. If you're over 60, discounted rates are available for some passes and specific trains.

Be sure to check the appropriate box when you check out. Skeptical that you'll be able to save on your transportation with a rail pass over point to point tickets? Here's a comparison of prices examples only. In this price example, you'll spend almost the price of your pass in two of your five days, giving you almost three days of free travel with the pass. Not a bad return.

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Traveling with a Eurail Pass is a great way to enjoy more European journeys for less. Wherever you want to go in Europe, we've got a range of travel deals to. Train tickets, rail pass: with Rail Europe enjoy a train travel across Europe. Travel by train in Europe with Rail Europe, your travel planner.

The bottom line: Price your options point-to-point tickets or rail passes after you've planned out your trip based on how many cities and countries you want to travel to over how many days. Not all value is monetary. If you don't speak the languages of the countries you're visiting and feel uncomfortable trying to make yourself understood, a rail pass can free you from many of the transactions that you'd have to go through if you decide to buy point-to-point rail tickets. So you don't need to feel guilty if you lose a few dollars on your pass in exchange for relieving yourself of communication responsibility.

The other advantage of a rail pass is that you won't need to carry as much money with you to pay for the various point-to-point tickets you might buy. Remember also that the money you get out of foreign ATMs loses value automatically with the currency exchange. Type in the names of the countries you'd like to visit and we'll find the best pass.

Comparison Rail Passes vs. Train Tickets Rail passes Train Tickets Best for discovering more than 3 cities Children usually travel free Often includes travel bonuses Seat reservations included for most trains Our customers stories What can you do with a rail pass? Also it is easy to use and the trains First class global pass place you in different level of Both trains on time and vey clean and comfortable.

Rail Passes Rail passes give you extensive rail travel within one country, or, depending on the pass, between multiple countries. They also allow you to make last minute travel plans as well as save money, offering travel discounts, benefits and bonuses. Eurail Global Pass is the most complete rail pass to Eurail Global Pass is the most complete rail pass to discover all of Europe by train.

How does it work? Rail Passes in 3 steps 1.