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At least a decade or two ago, the dream of anyone planning to travel around Europe was to buy a Eurail Saver Pass. They were almost certain to save money, plus they allowed for a freewheeling style of travel where you could go anywhere you wanted at a moment’s notice. But things have changed, and Eurail Passes have some new restrictions along with fierce price competition from discount airlines, so whether or not to buy a pass is a complicated issue.
You could spend several days hunting down the point-to-point prices and creating a spreadsheet to determine how much your possible routes would cost with each type of travel, but for the majority of people it’s possible to ask a few questions and the answer will be clear. Having done extensive pricing research, and having traveled around Europe both with and without Eurail Passes, we have boiled the main decision down to the key elements below.
If you are age 25 or younger, a Eurail Pass is probably worth it
Those 26 years old or over must buy the 1st Class version of any Eurail Pass, which is 50% more expensive, and the added comfort isn’t a big deal to most people. But travelers age 12 to 25 can buy the 2nd Class versions at the lowest prices, and the seats are comfortable enough for virtually everyone.
With this in mind, if you are lucky enough to still be 25 or younger, you should seriously think about getting a Eurail Global Pass Youth, partly because the sense of freedom instantly gets more expensive at age 26.
>>>Check prices on Eurail Global Pass – Youth
If you are planning on traveling in 1st Class anyway, a Eurail Pass is probably worth it
Most 2nd Class trains provide similar comfort and legroom to Business Class airline seats, or at least close enough, so for most people it’s not worth the added expense for 1st Class. However, if you are rich or elderly or fear contact with strangers, a 1st Class Eurail Pass is probably worth it no matter what.
If you’re a group of 2 to 5 people who will always travel together, then you save 15% on a 1st Class rail pass
Perhaps the most compelling deal of all is called a Eurail Saver Pass, which is good for 2 to 5 passengers in 1st Class who will always be traveling together. Everyone travels on the same pass, and it’s 15% per person cheaper than individual passes. It’s available for the Global Pass (which includes all participating countries) as well as many of the regional passes like the France-Italy Pass, but not on all of them.
The bottom line on this one is that 1st Class tickets and passes generally cost 50% more than 2nd Class tickets and passes, and since those of us over 25 years old can’t get a 2nd Class pass, this 15% discount on 1st Class is ideal. We get nicer seats, more legroom, no crowds, and we only pay 27.5% more than in 2nd Class (e.g. 2nd Class = €100, 1st Class = €150, Saver is 15% off so only €127.50).
>>>Check prices on Eurail Saver Passes
If you’ll be touring major cities within 1 to 5 countries, a regional or single-country pass might be perfect, and Second Class passes are available for all ages
The most efficient rail passes on offer these days are probably the ones that cover 1 to 5 countries, but only for certain types of trips. Basically, you need to be making longer jumps on faster express trains for the passes to save you money, and if you are doing that they can be perfect. For example, if you are visiting Italy and stopping in Turin, Milan, Verona, and then Venice, you are only covering 250 kilometers with 3 train journeys so it’s cheaper to pay as you go. But if you are going Milan to Venice to Florence to Rome then it’s more like 600 kilometers with 3 journeys and a pass will save money.
The same is true when combining countries in a regional pass. Most major cities in Europe are at least two hours apart by express train, which can be expensive individually. The larger the country the more those tickets between major cities cost so passes make even more sense. Also, most regional or single country passes are available in Second Class for all ages, so that saves even more. The bottom line is, if you are stopping nightly in smaller nearby cities a pass isn’t worth it, but if you are connecting the major tourist highlight destinations it might be a great deal.
>>>Check prices for Single Country Passes
>>>Check prices for Multiple Country Passes
By the way, the Eurostar (between London and Paris or Brussels) is a separate system and you should buy early
The European rail system is confusing at first, so it’s worth pointing out that the Eurostar trains between London and Paris or Brussels are a totally different system and the prices are more like air tickets. In other words, they start out cheap 6 months in advance and prices go up as the travel date approaches. For that reason it’s wise to book Eurostar tickets as early as possible. If you buy a Eurail Pass you can get a Eurostar discount through the same company.
>>>Check Eurostar prices
If you are on a really low budget, a Eurail Pass isn’t a good idea
Here’s the thing. As we’ll discuss below, there are many potential benefits to Eurail Passes, and they will often save you money, but they do cost a lot and they only really save you money when traveling in the more expensive countries.
So let’s say you have a flight to Rome and then US$2,000 to last you a month after you arrive. Buying a Eurail Pass before you go would help you see a lot in that month, but you’d practically need to sleep in parks for your funds to last the whole time. You’d be better off moving slowly in the southern countries, or just in Italy itself, as a way to have the best holiday on your budget.
If more than a little of your travel will be in eastern Europe, a Eurail Pass isn’t a good idea
While eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia etc), is where you’ll find almost all of the continent’s best travel bargains, its rail infrastructure continues to lag way behind. About half the region isn’t even part of the “Eurail Zone” and general rail coverage is still spotty in much of the rest. Worse still, in some areas the trains are much slower than buses, so you really have to research each leg individually.
The good news is that the trains operating in this region, and the buses that operate alongside and/or where trains aren’t running, are quite cheap. So if any significant part of your trip will be into this region, a rail pass doesn’t make sense.
Basic types of Eurail Passes
Long gone are the days of the simple options, replaced by specialized passes that are meant to appeal to different styles. It should be pretty easy to figure out which is best for you, and then keep going down the page to decide if it’s worth it at all.
Eurail Global Pass – 10 or 15 days out of 2 months
With this pass you buy either 10 or 15 travel days throughout the entire system within a 2-month period starting on your first day of travel. This is the better option for most people covering a lot of ground.
Eurail Global Pass – 15 to 90 total days
This variation allows for unlimited travel on the system for between 15 and 90 total days. They are really only a good idea for people who are certain they are going to travel very often, with much of it being in the north of Europe. The problem with them is that if you really try to get your money’s worth, you will probably ruin your trip by spending too much time on trains in general.
Eurail Select Pass – 3 to 5 neighboring countries
These passes allow 5 to 10 travel days within 2 months, for 3 to 5 neighboring countries of your choosing. For reasons we’ll discuss below, they are a great deal for northern countries, and probably poor value in the south.
Eurail Regional Pass – 2 to 4 neighboring countries
Similar to the option just above, but these are for specific popular “regions” like France and Spain or Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia. They are great options if one exactly fits your own travel plans.
One Country Pass
Obviously these are for travel within one country only. Again, they can be great deals if you plan on extensively moving around one particular country.
Reservations on European trains for rail pass holders
For most of the fastest trains between major cities you’ll need to reserve a seat even with a rail pass. It can usually be done just before you leave and the cost is usually around €5. Here’s a full list of which European trains require reservations and which don’t.
Factors to consider when thinking about any Eurail Pass
Assuming you know which Eurail Saver Pass option is the best one for your type of trip by now, we’ll go over the main factors that should help you decide whether it’s the best idea for you.
Eurail Passes are best for standard ‘medium length’ journeys
In almost all of Europe, the major cities tend to be between 4 and 8 hours apart by train, and these journeys are perfect for Eurail Passes. For example, from Vienna to Munich it takes about 5 hours on the train, and it’s scenic and relaxing. Flying between those cities would take about the same amount of time once you factor in airport transportation and security lines, and it’s far less pleasant.
However, if you are determined to travel between Rome and Paris, it’s about a 14-hour journey that will almost certainly be overnight. In this case, a cheap plane ticket is probably better, although taking shorter hops on the train is even better, so spend a day or two in Milan or Lyon on the way instead.
And of course, if you prefer to stop in various small towns between the big ones, then a Eurail Pass won’t pay off, except for the traditional kind for unlimited travel in a given period.
Eurail Passes are better value in northern Europe than along the south
Once you do a bit of research you’ll quickly learn that train tickets (and almost everything else) are much more expensive in Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland than they are in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. With this in mind, the regional passes can make sense if you are spending time in the south, but the Global Passes almost certainly won’t.
So consider your planned itinerary. If more than half of it is in the Mediterranean countries then look into a Regional Pass or just buy tickets as you go, because they tend to be pretty cheap. But if you are planning on spending at least half your time in Paris and places to the north of it, then a Eurail Pass is probably a money saver because those tickets are expensive.
Trains are almost always better than planes
Flying sucks, even in Europe
Until you’ve experienced the joy of traveling around Europe by train you might be tempted to “maximize” your time by flying low-cost airlines between each city. This would be a mistake. In order to get truly cheap airfares you have to purchase long in advance, buying non-refundable tickets. You might also have to commit to flights in the very early morning or in the late evening, because cheap tickets on convenient flights sell out quickly.
And again, most European airports are around an hour outside of the city. They are often on the main train lines, which helps, but still you have to deal with the madness of security and also try to get there at least two hours early. From one city center to any other city center it’s about 5 hours minimum, even if they are close, and those are pretty miserable hours.
Train travel is a positive experience
While it’s true that you do have to reserve a seat on many long-distance trains these days, you can usually do it just before it leaves, or the night before to be safe. And with many trains you can literally just hop on board as it’s pulling out of the station.
Not only are all the seats comfortable on trains, but you also have an interesting view most of the time. Better still, trains deposit you in the heart of every city, which is usually the neighborhood with the cheapest hotels and food. It’s a wonderful feeling to step off a relaxing train ride, buy a hot dog or sandwich at a local shop, and then be in your hotel room only about 10 minutes later.
Eurail Passes are better than train tickets alone
As someone who enjoys the process of crunching numbers and looking for value, I have to also mention that I’d buy a Eurail Pass even if it seemed like it would cost a bit more than the individual tickets. With a pass you get an extra element of freedom that is worth a lot more than you might expect until you’ve used one.
If you fly, you absolutely have to lock in your exact schedule weeks or months in advance, and if you buy train tickets individually you will be spending hours in queues and then waiting around. You can buy European train tickets in advance, though the convenience comes along with an extra fee. But with a Eurail Pass, on most routes you can just hop on any train you feel like.
Let’s say you are heading from Amsterdam to Hamburg tomorrow morning. The 9am train you planned for might seem a bit ambitious after a long night out, so you can instead opt for the 10am or 11am train. As long as you walk into Centraal Station 10 or so minutes before departure, you are on. If you are flying you can’t change your ticket, and if you are buying train tickets as you go you have to be in line at the international desk at the train station at least 30 minutes early, and even then you might miss it if they are busy.
Freedom and getting to feel like a big shot
Bill Gates doesn’t worry about the cost of plane tickets or train tickets. He just goes where he wants, when he wants. When you have a Eurail Pass, you get a taste of this yourself, and even if you don’t end up doing any new spontaneous legs within your trip, it’s a great feeling.
Let’s say you are staying at a hostel in Brussels, and two groups of new friends suggest that you go along with them to their next stops. One group is going to Bruges, which is a short and cheap journey, so you can join them by buying individual tickets (unless you have the unlimited pass, making it free). Then you restart your trip from Bruges, on to your next destination. The other group is headed to Berlin on a night train, which is long and expensive, but with a Eurail Pass you don’t even have to think about the cost. On you go, just like a rich guy.
Buying a Eurail Pass is great for those who might run out of money
We all know people who keep meticulous track of every penny they spend, and who are always putting money away for a rainy day. And we all know people who can take a US$100 “entertainment fund” and burn through almost all of it in just a few hours. For the first type of person, a Eurail Pass can help you keep track of expenses, but it’s really the second type of person these are best for.
It’s sad to hear about people who have big plans to see their dream destinations, but they run out of money for transportation halfway into the trip, so they have to just stay put until they fly home. It happens. Locking in your major transportation costs before you leave home, and probably saving money in the process, is a wise move for anyone who isn’t as disciplined as they’d like with their money.
>>>Check prices on Eurail Passes
Have a rail pass or itinerary question of your own?
It wasn’t planned but scores of people began asking me rail pass and itinerary questions at the bottom of this article and a few others. I’m happy to keep answering them and now I’m trying to organize them better as well so they are easier for other people to find.
If you have a question about specific types of European rail passes, please ask it in the comments below.
But if you have a question more about a European itinerary or other non-rail-pass questions, please click over to the European itineraries Q & A article and ask in the comments of that one.
136 Responses to “Should you buy a Eurail Pass? Here’s how to decide”
I’m travelling 53 days just in Eastern Europe and almost all of the trip will be by train/bus. Do you recommend to buy a Europass?
Rafael, I’m glad you asked this because I should have mentioned Eastern Europe and I will add it. About half of Eastern Europe isn’t part of the Eurail system, so you have to compare your itinerary to the main map. Also, just as bad, the trains in the included parts of Eastern Europe tend to be as slow or slower than buses. Coverage is spotty as well, so probably not a good fit for your trip. -Roger
Thanks Roger.
So I think I have to buy each stretch of my trip separate – always comparing the price and the duration of the trip to choose between train of bus. And is not a problem if I but the tickets one day before, am I right?
Thank you again,
Rafa.
Rafael, exactly right. I spent most of this summer traveling around Eastern Europe (currently in Serbia) and even in high season it was easy to buy tickets even just before departure. But for international trains I think it’s wise to buy the day before because sometimes the lines at those windows are long, and once you have a ticket you can breeze into the station at the last minute. If you buy tickets the day of, you have to get there quite early just to be sure.
And don’t hesitate to take the buses because they tend to be comfortable and pretty fast as long as you get the express ones rather than the ones that stop in each town. Bon voyage. -Roger
I will accept your recommendations.
Actually, my budget is the same as the European Backpacker Index 2012.
Hope it works! =)
Thank you again and as a frequent reader of this website, I have one feedback:
I think you can post more topics about Eastern Europe. I know that is more common go to Western Europe but I guess EE has they beautiful places as well.
Looking forward the next topic,
Rafa.
Im planning on travelling for roughly 12-14 days in Europe where I want to cover Italy 4-5 days(Rome and Florence/Venice),Spain 4 days(Barcelona and Valencia/Seville) , 3-4 days Amsterdam and Brussels (Maybe) and end up in France (Paris)(Base in Europe). I am awfully confused on what to chose as flights seem cheaper. I plan on taking the 3 or 4 Countries pass. Catch a flight from London and go to Benalux-Italy-Spain-France(If I choose the 4 country option)What would you suggest?
> Does the pass cover the local trains in Italy and Spain? eg (Rome-Venice-Florence)?
Note: I am 24, and have no problem with booking in advance whether its trains or flights.
Thank you in advance…
Vikram,
Normally I am the last one to say that people are trying to see too much in too little time, but for you, this is a crazy itinerary.
The train passes definitely cover all the local trains, so going from Venice to Rome would be covered, but really you should think about cutting at least half of your destinations before deciding on trains vs. planes. The thing is, whether you are taking trains or flying, it eats up most of a day whenever you change cities. Even if flying, you’ll have to leave your hotel at 9am to catch a noon flight, and you won’t check into your hotel in the new city until 4pm. Trains can be better and at least you see something on the way. For example, Florence to Rome only takes a couple hours with good scenery, and you don’t waste time going to and from airports.
For you, in 12 to 14 days, I’d recommend Venice (1 day), Florence (2 to 3 days), and Rome (3 to 4 days) as minimums, and then add Paris or Barcelona for the rest. Save the rest for your next trip.
-Roger
Thank you for your reply,
Actually Paris is taken care of as I a relative staying there so I would be spending 3-4 (Either in the beginning or the end of the journey) days in Paris anyway.SO excluding Paris I have 12-14 days left to cover the places I mentioned. So 7 days in Italy, 5 days Spain and 2 days in Amsterdam seems ok? Or am I pushing it too much again? To sum it up I have 18-20 days minimum for all the mentioned places so what would you suggest…
Thanks in Advance
Vikram,
I think 7 days in Italy works okay as a minimum, but longer would be better, of course. Five days in Spain should be good if you stay in and around Barcelona rather than trying to hit multiple cities that are many hours away from each other. You might even take a day or two in Nice, France along the way. It’s interesting and very close to Cannes and Monaco for day trips.
If you want to spend 2 days in Amsterdam then you’ll definitely need to fly. I’d recommend saving it for another trip where you also hit Berlin and Prague and Bruges, but I understand the draw of Amsterdam, and you can have a fun 2 days there if you can work out good flights. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe starting from Madrid -3 days, Barcelona 3 days, Ibiza 2 days, París 4 days, Nice 1 day, rome 2 days, Florence, 2 days, Venice 2 days, Athens 2 days, Mykonos 2 days, Bruges 2 days, Amsterdam 3 days, Hamburg 3 days and Berlín 2 days and back to Madrid to catch a plane back home to Perú what Do you think it is better for us to buy the Eurail Pass or should we rather fly from some cities to another? If so, what Eurail Pass do ypu think better suits us? And what do you think about our trip itinerary is it to much to cover within 33 days?
Marisol,
Your last question first, yes, I do think you are attempting way too much for 33 days. Two days is enough for Venice or Bruges, and even for Athens if you stick to the main sites. I’d skip Ibiza and Hamburg on this trip, unless you have specific reasons for those. In fact, I’d save Amsterdam and Bruges for another trip as well.
One way to think about it is that any day you are traveling, you don’t have time for sightseeing. With 14 destinations in 33 days, you’ll only have about 20 days of actually seeing what you are going to see. From the time you check out of your hotel, even if it’s near the train station, it will be probably 6 to 8 hours before you check into the hotel in the next city. Even if you fly it’s about the same amount of time spent going to and from airports. After a day traveling, you won’t want to rush to a museum if you get in at 4pm.
However, if you do include most of these cities, I’d recommend a 30-day Eurail Global Pass or a 10 travel days out of 60 Eurail Global Pass. -Roger
Hi Roger, if you are still monitoring this article, I was hoping I could get your advice. I am travelling to Europe in March for 90 days (27Mar-26Jun) I will be visiting friends I made while studying abroad a few years back. my rough plan at the moment is
Cologne->Siena->Brno->Prague->Hamburg->Lyon spending 1-2 weeks in each place. and possibly trvelling a bit in the area during the stay (ie possibly spend a few days in Rome while in Italy, or hopping over to Krakow from Brno) then possibly a week or 2 in Scotland. its kind of a screwy order, because I have to start in Cologne and I have to be in Prague for the first week of May for a wedding. My plan was to buy cheap flights where possible and do train/bus or even carsharing for the rest. do you think a Eurail pass might be a good idea? I’m guessing I will spend somewhere around 75% of the time sleeping at friends places so lodging costs will be minimal. Travel costs will be my main concern. thanks, adam
Adam,
You are obviously covering some pretty long distances with many of these jumps, and with 2 in Germany and one in France, the individual train tickets would be quite expensive. The problem with a Eurail Pass for this is you’ll only have about 5 or 6 big jumps over a 90-day period. The 90-day Eurail Pass would be way too expensive for this, and the 10 days out of 60 probably won’t work either.
Flights are probably the best option, although since most of these are 2nd-tier cities, it will be tough to find direct flights. You’ll probably have to use nearby airports for many of them. I’d start researching flights now and buy any that you can at low prices (since budget airlines generally get more and more expensive as the flight approaches), and then a couple of train or bus journeys for the ones with no easy flights.
My advice would be to look around at nearby airports to each city and then use whichbudget.com to find the low cost airlines. -Roger
Thanks for the quick response. I got some promising results earlier just searching Ryanair’s routes. just from a couple of cursory searches on whichbudget makes me think that it will be a pretty good resource for this trip. thanks for the help. Im definitely gonna peruse priceoftravel to look for more useful info.
Hi Roger,
Really glad that I come across this article. we are a group of students under 25,traveling to France-> Germany (Munich)->Vienna->Prague->Germany (Berlin). It’s a short tour of less than two weeks. Would you suggest that we take a eurail pass of France-Germany and buy tickets for the rest? Or would it be better for us to buy eurail 3 country pass of Germany-Austria-Czechs plus a eurail pass for France (we will be traveling quite a bit in France)?
Thanks in advance!
Lora, I think the France-Germany Pass is your best option because individual tickets in and between those two countries tend to be quite expensive. Calculate the number of longer trips you’ll be making within those borders and get the 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 days within 2 months option. And of course if you plan any shorter jumps, like Berlin to Dresden for example, it might be cheaper to just buy those as you go too, and only use the pass for the longer ones. Trains in Czech Republic are fairly cheap on their own. -Roger
Roger,
Thanks a lot for your advise!:)
Hi Roger, Your advise sounds very good.
My Partner and I are planning a trip to Europe, going:
London – Paris – Lausanne – Milan – Florence – Rome – Venice – Salzburg – Budapest – Prague – Berlin – Brussels – Amsterdam.
Total trip time: 44 nights. We are going in Feb 2014.
Do you think we should look at getting a rail pass for the entire trip? Or should we just book each train seperately? We are not keen to fly anywhere…
Your advise will be greatly appreciated! Sophie
Sophie, your itinerary looks like a really good one for a rail pass because you are doing many medium-length journeys in different countries. The only cheaper ones will be those within Italy, so I’d buy a 10-days in 2-months Global Youth Pass (if you are both under 26) or a First Class Saver Pass if you are 26 or older. The Saver Pass is 2 to 5 people using the same pass so you always have to travel together, but it’s 15% cheaper than 2 individual passes.
Your London to Paris leg will be on the Eurostar, which is a separate system (information near the top of this page) and you’ll want to buy those tickets up to 6 months early for the cheapest fares. With this itinerary it still leaves you 11 journeys, so for either Milan to Florence or Florence to Rome, just buy individual tickets rather than validating the Pass for that day. Most of your other legs would be quite expensive individually (especially in 1st class) so the pass will save you money and hassle. -Roger
Thank you so much for the quick reply
You have been very helpful
Sophie
Your advice has been incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for help us naive first time travelers:)
My girlfriend and I are doing a 14 day trip. Im 24, shes 23.
-Fly Tampa,Fl to London. (cheapest flight I could find into Europe)
-Get in early in the morning, see whatever we can see that day in london, take the Eurostar rail to Paris that by 8pm.
-Spend 3-4 days in Paris (train to Versailles one day?)
-Train to Interlocken, spend 1 night
-Train to Florence, spend 3 nights (Cinque Terre 1 day?)
-Train to Rome, spend 2-3 nights
-Ferry to Athens, spend 1 night
-Ferry to Santorini
-Some how make it back to Tampa from there!
Question:
Railpass worthy?
Do they cover those ferries?
Railpass discount on Eurostar?
Any itenerary suggestions welcome! What can I cut out?
Kerry, to be honest with you, this itinerary is a bit of a mess. Landing in London and getting to St. Pancras train station by 5pm won’t allow you to see much, even if you aren’t in a jet lag daze. I’d spend at least one night in London, if not more.
At least skim through this article about concentrating on the “great” cities for your first Europe trip.
You’ll love Paris. The train to Interlaken takes 5.5 hours, as does the train from Interlaken to Florence, so you won’t be seeing much by staying there only one night. Also, those are both quite expensive train rides so you might think about just flying from Paris to Florence or Rome.
The ferries between Italy and Greece aren’t close to Rome or Athens, and they take around 15 hours on the water, so from Rome to Athens using the ferry it’ll take most of 24 hours. Then to only spend one night in Athens isn’t really worth it, plus it’s another long ferry ride to Santorini. If you really need to go to Santorini I’d just fly there from Rome on Easyjet.
What I’d really recommend for you is fly to London and spend a few days there, take the Eurostar to Paris for a few days there, then a night train (12 hours) or flight down to Barcelona (you’ll love it) for at least a few days. If you want to include an island you could go to Ibiza or Mallorca from there. This way you’ll spend more time sightseeing and almost no time rushing around, and you’ll get cities, beaches, and islands if you like. Italy is great, and Greece has a lot going for it as well, but doing them all on one short trip starting in London means spending 5 of your 14 days in transit. -Roger
Wow thank you so much for your insight!
I would really like for Paris, Rome and Santorini to be in this trip so I have made some changes to the itinerary.
-Fly into Paris, spend 4 nights
-Fly to Florence, spend 2 nights
-Morning train to Rome, spend 3 nights
-Fly to Santorini, spend 3 nights
-Fly home. (expensive and long)
Obviously no rail pass needed.
-Plane for Paris to Florence is ~$100
-Train for Florence to Rome is ~$60
-Plane for Rome to Santorini is ~$400
Is this anywhere closer to reality? Thanks again!
Kerry, it’s my pleasure to help if I can.
This itinerary seems much more enjoyable and focused. There are 3 airlines flying nonstop from Rome to Santorini (Easyjet, Meridiana Fly, and Blue Panorama) so hopefully you can get a better fare than US$400. As far as getting home, you might do best with a round-trip from home to Paris and then flying from Santorini to Paris (Orly) on Transavia, which should be cheap, and then switching over to Paris-Charles de Gaulle for the home flight if you have to. Either way, this is MUCH better than before. -Roger
My last post I swear:)
Final itinerary
- Paris – 4 days
- Rome – 4 days
- Santorini/Athens – 4 days
Thank you so much for your help, you really made my trip:)
Looks great. All highlights and short hops in between. Let me know if you need anymore help. -Roger
Hi Roger, I will be traveling from Paris-Lyon, Lyon-Barcelona, Barcelona-Lleida-Saragossa-Madrid, Madrid to Lisbon and I am 25 and my roommate is 24, would you recommend a Eurail pass? Or is it just better to buy tickets as we go? who know we may even decide to stay in some places longer than expected
Efrain, you are better off just buying those train tickets as you go. Paris to Lyon isn’t cheap, and Lyon to Barcelona requires a change in Montpelier, and it’s also not cheap, but those others won’t cost much so a pass wouldn’t pay off. Also, Spain and Portugal have good and cheap bus service that is often your best option, so keep that in mind as you go. -Roger
Don’t forget that many major European cities have a night train between them. If you can handle it, sleeping on fold-down seats can save money and recoup some of the cost of that First Class Eurail ticket. Traveling overnight also lets you see more in less time. See a city one day, overnight to another, and see it the following day. I even had friends who saved on the high cost of hotels in Scandinavia by overnighting back and forth between Oslo and Stockholm.
What’s the worst thing about Eurail? The fact that it includes Ireland but not the UK.
Michael W. Perry, Across Asia on a Bicycle
This list of comments was getting too long so I moved most of them over to a separate page called Europe itinerary Q & A. You might find answers there or you can ask your own question at the bottom of that article.
If you have a question about which Europe rail pass might be right, feel free to ask it below. -Roger
Roger,
Great information here. Thank you for your insights. I have a unique travel opportunity coming up and I would love to read your thoughts about how I should approach it.
I am in the preliminary stages of planning this trip, but here are the basics: I have a friend who is living in Germany (near Frankfurt) for the next three years and I have decided to fulfill a lifelong dream to travel around Europe starting in April/May of 2014. My plan is to stay in Europe for about 6 months and see as much as I possibly can. I am a US Citizen and I am aware of the Schengen Agreement. I am currently communicating with the German Consulate about the possibility of getting a Resident Visa that would allow me to stay in the EU for a period longer than three months. While this isn’t the focus of my question here, any insights you or other readers have on the documentation necessary to stay in Europe for more than three months would be appreciated.
I imagine this trip revolving around the premise that I will be using my friend’s house in Germany as my base of operations. I will take trains out from Germany for approximately two to three week jaunts to various places across Europe and then come back to Germany for a couple of days to rest up, do some laundry and then head back out again. Naturally, these “jaunts” will have basic itineraries to maximize my time, but the beauty of this trip is that I don’t want to feel rushed or limited. If I find a place that I like and want to stay a few more days than I had planned, then so be it.
Finally my question: Should I buy two back-to-back Eurail 3 Month Continuous Global Passes or should I just wing it and buy tickets as I go along the way? Also, will these Global Passes give me access to the train systems I need to “get off the beaten path” if that’s what I want to do? Two Eurail 3 Month Continuous Global Passes would cost me about $4,254 US dollars. While I have saved the money for this dream trip, it is not limitless. I’m intrigued by the obvious flexibility that those Global Passes would afford me, but at the same time, I don’t want to buy something that I won’t be using enough to make it worth the costly expenditure.
I know this is an unusual scenario, but any thoughts you have on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your response.
Scott, this sounds like an epic trip you have in mind. I’ve done a few things like this (including spending the last 3.5 years on the road) and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
I very much doubt that buying those continuous Global Eurail Passes would pay off for you. However, they do allow you on all trains in all participating countries, so you could get very off the beaten path with them.
Here’s the thing about what you have in mind: The individual train tickets to most of the interesting cities near Germany (Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Salzburg, Vienna, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, and even Copenhagen) can be bought relatively cheaply once in Germany. They have these €29 specials on weekends for any trip within Germany, so you can take that to the border and then get a cheap train into the bordering country. With a very flexible schedule you’ll have some really nice choices that won’t cost too much.
And then for interesting cities that aren’t too close to Frankfurt, flying will be the cheapest and best option. Obviously it’s a bit less flexible than rail-pass travel, but it’ll be way cheaper and those overnight or otherwise super-long train rides would get old quickly. So let’s say you want to see Barcelona and a bit more of Spain. You book a cheap flight to Barcelona a month in advance for maybe US$100 or even less, then you drift around in Spain for a week or two and when you know you want to go back you book the cheapest flight from Madrid or Lisbon or wherever else you are, and it might still be only US$150 a few days before you leave (although it’ll be a very early or late flight). Those long train fares would cost WAY more than that, and take most of a day in each direction.
So you can still do most of your trips by train, plus a few flights here and there, and it’ll be way cheaper than two Global Passes. And after spending a couple weeks in Germany, you’ll figure out the best and cheapest ways of doing everything.
As for the Schengen waiver, I haven’t done it but thousands of Americans hanging around in Berlin these days have, so it doesn’t sound too difficult. Good luck. -Roger
Hello, I’m a 20 year old that is going to backpack around Europe. I’ve been to Europe before but I want to expand where I can go. The global Eurail pass is expensive, almost $1,400–and I think it would be worth it but I’m not exactly sure how it works. I hear from some people that it’s great because you can go where ever you want, whenever you want. But then I hear we do have to pay a 5 euro fee to book a seat on a train no matter what. Can you explain this? I will be mainly in Italy, and I want to go to Greece and Romania for certain, then Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia etc. I read on the website that Greece does not have trains that go in and out of the country so I would have to buy a plane ticket?
If you can explain how the eurail passes work–how to book seats on a train or how to even get on the train with just the pass…that would be great. Because I can’t seem to find my answer. And I am curious about overnight trains as well.
Thanks!
Jasmine, taking your questions in order:
A Global Rail Pass is perfect for some people but not worth it for others, and I try to help people figure out which they are here. The consecutive days version (like 30 straight days) is only good for people who’d want to change cities every other day. The version where it’s like 10 travel days out of 60 days is better in that it’s like buying 10 train vouchers that you can use on more expensive journeys.
For example, that 10 days out of 60 pass is US$591 for people under 25, which means you’d want to use it on rides that average at least US$59 each. So a 2-hour ride from, say, Rome to Florence might only be €32 (US$40), so it wouldn’t make sense to buy a pass to cover that day. But from Copenhagen to Berlin would cost around €140 (US$180), so using a voucher that cost US$59 would be an amazing deal. It’s a bit complicated because the more travel days you buy, the cheaper each becomes, so it can even pay off if you use it on a few cheaper journeys, but overall you mainly want to consider a rail pass to cover your longer rides, and especially those in France and countries to its north.
As for the seat reservations, there are actually loads of trains you don’t need reservations for, but in the past few years more reservation systems have become computerized so now most of the longer express trains (which are the expensive ones rail passes are best for) require a small fee for a seat reservation. They mostly cost around €5, but some are cheaper, and ones for the luxury high speed trains in France are more like €10. Even those expensive ones are good value because the trains themselves are very expensive if you pay as you go. Some reservations can be made over the phone or online, but mostly they are made in person at any train station in the same country. I usually make the reservation the day before I travel, but in most cases you can actually make it just before the train leaves. Most of these trains run hourly, so even if the queue is long and you miss the first one, you can usually just get a reservation on the next one and hop aboard.
For travel within Italy, you might consider an Italy Rail Pass, but only if you are making longer jumps. If you are going from one major city to the next closest one, just buy tickets as you go.
I didn’t even know that any Greece trains were still running (the government loses a fortune on them), but definitely not international for now. Your choices are long-distance buses, which are actually quite nice and quite cheap, or flights, which are also cheap if you buy well in advance or fly at weird times. For Romania, the buses might also be a better option than the trains.
For Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, a Europe Select Pass for 3 countries (seen information and booking link in the main article above) is probably wise because those individual tickets cost a fortune.
Overnight trains are common for routes of between 7 and 12 hours and they all require a seat reservation. A normal seat might be €5 or you can get a couchette (small bunk) for around €20, which is well worth it for most people. They are especially useful in expensive countries since they allow you to save a night in the hostel and maximize sightseeing time.
Hopefully I answered all your questions. Let me know if I didn’t. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My brain hurts from trying to figure out what is most cost effective. My choices are either a regional pass for spain and italy or point to point. I can’t decide. Please help.
I am traveling alone, so convenience is important to me, but so if price. Can you tell me what you would do?
Here’s my schedule for June 2week trip:
Arrive to Barcelona in morning from LAX – cab to hotel – 2 full days
3rd day morning train to Madrid to meet friends – Take trains to Seville, etc… for 3 days
6th day of trip – train to Madrid airport to fly to Milan
Day trips to Verona, Lake Como etc…from Milan for 3-4 days
Day 10 late morning train from Milan to Bologna – Stay over night – Food tour all next day
Day 11 (Food tour) Night train from Bologna to Lerici (La Spezia) – 2 days in Lerici
Day 12 Ferry to Portofino
Day 13 Spend day in Lerici – Night train to Milan airport hotel
Day 14 Fly home
All reservations for flights, hotels and tours are made. The only thing that’s left is the train decision and I have to make it quick so I can get the pass with no rush shipping fee.
Leaving in 1 week.
Would so appreciate your opinion.
Thank you,
Susan
Susan, stress no more because you’ll be best off buying tickets as you go on this itinerary. Pretty much all of your train journeys are 3 hours or less, and in Spain and Italy those are relatively affordable. An itinerary where an Italy Pass might pay off would be Turin to Venice to Milan to Rome to Florence, but not for this.
And by the way, in Europe (and most other places) a “night train” is a journey of between 7 and 12 hours or so with sleeping cars where you arrive in the morning. I believe you mean just an ‘evening train’ because yours are like 2 or 3 hours.
In both Spain and Italy you’ll find getting the individual tickets quite easy. I normally try to buy my ticket the day before I leave so I can just walk from my hotel onto the train with my backpack, but in most cases you can just get there 20 or 30 minutes early and still get a ticket in plenty of time. Better still, on pretty much all of these routes there will be trains leaving every 30 to 60 minutes all day, so you can just head to the station, buy a ticket, and board the next one going. Have fun. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for such a helpful article! My family and I will be travelling to Europe for a 14 day trip and would love to get any suggestions on our itinerary and transportation.
Day 1 – land in Barcelona, hop on a train to Italy that night
Day 2-4 – Italy. We want to visit Rome, Venice, and Pisa.
Day 5-7 – Switzerland
Day 8-10 – Paris
Day 11-12 – London
Return to Barcelona for day 13 and then flight out on day 14
Do you think that itinerary is too hectic or should that be fine? Also what modes of transportation would you suggest? We’re currently looking into the Eurail global pass.
Thanks for your help!
Rachel,
I do think your itinerary is too hectic. After that long train ride, you’ll be somewhat exhausted when you arrive in Italy. Even if you get decent sleep, those long train rides seem to take something out of most of us.
In Italy, skip Pisa. I haven’t been there myself since I was a child, but most people agree that there isn’t much to see after you’ve photographed the Leaning Tower, at least compared to other major tourist cities in Italy. Rome is overwhelming (mostly in a good way) and two days is quite short to do it any justice. I normally recommend a minimum of 3 days in Rome, although 1 day (and night) in Venice is enough because it’s quite small.
If you were my friends asking for my opinion (and assuming this was your first trip to Europe), I’d recommend saving Switzerland for your next visit. You could then add another day in Italy, another in London, and another in Barcelona itself. Switzerland is lovely (if expensive) but it might not be worth it if you are racing around just to squeeze it in. However, if Switzerland is a high priority, I’d save London for another trip, and 2 days there isn’t really enough anyway.
As far as getting around, Paris to London is best done on the Eurostar, which isn’t part of the main Europe rail system. And depending on what your itinerary ends up being, this could be an ideal trip for a rail pass. Either a Global pass or a Regional pass, depending on what you settle on, because several of your journeys would be quite expensive if purchased individually. I can help you decide once you’ve locked it in. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for the response! After discussion we’ve decided to skip London and instead focus on Italy, France, and Switzerland. As of now, we are planning to spend 1 night in Barcelona, 4 nights in Rome, 1 night in Venice, 3 nights in Switzerland, 3 nights in Paris, and then the final night in Barcelona.
For the transportation from Barcelona to Rome, we looked into the train but it appears that the Elipsos train between Barcelona and Milan is now cancelled. Do you have any more information about this? We’re looking into flying as an alternative.
The train from Venice to Switzerland is what we’re struggling with. What city would be easiest to get into from Venice? Is our only option to go through Milan?
Thanks!
Rachel,
I’m not sure about the specific trains that could connect Barcelona with Rome, but I do know it would take around 18 hours and probably involve a change or two. I’d fly for sure. Ryanair and Vueling both have cheap nonstop flights between the cities.
The train lines into Venice only go east and west, so you will have to pop back over to Milan to get to Switzerland. I’d recommend Lucerne or Interlaken if you want a good base to see the scenery and all that. -Roger
Hi Rodger…so glad I found this site. Some really useful information. I’m planning a trip in April/May next year with my wife and three kids. We are definitely still in the planning stages. Haven’t booked anything…haven’t even really thought about an itinerary although want to see a fair bit as we are coming from Australia so this will be a one off trip. Will be spending time with family in UK and also have family in Spain that we want to visit.
Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, Switzerland and Spain/Portugal are definites on the European mainland.
I’m thinking at this stage of flying into Paris then heading to Spain, Italy, Switzerland then back through Paris to UK. Total trip length will be around 5 weeks.
As I said I am very much in the early planning stages which is fun and exciting. We have some accommodation sorted which will help keep costs down but, with 5 of us, minimising costs is important. I like the thought of flexibility and using trains as much as I can and was thinking of a Eurail Global pass initially, however with Spain, Italy and France all having compulsory reservations…some upwards of 20 Euro I’m thinking it may not be worthwhile.
I was also thinking about regional passes for each country perhaps. I was having a look on the Swiss rail site and our kids would travel free. Plus, it seems, that regional passes also include reservation fees.
Any help/ suggestions would be appreciated.
Mike
Michael,
Pretty much all of the reservations for seats in France, Italy, and Spain cost between €6 and €10, and that can still be a great bargain because many of those longer or international routes can cost €100 (for adults) or even more individually. I’m not aware of regional passes covering reservation fees, although there might be some like that.
Fortunately, you’ve got plenty of time to figure this out, as the rail passes and such don’t change price whether you buy them very early or just before you leave. What I’d recommend doing is continuing to research and daydream until you come up with a draft of a full itinerary, and then it might be obvious whether a rail pass or individual tickets or even a flight or two is the best choice. If you still aren’t sure then post what you have and I’ll try to help. -Roger
Roger,
Your travel experience and insight into the whole of Europe is amazing. I’ve learnt so much from just reading the comments above! Well, I do have some questions of my own, I hope you dont mind
I’m 26, from Singapore.
I just took a period of 6 months of no paid leave from work and plan to travel in Europe (Mostly Eastern Europe) for around 4 months. I’m flying to Stockholm to meet a friend in early July and i’ll spend at most 2 weeks there. After which I want to do Eastern Europe and then Spain (Roughly a month). I have had nothing planned yet – I like to be flexible and I only have one rule when I travel, that is not to rush things. What I really would like to ask is.. for the 2.5 months that I have for Eastern Europe, and starting probably with Estonia, which are the countries that are a must go and are there any countries I could probably skip. ( I know its not a fair question, sorry!)
I have, only on the surface though, thought about visiting these few after i’m done with 2 weeks in sweden : estonia/latvia/lithuania/poland/czech republic/hungary/romania/bulgaria/serbia/montenegro/croatia
And then its on to spain for a month. What do yo think? From what you write above, Eurail passes are probabaly not the best. Any other tips you could give me?
Oh, and I’m travelling alone.
Cheers,
Nikhil
Nikhil, I love Singapore and this sounds like a wonderful trip at a very nice pace.
So, yes, a rail pass would not be a good idea for such a trip. In the Baltic area the buses are better and cheaper than the trains, and that’s true when you get down into the Balkans as well.
The other weird thing about those countries on your list is that most of them lack any “checklist attractions.” So it’s all about being able to appreciate the local architecture and way of life. I wouldn’t skip any of them, but I also wouldn’t linger in any of them for longer than you are really enjoying it. Along your route, the highlights will be Krakow, which is a great place to linger because it’s interesting, gorgeous, and cheap, as well as Prague, Budapest, and the coast of Croatia (not Zagreb). Prague is the most stunning of them, but it’s incredibly crowded and accommodation isn’t cheap.
I think your plan is perfect and you aren’t headed to any real duds. So just go and evaluate the situation day by day. With that much time you won’t risk sacrificing great destinations as long as you keep moving when you feel you’ve seen the best things in each place. -Roger
Hi Roger – You are a wealth of information! So I did a quick run-down of costs of buying train tickets (using OBB, Swiss Rail etc)for 2 for the following itinerary: Vienna–> Salzburg–> Innsbruck –> Zurich –> Lucerne –> Interlaken –>Zurich (to fly out). For 2 people I got a rough estimate of $520. Does that sound right? If that’s so, then it would not make sense to get Eurorail regional pass. It doesn’t look like there are too many additional perks in those countries with Eurorail passes either. This is our first trip! Any suggestions are helpful -thank you!!
Cat,
Yes, that price estimate sounds about right for those journeys, and I agree that a pass wouldn’t make much sense for this. Trains in that part of Europe are quite expensive, but all of your rides are fairly short. I think your itinerary looks quite good, as long as you aren’t trying to do it in less than two weeks. And I wouldn’t plan on spending much time in Zurich unless there are specific things you want to see there. It’s quite expensive and very business oriented. Switzerland’s charms are in or near your other stops there.-Roger
Hello!
I am very excited for my trip to Europe this summer. Part of my trip will be in Hungary. It seems difficult to find information on trains to the rural southern parts of the country. I am wondering if my Eurail Global pass will cover the cost of these trains?
(I’ll be leaving Budapest and heading to Mohacs, Baja & particularly Dàvod)
Thanks for any info you can share.
Kind Regards from Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
Nicole
Nicole,
Hungary is indeed one of the 27 countries included with a Eurail Global Pass, so the price will be covered if you are using a travel day or have a consecutive days pass. Reservations are optional on most trains in Hungary, and even when they are needed they range from €0.50 to €2 per seat. -Roger
Here are all 27 countries, by the way.
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Roger, thanks for all the useful info.
I am going to Lyon for a 4 month exchange program in September. I will have 3 days of classes and 4 days free every week and I am planning to travel regularly,possible every week. I will be under 25 years old. Do you think the three months global pass would be worthwile?
Sangeen,
My advice to you is pretty much identical to the advice I gave to Scott, above, about traveling around using Frankfurt as a base.
The short version is, no, I don’t think a rail pass is wise for such a thing because the shorter trips (within France and to nearby cities like Barcelona and Milan) don’t cost enough to justify a Global Pass, and for longer trips (ones more than 8 hours away by train) it’ll be cheaper to fly. Also, if you do travel around France from Lyon often you’ll get bored with the nearby scenery.
On the other hand, trains within France aren’t cheap, so you might consider just a France rail pass or perhaps a France-Italy pass for maybe 10 days out of 2 months. Those are cheaper than Global passes and could save you money if you use it on some of your longer trips within the country or region. -Roger
Hi Roger,
This is a great site! My boyfriend and I are planning to meet up in Frankfurt and travel to Italy and maybe South France. We are planning to spend 14 days in Europe and trying to cover as much ground as possible while still enjoying a relaxed vacation. We would like to enjoy the beach as well as see the regions history. We are looking at the following stops: (neuschwanstein, south France beach, Venice, pisa, Cinque Terre, Rome, pompeii and Amalfi Coast) but have no idea the best route and if we are making the rookie mistake of trying to cover too much ground in only 14 days. We also thought maybe we should hit each place all the way down to Amalfi Coast and then maybe fly back to Frankfurt? Would you recommend a 3 country train pass? Or maybe Fly from Germany to Italy or France then take the train? I’m just not sure the best route. What would you recommend? -Natasha
Natasha,
I’m happy you are finding the site useful. I do actually think you are trying to cram too much into 14 days, especially if you are going during the summer high season. But with this kind of itinerary you can make it up as you go, which is what I’d recommend.
So take the train from Frankfurt to Neuschwanstein, and from there you are best off booking a cheap flight (as soon as possible) from Munich or Zurich to Nice in France. Spend a few days in Nice and on day trips to other places nearby if you like, and then take a train to Venice for a stay of about 24 hours. It’s small and expensive, so actually 24 hours is pretty much ideal. Then take a train down to Rome, where you’ll spend at least 3 nights. Trying to visit Rome in less than 3 nights is a bit crazy, although it is hectic and you might decide sooner to go somewhere relaxing.
By this time you’ve done the best and most important things, and if you are still in the mood to see Pisa (don’t bother), Cinque Terre, Pompeii/Naples and the Amalfi Coast, you can do it then. I’d guess you might only have the time and energy to do one or two of those side trips, but if you are interested in doing more then go for it.
For transportation, I’d just buy train tickets as you go, starting in Nice. Unless you are sure you’ll be covering long distances within Italy, even an Italy Rail Pass probably isn’t a good idea. I’m sure it’ll be a very fun trip no matter what you end up doing. -Roger
Thanks for the quick response. I may end up leaving out France all together and sticking with Italy! I really appreciate the advice! -Natasha
Hi Roger,
I have a regional (France-Italy) pass and plan to cover a few cities between Paris and Rome in June. However, when I tried to reserve a seat from Paris to Nice on the TGV, I was told that the fee is 90 euros. That can’t be right, or is it possible?
Jeff,
No, that doesn’t sound right at all. The fee should be €9 on the TGV between Paris and Nice, in 1st Class or 2nd Class. However, between Paris and Milan the TGV charges €55 for a seat for pass holders (it’s a premium high-speed service so they don’t want to load it up with Eurail pass people instead of business travelers who pay a fortune for individual seats). You can find all reservation fees for European trains on that page.
Now that I think about it, France only allows a set and relatively small number of rail pass people on the TGVs (the only country to do so), so they are basically asking you to pay full price for a ticket and a seat. This wouldn’t use a travel day on the pass if you did it, but hopefully you can find another train or day where there are still pass-holder seats available.
The problem is that the TGVs in France are pretty much the nicest and fastest trains in Europe, and among the most expensive per distance, so they consider it a premium product and only allow a limited number of rail pass users on each train. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. -Roger
Hello Roger,
Your website is really helpful, thanks for taking the time to help us all out. I have something I would appreciate your advice on…
I am travelling with someone else (both over 25) from September 2013 to Feb 2014 (5 months). We are not sure which rail pass is best for us. We are thinking the Global Pass. We plan to see the following places:
Italy: Rome, Florence, Naples, Milan
Spain: Barcelona, Seville, Madrid
France: Lyon, Paris
Belgium: Brussels, Brugge, Antwerp
Germany: Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden
Czech Republic: Brno, Prague
Also a couple of countries which we were thinking of just visiting one city like Istanbul, Krakow, Transilvania, Budapest
I understand that it might be best to fly between some of the longer distances. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
Alison,
Yours is an unusual situation in that you have 5 months, so you won’t be in a hurry at all. The longest duration for a Eurail Pass is 3 months, and that only makes sense if you were to be moving quickly during most of that time. So for your trip, I’d just buy tickets as you go, and mix in flights when you can because during the off season you might find good airfares without much notice.
And yes, for Istanbul there are no trains until 2015 or later, so flying is one option, or buses if you coming from Romania or Bulgaria. However, with that much time I think it would be a shame to just see Istanbul and leave again. Think about a few days in Cappadocia and maybe even a couple in Antalya (both accessible by cheap and comfortable long distance buses) and then flying from Antalya to your next destination.
Another thing to consider with so much time is that you’ll want to mix in some small towns just to chill out for a few days in between the large towns. In those cases you can take local trains, which would be quite cheap individually, so a rail pass wouldn’t be good value.
Also, don’t skip Venice (for one day) and make sure you have specific reasons to visit each place on your list. For example, Frankfurt and Lyon and large cities, but of questionable value for tourists.
With so much time, and totally in the low season like this, I’d recommend keeping this itinerary in mind, but pretty much just winging it and making it up as you go. Some stops will be more interesting than you expected, and others less interesting, so being able to play it day by day is nice. And you won’t have any trouble finding hotel rooms or hostels at good prices during this period, with the possible exception of Christmas week. Have fun and feel free to ask follow up questions. -Roger
Hello Roger,
Your website has certainly been helpful in clearing a lot of my doubts in planning for my trip to Europe. However, I still have some questions that I would like to ask.
Currently I am travelling with 2 friends(aged 19 to 22) in June. Our current itinerary plan is:
1) Amsterdam
2) Paris
3) Geneva
4) Rheinfall
5) Stein am rhein
6) Zurich (if transport is free we should make a stop here)
7) Aarge Gorge
8) simme river
9) staubach falls
10) jungfrau
11) Florence
12) Venice
13) Prague
I am wondering if the Eurail Global Youth Pass would include transport within a country between cities (e.g Switzerland). If it doesn’t should I buy Swiss Pass in addition to Eurail Global Pass too?
Thanks!
Best,
Daphne
Daphne,
Yes, the Global Eurail Pass does indeed cover all domestic trains as well as international trains within the 27 included countries. And train tickets within Switzerland are quite expensive, so a pass will save you some money, but I do notice that a couple of your journeys listed here are short, like maybe an hour or so.
So what I’d recommend you do is get the cheapest Global Eurail Youth Pass, which covers 10 days out of 60, and use it for all your international trips as well as the longer ones within Switzerland. Then just pay cash for those two shortest ones, which will only be like US$15 or each anyway. A few of your other Switzerland trips might also be reasonably priced, but when you average in those other really long and expensive trips you are doing at the beginning and end, a Global Youth Pass will pay off for sure. -Roger
hi! I came across your site and it is so incredibly informative and helpful, and I can see that you actually respond to peoples’ inquiries so I figured I should try you with mine. Now I know my plan is very aggressive and very ambitious so just bare with it as it is kind of long and crazy sounding. im going to Israel for an organized trip and then flying out of tel aviv to (im thinking) Istanbul, travelling around Istanbul for a few days then flying to Athens, day trips to santorini and other islands and a few days in Athens proper then going (by train?)to meteora near Thessaloniki, then dubruvnik, split and Zagreb each for a day or two. then im headed to Budapest and possibly Bratislava then Vienna, Prague for four days then zurich for twoish then Strasbourg for my cousins wedding, including a day trip to a german spa with family, then touring around Strasbourg for a few days (including the wedding) train to Brussels, then Antwerp (where my grandparents are both from) and bruges. then im taking the train to paris to stay with family for maybe 5 days then im thinking ill fly to Lisbon for 2/3 days and then train to Madrid, Barcelona, nice/Monaco then to Milan and im not sure where exactly to stay with relative in Italy for 5 days then hopefully I can go to cinque terra (because its so beautiful there!) then fly to messina and somehow get myelf to the island of lipari to stay with friends who live there, then back to Israel.
leaving Israel july 3 or 4th and going back to Israel within the last week of august…is this completely insane? I am 24 and can swing the youth second class global eurail pass (I noticed that the price doesn’t increase with consecutive travel within 2 months, if you put more than 15 days of travel out of 60 ie 15 days out of 60 is $774 but anything from 21 days to 60 days out of 60 days is fixed at 1120 …this may be wrong? idk!) if it makes sense, ive just been having so much trouble with the eurail site lagging and freezing when i put all of my trips into it lol because its like 12 or so countries.
thoughts? advice? suggestions? words of wisdom please and thank you!
Rachel,
This does look like a busy couple of months, but I don’t think it’s insane, so I think you should try it and you’ll be able to adjust as you go.
Between Thessaloniki and Split you’ll want to take the long distance buses because there are no trains. Aegina is the only island you can really do as a day trip from Athens, so you are better off taking a ferry to one a bit farther out and staying for a couple nights.
A Global Youth Pass does sound like a good idea for this because you are mixing in quite a few trips that would be expensive on their own. There is almost no difference in price between a 15 days out of 60 pass and a 30 consecutive days pass, but a 60 consecutive days pass is a couple hundred more. Still, with all your traveling, it’s probably worth it. The great thing about the consecutive days passes is that you can use them for easy day trips. A 2-hour train ride in each direction might cost US$50 or more round-trip, but you can go for the price of a seat reservation, and even those aren’t needed on most local trains. This looks like a great trip. -Roger
I am planing to visit germeny to attend outdooe show – messe friedrichshafen 11-14 july,via frankfrut- also willing to see/ visit places like munich/ -Ausria- salburg/ innsburg- swiss- tourist attraction,itali- arco water sports area – florence etc.
I will be landing at Frankfrut from mumbai – then
pl. suggest after Italy end of the tour I am planing to come back to frankfrut by train – to tale flight if any option to save tavel time or cheap air fare
Pl. let me know euro rail pass I can travel twice on same rote to & fro e.g. Bern-arco/ florance – berns or to florence / arco to frankfrut by train
Thanks
Ashok
Ashok,
With a rail pass you can backtrack as much as you like, and there are no restrictions about having to keep moving in the same direction (like they have on some airfares).
If you want to tour the area just south of Germany then trains are your best option. Frankfurt itself isn’t that interesting, but not far away is a medieval town called Rothenburg Ob der Tauber that is a great stop for one day. Then you could go on to Munich for a couple days on your way to Salzburg for another couple days. Innsbruck isn’t as interesting, but if you want to go into Switzerland then head to Lucerne, which is the central point of the main Alpine sights and attractions.
However, if you are more interested in Italy, then you might just fly from Frankfurt or Munich into Milan, Florence, Venice, or Rome (cheap flights are available into all of them), and tour around Italy before flying back to Frankfurt for your flight home. Or, if you have two total weeks or more, you could do all of it by train. I hope this helps. If you have more questions let us know. -Roger
Hello,
We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids aged 9 and 6) & we are planning a 17 day trip leaving Dubai on 25th July & arriving back on 10th August.
Plan is as follows :
26-28 July in Rome(3 days)
29 Jul – 1 Aug – Florence / Pisa (4 days)
2-4 Aug – Venice (2.5 days) … leave on 4th evening by flight to Paris (as we don’t want to kill ourselves in the 12 hr train from Venice to Paris)
5-9 Aug – Paris
Leave Paris on 10 aug to head home
Couple of queries :
1. Is this time good enough for these sites ?
2. Is it worth buying a eurorail pass (Italy alone) – comes to 600 USD for 4 of us (family pass).. we will only travel Rome to Florence, Florence-Pisa-Florence, Florence to Venice. Is it cheaper to buy individual tickets ?
3. Options for flight from Dubai to Rome is via Paris or Amsterdam, both with just 1 hr 20 minutes between flights or 20 hr flight gaps. I prefer the 1 hr 20 minutes obviously but I doubt if this time is sufficient to switch flights. 1st time fliers to Europe and do not know if Air France or KLM put you on the next flight to Rome (or) just let you get a refund and not bother. Any pointers would help.
Thanks,
Sri
Sri,
Your itinerary looks good. Three days in Rome is the minimum to do it well. I’m guessing you’ll do Pisa as a day-trip from Florence, which is the way to go. Two and a half days in Venice is actually more than enough, but it’s such a lovely place that it’s great if you can afford it. And flying to Paris seems like the best plan as well.
For your train tickets, you are probably better off buying them as you go. You aren’t covering much ground in Italy, and individual tickets there are fairly cheap, at least compared to rail passes.
As for your return flights, you are probably aware that Air France and KLM are the same airline. If you buy tickets from Rome to Dubai and they suggest a 1 hour 20 minute layover in either airport, I think you are fine. Both airports are fairly compact (unlike Dubai where Terminal 1 and 3 are a long way from Terminal 2) so probably 98% chance you’ll make it with no worries. And that time of year, there are virtually no weather-related delays. Best of all, if the flight arrives too late to make your connection, they will put you on their next flight, or a competitor’s next flight. European laws require them to take care of everything if they are late, though they rarely are in summer.
However, if you are trying to buy individual tickets from Rome to Amsterdam and then on to Dubai, they aren’t obligated in the same way. So as long you are buying tickets from Rome to Dubai, you should be fine. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for the superfast response – it really helps. Your site is awesome and it helped us fix our plan … so the real credit goes back to you
Our open jaw tickets are all from KLM / Air France and is a full trip ticket both ways. Your feedback has provided me reassurance to book these flights.
Couple of more queries :
1. Pls. advise about how much roughly it would cost us for the hotels (large room as we are 4 people) … is 150 Euros per night good from a comfort point of view & also from a location perspective. Jul 28-Aug 10 could be high season and am a little concerned about the hotel costs too.
2. Are the large hotel chains in Italy (like Marriott) better than local hotels or B&B places. Don’t want to end up in a hole … trying to figure about based on TripAdvisor inputs for the hotels & your inputs are much valued also.
3. How would you rate renting an apartment in Paris compared to a regular hotel.. apartments seem to be slightly larger & with amenities like washing machines.
4. Is 1 day good enough in Disneyland Paris ?
5. Would you know anything about Schenngen visa processing success rates from Dubai – plan to apply to Italy which is the most days we spend. Someone was suggesting I make dummy travel / hotel bookings & apply for the visa & once they approve it, then I make the actual bookings. I am not 100% comfortable but in one way, it makes sense so if rejected still OK. We have clean records, by the way
6. Train reservations from Rome to Florence, Florence to Pisa & back, Florence to Venice : is it a long queue usually in late July / August for the bookings or is it better to book online from the Train websites. If booking in advance is better, which is the best train company website to book it from.
Many many thanks in advance for answering these queries too !!
Thanks,
Sri
Sri,
I’m glad I can help.
1 – Yes, €150 per night should get you a pretty nice 3-star hotel room large enough for 2 adults and 2 kids in most European cities, although be prepared for small rooms because only really the 5-star places have larger rooms in Europe. Obviously it depends in each city.
2 – I think the chain hotels in Europe are better for business travelers who need more services, but I think the smaller family-run places are better value. Just look for a hotel with a central location that has many TripAdvisor reviews, and an average of at least 3.5 out of 5 score. That’s what I do and I find that system to work well in Europe.
3 – Renting an apartment in Paris is a wonderful idea because hotel rooms there are unusually small, even for Europe. That also lets you buy food at the markets to prepare for breakfast or even lunch, which will save a lot and mean you aren’t racing around all day. AirBnB is pretty dependable for that, but there are other websites to try as well.
4 – I’ve never been to Disneyland Paris but I’ve been to Disneyland and I think one day is exactly right. You can see everything you want and it would be a shame to miss other things in or around Paris in order to ride more rides.
5 – I don’t know about Schengen for UAE residents. I’m American and for us we just turn up in the first country and get a stamp in our passport rather than an actual visa.
6 – The queues for ticket reservations might be long at that time, but I doubt it would be more than 30 minutes or so. During busy times they have most windows open, and if you go at off hours there might be no queue at all. Also, you should be able to buy tickets or seat reservations for all of your journeys in Italy all at once, as long as you are sure of the dates and times. Personally, I like to pop into the station the day before to buy my ticket or seat reservation, so I can walk right onto the train just before it leaves the following day. -Roger
Roger,
Many Thanks for the response. Will let you know the outcome of the hotels / trip once we complete the trip, so others can also benefit in the future.
Thanks,
Sri
Hi Roger,
I have finally booked the tickets Dubai-Rome-Venice-Paris-Dubai at some great prices on AirFrance. Booked apartments in Rome, Florence & Venice at some decent locations. Thanks for all the guidance you provided earlier.
I have a dilemma about Paris stay … is air conditioning a must in Paris between aug 4-10 ? How hot does it usually get ?
We prefer apartments for the size … The nicer apartments at abt 400 sq ft size do not have A/c and hence I pre-booked ourselves at a hotel with aircon for 200 euros (Triple room). The room size is just 20 sq meters (abt 200+ sq ft) – felt a little cramped to spend 6 nights with 2 kids.
What is ur suggestion here ? If the weather would be hot (say 30 degrees centigrade) then may be I will stick with the hotel.
Also, which area is better – Sacro Coeur or near Saint Lazare train station. The apartment is near the Sacro couer basilica and the hotel is near Saint Lazare station. Appreciate your feedback to help finalize !!
Many Thanks,
Sri
Sri,
Well, the good news is that Paris almost never gets very hot. In August the average daytime high is 25C and the average low is 17C. There have been famous heatwaves in the past few years, but honestly you’d be quite unlucky to be there during the next one. Personally, I’d not pay more than a tiny amount more for A/C because it’s most likely you won’t use it at all.
As for those specific locations, I must admit that I don’t know them well enough to say. But yet another great thing about Paris is that there is a Metro station literally every few blocks. In most cities having a “central” location is a big plus, but in Paris it’s only a matter of a few extra minutes per day because the transport system covers everything and it’s distributed so widely. Just choose whichever one looks better and you’ll have a great stay. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Great .. thanks for the update. I booked our stay at the apartment (Villa Montmartre near Sacre Coeur basilique). It’s a newly renovated apartment and has 51 reviews on booking.com all with good reviews … 9.2 on 10. The price is about 30 Euros cheaper than the hotel I had booked earlier.
One more query : this came as a suggestion from a friend of mine here. Why not drive in Paris with a GPS-fitted rented car ? Is it a better option or is parking a nightmare ? I am pretty good at directions thanks to my stay in USA and do not want to venture into this if this is going to have issues like bad traffic in August, parking issues etc. Not concerned about spending some extra money if this would be a timesaver. Any pointers here would help please.
Thanks,
Sri
Sri,
Parking is normally terrible in Paris, and very expensive. Actually, during August it might not be quite as busy as normal, but it will still be expensive and the Metro goes everywhere faster than you can drive and park, so I would not recommend driving. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for the inputs.
Regards,
Sri
My girlfriend and I are going to Italy for 14 days in 2 weeks and I’m just trying to make sure I have things straight as far as the trains go. We have a first class 5 day Italy FlexPass. We will be going from Venice to Florence (would like to stop in Bologna along the way); Florence to Rome; Rome to Pompeii; Pompeii to Genoa; Genoa to Milan. We still have not nailed down the exact departure times we would like to use since we have never been before and are not on a specific timetable so would like to remain as flexible as possible. Since I see reservations are required on the majority, if not all, of these stretches, how should we go about getting our reservations? Should we just go to the train station about 20-30 minutes before and make reservations then since most of these routes have frequent trains or is this something we need to do more in advance? If so, do we just go to the normal ticket booth to make these reservations? Thank you in advance for your help!
Josh,
Even in the July and August high season, you should be fine just getting to the train station 30 minutes or so before you plan on leaving to make a reservation. Especially in First Class, there is almost no chance of any of these trains being sold out, as long as you avoid trains the business travelers use, which are leaving before 9am or around 4pm to 5pm. Still, in July or August, there aren’t many business travelers in Italy.
My own preference is to make a seat reservation the day before, which not only allows me to know exactly when I have to leave my hotel and head to the station for my train, but it allows me to know where everything is, like if I want to buy coffee before I get on board and such.
However, during the day there are trains going between all of your destinations no more than 40 minutes apart, so you can literally just go to the train station whenever you want, and jump in the reservations line, asking for a seat on the next train out. Most likely it’ll be for a train leaving in 30 minutes or less, so you can pretty much just wing it. -Roger
Saw your comments regarding the Eurorail in Italy. Friends have told us we could hop on and off with no reservation with Eurorail First Class Flex Pass. Is this correct or is a reservation required even if there are seats available? Thanks
Debbie,
It’s a bit complicated, unfortunately. In Italy, the high speed La Frecce trains and the EuroCity trains (which are part of international routes) require a €10 mandatory seat reservation in either 1st or 2nd Class. But the Intercity trains, which connect most Italian cities at normal speeds, have optional seat reservations at only €3 in either class. So with those you can sit in any unreserved seat without paying a fee, or standing if all seats are taken. In 1st Class you’ll pretty much always get a seat, but if you have a group it still might be worthwhile to reserve so you are sure to be sitting together.
So I do believe you can go between any Italian city without a seat reservation if you have a rail pass, but not on the high-speed trains. -Roger
Hi
Wow what an informative site you have
2x adult
Berlin > Hamburg – buy on the day ticket
Berlin to Prauge ( 4 days)
Prauge to Vienna ( 2 days)
Vienna to salzburg ( 2 days)
Salzburg to Munich (4 days)
Munich to Innsbruck ( stop over at mittenwald for 4/5 hrs)- 2 days
Innsbruck to Heidelberg (2 days)
I was looking at the Eurail Select Pass 3 countries/6 days
1 is this the right pass
2 is it worth it
3 is there different options
Thank you & look forward to your reply
PN these are all day train trips
Carmen,
This is precisely the sort of itinerary that gets good value out of a rail pass since pretty much all of your journeys are over two hours and in countries where individual tickets are fairly expensive.
You really have two choices: One is that 3-country Eurail Select Pass you mentioned, which puts you in 1st Class and with two traveling you qualify for the Saver version that is 15% off. Or, if you don’t mind traveling in 2nd Class you can actually save a bit more money by going with a Austria-Germany Regional Pass. Then, when you are traveling from Berlin to Prague you go to the ticket counter and show them your pass and ask for a ticket for just the part in Czech Republic, which might be €30 or so (but I’m not sure). From Prague to Vienna you do the same thing, asking for a ticket only valid in the Czech Republic (or maybe buying one for the whole journey since the portion in Austria is short).
It sounds complicated, but even in 1st Class you’ll save a bit of money, and in 2nd Class you’d save even more. You might also cover that Berlin to Hamburg day with a pass because that won’t be cheap on its own. Let me know if you have any other questions on this. -Roger
Hi roger! Pls help us plan our tour in europe. Starting point is lisbon (june 27)…..end point heathrow,london(july15). We are getting a eurail pass for 10 days in 2 months. Places we want to visit,, madrid, barcelona, milan, venice, florence, vatican city and rome. How many days do you recommend in each? And where to stay?
we are on a budget tour. And if possible in sched we want to see turin, padova and assisi 
. What should be our travel order thats best for train route,, and which point do we need to make a reservation? Thanks so much in advance 
Marianne,
Okay, here’s what I’d recommend for you:
Stay in Lisbon for 2 nights and then take a night train to Madrid.
Stay in Madrid 2 or 3 nights and then a train to Barcelona.
Barcelona for 2 or 3 nights and then a train (or even a cheap flight because it’s a long way) to Milan.
Milan for 1 night and then to Venice for 1 night. If you want to stop in Padua you can do it just before or after.
After Venice take a train to Florence for 2 or 3 nights, and then another train to Rome for at least 3 nights. Vatican City is within Rome and you can tour the museum (with the Sistine Chapel) and see St. Peter’s in a day.
I’d skip Turin and perhaps Assisi as well, but if they are important you can stop as you pass through them.
If you haven’t already figured out how to get from Rome back to Heathrow, I’d book a flight ASAP on a low cost airline (which might actually fly into a different London airport). Going by train would take a full day and not be fun or interesting.
You’ll need seat reservations on most of those journeys, except some within Italy. Here’s a list, sorted alphabetically by country.
To help with the itinerary details you might read this recent post about how long to stay in each city. For specifics on Italy have a look at the second half of this post on France-Italy itineraries.
As for where to stay, you’ll find cheap hotels in all of those cities except Venice and Rome (and Milan if there is a convention, which I doubt there is this time of year). I’d recommend looking for basic places with central locations rather than nicer places in the suburbs. Hotel rooms are pretty small in most of Europe, and most include breakfast. Especially in summer like this, the cheaper and better places will be full in advance, so if you wait until you arrive you’ll be choosing among more expensive or remote places. In other words, book in advance as soon as you have your itinerary sorted out. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. -Roger
Wow! Thank you so much for the prompt reply. Its such a big help. Last question,,, how can we make seat reservation on eurail?
Marianne,
In those countries the only way to make a seat reservation is at the train station itself. Fortunately, they are all located in the city center, so you are likely to pass them when you are sightseeing, or even book a hotel near them. I prefer to go the day before I leave to make my reservation so I can come back just before the train leaves on my way out, but in most cases you can make a reservation just before the train leaves.
Look for the normal ticket lines and when it’s your turn just tell them you have a rail pass and just need a seat reservation. The queues are usually less than 30 minutes, of often only a few minutes. -Roger
Hi, roger! Is there a train from barcelona to rome? I cant find online. Super thanks
Marianne,
Yes, there are trains that can take you from Barcelona to Rome, but not one train. Leaving Barcelona, you will probably have to change trains on the Spain/France border, and maybe one more time in Nice or Milan. None of them are high-speed yet, so it’s a long journey. When checking online, check Barcelona to Nice and then Nice to Rome and at least you should get schedules and results. -Roger
Thank You for your quick response
You have an amazing talent to know so much info
I think I will stick to The 3countries/6 days $914.00 + maybe reservations costs, as the Austria/Germany pass is $863.00 on the Eurail site and will early pre book Berlin – Hamburg trip for a bit of a discount.
Take care and Thank You again
Hi Roger
I have another Q
Is my Munich ( stopover at Mittenwald) to Innsbruck – 1 journey
Innsbruck(change train at Munich) to Heidelberg – 1 journey
Thank You & have a great day
Carmen
Carmen,
I’m not totally sure what you are asking. When using a rail pass, a “travel day” includes all the travel you do in one calendar day or a night train if it leaves in the evening and goes past midnight. So one example I did was I took a train from Dresden to Munich during Oktoberfest so I got off and went into the event grounds for like 4 hours. Then I came back to the station for a train to Innsbruck where I spent the night. All of that was one “travel day.” Is that what you mean? -Roger
Thank You
I know what you mean, you have answered my question
Regards
Carmen
Hi Roger,
I am a university student traveling to Europe on the 26th with my friend. We are going for a total of 58 nights and are starting in Greece and moving our way across Europe to Portugal and then eventually to Ireland. I am wondering if you can help me decide what pass we need with the following itinerary in order of where we are planning to go. I was wondering if it is best to pay our way while in Greece in Italy and then go with a one month continuous (we are both 21).
Also just curious as to how many nights in each you suggest to stay and whether it is worth it to go to Poland or not (worth the time and money).
Thank you so much!
Greece
Italy (Rome, somewhere in Tuscany, Venice)
Austria (Vienna)
Germany (Berlin)
Netherlands (Amsterdam)
France (Paris, Marseille, Nice)
Spain (Barcelona,Madrid, Granada)
Portugal (Algarve, Lisbon)
Then we are finishing in Ireland (flying from Lisbon to Ireland)
Thanks again!
Lindsay,
This looks like a really nice itinerary for the amount of time you have. Since you have 2 months, I’d even think about adding Budapest, Prague, and Krakow in between Vienna and Berlin. All three are very nice and refreshingly cheap as well, so you can even splurge a bit while you are there.
As of now, there are no international trains out of Greece, and you might even think about flying to Italy or taking the ferry.
For this itinerary I think I’d recommend a 10 Days out of 60 Global Youth Pass, rather than 30 consecutive days. With consecutive days you’ll feel rushed, so even if you really like a city you’ll feel the need to push ahead to the next one. With a 10/60 Pass the thing to do is figure out your most likely route in advance, and then use it for the 10 most expensive legs. Those shorter ones within Italy might be the cheapest, but Lisbon to the Algarve is fairly cheap as well (and buses are an even cheaper option there). It would also be good in Ireland, and some of the longer train journeys there are pretty expensive so you might save a day or two for your time there (because Dublin is the least interesting part of Ireland). -Roger
Hi, roger! It’s me again
*With our itinerary,, which eurailpass should we get? is the travel time indicated below is really the travel time?
*you are such a big help. Thank u thank u so much
June 27 depart lisbon.
10 hrs night train.
June 28,29,30 madrid. – leave july 1 am to barcelona
3 hrs train.
July 1,2,3 barcelona. – leave july 4 am to rome
By ferry or 2 hrs flight
july 4,5,6 rome. -leave july 7 am to florence
1 1/2 hrs train
july 7,8 florence. – leave july 9 am to venice
2 hrs train
July 9 venice. -leave july 10 am to milan
2 hrs train
july 10, 11 milan. -leave july 11 pm to BERLIN
NIGHT TRAIN
july 12, 13, 14 BERLIN – leave july 14 pm to LONDON
NIGHT TRAIN
july 15 LONDON…… .
Marianne,
Hmmm…yours is a tricky one if you do it this way because you only have 7 travel days here and you’d be skipping France, which means you couldn’t do a Select Pass because all the countries have to be bordering. And the lowest number of days in a Global Pass is 10, so only using 7 would be a waste.
Your best bet is to get a 15 Consecutive Days Global Pass. Your first “travel day” would actually be June 28 because if you leave on a direct night train after 7pm, only the arrival day counts. The 15th day would be the day you arrive in Berlin on July 12. This means you’d be best off taking the night train between Barcelona and Rome because it would be included, except for the €20 or so to reserve a couchette (bunk). Just research a night train from Barcelona to Nice and then you’ll take a morning train in a normal seat from Nice to Rome. The scenery is lovely on that one.
Then you’d fly from Berlin to London on July 14 or 15 because there are no night trains connecting them anyway. The closest you could get is to take a night train to Paris and then change to the Eurostar to London in the morning, but a flight from Berlin might be cheaper than the Eurostar one-way anyway, and there’s no scenery (obviously) on a night train, or even on the Eurostar. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I will be traveling using France and Germany regional pass. If I decide to travel to Amsterdam using German ICE, how will the ticketing work. Will I have to pay for the portion I travel using ICE in Netherlands? Will I need to pay for it ahead of time or to the conductor?
Thanks,
Stan,
This is a pretty common issue in Europe, with a pass covering part of a journey but not all of it. So what you do is go to the ticket counter in Germany where you’ll need to buy a seat reservation anyway, and tell them you have a pass that covers Germany. They’ll calculate the portion of the trip that covers the Netherlands and issue you (depending on route) a Maastricht to Amsterdam ticket. Keep that together with your pass and the conductor will validate both as they go by. You might be able to buy it on the train itself, but that usually costs quite a bit more. -Roger
Thanks for the great articles!!! You mention that an advantage of having a Eurail pass is that it allows you to skip ticket lines, which is great, but you also say that seat reservations are often necessary. Does that mean getting in line anyway, to purchase a seat reservation? My trip (self and wife, 90 days) looping Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium is on the cheap staying in hostels and budget hotels, so rail is great to put us right in city centers. For my trip, I think buying tickets is slightly cheaper, but not much and I think missing lines would be helpful.
Tom,
I’m always happy to hear that this information is helpful. The seat reservation issue has become a tricky one. Only a few years ago, it was rare that pass holders needed seat reservations, but now they are required on most longer intercity and international routes. Those are also the most desirable routes for rail pass holders because they are the most expensive individually. You can still ride most regional and local trains with no reservation, but those are the cheaper ones that don’t make as much sense for a pass.
So the bottom line is, the computerization of European rail in recent years has meant that skipping ticket queues with passes is only an option in some places. On a slow (90 day) trip like yours, you are almost certainly better off buying tickets as you go. -Roger
Hi Roger,
my friend and I are planning a trip around Europe (UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and Spain; about 17 cities in 2 months). we would be spending a minimum of 2-3 days in each to the maximum of 6 for the bigger cities. we are both under 25 and I was wondering what would b the best choice for us?
El Mkay,
A trip of 2 months where you are visiting 8 or 9 countries like that is ideal for a Global Youth Pass of either 10 out of 60 days or 15 out of 60 days. More than likely the 10-day version will be best, and you can just pay individually for the cheapest 6 legs. That also allows you to fly or even take buses for legs where those might be better options. The shorter legs within Italy (Rome to Florence, for example) will be cheap, as would shorter legs within Ireland. And the longer legs between France, Germany, and Austria, as well as the legs within Spain (on high-speed trains) are expensive.
As you might already know, the UK itself isn’t included in the Eurail system, and Britrail Passes are quite expensive unless you are using them every day. However, some trains in the UK are cheap if you buy them online in advance. Like, London to Edinburgh might be £60 each way if you just walk up before it leaves, but it might only be £9 one-way if you buy online a week or two in advance. Most other European rail pricing doesn’t work that way, except the Eurostar. -Roger
Hey Roger,
I’m going to a 14 days summer trip. My group thought about Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague and Paris (average 3 days for each one). Do you think we should buy a select pass or a global one? Remembering that the Select pass doesn’t cover France anymore. Thank you
Filipe,
For such a short trip with only 3 train journeys, I think you are better off without a pass. Global Passes start at 10 days/legs, and you are doing 4 countries with one stop in each. Honestly, you might find that flying from Amsterdam to Berlin is cheaper if you buy in advance, and same with Prague to Paris. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I will be planning a trip to Europe this Aug with 3 other friends (all below 25) and I was hoping you could give us some travel advice to help us save some costs for transportation.
Itinerary:
Rome 2 days
Venice 1 day
Switzerland 5 days
Paris 3 days
Do you think we should get a Eurail Pass (select pass etc.) and is it cheaper to buy the tickets there or online?
I also wouldn’t mind receiving any recommendation for Switzerland as we are abit overwhelmed in deciding where to go.
Thank you and appreciate your help!
Ezra
Ezra,
Unfortunately, France can’t be included in the Select (3, 4, or 5 countries) Passes, so your best bet would be a France-Switzerland Pass. However, those are relatively expensive so they are really only a good deal for those making several longer trips within France. Switzerland itself is small, so even though rail fares are a bit expensive, they are never too high because nothing is more than a few hours away. The train tickets within Italy aren’t too expensive either, so I’d just buy them as you go.
As for Switzerland, my general advice is this: The big cities like Zurich, Geneva, and Basel aren’t very interesting and they are incredibly expensive. The charms of Switzerland are in the smaller Alpine and lake towns, so I recommend Lucerne and Interlaken as bases for 2 or 3 days each. They are nice on their own, and also close to many really wonderful hikes and sights, and they are very tourist friendly. If you want to see one of the big cities, you might just stop there for a few hours in between other stops. You might also think about staying in Rome for a third day and doing one less in Switzerland. Rome has so much to see that 2 days is kind of quick, but Rome is also somewhat frenzied so the Switzerland thing will be more relaxing. Either way you’ll have a great time. -Roger
Thanks Roger, for the help, it will help us alot in our planning. Might be looking at Italy for another day. Keep up the great work(:
Hi Roger,
Thanks for useful information. Me and my wife (29 years old) are going to travel to Europe 26 July to 10 Aug. Both arrival and departure airport is Dusseldorf.
Please kindly help us to find best pass for our preliminary itinerary:
Berlin: 2 night
Prague: 3 night
Vienna: 2 night
Budapest: 1 night
Salzburg: 1 night
Munich: 2 night
Zurich/Lucerne/Interlaken: 3 night
Thanks & Regards,
Ali
Ali,
For this trip the 5-country Select Pass Saver is perfect, with 8 travel days. It looks like you’ll have 8 longer journeys in exactly 5 different countries, as long as you pay as you go for the shorter trips within Switzerland. With two people always traveling together in First Class, you’ll get great value out of it compared to buying individually, and it’ll be nice to ride in First Class during the high season when you’ll be going.
You are covering a lot of ground in a short time, but each stop looks well planned out and you can get a nice taste of Budapest and Salzburg in one day. Bon voyage. -Roger
Hi Roger!
I’m sorry if you already addressed this, but I am leaving for Europe next Tuesday, and I am frantically trying to figure out if I need to buy a rail pass or just buy individual train tickets. I’m 22 and will be there for about 5 weeks.
I am flying into Frankfurt to begin, and then I will be going to Switzerland, Austria, Prague, then back down to France. I am flying home out of London, so I was going to take the high speed train from Paris. Does it make sense to do a 10 day travel pass, or just buy individual tickets as I go? I was just sticking to trains, except for my flight from prague to somewhere in Paris.
Thank you so much!
Melanie,
I’d need to know more about your planned itinerary to help you decide if a rail pass would be wise. In this comment you’ve only described a journey from Frankfurt to Switzerland then to Austria and then to Prague, plus a flight to Paris and then the Eurostar to London. That is as few as 3 train trips plus a flight and a Eurostar. If that’s what you have in mind just buy as you go, but if you are planning on bouncing around Germany, Switzerland, and Austria then a Regional Pass or Select Pass might be good. If you have a more detailed itinerary let us know and I’ll help you decide right away. -Roger
Roger,
Sorry for the vagueness! I am thinking Frankfurt to Zurich, then Interlaken. I was then thinking of moving towards Austria, so Innsbruck and Vienna, then making my way up to Prague. I would then probably fly from Prague to France. I’m thinking Lyon, Nice, Marseille and Paris. I may shift some places around in Switzerland or visit Prague before Austria, but those are the destinations I am thinking. Thank you so much for your quick reply!
Melanie,
At this point you probably don’t have much choice, but still it’s probably better to just buy as you go. Many of your journeys will be fairly short so a rail pass doesn’t make sense. Bon voyage! -Roger
Hi Roger, my partner and I will reach Paris in early July. We plan to take the Tralys to Amsterdam (2 days) followed by Rotterdam (1 day), Antwerp (1 day), Brussels (6 days for study) and finally back to Paris for our flight back. Is it more worthwhile for us to buy the Euroselect pass (France-Benelux) for 5 days or buy point to point tickets? Is there any other railway operator we can choose other than Thalys (which seems quite pricey). Thanks in advance for your advice.
Sarah,
This is a tough one because your Paris legs will be quite expensive, but the others are relatively short and cheap. I’d say that you are probably a little better off buying individual tickets. For the Paris to Amsterdam leg, the only direct trains are the Thalys, and if you buy those online in advance and choose a less popular time of day those aren’t quite so expensive. Check Thalys.com for that. You might also be able to take a few cheaper local trains, like Paris to Lille to Brussels to Amsterdam, but those still might cost just as much in the end.
Hi Roger!
We’ll be going to europe this coming monday. It’s a fast paced trip since we only have 25 days. Our itinerary will be France (Paris, Marseille, Nice, Lyon) – Switzerland (Geneve) – Austria (Salzburg) – Czech Republic (Prague) – Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Heidelburg) – France (Paris)… Since France is not included in the Eurail select pass, would it still be convenient to get the 4-country 5 day pass? Our would it be cheaper to buy individual train and bus tickets?
Does a Eurail select pass include city to city (Berlin to Hamburg) and intercity travel (Berlin day pass) train transportation?
Thanks,
Leanne
Leanne,
I’d say a 4-country 5-day Select Pass could be wise if I’m understanding your itinerary correctly. You seem to be doing mostly shorter journeys, but starting in Geneva you’ll be doing at least 5 longer ones where a pass can save you money. I’d recommend that, and buying the others as you go, although the France ones might be better bought online in advance if you know the dates for sure.
All Eurail passes work that same in that they are good on all rail journeys during a designated travel day. So for example if you did Prague to Berlin on a Monday, then you can ride the regional rails for free on that same day, like if you wanted to pop over to Dresden for the afternoon. But they aren’t valid on the “local” transit. In German cities they have two local systems (U-Bahn and S-Bahn), which are basically subway or tram systems, and a Eurail Pass is not valid on those. However, usually an all-day pass on those is like €8 or so, so it’s not a big difference. -Roger
Hi Roger I need your help before I go crazy LOL
Im extremely confused on the trains in Europe
So we are 3 adults traveling and a 18 month old baby. We are thinking on getting the Euro rail Global Pass. The 24 unlimited countries. Also what will be the most adequate the continuous or the flex? Our itinerary is more less like this.
Barcelona to Rome 2 days in Rome.
Rome to Paris 2 paris
On this 2 i would like to take the night train to save on hotel and since we are 3 we can get a closed compartment i think.
Then Paris to Luxembourg just want to spend the day in Luxembourg and then Luxembourg to Paris again if necessary bc after lux im going to brussels. Stay for 3 days there and there Brussels to London.
I know im all over the place but i dont know if the unlimited global pass and worth it im aware for the reservations fees.
Also im traveling in late oct and its a 10 days travel.
Please help me and advice me the best I could do thank you
Jessica,
The shortest Global Pass available is for 10 travel days out of 60, and this looks like only 4 or 5 travel days. Is this a 10-total days trip? If so a rail pass doesn’t make much sense. The only possibility might be the France-Italy Regional Pass, since the Barcelona to the France border portion of your trip is short and cheap. You could do 5 travel days on that one, and it would probably save quite a bit of money with those long night trains. If I’ve misunderstood, let me know and I’ll try again. -Roger
Roger,
Is Jessica & Roberto from previous message
Yes, you are right, total time for this trip is 10 days, My trip starts in Barcelona Spain, because I have business there, and I leave back the USA from London, so from Barcelona to London, and I would like to travel to Italy, Paris, Brussels and end i London, in your opinion what is the best train pass to get or is a train pass even a good idea, i would like to take the train and travel at night if possible, i can spend up to 2 days in each location, so what do you recommend is the best travel plan in your opinion. Thank you in advance.
Roger,
Yes, you are right, total time for this trip is 10 days, My trip starts in Barcelona Spain, because I have business there, and I leave back the USA from London, so from Barcelona to London, and I would like to travel to Italy, Paris, Brussels and end i London, in your opinion what is the best train pass to get or is a train pass even a good idea, i would like to take the train and travel at night if possible, i can spend up to 2 days in each location, so what do you recommend is the best travel plan in your opinion. Thank you in advance.
Jessica,
Those first few are quite long train trips, and in 10 total days to do 3 very long or overnight train trips, you’ll be a wreck. To be honest if I were you I’d fly from Barcelona to Rome and then to Paris. It will be cheaper in the end, especially if you book early. Those 12 or 14-hour train rides are fairly expensive and you won’t be too refreshed upon arrival even if you sleep. From Paris you should take the train to Brussels and then the Eurostar (train) to London. No pass really works for what you are doing. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My family are traveling from London to Paris. With perhaps 5 days in Paris then down to Nice for a few days, then on to Rome with stops along the way at Milan, Venice and Flornece. We’re flying home from Rome. There will be 2 adults and 2 kids15 & 12 as the group always traveling together. We’d like fast trains if possible but are also open to doing a few overnight’ers if needed. I believe the London to Paris TGV is a separate purchase, would you mind suggesting waht would be the best Eurail ticket for us for our Paris-Nice-Milan-Venice-Florence-Rome travel? Thank you for your time. Regards, Ian.
Ian,
It looks like you are doing the classic France-Italy itinerary that I wrote about (and that so many people do). Your best bet by far is the France-Italy Regional Pass. The London to Paris part is actually the Eurostar, which is a separate system from the TGVs in France. Book as early as possible to get the best price. -Roger
Hi Roger!
This sight is so much help
I have a question regarding getting a Eurail Select pass or not.
I’m under 26 and going to Italy, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. My trip starts and ends in Rome. The trip will be 2 months long in August and September.
I don’t whether or not to get a Eurail pass or just do point to point! Whilst I know I want to go to these 4 places I also like to be spontaneous and not be rigid in my schedule aka in case I’m in a city and want to stay longer then I want that kind of flexibility.
I’m not sure whether I should get a Select Pass or get the Eastern Europe pass or just do point by point. Also, potentially dumb question, but the Eastern Europe pass is only for one month but I will need it for more than that, so would I just be able to buy another one once the first month is over?
My itinerary is not 100% secure because I want to be flexible but I’m aiming on being in each country for 2 weeks and going to both the cities and also day excursions.
Thanks!
Vanessa,
Thanks for the compliment. For a trip like this I’d recommend just buying point to point. Fortunately, train tickets in all 4 of those countries are relatively cheap, and the only way a pass pays for itself is if you used it for the longest trips within them. However, you can be as spontaneous as you like with a Eurail Pass, if not more so.
The reason I don’t think a pass is wise on a trip like yours is that you have enough time that you might decide to cut longer trips in two or three legs by stopping in smaller cities in between. Those shorter legs in Hungary or Czech Republic might only cost €10 or €20 each, so a pass wouldn’t be good value. In fact, you might even discover that a bus is a better option for some of those legs since the buses in that area are often faster and cheaper than trains. Have fun. -Roger
Is it possible to use the eurailpass with this dates of travel?
I’m flying to Paris on the 22th June then same day to Prague
Prague to Berlin: June 24 overnight train
Berlin to Amsterdam: June 25 overnight train
Amsterdam to Bruges: June 26 at night/early morning of June 27 (depends on hotel cost)
Bruges to Paris: June 27 night trip
Paris fly out: June 29
Is this itinerary doable?
How much do eurailpass costs? where to buy it?
Thanks much
Frances,
For a trip with this few stops, and one that includes France, there isn’t really a good rail pass for you. The Global Passes have a minimum of 10 journeys and the Select Passes (where you choose 3, 4, or 5 countries) don’t include France. To be honest, you’d be better off flying to Prague and then from Berlin to Amsterdam if you can buy a flight well in advance. -Roger
Dear Sir,
My Europe trip plan is as follows.We are two persons(myself & wife).
July 30 – arrival at Frankfurt airport in the afternoon from Bahrain.
July 30- Evening travel- from Frankfurt to Hanover
stay at Hanover on 30 & 31st July with Friend
August 01 – Hanover to Amsterdam
August 02 – Amsterdam to Hanover
August 03 – Hanover to Lucerne (switzerland)
August 04 – 06 stay at Lucerne
August 07 – Lucerne to Venice(Italy)
August 08 – Venice to Florence
August 09 – Florence to Rome
August 10 – Rome
August 11 -Rome to Frankfurt
Shall I purchase Eurorail global pass? Please guide me.
Best Regards,
srinivas.
Srinivas,
It looks like you are doing 8 journeys, and most of them would be quite expensive if purchased individually. This is a perfect itinerary for a Eurail Select Pass of 8 journeys within 2 months in 4 countries. Since you’ll be a pair traveling together, you’ll qualify for the Saver Pass, which is 15% less in First Class for two who always travel together on the same pass. You can buy it on the Rail Europe International Site. Just select the 4 countries you’ll be traveling in and through, and then select 8 travel days and you should be set. -Roger
Roger,
After reading your helpful hints I thought I would drop a line for your advice.
I will be traveling arriving in Copenhagen on August 17th at 10:30AM then traveling to Linkoping that day, then returning on August 22nd for a flight out of Copenhagen at 12:25PM. I am 69 and looking for the best way to travel between these two cities. I have never taken any trains in Europe however I have used the JR trains in Japan and I really like their system.
Thank you for your help.
Jeff
Jeff,
Your best option is certainly the train, which will take about 3.5 hours and cost about US$100 each way. The trains in Denmark and Sweden are very nice and all the important signs are in English, plus everyone you’ll meet will speak fluent English, so it couldn’t be easier. -Roger
Roger,
Thanks for your quick reply, I really appreciate the help.
Just one more question. Should I purchase tickets at the train station or prior to my arrival?
Thanks again for your help.
Regards,
Jeff
Jeff,
It looks like you can get cheaper tickets if you book in advance on the Swedish rail site. The Danish national site doesn’t seem to do international tickets. -Roger
Hello there, your page has been very helpfull. But I’m still undecided on which global pass to buy. This is my route within a little over 2 month period: dublin-london-paris-amsterdam-berlin-prague-vienna-budapest-sofia,bulgaria-athens-rome-florence-venice-cinque terre-niza-marseille-barcelona-madrid-porto-lisboa-sevilla-granada-gibraltar-morroco. I will be taking the ferry to london and the train to paris and the bus from sofia to athens and a plain from athens to rome and a ferry from gibraltar to morroco. The rest will be on train but what i’m uncertain about is wether to buy the 10 or 15 day within 2 months because i don’t know if trains would be cheaper to buy individually in the south of france and spain and portugal.
Ana,
It looks like you’ve done your homework and this itinerary looks fantastic. I’d get the 10-days in 2 months pass and use it from Paris all the way to Budapest, which is 5 legs. You might find that a bus from Budapest to Sofia is nicer and faster than the train anyway because trains are slow in that corner of Europe. Then with the 5 remaining legs you’ll use it from Cinque Terra to Nice and to Marseilles and to Barcelona and to Madrid and to Porto.
Starting in Porto and all the way to Gibraltar, the trains are fairly cheap and buses are often a better and faster option. Both Spain and Portugal have decent train service between the largest cities, but for a few of those last legs you might find there is two trains per day that take 5 hours, or 6 buses per day that take 4 hours and cost less.
On the other hand, if you did buy the 15-days version, each ride is cheaper, and those trips within Italy might be worth using a pass on. So I’d go with the 10 to keep more flexibility, and most of the savings will be in those first 5 trips, but the 15 Days one could work well too. -Roger
Hello there, your page has been very helpfull. But I am still undecided about which Global Pass to buy. I would qualify for the youth discount. The following is the route I am covering on a little over a two month period: Dublin-London-Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Budapest-Sofia, Bulgaria(this would be my connection to greece)-Greece-Rome-Florence-Venice-Cinque Terre-Niza-Marseille-Barcelona-Madrid-Porto-Lisbon-Sevilla-Granada/Malaga/Gibraltar-Morroco. I’ll be taking a ferry to london and a bus from sofia to greece and flying from athens to rome and taking a ferry from gibraltar to morroco. The rest of the trip would be on train. I wasn’t sure on which package to chose because I don’t know if the train tickets in italy, south of france, spain and portugal would be cheaper to buy individually. Suggestions?
Hey Roger,
My friend and I are spending 8 days in Greece, then flying from Athens to Prague, and then traveling by train from Prague to Paris over 11 days making stops in between- we would love to see the alps and maybe stop in Munich. We are also planning on traveling a little bit within France after reaching Paris for 8 days. We are trying to decide which Euro Pass to purchase- or if we should. We are both 22 years old. Suggestions?
Thanks so much for your help!
Lauren,
Without knowing which stops you intend between Prague and Paris, and possible stops within France, it’s impossible for me to make a recommendation with any confidence. But most likely you’ll be better off buying as you go. France is a tricky one for shorter trips and rail passes because they don’t participate in the Select Passes (3, 4, or 5 countries) and 2 countries won’t help much, while a Global Pass would be too expensive and need too many travel days for your trip. So unless you have something unusual in mind, just buy as you go. -Roger
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