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Bargain Travel Europe guide to getting around Europe on a budget, cheap rail travel tips and secret spots missed by travel tours.

 



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EURAIL PASSES - HOW DO THEY WORK
Are They Worth It?

There has been some debate on the value of buying a rail pass for Europe travel. It all depends on your travel plans. One, the rail pass was intended for those who live outside of Europe. If you're already toddling around Europe a rail pass won't be an option and the local rail services like SCNF (France), Britrail, Trentalia (Italy) and the DB DeutscheBahn (Germany) will have passes and discounts available in country. If your plans are to stay in one or two cities and make a couple of short trips to local destinations, a rail pass may not be the most cost effective.

Rail Pass or Point to Point Cost

If you want to wander all over Europe for a whole summer a full  Global Eurail Pass can possibly be of value. They start around $700 and go up to $2,000 for the full time available. However, If you're visiting a number of cities in a few different countries with spur of the moment journeys in-between a Selectpass is the more cost effective option between $465 - $800 (less for Youth, Saver and Senior passes). You have to plan a certain number of days to travel within a period of time. To decide if a pass is worth it you can look up Point to Point European Rail Tickets for wherever you think you might want to go on your trip. If the tickets add up close to $400 you might do better with a rail pass. You can find discounted direct tickets in certain countries on some routes, but they usually require advance purchase and have to be picked up locally. The cheapest ones may often not be available. Discount rail fares are usually non-refundable and for a specific train (like airline discount tickets), so your planning needs to be very specific. A rail pass gives you the freedom to just show up at a station and get on a train.

What is a Eurail Rail Pass? What Kind of Passes Are There?

Eurail is an agency set up to market rail travel throughout Europe, connecting all the individual countries internal railroads. As with many things in the European system is it part government and part business. What is Rail Europe? Rail Europe is the official seller of the Eurail system in North America and is partly owned by the European railroads themselves. A few others on the web offer Eurail rail passes and ticket products (like familiar travel guide Rick Steves). Different sellers may package the tickets with services like maps or souvenir bags, but the actual passes and prices are pretty much all from the same source. Rail Europe offers city discount cards, British Heritage Passes, France Museum Passes and other products for convenience. You'll find links on this page.

Eurail Passes are available to travelers who live outside of the European Union, like the U.S., Canada, Australia and must be purchased before traveling within Europe. There are full Rail Passes for unlimited travel throughout the system for a period like a month or two. Select Pass or Flexipass allow travel on certain amount of days in certain countries. Youth Passes, kind of self explanatory. And there are single country passes.

Eurail Passes offered by Rail Europe

Eurailpass: good in 17 countries
Eurail Selectpass 
BritRail
Swiss Pass 
France Railpass
TGV French Bullet Train 
Italy Rail Pass 
Youth Passes

Reservations for most trains are not necessary. Reserved seats may be marked as you get on, but other seats will be open. It is usually not difficult to find a seat, except on high traffic routes or during rush hours. Some High Speed trains like the TGV or Cisilpino in Italy require reservations, though usually not in Switzerland or Germany. Some spaces on special trains can cost a little extra - like Night Train berths (see SAVE ON A HOTEL - TAKE THE NIGHT TRAIN).

High Speed Rail Travel - Eurostar - TGV - ICE -Thalys

The Eurostar (London-Paris or London-Brussles) only costs half price if you have a Eurail pass or a single country Eurail Rail Pass (see Eurostar St. Pancras). The TGV in France does require a reservation fee if you have a rail pass. In Germany ICEtrains don't require anything beyond a rail pass, except for some "rush hour" expresses do require an extra charge. So bear that in mind should you be hopping on the Stuttgart to Munich ICE at 17:00. You can pay it to the conductor on-board or before travel. Italy is a bit of a special case, requiring reservation fees on its IC and EC express trains (€5), and its high speed train (€15).

Eurostar Booking Center
TGV Booking Center

Select Pass - Flexi Pass - Saver Pass

How the Eurail Select Pass (and Flexi pass) works is you choose a number of travel days (5-7) and a number of countries (3-5). You have to pick countries with connecting borders, otherwise you may have to buy a seperate ticket to cross a country, which might be an advantage if you're just cutting across a border. When you get on your first train, you fill in the date by hand and the conductor punches it, or stop at a ticket window to have the agent stamp validate it. You can travel all you want for that calender day. If you take a night train after 7 pm (19:00) as your first leg, it counts as the next day, so you can travel all that next day. To get the best value, come up with a realistic calculation of how many actual days of travel you will need. A saver pass is for two people traveling together with a discount across the two fares.

Eurail Selectpass

Advantage of Rail Pass over Discount Airlines

Is there an advantage of a rail pass over discount airlines? On the given day of travel you can hop on and off in any city you like along the way. Traveling from Munich to Trento? Get off in Innsbruck and spend a few hours wandering around. Stop in small villages you'd never otherwise see. Or if you get to a city and get into your hotel, but want to go check out another town nearby? Just get back on the train and go. And take as much luggage as you want. Buy a bunch of souvenirs and take them on RyanAir, see how much they really cost! A airplane may get you there faster, but you'll be spending almost half a day getting to the airport, through security, etc. and many discount airlines airports are a long way from the intended destination city.

Rail Pass with Rental Car "Rail & Drive"

Though it can be convenient, I don't personally care for the "Rail & Drive" Car Rental option. The voucher is only for the rental and no insurances or other extras, which can cost more than the car. I prefer to use a credit card with LDW coverage and get a discount special deal directly from the car rental company or through a travel reservation service. © Bargain Travel Europe

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See Also:

SWISS RAIL PASS
Switzerland by Train

SWISS CHOCOLATE TRAIN
A Sweet Ride from Montreux to Gruyères

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