ryland_pietras

Hi, so a couple of buddies and myself plan to travel Europe for 3 months come September. We are starting out in Ireland and plan to end in Spain, but in the time in between we plan to travel as far as Scandinavia and no further than Poland. We have a really extensive list of cities we wish to see in between. I'm pretty set on getting an EUrail pass, however, we're not sure if it is the best way to go. We're stuck between the 3 month continuous and the 2 month cont. because obviously we won't be traveling everyday. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ira

Hi rp,

To answer your question: In general it is less expensive to purchase point-to-point tickets instead of a railpass.

That is because they often provide deep discounts for tickets purchased as far as 90 days out.

Note, also, that many high-speed trains have a seat reservation charge in addition to the railpass cost, and that you will have to pay extra for sleeping accommodations.

To determine the exact cost, you have to price your itinerary at each of the national carriers, eg, www.bahn.de for travel to, from and within Germany.

Try www.railsaver.com, and change "always railpass" to "if less expensive". If they say that you should buy P-to-P tickets, you can believe them, as they overprice the ptp tickets.

> We have a really extensive list of cities we wish to see in between.<

Enjoy your arduous trek.

PalenQ

If not traveling every day then look at the Eurail Global Flexipass where you can get 10 or 15 days of unlimited train travel to be used on any day of your choosing over a 2-month period. Starting in Ireland where buses in many ways are better and cheaper than trains and perhaps the UK, start your pass when you git the continent. Use the pass for long-distance trains between bases - once in say Rome you won't need a pass for some days there - and you can take overnight trains and use up just one travel day due to the 7 pm rule - board an overnight train after 7 pm and you put the next day's date in as your unlimited travel day - take a night train from Amsterdam to Zurich and then travel the whole next day anywhere and use just one day on a pass.

A great thing about a pass is that in most countries you can still just hop on any train anytime - such full fare tickets often cost a ton of money - so flexibility to decide which trains to take once there is a key with passes, besides the price factor.

Are you under 26 - if so check out the bargain Eurail Youthpasses. For lots of great info on European trains and passes check out these IMO superb sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com.

kybourbon

Even railsaver won't factor in all the point-to-point discount tickets. Don't forget to add in the supplement fees for using a pass on overnight trains and other trains.

Often the budget airlines are much cheaper. Look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.com for budget flights. With as long as you are traveling, you might want to combine pass/flights/p-t-p for the most economical solution (and time savings).

WomBatt

No discussion, no bias, for train just read - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-E...ide.htm#Should

BUT who can possibly know without your probably laughable idea of an itinerary what transport will be the way to go.

And there is no indication where you are from or little indication where you go or what three months in Europe means and therefore whether the Schengen agreement will impact.

PalenQ

Note, also, that many high-speed trains have a seat reservation charge in addition to the railpass cost, and that you will have to pay extra for sleeping accommodations>

Don't forget to add in the supplement fees for using a pass on overnight trains and other trains.>

There are no supplements for using an overnight train but you do have to pay for the optional sleeping accommodations, ranging for a reclining chair - at times free or a few euros or a berth in a couchette for about 20-25 euros, etc. but there is no supplement per say to ride night trains - your railpass covers the entire train fare - and you will save overall on accommodations fees even if going the couchette route and very few trains have extra charges for railpasses - only a handful actually in France, Italy, Sweden and Spain and the Thalys trains and a very few others - in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary, etc you can just hop on any train with few exceptions anytime.

Fodorites in general have a mantra that railpasses are never a good deal - a false bias when in fact folks like you, especially if under 26 and anyone wanting flexibility to hop any train anytime in most countries - anyone traveling all around Europe for 2 or 3 months will no doubt IMO benefit greatly from a railpass.

PalenQ

BUT who can possibly know without your probably laughable idea of an itinerary what transport will be the way to go.>

Not so laughable to me at all since they have no set itinerary but indicate a lot of travel over a few months - a few months is a long time so I assume they are going all over the map and nothing wrong with that - not laughable but laudable to me at that age.

michelhuebeli

It's a long way from the U.K. to Poland to Spain. For trips that involve targets all over Europe it is rare that just one mode of transportation is the exclusive best. You may want to mix it up, which in turn may influence what kind of a rail pass you get.

As you begin to establish a plan, first nail down the "must-visit" cities and see how far apart they are, both in geographical distances and in travel time.

Once you have those fixed points nailed down, look at maps for targets in between of those, to see how much flexibility you need to allow spur-of-the-moment decisions about those that you want to keep open as options.

Then choose your mode of transportation. You may find that for long hops from must-visit to must-visit target, with no optional targets in between, the train takes too long.

Maybe one of the many cheap airlines (www.skyscanner.net, www.whichbudget.com) is the way to go for those trips.

Also consider the long-distance coaches, www.eurolines.com and www.megabus.com.

Happy planning.

PalenQ

What great advice from michel!

PalenQ

Enjoy your arduous trek>

ah how we old Fodorgarchs traveled when we were young bucks - practically a different country every day it seemed - go for the arduous trek - it can actually be more fun than staying in every city a week and seeing every darn church and museum in that city - yes see Eruope from a train window rather than taking planed and seeing just tarmacs, terminals and large mega tourist cities.

ryland_pietras

Phew! What great advice from everyone! Michel, I love your idea of nailing down the must-see cities first. I believe that's the way to go. PalenQ, <not laughable but laudable to me at that age.> This was actually really invigorating. Now, you guys gave me a handful of websites to check out and it sounds like I should probably go with the rail pass, however, I'll check everything out and make my decision.
I am 20 by the way haha.

Mimar

Note that the Eurail pass doesn't cover the UK, and Ireland is better seen by bus (or car). Not that the OP said they wanted to go to the UK, but PalenQ included it in his post.

Do check out the websites PQ cited.

PalenQ

If they buy a Eurail Youthpass they automatically get 50% off on a BritRail Youthpass - making such a pass incredibly cheap.

PalenQ

Note that the Eurail pass doesn't cover the UK, and Ireland is better seen by bus (or car). Not that the OP said they wanted to go to the UK, but PalenQ included it in his post.>

Well I was not talking their about Eurailpasses but railpasses in general and countries they can be used to just hop on trains - thanks for clarifying that.

PalenQ

If you buy a flexi railpass keep in mind the 7pm rule where you can hop an overnight train after 7 pm and put the next day's date in as your unlimited travel day - thus being able to literally go from one end of Europe to another and only use one day on your flexipass.

For example:

Take an overnight train from Paris to Munich then go on the next day to say Vienna, Venice, Budapest, Prague, etc - all in one day on a pass. (On night trains you do have to pay for the sleeping accommodations - pas covers the basic train fare.

Dukey1

I am in Europe now and in the past i have often used some sort of pass; this trip I bought point-to-point tickets. Here are some things you might want to consider.

The more you use a pass the more economical it becomes.

Yes, you can get great deals on point to point tickets if you book them far enough in advance but they can also be totally non-refundable and non-changeable. So what do you do when you miss a connection? It can be frustrating having to wait in line to get a possible adjustment because your train was late, etc. It may not happen often but it does happen.

Passes will allow you greater flexibility in many instances; they can also cost a lot more money and as I said the more you use one....

I think ticket pricing can also be more of an issue depending on the country...for example, even 2nd Class rail tickets in Switzerland are, IMO, expensive vs. Italy where they seem to be cheaper.

You've gotten some good advice above as well as a couple of somewhat dubious generalizations. You need to do your homework, too.

Finally, you need to simply MAKE A DECISION and learn from it. The peoiple responding have probably all "been there and done that" in the past and as tyou can see, how they travel sometimes colors their responses.

PalenQ

And there is also the matter of class - if over 25 then a Eurailpass only comes in first class so when comparing the pass price to 2nd class tickets keep in mind that first class has significant benefits over 2nd class - wider seats, fewer seats in each train car - more room to easily store luggage - usually lots of empty seats IME in 1st class, etc.

So if the cost of 2nd class severely restricted tickets even approaches the cost of a pass go for the first-class pass or any pass if the price differential is not that great just for the reasons Dukey sagely suggests above.