Best train pass or Individual Tickets?
 

Hi,
Doing some research for a friend. He wants to fly into London then take the chunnel to Brussels - then a train to Amsterdam (Rhine River Cruise) then train from Basel or Zurich to Hamburg. He is flying home from Hamburg.

What would be the best travel pass - he will not need the train pass other than the major cities Lon-Brussels, Brussels-Amsterdam and Basel-Hamburg. Would he do better just purchasing individual tickets?
Appreciate the help
Thanks
Pat

He is really only talking about two train trips since the Eurostar London/Brussels is not covered by passes.

I can't imagine there is any pass that would save money on the other two trips.

Thanks for the reply - haven't used passes is so many years.

Does anyone know the least expensive way to purchase a Eurostar ticket? I know it's only about 2-3 months in advance but is Eurostar.com the least expensive?

Thanks again
Pat

If you live in the US You can get your answers from Rick Steves.
Passes or individual tickets if you know exactly when you will be traveling. http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/itinplan.htm

The only pass he may consider would be the Germany-Benelux Railpass - good in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Luxembourg and if he just wants to hop on any train anytime then that pass may be cost effective due to really high fully flexible fares. Or he can go to www.bahn.de and get deep discounts online for train specific and perhaps non-changeable nor refundable tickets and these often have to be booked weeks in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers. That way would be the cheapest but if you want to just head to the train station and hop any train anytime investigate that pass, which even offers a passholder fare on London to Brussels Eurostar train that could be a good fare if the cheaper Leisure fares are sold out.

For loads of great info on European trains and passes I excho toimfuller's recommendation of www.ricksteves.com but also look at these fantastic IMO sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

Thanks so much, really appreciate the help. Will start checking the sites mentioned. He is probably going to make me do all the work so I appreciate the help:)

Pat

Again the key is if he wants flexibility to hop any train anytime or not or book the deep discounts weeks in advance to guarantee and then not be able to change nor refund I believe - if the first the pass may be better - the 2nd no doubt www.bahn.de discounts will be better.

Yes, the best site to buy Eurostar tickets is eurostar.com. You can book up to 120 days in advance and the sooner you book the less you'll pay.

The simplest way to travel from Brussels to Amsterdam is to take an IC train. No seat reservations are possible and your ticket is good on any train. Or you can take a high-speed Thalys train and cut your travel time by one hour.

If you book either Basel-Hamburg or Zurich-Hamburg on the German Rail site, you can get a Europa-Spezial Schweiz fare as low as €39. (The standard 2nd class fare from Basel is €132.60 and from Zurich it is €152.40.) These trains are very popular and the cheapest discount fares sell out very quickly. To get one, book ASAP (up to 92 days allowed).

uuuuhm....
i just dont realy get why he is taking this tour...
so he lands in london.. goes all the way south to Brussels, than back north to Amsterdam, than all the way down south to Zurich/Basel and then all the way back north to Hamburg...?

Lo-Brussels is no thing, but from Amsterdam id go to Hamburg first, then fly to Basel (there are two-way-flights for about 50€ from Hamburg to Basel) stay there and then fly back... its cheaper and way more comfortable (1.5 hour flight compared to an 11hour train ride, which you will most prolly do by night so theres not even something to see)

in addition, you shorten the actual distance you are gonna travel, and that will surely cut the price...

i just dont realy get why he is taking this tour...
so he lands in london.. goes all the way south to Brussels, than back north to Amsterdam, than all the way down south to Zurich/Basel and then all the way back north to Hamburg...?>

for this type of travel the Germany-Benelux Pass may be even cheaper than several 39 euro specials at bahn.de and they are not always available and then if you have to pay full faree they may be over 100 euros for just one long trip.

In 2nd class the Benelux-Germany pass is about 40 euros a day - about the same as those 39 euro online specials that have to be booked way in advance and can't be changed nor refunded - so why if traveling such distances fool around with 39 euro hard to get at times and non-changeable fares?

PalenQ,

The 2nd class fare on IC trains for Brussels-Amsterdam is €39. The standard 2nd class fare for Zurich-Hamburg is €152.40. That's a total of €191.40 without any discounts and no need to commit in advance to specific departure dates and times.

The 2nd class Benelux-Germany pass is $324 (€232) for five days of travel in two months. The OP is only taking two rides which would be covered.

How is a pass a good deal for this itinerary?

At www.bahn.de a sleeper from Zurich to Hamburg starts at 79 euros per person in a 2-bed sleeper, if you pre-book (max 90 days ahead). You print out your own ticket. With a pass, the supplement for a 2-bed sleeper is 50 euros, so that expensive pass saves you just 29 euros.

London-Brussels starts at £39 one way, at www.eurostar.com.

hey pat...

please, honestly, rething your suit of cities to visit...

i realy just dont understand, why you choose a route that offers no benefits, has way way longer travel time and therefore the need to pay more in general... the passes etc. should be only a second consideration right now...

and again, you can book flights from hamburg to basel for 50€ both ways....
i honestly can't see a reason to take an 11hour train ride twice (!) that costs not considerably less(if not even more) than a flight of 1.5 hours...

Tim S - I re-read the OP's plans and note that he/she is flying Hamburg to Basel and back and I neglected to note this and having quickly read thought OP was taking the train each way in which case the railpass would come into play perhaps.

But no not if flying, for sure!

The simplest way to travel from Brussels to Amsterdam is to take an IC train. No seat reservations are possible and your ticket is good on any train. Or you can take a high-speed Thalys train and cut your travel time by one hour.>

Good advice and especially since the Thalys train, unless you snag one of the limited in number deep discounted tickets could end up costing you a ton more - just to save an hour. If you just show up and buy a Thalys ticket at the station in Brussels again it will cost a whole whole lot more than buying an IC train ticket to Amsterdam. So be careful of what train ticket you buy and which of the two types of trains you board - IC train or Thalys - for Thalys discounts - www.thalys.com.

And note that if you book far enough in advance you can get a deep discounted (and non-changeable non-refundable) ticket that could well be cheaper than the regular IC train fare - but this necessiates an itinerary set in stone and early action. IC tickets you just buy once in Brussels.

Im my immediate above post I should have said

"if you book at www.thalys.com far enough in advance you could get a deep discount ticket... not with the IC, which TMK has a flat fare the same at the ticket window as online (though there may be a 1 or 2 euro inducement for booking online in Holland if I recall.

For the Rhine boats have your friend check out the K-D boat website - www.k-d.com. the classic cruise starts in Rudesheim and ends in Koblenz - going downstream this is about a 2-hour or so ride, floating past ruined castles (and Marksburg, the rare castle here not knocked down by Napoleon or other marauders) - a railpass just needs to be flashed to hop on board - no other formalities IME

and I do advise boarding at Rudesheim, where many of the K-D Rhine services start and then cross the river to Bingen and wend their way south. Get on as early as possible at Rudesheim and nab a great seat - like one up front outside as they can go quickly as folks board at later ports.

And there are train station a short walk from practically any dock in case you wish to abort your ride and hop on the train.

Rudesheim's train station is really close to the K-D boat dock.