motelseti35

Hello! So basically I am planning a trip around Europe for about roughly a month (I might want to travel more).Not around Europe but specific countries: Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Austria, Ireland (in that order). My questions are:

1. What Eurail pass would be the best to use?
   
2. How tf do you use it? Can someone explain the travel days and the whole reservation thing? Everything tbh I honestly don’t get how it works lmao
   
3. Any tips for a first time traveller?
   
4. How can I properly plan this trip using Eurail?
   

Thank you! I hope someone can answer my questions because I’m lost lol

Tulips

Start with this site;
https://www.seat61.com/

Jean

I realize you're in early planning stages, but you mention 6 countries in 30 days and traveling (I think mostly) by train. That's a lot of time spent moving from place to place and not very much time on your feet. I think you should consider the train routes, what places the routes travel to/through, how much time it takes to get from point to point, etc., and then decide whether 6 countries in 30 days is realistic. Greece and Ireland might be better left for other trips.

janisj

Don't fixate on a Eurail pass. Very first work out a semi itinerary (making sure to build in generous travel time) . . . THEN decide which places are easier/faster to reach by train and which journeys make more sense flying. For example -- Not recommending this country pair but just as an example - if you decide ti include Greece and/or Austria and/or Ireland you would most definitely want to fly.

Plus often point to point tickets work out cheaper than a Eurail Pass.

And finally - you list 6 countries spread over most of Europe in 'roughly' 30 days . . . That is REALLY rushed. When factoring in travel time you'd end up with less than 4 full days per country.

thursdaysd

Plus Greece and Ireland are not well-endowed with railways.

Suggest buying a rail map of Europe from this site: https://www.europeanrailtimetable.eu...uides-22-c.asp

In order to know whether you want a Rail Pass at all, never mind which one, you need to first plan your route and then price point to point tickets.

I once spent seven months traveling by train from Scotland to Saigon, and I planned the whole thing out ahead of time, and I did not use a Rail Pass. However, if you want freedom to change your route or your dates of travel a Rail Pass might be worthwhile.

Seat61 is the site for rail info., but specifically for rail passes go here: https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

neckervd

As above: 1 month is by far not enough for a somewhat decent short visit of the 5 countries you mention.
Unless you don't want to visit France and italy, but only transit through these countries on your way from Spain to Greece and from Greece to Austria.
But in this case, direct flights would be much faster and much cheaper.
Be aware than Madrid - Athens by train and ferry takes about 55 hrs. Count about 40 hrs for Athens - Vienna by train and ferry.

Michael

If cost is an issue, long distance buses are often cheaper than the train, and sometimes more convenient.

thursdaysd

Yes, but I much prefer trains. You can get up and move around, you can keep an eye on your luggage, and on a long journey there are still some night trains. Six person couchettes are usually quite reasonable, although I prefer the four person variety.

neckervd

There are not too many overnight trains along the itinerary the OP chose. He could use some of the following overnight trains however:
Paris - Dijon - Verona - Venice
Turin - Brindisi
Milan - Brindisi
Brindisi - Bologna
Rome - Venna
Vienna - Brussels
as well as the overnight ferries between rindisi and Patras

dreamon

OP, I don't think you will have the best holiday if you attempt to visit all those countries in one month. You'll spend waaay too much time travelling and far to little time actually enjoying yourself and experiencing anything of what Europe is. Grab some guidebooks from your local library.

whitehall

As you can tell from the feedback you have received, travel is not one-size fits all. We have had the good fortune to spend several months at a time on a remote Caribbean island and weeks at a time in Tuscany and other parts of Italy. But we also took a relative on a whirlwind tour of Europe five years ago (16 countries in 30 days) and traveled with our daughter in parts of three countries and eight locations in 8 days in 2018 3 Countries, 8 Places, 8 Nights, Awesome!.

For us, ALL were wonderful travel experiences. We have found travel between places can be as enjoyable as time spent in a city, for example. Again, we personally enjoy a mix of varying types of travel. The internet is full of individual travel experiences (e.g. one or two day itineraries in such and such a place). We have found it helpful to review lots of actual experiences from others and then decide if that’s the type of travel we want to experience for the time we have available.

Our 30-day trip five years ago did involve a lot of travel between and within destinations: In addition to 11 airplanes, we took 32 trains and metros, 9 buses, 8 taxis and two rental cars. We put nearly 1,000 miles on the rental cars that we drove in Austria, Germany and Italy. And, we walked a total of 300 miles or an average of 10 miles per day. But we also did 100 blog posts, full of fascinating people, places, friends and once-in-a-lifetime stories. And without any blogging experience or followers, we managed to have tens of thousands of people from 78 different countries read about parts of the trip. https://16countriesin30days.wordpress.com

Certainly each day was long and full and, even though we were and are “senior citizens”, this type of travel IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Don't be afraid to mix up your transportation methods (air is cheap within Europe; rail is plentiful and reasonably priced even without passes, and driving in all but some urban cores is also simple and safe. Whatever you decide, if you have a positive mentality, your travel will be fun and rewarding.