farrermog

Not quite the halcyon days of the 70s and 80s when I and others made the utmost of one and two month Eurail Passes, ranging from Greece to above the Arctic Circle, but from this year prices are lower, Great Britain is included, and the over 60s also get a discount -

https://blog.eurail.com/whats-new-eurail-pass-2019/

https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-...pass-guide.htm

https://eurailgroup.org/travellers-area/#railplanner

https://www.seat61.com/InterRail%20a...ns%20guide.htm

farrermog

Btw apologies if this is old news - but I've only just become aware, via a periodic wistful visit to Mark Smith's magnificent Seat 61 site which is an essential resource for all train travellers.

whitehall

Thank you for the information. I think we last used Eurail 19 years ago. We haven’t looked in some time because they always seemed so pricey in relation to our expected use. We also often use a combination of air, rail, bus and rental cars on our European travels.

Your latest link did draw us in for our planned fall trip in Italy in by the “up to” 8 flexible days and “prices start from”, but the reality still makes the passes a “no go” for us and probably others. In Italy, where we travel a lot, the passes work out to about $35-40 a day of actual use. Based on our experience and memory, it seems like we can use quite a bit of Italian rail for $35-40 a day. And, it seems like we have found some good deals online in recent years. We like some flexibility with our trips, so it’s also a little difficult to make comparisons of pricing. Maybe under the right circumstances, you can save 10-20%, and maybe you can travel first class, which is generally not a big deal in Italy. But overall, most people still will have to do a lot of homework and planning to trade some flexibility for the chance of IMO saving very few dollars. We also like to book a train online. Is that easy to do with Eurail pass? Are there still restrictions on number of Eurail seats on some trains? Always open to hearing the experiences of others.

Southam

I believe Seat 61's large explanation of Eurail should not be regarded as a full endorsement. He has been on record as urging caution about passes. I think he might agree that some travellers get the process reversed. Shopping should start by collecting the point-to-point ticket prices. Only then can a reasonable comparison be made to Eurail's offers, keeping in mind the extra cost (and bother) of sear reservations and also whether the pass has complete coverage of the alternatives.

PalenQ

We also like to book a train online. Is that easy to do with Eurail pass? Are there still restrictions on number of Eurail seats on some trains?>

Yes booking seats with a pass is easy in Europe at stations but an expensive thing if doing alone thru Rail Europe or agents - retailers of Eurails - will cost about $12 plus a hefty order fee for all of them. The only trains I know that have a limit on Eurailpass holder seats are French TGVs on popular lines. There may be others but not many though mandated seat reservations has taken a great aspect of a pass -just hopping n any train anytime. Yes www.seat61.com is a great source of info as are www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. Passes also have specials from time to time so don't buy too long in advance.

whitehall

You say you can reserve at stations. That's the way we did it 20 years ago, but with smart phones today, we prefer booking online.I checked, and you can reserve seats online through the Eurail website for trains in Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the Benelux.

PalenQ

but at what cost - more than in Europe I think - the German Railways site I believe does let one reserve a seat only- maybe others do too.

farrermog

Yes, as always it depends on where you are wanting to go and how quickly, the extent to which you either have to or are comfortable locking in parts of your itinerary, the parts of the itinerary where reservations are mandatory, and average daily costs.

Btw the trips mentioned in my original post were more than half a lifetime ago when I was also capable of and very much enjoyed 18,000 and 20,000 km trips around Australia and North America respectively using bus passes on scheduled services. And yes, I did manage to see much more than just railway stations and downtown bus stations (which themselves also provided a great fund of travel and life experiences - so I am not one of those fossils here and elsewhere inclined to dismiss typically young or first time "It's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" travellers).

PalenQ

I think folks - young folks -don't go on summer-long European trips that were once very popular - and older folks typically taker 2 week trips with relatively little rail travel. Travel agents still hype passes so I suspect many who have passes don't realize how much more they can cost than discounted tickets they could easily book online.