Eurail vs rental car

Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:13 PM
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Eurail vs rental car

My family of five and my mother are traveling to Germany June 17- July 18. We plan to visit Belgium, Amsterdam, Salzburg. I have researched the group ticket on eurail vs renting a large car. Is there any suggestions or recommendations on what would be best?
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:24 PM
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Eurail is a rail pass, not a ticket or train line. Rail passes don't include supplements you would have to pay on trains between countries when using a pass. If you want to price tickets, you need to price it on the departing country's train website (Germany - www.bahn.de - Austria - www.oebb.at ,etc. ).

Five people with luggage usually won't fit in a car. You would have to get some type of van (not good in narrow streets in many small towns/cities). If you plan to drop the car in another country there will be a hefty fee.

>>>I have researched the group ticket on eurail
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:33 PM
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I like driving on my vacations... But I travel alone and rent a compact car. I like the flexibility of going where and when I want. And, I like not having to schlep my luggage up and down train I stop where I want for great photo ops and cute towns for lunch or whatever.

You will need an 8 passenger van to hold the people and luggage. It will eat a lot of gas and the small parking places may be an issue. But, if you're willing, I've known others that have done it!

Have fun!
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 07:37 PM
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Forgot to mention... If you pickup a vehicle in one country and drop in another country, there may be a sizable drop fee. Also, check prices for pickup at an off-airport/train location as they will be cheaper.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 08:18 PM
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Hi Sonja_Anderson_71,

I live just south of Munich in Germany, and I gave up my car when I moved here. I prefer the car-free lifestyle -- moving more slowly, spending more time, and being able to mingle more often with locals and other travelers. I think the so-called "sacrifices" one makes for train travel are more than compensated for by the benefits and the joys!

You may also be happy to travel more green when you go by train. Did you know that the glaciers in Europe are melting due to global climate change? For instance, the Zugspitze will have no snow cover this summer because of it. So, you may be happy to help preserve the beauty of the landscape you came over to see!

Have fun as you plan!

s
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Old Jun 2nd, 2013, 11:11 PM
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There's a trade-off between cost and comfort.

London-Edinburgh is a long drive with a van full of people.

Some trains get there in 4 hours, leaving you more time for sight seeing.

You might also look at the cheap flights between cities. Companies like Eurojet come to mind.

Hard to drive or rail to mainland Europe.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 02:37 AM
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Whether or not you need a supplement depends more on the TRAIN and not whether it is going between countries. Some countries such as Germany have very high speed trains that require no supplements, for example. If you use a pass you do not have to pay a supplement for many trains that are crossing borders. What you MIGHT have to pay is the price of seat reservations which passes don't cover and even with a pass you can sometimes easily wait until you GET to Europe to buy seat reservations which would be cheaper. It is impossible to tell you much unless we know a bit more.

It is possible that point to point tickets are going to be better for you vs. a pass, especially if you are only using the train to get to THREE destinations.

A rental car...are you planning to rent in one country and drop it in another? That can mean a major drop charge. Have you figured in the cost of insurance, fuel, and parking?
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 02:38 AM
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>>>London-Edinburgh
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 02:41 AM
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Group of six = car. Faster and cheaper. Plus you can stop where and when you want along the way.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 02:46 AM
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Actually, I retract my post. Kinda. If you were traveling long distances frequently then I would say renting a car is the way to go; however, if over your month you will only be travling to 3-5 cities, the train might be a cheaper way to go.

For your travel dates and with a pick-up in Brussels and drop-off in Salzburg, I am showing a "large car" to be $2319 (Sixt) plus fuel. You'd need to compare that to the prices for tickets for your proposed route and decide which is a better fit for you.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 04:15 AM
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You can rent a Ford Galaxy 7-seater at Budget for just under €50 per day. Add fuel costs and drop-off if you don't return it to the same place and costs will be substantial. Train or plane or a combination may be (much) cheaper (not faster though if you include time to/from airports, check-in etc.).
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 04:22 AM
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sonja: You can probably travel by train with point-to-point tickets much more cheaply than by railpass. The German railways offer heavily-discounted advance-sale tickets; if you know your travel dates and destinations in advance, you can usually save a lot on adult fares, and kids under 5 travel free. Check prices for major long-distance travel legs here:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Short daytrips and journeys are usually best accomplished with local group daypasses, like the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket:

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...-pfalz-ticket/

If you find the German railways site tricky and can be more specific about your trip plans (kids ages, dates and destinations) you will probably get some help here with finding prices and itineraries.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 04:30 AM
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Actually, the DeutscheBahn English site is pretty easy to figure out: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/DEU/en/index.shtml

It also has the bonus of showing train schedules between non-German cities (like Paris to Brussels) but you'd need to call their service center to actually price and book those tickets. But don't worry, they speak English.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 12:28 PM
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It depends on what you want to see. If your sightseeing is mostly in cities that are accessible by rail then go by rail. If not, you may want to pay extra for the car.

In Germany you can get a Lander ticket for up to 5 people for 29 euros a day. There are restrictions: No travel by ICE (inter city express), only by regional and regional express trains. You can only travel in the state of purchase, ie if you get a Lander ticket in Bavaria it is not good for Hesse. But it is certainly inexpensive if you can work your travel to accommodate it.
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 12:34 PM
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6 people and luggage will not fit in any car in europe. If you are lucky - and travel light - you may fit everything in a 9 person van. Or you may not.

Without a more detailed itinerary it's hard to say whch makes the most sense for you.

We do road trips all the time and love them but:

1) we are usually only 2
2) we both like driving in europe - so one person doesn't get stuck as chauffeur
3) we do trips that include cities, smaller towns and countryside - so a car makes sense (does not in all big cities)
4) we drive a car - not an oversize van - and are used to parking in tiny spaces
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Old Jun 3rd, 2013, 01:39 PM
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Rail passes don't include supplements you would have to pay on trains between countries when using a pass>

This is a gross exageration and in the case of the countries the OP mentions just not true of any train except the Thalys train that no one has to take - the other zillion of trains crossing German, Dutch or Austrian borders have no surcharges for cross-border travel so disregard that bit of misinformation.

For lots of correct info on European trains check out these superb IMO sources - www.ricksteves.com; wwwbudgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com - check the latter's commercial link to RailEurope for current railpass prices - the pass you would consider is either the Eurail Select Pass or the Germany-Benelux Pass, valid in Belgium, Neterlands and Germany - much cheaper than a Eurailpass if not traveling much in Austria - that pass could take you to Salzburg without extra charge.
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Old Jul 15th, 2013, 07:44 AM
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Car vs. train just depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it. We've had wonderful European vacations using only a rental car, and using only public transport, and using a combination of both.

They both have positives and negatives. Personally, I think people who say they would only use public transport or only use a rental car are missing out on a lot of possibilities. I like to keep my options open--so sometimes one way, sometimes another.
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Old Jul 15th, 2013, 08:36 AM
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It seems to me there is no ONE answer. But for cities, a car is just a hindrance and in their case, it would be two cars or a van. They seem to be going to cities, and tours from these should be possible to arrange.
But the real question may be that the OP thinks a Eurail pass is what they need, and that is probably NOT the best answer, but point to point train tickets.
A train will undoubtedly get you from place to place quicker-but you won't see the countryside in between--or at least not well.
You might want to rent a van in Germany, for example, and do a driving trip. Turn it in, and continue to wherever.
I can't believe anyone would want to drive in Amsterdam or Salzburg!!
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Old Jul 15th, 2013, 09:03 AM
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You seem to want to go mostly to cities. Add in the cost of parking the car in cities when you're comparing train vs. car/van.
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Old Jul 15th, 2013, 09:49 AM
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the only railpass they would consider is the Germany-Benelux Railpass not the typical Eurailpass - valid in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Geramny and yes except Thalys and a hadful of ICE Sprinter trains can hop any train any time - efficacy of a pass is of course the number and length of train rides and whether or not they want flexibility or want to lock their trains in unchangeable stone weeks or months in advance to get the limited in number discounted tickets.

So when saying point to point tickets are the best bet you have qualify whether or not flexibility is required or desired and also the number of trips - a pass for several trips can be as cheap as several discounted tickets and give you flexibility to boot.
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