Hi, any kind souls out there who can give me some advise? Thanks a million in advance..

Ques 1. The rail passes allow for travel via bordering countries. If i select 4 countries that are bordering, can i use my rail pass to travel from 1 country to another not bordering country, but this country is within my 4 country selection? For instance my 4 countries are belgium which borders germany which borders austria which borders italy. Can my rail pass be used to travel from Italy to Belgium on a Direct train?

Ques 2. On the Eurail website, when I search for prices, prices are cheaper if I tick the "with rail pass" box. Does this mean a discount regardless of whichever rail pass I own? For instance if I have a Select Pass that enables me to travel 4 bordering countries like Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy, will I still enjoy the discounted fare to a 5th country since I have a rail pass, although the rail pass is only relevant for the first 4 countries?

1) You can only use your pass for countries in which it's valid, therefore you couldn't use it to get from Italy to Belgium via France

2) It's probably showing the supplement and/or reservation fee for that train. Not all trains - especially local & slower trains - have either

But what if it's a direct train from italy to belgium which only pass through france? Does this counted too?

I just had the same query not more than a month ago.... If you pass through a country then it counts as a country on the eurail pass even if you don't stop apparently...

I found it cheaper to fly on Ryanair and Easyjet.... (small print) Ryanair charge you to check a bag but it was still half the price to go to the 3 countries I wanted to go for me than getting a eurail pass - and you don't spend so long on a train. Apparently also - which is why I made enquiries, if you BOOK a seat it costs you a fee and it is apparently lots of $$$ so if travelling in peak you are in trouble as you'd want o book and not just show up and expect to get a seat...

HOWEVER, if you want to see alot of countries it is hard to pass up rail - we only wanted 3 countries and they were miles away form each other so flying made sense and cost half as much... (london - Berlin - Venice - Rome- Paris - London)

Good luck

>But what if it's a direct train from italy to belgium which only pass through france? Does this counted too?

Of course not - why shoud they give you a 800 km train trip for free? After all you didn't pay for the use of the French railway network with your Belgium/Austria/Germany/Italy pass.

Just to be sure: don't buy a train pass before you know that it will be cheaper or more convenient than single tickets.

Hi C,

Before buying any railpass, enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money",

Even if it does say the pass is cheaper, there are often discounted fares at the national rail sites, eg, www.bahn.de for Germany.

Also note that you will have to get and pay for seat reservations (required on high-speed trains) and sleeping accomodations in addition to your railpass.

As a follow-on to Ira's post: you will not need seat reservations on high speed ICE trains in Germany although they can be useful.

The website is very clear about the pass being valid only in the countries in which you actually travel, whether you stop off in them or not.

I would not make any seat reservations through any agencies outside of Europe UNLESS you absolutely cannot wait to book seats once in Europe where the seat reservation charge is lower.

As to flying from one country to another: IMo sometimes it is cheaper and faster and sometimes it isn't. Rail will usually deliver you directly to the center of a city and obviously planes cannot do that as a rule. You also need to factor in the time to get to and from airports, go through any security requirements, and wait for take-off and luggage retrieval if you wnat to know how much "faster" if at all a plane trip will be in some instances.

AND, don't forget the airline luggage weight restrictions in operation for most within-Europe flights.