I bought a one way ticket to Europe a few weeks ago. My plan is to travel for about 6 months. I will have around $20k to travel with. I'm flying into London and want to end my trip in Italy. Is Eurail the best way to go from city to city? I feel like there's not a good option for traveling for 6 months. Any tips/advice is greatly appreciated.

(all assuming you are American) . . . up to 6 months can be OK in the UK and up to 3 months is OK in Schengen . . . but neither may admit you if you arrive with a one way ticket.

That (among other potential issues) can raise a red flag that you plan on overstaying

How do they know if you are holding a one way ticket? Is that somehow built into the scan data they do on your passport?

With a one-way ticket, you can expect a strip search, a tax audit, and a colonoscopy when you get to airport security. They inspect your ticket when you get there so they will know to check you more carefully.

I buy one way tickets and have never had a problem. No one has ever asked.

Back to the OPs question, you would need to think carefully how much you plan to move around. If you are going to hop on a train every other day, perhaps a Eurail pass might work. When I did it 40 years ago there were more overnight trains to try to sleep (badly) on and fewer (or none) that required seat reservations.

Re-reading the question again, now I am not sure what you are asking. Is it the basic train vs plane thing?

I didn't know about the Schengen zone. That's disappointing to hear but I understand. I will buy a return flight, but it isn't available yet. Will it still be a problem if I book the flights seperatley?

<but neither may admit you if you arrive with a one way ticket.>
Do you know this for a fact? Can you furnish some sort of proof?

We have flown to Europe several times and taken a transatlantic cruise back. No problem with one way ticket.

I have friends who have done the same, and a friend who is a TA who has booked that sort of trip many a time. I suspect that some people here just like to scold and say No, for what reason I can't fathom. But I thought I'd give them a chance to back up their scare-mongering with facts.

How old are you? My son at age 21 landed in London with an onward flight to Copenhagen a week later and no ticket to return home (he was traveling RTW for a year), and he was questioned extensively at passport control before he was admitted. If you are a younger person, you may meet up with the same. Maybe less likely if you are older.

We don't need to " furnish some sort of proof" of the inadvisability of flying to Britain without a booked flight or train journey out.

UK passport control officials are charged with ensuring that any non-European arriving in Britain isn't going to hang around here and isn't going to compete for jobs they're not allowed to.

Irrespective of nationality.

They use their judgement. But as a general rule, they ask a large proportion of under-30's for evidence of future travel bookings - and the web's awash with stories of aggrieved youth, affecting outrage they've been refused entry.

This forum is heavily populated by old farts who don't get such treatment, and are so self-centred they don't grasp that everyone else isn't treated the way they are. Listen to them at your peril.

I used to be questioned for a few minutes every time I entered the UK during my University days. My daughter also went through something similar while studying at UCL. It has been simple since my youth with only a few questions such as: How long are you staying? or Where are you staying? or Reason for visit? Occupation? Its all on the entry form but they seem to ask anyway.

If you travel on one-way ticket, it's a good idea to have proof of funds to enable you to buy a return flight when needed, such as bank statement. In this day and age of heightened security, you are more likely to be quizzed at border if you don't quite fit in with a typical pattern of a short-term tourist.

The one way ticket isn't necessarily a problem, but you do need to be aware of the 90 day limit for the Schengen zone, and abide by it. That doesn't mean you can't spread the 90 days through your tie in Europe but you do have to keep a tally of them. Arrival and departure days count as days in Schengen, so the more you hop in and out of the zone the more days you lose to actually spend in the zone doing useful stuff.
You can stay up to 6 months in the UK, but it is up to the immigration official how much time you are actually granted.

I assume you have the funds for another one way ticket home. An expensive way of buying tickets normally btw.

>>Its all on the entry form but they seem to ask anyway.<<

One way to spot if someone is telling the truth is to look for discrepancies/inconsistencies in what they say at different times.

well, if the internet is "awash" with such stories, why not provide some links?

I think the old fart problem on Fodor's is real, but its main manifestation is constipated drama queens spitting condescending vitriol at posters whom they perceive to be younger people, looks like out their own obtusely self-centered -- one could even say selfish -- neurotic needs. Quite a bit of costly misinformation is loaded onto new posters that by these -- um, retirees.

Suggest more research for the original poster, using multiple sources, including researching "proof of onward travel" (not a return ticket "back home") before spending money.

DH and I are in our 70's and had a great deal of trouble at UK immigration in Brussels because we couldn't produce our return ticket to Australia - we had left it with friends in London. We were questioned , taken aside and given a lecture about staying in UK and bludging on the UK . It doesn't just happen to young people.

You ask about problems with one-way tickets. A simpler problem than immigration and border security is that the second one-way to come home will be just as expensive as the first. Added together, the total is probably far more costly than a round trip. Intercontinental air prices are based on round trips and the one-ways, fair or not, aren't simply half of that. Too late to do anything about it, though.