Question about Eurail
 

If I have a Eurail pass to travel most of Europe via rails, does this also include commuter rails? I'm thinking of staying outside of the big cities to save some money. Thanks.

Well, yes, in general, there are surely some exceptions(and of course, <BR>&quot;in-city: subway systems are a different matter). And at the risk of coming across as have a one-note soapbox, an important question might be whether you really need a rail pass. Take a look at railsaver.com - - simple point to point tickets are so often lower priced for your itinerary than rail pass. A rail pass is a good way to pre-purchase more rail travel than you want or need. See where you are more; travel around less.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

I don't think they usually ARE included.<BR><BR>Buying a consecutive day pass rather than a flexpass to do this is unlikely to be cost effective.<BR><BR>You really lose something by not staying IN cities.

I don't know from personal experience because I agree with Elberko, it usually wouldn't make sense to buy such an expensive railpass for local travel rather than the ones that limit you to number of days/month or so. Also, you'll need a city transportation pass of some kind, perhaps, which may cover local commuter rails (which does depend how long you are staying there). <BR><BR>I also don't think this is a good idea at all, you won't get the feel for a place and waste a lot of time commuting. You are already different by being a tourist, but being a commuting tourist must be the worst. <BR><BR>Ultimately, I think you should give specific examples of cities and rail systems for definitive answers. I suspect strongly that it depends on who owns and runs the commuter railroad. Eurail has marketing agreements with certain rail lines, mainly national ones, and if the commuter train you are talking about is run by them, then it should be covered; if not, probably it won't. For example, in Paris, I believe the RER is covered by a railpass on the lines that are managed by SNCF but not those managed by RATP (the Parisian local transportation company).

hmmm... perhaps the question is what kinds of commuter trains are we talking about. I was thinking about RER, for example, in the environs of Paris - - or the &quot;Generalitat&quot; local trains of Barcelona, for example. I was thinking that these are &quot;covered&quot; as &quot;subs&quot; under SNCF or RENFE. But maybe I answered too quickly.<BR>

I am planning on going to Europe for 3 months this summer. Obtaining the Eurail pass will allow me to see all of Europe. But I do want to rent bikes and explore the countryside as well.

Eurail pass is valid on suburban trains operated by the national railways. This include Cercanias in and around Spanish cities and S-Bahn in Vienna and most German cities, but not Metro and U-Bahn which are operated by the cities.