rail journeys
 

can anyone suggest an itinerary for eurorail select pass covering france italy and switzerland including the rhone valley?

Itinerary suggestions rail travel france italy and switzerland

First suggestion is - don't get a rail pass. Usually poor value.

See the advice on www.seat61.com about railpasses and why they rarely make sense these days.

I agree with going to seat61.com

I do NOT agree that a pass is never a good value. You must remember that any pass becomes more economical the more you use it and for what reasons you use it (e.g., night trains). Some countries have overall cheaper railfares than do others.

I did say 'usually' rather than 'never'...

The only way to be sure is to compare the cost of normal discounted tickets with the daily pass rate, using the national rail operators' websites for the proper book-in-advance discounts.

In Italy, the €10 reservation fee for passholders on fast trains means that it almost never makes sense to get a pass. And in France there are limits on the number of reservations sold to passholders.

I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you want people on this board to plan your trip and the towns you should visit?

I can give you a list of towns that I have found interesting and include towns I'd like to visit in the future. Is that what you're looking for? It would be a lot of typing and would take up a lot of space on this thread.

How do you know a train pass is financially advantageous if you don't know where you're going?

No, we can't do that, as you haven't even told us how much time you have to travel or what draws you to those countries. Generally speaking, the way to plan a trip is to begin with where you want to go, and only then decide how you'll get around. Starting off with only the notion of buying a rail pass (which may or may not be a good idea) is putting the cart before the horse.

for rail itineraries in lots of countries check out these sources - www.budgeteuropetravel.com (download their free and superb IMO European Planning & Rail guide for suggested itineraries in each of those countries; and www.ricksteves.com adn www.seat61.com.

and contrary to the rather misinformed statements above railpasses can be good values - depending of course on how much your travel and the fact that if you are over 25 then the pass comes in first class and first class have a lot of perks over second class IME of decades of using railpasses - so compare a first class pass to first-class ticket prices IMO. Cheapest is not always best.

And those who say railpasses are nearly always a poor deal just do not know anything of which they speak but are mouthing what has become a Fodor's mantra - again often giving very poor advice. Do some folks buy passes when they are not traveling enough yes - but many do find passes a good deal - especially their flexibility to chose what trains you want to take once there and not have to pre-book weeks in advance in some non-changeable non-refundable ticket often.

Thanks heaps, Apologies for not being more specific.We have used the Swiss rail pass in the past and it was fab, I will check out the websites you all recommended, thanks you for your time. We are beginning .our trip in Paris and would like to Visit Strasbourg Annecy, Lyon, Avignion lLoire Valley,Bern Lugano We have 20 Days beginning May 22..If anyone has any tips or suggestions I would be grateful

It looks like you already have an itinerary.

In France the high speed trains require seat reservations and the number of seats for rail pass holders are limited so you should buy the reservations with the rail pass.

Thanks Adrienne, great advice

I used a 10-day 1st class select pass for Switzerland and France before, and I value the flexibility more than the money I might have saved without a pass. Each to his own!

If you are flying out from Paris, then your longest train days may be (1) from Tours to Strasbourg, and (2) from Avignon to Paris. The TGV from Avignon to Paris are very popular, and the seats allocated to pass holders are limited, so you'll need to reserve seats for that section at a train station as soon as you arrive in Paris. And what if you miss the train? You'll only lose the money paid for the seat reservation, you have not lost a day on your pass, so you still can use your pass day to travel by different trains.

In what order do you plan to visit those places? The ones that, e.g., are reachable from Paris by TGV (Strasbourg, Tours, Avignon, Lyon) will have very low-cost PREM fares if you buy them 3 months out from your day of travel; the same is true, of course, for TGVs between those cities (e.g., Lyon to Avignon), but we'd have to know exactly how your itinerary is laid out to know whether getting PREMs and other cheap tickets would end up costing you less than a rail pass.

Have you considered doing some driving on this trip? If by Avignon you mean Provence, that's better seen by car. You can visit the chateaux of the Loire Valley by bus but a car is more convenient. Or take a one-day bus tour of the chateaux.

When calculating the comparative cost of train pass vs. individual tickets, add the cost of seat reservations for French trains.

Do you have your plane tickets? If not, check into an open jaws trip, into Paris, out of Milan (close to Lugano) or Zurich or Lyon. That saves you time and the cost of returning to Paris. And should cost about the same as a round-trip into/out of Paris.

BTW - France will no longer be a part of the Eurail Select Pass after Dec 31, 2012 - but if you buy a Eurail Select Pass before Dec 31, 23012 you can then use if for another 8 months in total if you want and have France on it. But any pass issued after Dec 31, 2012 will no longer be able to have France on it as it has pulled out of the scheme.

But I believe the France-Switzerland Railpass will still be sold so that may even be a better option for you as you indicate little travel in Italy.