Rail Travel
 

I want to travel from London to Brussels to Munich to Switzerland to Austria to Italy to France back to London. Has any one done this using Eurorail?

In September my husband and I did the following trip over 30 days with the unlimited 30 day Eurail pass: (landed at Frankfurt) St. Goar, Rothenburg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Venice, Florence, Geneva, Arles, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Mellerud (Sweden), Hamburg, Luneburg, back to Frankfurt. Will be glad to share my experiences and answer questions.

Hi speedy,

Before buying your railpass go to www.railsaver.co, enter your itinerary and see if it will save you money.

How long will you be gone on this trip?

If you mean using the Eurail pass, except for Brussels, the answer is yes, many times. Is there a question pending?

Speedy,

We this this trip in September 2001, except we added Paris. The whole trip took 21 days, with plenty of time to rest and see the sites. Are you traveling alone or with friends?

Greg

There are a good survey on rail travel at http://www.seat61.com/ and note on getting the best from sleepers and couchettes at http://www.twenj.com/tipsnighttrains.htm/. I am afraid I cannot help on Eurorail, as we Europeans use InterRail or point to point tickets. The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Timetable, with your trains. From 0629 to 1912 Eurostar trains with buffet car leave London Waterloo and reach Brussels in 2 hours 20 minutes. For travel by day you can leave Brussels Midi at 0828, change at Cologne 1059 to 1154, and reach Munich 1625, or leave at 1028, 1216, 1328, 1428 or 1628, and take the same journey length of 8 hours. I you ask your agent, you can travel from Cologne to Mainz along the Rhine, not on the very fast train that misses that beautiful valley. The trains have buffet cars. Or you can save a day s travel and a hotel bill if you go overnight. Brussels Midi 1928, buffet car, Cologne 2149 to 2346, City Night Line train with 1, 2 and 3 berth sleepers and restaurant car (please do not take the reclining chairs car: it is little better than a plane), Munich 0718. Or for an hour s longer night Brussels Midi 1928, Cologne 2149 to 2213, buffet car train, Duisburg 2249 to 2256, City Night Line train, Munich 0718.

Munich 0812, Zurich 1227, and other buffet car trains at 1213, 1353, and 1811. A train with restaurant car and first class panorama car for viewing the Alps runs
Zurich 0935, Innsbruck 1318, Salzburg 1529, Vienna 1835, and similar trains leave Zurich at 1335 and 1735 (just to Salzburg at 2329). Restaurant car day trains run from Innsbruck and Vienna to Venice, Florence and Rome. Night trains with sleepers run from Vienna to those fine cities, and from Innsbruck at 2300 to Rome at 0817.

Night trains with 1, 2, 3 and 4 berth sleepers, some with showers and toilet en suite, run from Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan to Paris.

Please write if I can help further.

[email protected]

Oh course, people do this all the time!

Unless you mention London because you live there, do consider flying into London and out of an Italian city (called open-jaw) to save time from doing a loop.

speedywire, I am so glad you asked. I am desperate for some advice. I am traveling to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain. Six countries in 2 months and one week. Do I get a 5 country pass, and a one country pass, or do I buy a 17 country pass? Do I buy a 2 month pass, or a three month pass? I was thinking it would be cheaper to buy a 5 country pass for two months, and then a one country pass for either the first week (first country) or the last week, (last country) Wow that sounds confusing? Anyone understand my dilema? I'd be grateful for some expert advise. When I wrote to raileurope.com, they suggested a 17 country pass for three months, which is quite expensive. Anyone willing to give this a shot?

Do not buy a rail pass. They are almost never worth it! High price up front, plus numerous supplemental charges you'll have to pay on the trains.

Breathe-

Do as Ira suggested above. Try your itinerary at www.railsaver.com

Thank you so much. Railpass.com is excellent! I'm very grateful!