My boyfriend and I are backpacking through europe, and plan on going on a whim, not a set itinerary. We fly into London for sure, and from there we have ideas of where we want to go, but we are not restricting ourselves to days and times. So, this said, we don't know where exactly we are going. I was looking at the eurail flexi global pass (20 countries, 15 flexible days), which runs about $1,000 pp. Is this reasonable? Should we just buy what we need when we need it, or take the passes to be safe? Does anyone know if its cheaper to actually get the pass??

Your question as asked can't be answered

It is impossible to evaluate is a pass is worthwhile without having some idea of where you're going, how often you'll be using the train, which countries, etc.

You need to be able to compare "apples to apples" by taking the cost of 2nd class point-to-point tickets and comparing them to the cost of a pass that would cover that same itinerary.

Here lies the issue with your approach: Railpasses favor those who travel a lot in a short period of time especially in countries with high train prices, e.g. Germany, Switzerland, etc.

But if you don't know what you are doing, how can anyone else help you?

You can crank up your imaginations at:

http://www.railsaver.com/

to get some ideas.

fair enough. We just don't want to limit ourselves, and don't know how the railpasses work exactly. We don't want to spend money and not use very much, but we dont want to wait, and then overpay. We've never used the railpases before, just metro in Paris. . .

Thanks for the advice. We're going to write up a "tentative" itinerary in the mean time, and play with passes.

Since you and your boyfriend are going together and traveling together, you would want to get the "saverpass", which reduces each of your passes by about $200. If you are 25 or under, the youth pass (2nd class only) reduces it another $200 for a 21 day pass.

The pass starts the day you first use it.

Backpacking sometimes involves wanting to: (1) just jump on a train spontaneously and go where it goes; or (2) use it as a cheap form of hotel.

I have to tell you, I have never gotten train travel in Europe out of my system since my first studentrail pass in 1973. 2 months, summertime, and just me and my backpack. I saved money by charting out a travel plan that took me overnight from point A to point B, so I could curl up and sleep. Most times it worked well, and I'd get a nice 2nd class compartment to myself and stretch out. Other times, I was limited to my little seat. At the train station, I'd go to information and find some cheap local hostel.

This way, I visited places I'd never even heard of but fell in love with. I remember Trondheim, Norway being one of those places that stuck in my mind for years after that trip that I was fortunate to get back to with my family a few years ago. And again, it didn't let me (or my family) down. You discover oddly named places, like Hell (also in Norway). You meet people that you never, ever forget, having strange, sometimes philosophical conversations.

We have been back countless times, almost invariably using a rail pass in some form or another. My husband had his own great experience on a trip we took on an overnight train from Lisbon to Madrid (or was it Madrid to Barcelona?). We were down in the bar car, where we had a party with students from UCLA, Australians, a varied age group who were either traveling to or from Pamplona and the running of the bulls, and a bartender named Pedro. It ended being right out of a Humphrey Bogart movie, with everyone getting happily drunk and one of the bull runners periodically shouting out, "hit us up again, Pedro!"

Yes, train travel is like being in a mini-world of different personalities and cultures, all going in the same direction. Love it!