Hi,

I'd like to visit Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and the Czeck and was just wondering if I should get the rail passes to travel between these countries or just buy the train tickets individually? Somehow I get the feeling that the train tickets can be quite cheap if I buy them individually instead of the rail passes with unlimited travel?? Does anybody have any feelings about the rail passes and when to use them??

Thanks, appreaciate your help!

Pass "economics" improves the more you sue them. Go to www.railpass.com or www.railsaver.com and use their "comparison" feature which helps you determine which is most economical....the alternative is listening to a bunch of opinions here which may or may not be valid.

JonJon made a small typo, I feel certain, when he said "sue them"... he meant USE them.

But his answer is right on target. The web site www.railsaver.com will do the analysis for your travel plans, precisely.

My opinion is one of the opinions he is/was talking about; I think that purchasing a rail pass tempts you to pre-purchase more rail travel than you might reasonably want or need. Moving around more does not make for a beter trip.

Do you live in North America? (the time you posted makes me wonder if you are in another hemisphere). I am quite UNfamiliar with passes available to prospective purchasers from other continents.

Best wishes,

Rex

REX, Good Morning!!!. Thanks for your reply last night as I see you're at it bright and early again this morning. Have a great day. Mike

Yes, hopefully, I will get away from the keyboard and get something else done today.

to the top...

by the way, the "politically correct" term is NOT "Eastern Europe" for CR, HU, etc

Eastern Europe is Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the "stans" (not sure which oneees are in Europe, and which are considered Asia).

Wow, that last statement is news to me Rex, and apparently would be to the Eurail people who call their pass for Hungary, Czech Republic, etc. the "Eastern Europe" pass.

Guest,
It does depend on how much you use the pass, and how long each trip is. It also gives you free or discount access to a variety of other things, like ferries and the like, but you have to check with the company that issues them what exactly they offer.
I buy a rail pass almost, but not every time, especially when I'm doing a lot of train travel or country hopping. I do my homework before hand and figure out a ball park estimate of how much it will be either way, as well as car rental. Sometimes it's cheaper (even with all the gas) to rent a car, especially if you have 3 or 4 people going together.

I know that they call it that, Patrick, but "they" (the Raileurope people) are more or less catering to Americans who are perhaps less aware that the people who LIVE in those countries do not understand (and do not like, as I understand it) being called "Eastern Europe" when they are clearly right smack dab in the center of Europe.

Everything is relative. No one in Illinois thinks they live "in the east" - - but when I lived in California, they would refer to "going back home, back east" to any place east of the Mississsippi.

Hi guest,

regardless of whether you are going to Eastern Europe, Middle Europe, or Non-Western Europe,

go to www.railsaver.com and enter your itinerary. They can tell you if you need a railpass. Be sure to click on "only if it saves me money".