Train travel
 

My husband and I are planning our Europe trip beginning in September and will be over for 2 months. We will start in Ireland, then head to Germany where our daughter lives. I am having an awful time trying to figure out a budget for our transportation costs...every time I search for rail travel, I'm getting exorbitant prices and becoming confused. We don't have firm plans, we just know that we want to visit Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Italy...we will be doing some day trips around France and Belgium with the kids. The end of the trip culminates with a Mediterranean cruise. Could somebody please shed some light on how expensive it is to travel by train? We do have some air travel already arranged, but train is confusing...help?

Hi Linda_Pestes,

The best site for an overview on European train travel is

www.seat61.com

One of the great things that site will tell you is to use each country's own rail company to research fares. For Germany, that site is

www.bahn.com

When you are travelling long distances in Germany, you can buy advance-purchase tickets (92 days in advance) that are a true bargain -- normally 29 or 39 Euro per person. If you are travelling locally, you can use the Länder tickets that are like a day pass for regional trains for a number of people up to five. So, once you know where you're going to be travelling to, then you can get all the prices.

For international trips, you can also get great bargains for advance-purchase tickets.

The site for the French trains is

www.voyages-sncf.fr

Have fun as you work it all out!

s

What swan said -- maninseat61 and bahn.de. -- they're quite helpful.

Ireland: www.irishrail.ie

Dublin to London SailRail from €45: www.irishferries.com/ie/sailrail.asp

UK trains: www.nationalrail.co.uk

London to Cologne: www.eurostar, also try for London Spezial faes from London to any city in Germany from €49 at www.bahn.de/en

Italy: www.fsitaliane.it but for Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route also check new high-speed operator www.italotreno.it

Germany: www.bahn.de/en, will also book international tickets from Germany to Prague/Zagreb etc. usually from €29 or €39, booking opens 92 days in advance.

Prague to Vienna, Budapest etc from €19 at www.cd.cz/eshop

HI..this may seem like a silly question, but please bear with me, this is our first trip. When you talk about "advance purchase" for travel...this doesn't mean you buy a ticket in advance for a particular day or time, does it? we know that we would like to travel from Geilenkirchen to Prague, but have not nailed down our actual time of travel. Thank you everybody for your help, this is a trip of a lifetime for us.

Yes, that means many days ahead. It is somewhat like airfare. People snatch up low cost fares leaving high priced tickets for late comers.
To see this, just go to http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en and enter:
Gleilenkirchen-Prague HBF
Then as of today, you get morning departure prices like these:
6/21/2012 155 EU
7/26/2012 99 EU
8/9/2012 89 EU
9/13/2012 49 EU
Do you want the 49EU fare or the 155EU fare?

To save the most, you will need to plan and book tickets well in advance. These are good for that specific train only. Otherwise, you will pay a much higher price for last minute, flexible reservations.

You may want to consider a rail pass if flexibility is important to you as it may not be any more expensive than point to point, last minute tickets.