Trains in Europ - passes vs. individual tix
 

I'm planning a vacation with a friend and no matter how many books we read, we still feel very confused about the different ticket purchase options for train travel! Over the course of 2 weeks, we'll be traveling through Paris, Amsterdam, Florence and Barcelona (paris and florence are just quick stops since we've both spent much time there.) So what we still can't figure out is if it's cheaper to buy a Eurail/Europass in advance or buy tickets as we go (we're hoping to keep our travel days flexible.) We've never had a problem figuring out various travel issues before, but this train thing is really making us feel incompetent! Does anyone have any opinions or experience to share? We would appreciate any help at all. Thanks!

Try your itinerary at:<BR>www.railsaver.com and see what they suggest.

ttt

Stacey, I am having the same problem. The railsaver site can help. Also (don't blast me, everyone), the Rick Steves railguide was helpful... outlined everything in a way that was very logical for someone like me who knows nothing about Eurail. You can download it for free at ricksteves.com.<BR><BR>Here's the part I can't figure out... everyone says RailEurope is outrageously expensive. However, they are the only site where I can actually get a price on tickets from Salzburg to Venice, and Venice to Vienna. I have tried the sncf.com, trenitalia.com, the german rail site, and the austrian site (which is only in German). ON all of these sites, I can figure out a schedule, but I can't get a price (I'm assuming because it is cross-border). So, when I am deciding if point-to-point is better than a Rail/Drive pass, I can only use Rail Europe's point-to-point pricing.<BR><BR>Does anyone have any ideas for how I can get ticket prices from somewhere other than Rail Europe?<BR><BR>Thanks!<BR>Anne

Anne, if the ball-park estimates on the Rick Steves site aren't good enough, you can manipulate the railsaver site to give you prices, by clicking "only if raipasses are cheaper" on first page, or entering just one route.

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I estimate that you will save more than 50% by purchasing point-to-point tickets in Europe. I used RailEurope as a base line for pricing to be consistent. If you bought point-to-point from Amsterdamn to Paris to Barcelona (overnight train) to Florence, the price would be $435. However, RailEurope is overpriced so I multiplied that by .6, which results in a total of $261 a person in second class and a double room on the overnight train. As for the railpass, there are tons of choices. However, because the Netherlands does not participate in the pass that combines your other choice countries of France, Spain and Italy (the Netherlands is part of the Benelux Pass), you will have to buy the generic eurail passes that cover all 17 participating countries. These passes are a little more expensive so I estimated that your pass would cost about $500. In addition, two of the trains (the high speed train from Amsterdamn to Paris and the overnight train) charge additional fees for those using the pass on these trains. The total fees are $126. Therefore, the total for the pass will be over $600.<BR><BR>No contest buy point-to-point. Buy the overnight train segment as soon as you arrive in Europe.