My wife and I are planning what is essentially a Europe exploration trip in April. We have about 32 days for travel. By exploration I mean we are hoping to see several countries during that time. We are starting in Dublin and moving south through London, Normandy, Paris, maybe Switzerland, northern Italy (Milan, cinque terre, maybe Verona) then ending in Munich and Frankfurt where we will fly home from. We are somewhat confused by the Eurail pass. On the surface, the global pass seems like the easy way to go, but with further investigation, I'm not so sure that is the case, nor am I sure it's the cheapest way to go since we cannot even use it in the UK. Does anyone have any insight into this or suggestions?
Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
Posted by
Whittington
984 posts
See the bold print here - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Should
Utilise the rest of this hugely valuable website on rail travel as required.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Definitely read Neil's link. However, I need to stress that there is a specific problem with using rail passes in France. All long-distance trains in France require a seat reservation, and there is a very small quota of reserved places available on each train for passholders. If the passholder quota has run out, then even though there may still be plenty of places on the train, you will still be required to buy a potentially very expensive full-fare ticket for the journey. This also applies to international trains from France to Switzerland or Italy.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Neil's link got slightly corrupted. It goes to the correct page but not to the specific section. Click here for the section on the pros and cons of a pass.
The point-to-point prices shown on the Eurail site are the maximum prices you would pay if you buy on the day. It is often possible to get much cheaper tickets booking in advance.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33755 posts
If you decide on a Eurail pass to use in Italy, there are problems using it which makes it more expensive than you expect and removes some of the spontaneity.
In Italy, except for the very slowest trains, all trains require a seat reservation. With a normal ticket, sometimes costing as low as €9, the seat reservation is part of that ticket.
If you use the same train with a Eurail pass the reservation (mandatory, huge fines if you try to ride without) is €10 per leg on the high speed trains, like to Verona, and at least €3 per leg on slightly slower trains. You must get these reservations prior to travel, so you could just buy point to point tickets that are non refundable in advance and it could cost you less than the reservation fee, let alone using up a day of your pass at however much $$$.
It is rare for a pass to pay off in Italy.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33755 posts
Oh, I forgot - in Italy, the Eurail Pass is useless on Italo trains, the private competitor to the national trains running between many major cities, and of no use on the Circumvesuviana trains around Naples and Pompeii and Sorrento. It is also worthless on the TreNord trains in the north of Italy around Milano.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32345 posts
lakey,
To add to Nigel's information about travel in Italy with Rail Passes, if you're caught without a valid reservation for the train you're riding on, you'll face hefty fines of about €50 PP, which will be collected on the spot! If you don't pay them at the time, they double and increase from there. Note that the reservations are specific to train, date and departure time and can only be used on the ONE train listed on the reservation. It's not possible to simply buy a reservation and then board any train.
For travel on Regionale trains (which don't require reservations), the Rail Pass will cover fare but you'll probably find that you're paying much more for the trip than if you had bought P-P tickets.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
You don't mention any train travel destinations in Ireland, so you would just use a pass between departing your first French city and ending the trip in Frankfurt. On the continent, your travel plan takes you through 5 countries (France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany), so the Eurail Global pass is the only one that covers five or more. Some consecutive-day versions of the Global pass currently offer extra days, so you could get 17 days for the price of 15 or get 24 days for the price of 21 when you choose the special offer. The price for a flexipass with 10 days to spread out falls in between the other two options and would also give you plenty of coverage. Pass prices will also go down again tomorrow, Feb. 10, by $20-25 for this type of pass.
On your other question, I mentioned that TGV reservations are expensive for direct Paris-Switzerland TGVs. If you went directly from Paris to Italy (but I'm not suggesting that you do; Switzerland is great), then you only have two direct trains per day to choose from. Whichever direction of TGV you choose, you should reserve it at the same time that you buy the pass, because places for pass holders do sell out. Italian seat reservations are usually no problem to buy there in stations.
Buy separate, ferry, train, or flight tickets from Ireland to England and to France. Or, if London is not key to the list, then you could fly direct from Ireland to the continent (cheap, see www.skyscanner.com) or consider an overnight ferry from Ireland to Normandy (small discount with rail pass).