Help with rail system and general advice - W Europe as a female solo traveler

Hi Emily, You should get some advice here, but you also might want to post the train questions to the Transportation Forum. I know that there are some train experts who watch that list and might have some good advice.

Also, you should take a look at this page on Rick's site. It has lots of info on trains and passes. Have you looked into planes for traveling to Spain? I know that it was a very long trip to get from Paris to Barcelona when I was doing the same type of travel several decades ago. You can check it out on the Deutchesbahn site.

Pam

It looks like you have eight travel segments. With online purchase from the Bahn website in March, right after the tickets become available (92 day), you should be able to get Munich to Berlin for 29€ and Berlin to Amsterdam for 39€. If so, you don't want a rail pass that includes those two segments. London to Paris isn't covered by rail passes. That leaves 5 segments. The three in Spain/Montpelier are fairly short and point-point tickets might be less. That leaves Paris to Madrid and Montpelier to Munich. Much as I despise flying (if you have to fly, you're going too far), you might consider flying this segment on a low cost airline. Montpelier to Munich by train would be excruciatingly long - would probably take two days of a pass. If you pick a cheap airline, realize that RyanAir, although it flies Barcelona to "Munich West", actually goes to Memmingenberg, hours from Munich by bus and train.

Find the fares for the two legs in Spain and the two between France and Spain from the Spanish and French national websites and compare them to a rail pass. (The French website is tricky, and I've never used it, but someone here will tell you how to find those tickets.) I think you will find you will spend less with point-point tickets.

emily,

A few thoughts.....

For the trip from London to Paris, the EuroStar is the easiest method. Have a look at the excellent Man In Seat 61 website for instructions on how to book tickets. If you book well in advance, significant savings are possible. However, note that the cheapest tickets are usually non-refundable and non-changeable, so choose wisely. Also note that you MUST check-in at least 30 minutes prior to departure, or you lose your seat. You'll also need time to go through security and French Passport control at London St. Pancras.

You might try entering your travel details into railsaver.com to see what type of passes or tickets the site recommends.

Would it be possible to re-arrange the order somewhat and travel Paris > Barcelona > Pamplona? There's a direct train departing Gare de Lyon at 07:15, arriving Barcelona Sants at 13:30 (time 6H:15M. The trip from Paris to Madrid will be several hours longer. The trip from Barcelona Sants to Madrid Puerta de Atocha will be ~3H via AVE. For the trip from Madrid to Pamplona, there's a direct departure at 11:35, arriving 14:40 (time 3H:05M). You'll have to re-check the train details closer to your departure time, but they probably won't have changed much.

The trip from Pamplona to Montepellier is a bit more problematic. The shortest trip appears to be about 10 hours, with one change at Barcelona, where there's a three hour layover. The trip from Montpellier to Munich is also somewhat long. The shortest trip appears to be a departure from Montpellier Saint-Roch at 10:26, arriving Munich Hbf at 21:36 (time 11H:10M, one change at Paris Gare de Lyon). This would be a good route to travel via air, but the choices from Montpellier airport will be a bit slim. Some airlines have weekly flights from there to Munich in the summer, and if you could tailor your departure date to one of those flights, that may be an option. You could check whichbudget.com, skyscanner.com or a few of the airlines (EasyJet, Vueling, Lufthansa).

The trips from Munich > Berlin > Amsterdam are all very easy and relatively short by train. Be sure to note the name of the stations when buying tickets, as many cities have more than one station.

emily,

I do all or most of my ticket buying here before i go. I know it keeps me less flexible, but so far its been working good for me. Later on i may do the wing it type but thats for later.

I have found that most of my inter country train travel is best to buy tickets in advance. But I'm sure there are exceptions and other that have better knowledge/experience.

a comment about side trips, if you care to, look at Dauchau when you're in Munich. There are other camps around, but its something i found informative. I usually dont do side trips, but i will when it calls for it and is worth it (to me).

as the saying goes, "the world is your oyster" take that to heart and enjoy your travels. Once you do your first one, chance are you won't be happy until you do more.

happy trails.

Be careful with RailSaver as I have found them to be somewhat inaccurate. I've used previous trips to check their accuracy and found that they directed me to a railpass, even when I had already paid far less with individual tickets and regional passes (they sell rail passes).

They don't list every possible stop, only major stations, although if you are just using major cities, that's not a problem.

They don't recognize advance purchase discount tickets or regional passes. Individual point-point travel is always at full fare (they sell rail passes).

Be sure to select "if less expensive". It seems RailSaver almost always considers passes to be "more convenient" (they sell rail passes).

In the case of Munich to Amsterdam via Berlin (2 legs), RailSaver recommended to purchase a 4-day pass for $274 and a $36 ticket ($310 total) when those two legs could be done with a 39€ Europa Spezial ticket and a 29€ Savings Fare ticket for ($82 total).

It's pretty hard for any online calculator to account for the number of rail pass and ticket price variables available. I prefer the quick overview format of Rick’s Train Travel Time & cost Map for regular/full, 2nd-class fares.

It sounds like your trip may be planned out well enough that you could book advance-discount train and plane tickets for your longer rides, available from 3 months ahead for TGV, and German trains and earlier for Eurostar or for flights. Flight prices can be quite competitive for the international legs, as well as faster; see www.skyscanner.com.

For comparison, a Eurail Select Youth Pass for 8 days of travel in 4 regions at about $444 in 2nd class or $544 in 1st. This doesn't cover the Eurostar train. Paid seat reservations are required for the French and Spanish trains and both countries limit the number of places for passholders, so that still encourages you to reserve early. I have heard of passholders not being able to reserve trains to Pamplona for San Fermin, even right when booking opens. You have much more hop-on flexibility with a pass in Germany or heading back to Amsterdam, where seat reservation are optional.