How long can I wait to purchase my Eurail pass?

In practical terms, purchase by mid-August. You should allow one week for delivery before you leave home. You cannot order Eurail passes here for pick-up in Europe, and they cost more there, in the few big-city stations that carry them. The banks predicted for months that the euro would come back down this summer, but we're started to lose faith in the possibility of a big correction.

If you can commit to specific departure dates and times, booking point-to-point discount fare tickets well in advance (up to 90 days) will cost much less than a rail pass.

What is your Itinerary?

Tim,

I was playing around with that idea today and it seems to be more expensive. Granted, I could not pick the exact dates I want to travel because it is too far out, but I plugged the dates in as far out as I could and it came out to around $650.

Definitely curious about your thoughts, because the cost of my trip is starting to add up to more than I was anticipating.

Train:
Brussels to Lyon Oct 3
Lyon to Lausanne Oct 5
Lausanne to Munich Oct 6

Fly from Munich to Berlin Oct 10

Train:
Berlin to Cologne Oct 14
Cologne to Amsterdam Oct 17

Isn't it just so convenient for RailEurope to sell their tickets at a cost which makes the pass look like a bargain. Shame on them - they should be outlawed.

Another thought occurs to me...

Two major themes of posts on this site are 1) thieves/money belts/pick pockets and 2) Rail passes/Rail Europe/Eurail.

It is funny to me that people are so obsessed with losing their loose change but don't seem to care that they are throwing away hundreds of dollars on over priced rail passes.

Go figure.

Wow! Thank you so much for the insight, Dick! I was starting to wonder why I was going to be able to save so much going point to point through the UK, but not through the rest of Europe. And yes, I was looking at Eurail. This really changes things for me.

I'm a pretty schedule orientated person, so booking ahead will work for me. I was seriously misinformed about the train from Munich to Berlin. I was under the assumption it was something like a 12 hour train ride. But I can only blame myself for not being better informed.

This forum and the people who use it have proven to be a constant source of invaluable information!

Thanks!

"Fly from Munich to Berlin why fly? Its 65,00 € and about six hours by train. Flying cheapest on SAS its $190 and 3 hours 30 minutes, plus time to get to the airport early. And get from the the Berlin airport to the city."

I'll be going in the opposite direction this summer (Berlin to Munich) and also considered flying but after research ended up deciding the train made much more sense. I purchased my ticket 3 months out (for July 1) and it was only 33,50€ (not 65€). I can't believe that it costs more going Munich to Berlin than it does going Berlin to Munich. So definitely go out to the Bahn.de website 3 months ahead of your travel dates.

For comparison: my train trips this summer are going to be extensive and the pass to cover them all would be over $600 plus any reservation charges, etc and not all of them would even be included in the pass. The point to point tickets (which I have already purchased) total up to about $375. Doing the research and finding the correct websites to purchase the tickets on was a bit daunting at first but definitely worth the work.

And yes, I had to give up the flexibility and spontaneity of a pass, but for a $225+ savings (= 2 more days of Europe) it was so worth it.

Dick has given you some good examples of discount fares. The lowest fare tickets for long distance ICE trains in Germany sell out fast. Book 92 days in advance on bahn.de, the German Rail site, to get the best deal. For example, I found a fare as low as €29 for Munich-Berlin (one connection required). Direct ICE fares were as low as €45.

Use that site to get detailed timetables for all your routes, not just those within Germany.