My wife and I will be traveling in September and would prefer to journey by train for most if not all of this itinerary. Is the Eurail flexipass a better option than individual tickets since we will be traveling country to country? I see we will possibly use only 3 of the 4 days if we fly back from Munich to London, unless there is a sleeper availability for that route (in which case it would save a hotel night...We are both over 60 so hope to get some kind of discount. Thanks for information and links!
Posted by
San Diego, California
5076 posts
Why don't you fly open jaw ( multi-city) so you don't have to backtrack to London? So fly into London and out of Munich on one ticket. Usually the prices are about the same.
Also, Eurorail passes are rarely a good deal in current times.
September is no longer shoulder season, so I'd advise firming up the itinerary and booking lodging asap.
Have a great trip. Safe travels!
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7516 posts
Generally, Eurostar does not accept passes. I suggest you book a Multi-City or Open Jaw return from Germany. It is a lot of work to buy individual tickets, but six weeks in advance, much cheaper. You'll need seat reservations for some trains, even with a pass. Arthur Frommer's postwar days are over.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16763 posts
With only 16 days, and traveling by train, you need to plan your route efficiently to save time and minimize backtracking.
It would be much better to head to Munich after the Black Forest, and then travel to Florence. There is even a night train on that route (I took it 25 years ago).
Your whole route would be London tomParis by Eurostar, then to the Black Forest. I recommend Freiburg I’m Bresgau, which has good train connections from Paris in under 4 hours. This is a delightful little university town and a good base for what you might want to see around the Black Forest.
Then to Munich. From there to Florence can be a night train, but if you want to travel by day to see the scenery it is a 7.5 to 8 hour journey via Innsbruck, the Brenner Pass, and several lovely cities in the SüdTirol (Bressanone, Trento, Bolzano) and then Verona. The only train change on this route is at Bologna if you choose the right train.
No train pass. Decide on your itinerary and buy your tickets ASAP to get the best price.
You can fly home from either Florence or Pisa, depending on your airline choice.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33161 posts
Eurostar do in fact accept a Eurailpass but between the daily pass cost plus the significant Eurostar fee (I think it may be £39 but I haven't checked recently and may be misremembering) it is not much different or possibly more than buying a restricted ticket far enough ahead.
There are no sleepers to London from the Continent. The only two sleepers in the UK are London to Penzance in Cornwall - the Night Riviera, and London to Scotland - the Caledonian.
Have you bought your airfare yet? If not you can consider what airlines call multi-city and Rick calls open-jaw. That's fly into London and out of Munich or Frankfurt. Not two one-ways, but a blended ticket which tends to be very close to a simple roundtrip from London. Saves both money and time. And backtracking.