Need some tips to get the right train pass! HELP

We use the Eurail pass. You can to go to all of those places with your Eurail passes and you can make reservations for trains that require it when ordering. See www.eurail.com/plan-your-trip We have used these for years and are in Europe a lot each year. You'll see a lot of scenery this way and it is easy and convenient to do it all at one site at one time.

The days of hopping on and off of any train going in the right direction with the rail pass are long gone. Train companies are putting restrictions on passes, charging for reservations, putting advance tickets on sale at cheap prices, etc,. So it is hard to make a pass pay beyond the convenience factor. Going to have to do some homework by pricing out you various routes before knowing if a pass makes any economical sense.

The pass is generally not the most cost-effective way to travel. You need to do the math to see what individual tickets would cost, and compare that to the cost of a pass. If you were talking about June of this year, and want to use individual tickets, you need to move quickly to get discounted tickets; discounted tickets sell out quickly – but be aware they cannot be changed.

The RS. guidebooks have charts that show the price of full-fare second-class tickets between various cities. You can use that to estimate cost of individual tickets – although, as noted above, you can get discount tickets with advanced purchase.

Use the website bahn.com to identify the trains you want to take. When you go into the website it will ask for your country. Do not enter US; enter UK. However, you can only buy German tickets from that website. For other countries, you will need to go to that their rail websites.

If you decide to get a pass, get reservations for any French segments as soon as possible. France severely limits the number of seats available to pass holders.

One other point – instead of long train rides, the European budget airlines will often be cheaper and quicker. You can use the website skyscanner.com to see what routes are available and ticket prices.

With budget airlines, you can be charged for putting baggage in hold. You also have to get to airports well before the take-off time. With trains, the stations are already in city- centres and you have much less hassle. You also get to see something other than clouds, en-route.

This site will help you with train travel:>http://www.seat61.com

If you choose a rail pass, be aware that you will also need to purchase seat reservations for the Switzerland to Paris portion of your trip. These reservation fees are $80 each in first class and there are a limited number available for pass holders. I would confirm availability of seat reservations on my desired travel day prior to purchasing a pass and make sure I purchased the reservation at the same time. Otherwise, you will end up needing to purchase a point to point ticket for this leg in addition to your pass.

Thank you so much for this valuable information, I will start working on what is better at this point, for what I read is better to get tickets point to point then right? Also on your experience traveling what it will be a good and smart ride for an escenic train from Viena through Switzerland (ending where? it will be more convenient) in order to travel to Paris?
Again thank you so much!