Rail pass

Eurail is one of the best sites to buy a Eurail Pass. However, since you still need to make and pay for seat reservations on most of the high-speed trains in Europe, the convenience and savings of a Eurail Pass is not what it once was. The real savings are realized by buying high-speed train tickets online 90-120 days in advance from the national train company websites.

Very interesting. Thank you!

Ann all inclusive pass that makes things easier does not exist for the countries you plan to visit.

In Italy and France you will still need to make reservations for long distance trains. And these reservations can be quite pricy (around 30 euro pp, for the Switzerland - France TGVs for example.). They are often also complicated to get.
In Switzerland there are better passes than the Eurail Pass.

Maybe tells us a bit more about your plans, and if you need to have trips nailed down in advance. The pass is really more for people who are fine with reserving trains only when they are here in Europe.

most people consider the use of a pass as either a money saver or a convenience.

I'm afraid that in your case - and you sound much more interested in convenience and are willing to overpay to have it - a Eurailpass won't provide either.

The four countries you are travelling in, Italy, Switzerland, France, England, are probably 3 of the 4 worst for Eurailpasses, possibly the 4 worst.

What you want with a pass is put it in your pocket, board any train, and show it when requested. No fuss, no muss.

Here are the problems:

ITALY:

Italy has two high speed train companies linking the main cities. Italo is the upstart, private, just about as fast as the other, with sleek Ferrari influenced paint, leather seats throughout, even a movie theatre coach, usually the cheaper tickets - I prefer them to the other guys. Problem - Eurailpasses are not accepted on Italo.

So you are left with the others, the government owned and run Trenitalia. They run most of the other trains throughout all of Italy, from the milk runs to the fastest high speed. Local trains, Regionale and Regionale Veloce, are dirt cheap, are at the bottom of the pile so some trains are less modern than others, and your pass would be accepted freely for travel. But the cost of a pass day is almost certainly more the cost of Regionale tickets. All the rest of Trenitalia trains, including all the high speed and InterCities levels, need passengers to have assigned seating. If you buy a normal ticket, even the very cheapest, it includes a seat. You can buy tickets for both Italo and Trenitalia on their excellent apps and be set right away so very little fuss or muss. Problem - with the Eurailpass, in addition to having paid for the pass day you need to buy a seat reservation for around 10€ per leg (change trains during the day and it is another reservation fee) which involves going into the ticket window and paying. So the pass in Italy for anything but the slowest trains is actually more expensive, often a pass day is more expensive than an inexpensive ticket, plus you have to pay for the seat, so you pay twice.

Most here never suggest a Eurailpass for Italy.

SWITZERLAND

If you stick to the lowlands in Switzerland a Eurailpass works seamlessly. There are reservations available but except for a couple of tourist trains they are rarely used, certainly not by locals, and all SBB trains are available. Problem - Eurailpasses are not accepted for travel on railways up into the mountains, and Switzerland has a lot of those. You may get a discount, usually 25%, but you still have to buy the tickets. And they use a pass day. There are several ways in Switzerland to save money with regional (the Berner Oberland Pass is one) passes and you can buy a Half Price card, so Eurailpasses are not usually recommended for Switzerland if you want to be in the mountains.

FRANCE

Probably the worst country for passes. Except for some regional trains reservations are required on all medium and high speed trains, included in the price of a normal ticket but a high extra price with a Eurailpass plus the cost of the pass day. The prices for these pass holder seat reservations varies by demand, and very a lot, and they are capacity controlled - you may be unable to get a mandatory seat reservation on a train which is still not full and selling tickets, so if you really want that one you may need to buy a ticket. International trains into and out of France run as high as 30€ for a seat reservation !! And you have to go through all that hassle.

Most people do not recommend Eurailpass in France.

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ENGLAND

Most trains are easy to use with a Eurailpass in England. Very cheap fares are available if you are aware of the process and tricks, but walk up fares are expensive to very expensive on many lines. So a pass may or may not save you money but will provide convenience.

Through the tunnel under the Channel you can get a decent discount if you have a Pass for both France and England (UK). But you need to decide if that discount is worth all the hassle using trains in France.

I have used rail passes many times over many years. It’s really the only way to go.

In France, Spain, Italy, you have to make a reservation for high-speed train that’s true. But I think the fee is more like €10 per person even if the ticket is €150.

It also works for the Eurostar to get from Paris to London. There’s a fee, of course.

The main advantage is just the flexibility. You can go down to the train station and change your mind right there and jump on a different train. If you miss a train, they just take the next one. If you come early, you can take an earlier train. There’s no standing in line for average trains.

It's super rare to need to stand in line for train tickets these days; the rail companies have websites and apps that are usually easy to use. From reports on the forum, the process of getting seat reservations (when required) if you already have a rail pass is not always something that can be handled online--though it varies from country to country.

Thank you all so much. Seems like no matter what I chose, it’s now big deal either way. Be well and happy travel!

I have to disagree about use of the Eurail pass in France. I found it to be easy and economical. We used it for the longer legs: London-Paris, Paris-Lyon, Bordeaux-Nantes, Nantes-Orleans, Orleans-Paris. The seat reservation costs, aside from the Eurostar, were negligible.

YMMV, obviously, but I've found the negative attitudes toward Eurail passes to be bemusing.