Hi All Travellers.
I am from Australia and my wife are planning a once off 6 - 8 week holiday through Europe mainly by trains in May - June 2024. My current itinerary.
1.London - Brussels
2.Brussels - Amsterdam
3. Amsterdam - Hamburg ? OR
4. Amsterdam - Berlin
5. Prague - Vienna
6. Innsbruck - Munich
7. Rome - Venice
8. Venice - Milan
9.Milan - Tirano
10. Tirano - St Moritz
11. St Moritz - Zermatt
12. Interlaken - Montreux
13.Montreux - Paris
While in Switzerland we will be visiting Jungfraujoch .
My main concern will be having just one travel pass or if cheaper seperately
Thank you for you time
Kind Regards,
Garry
Posted by
Cloud
273 posts
Just get a travel pass for Switzerland either a Half Fare Pass or splurge for a Swiss Travel Pass And avoid EURAIL passes as you will still need to pay for seat reservations for every train on your itinerary. And it ain't guaranteed that a seat will be available on the train you want. I would skip Hamburg and would stay in Pontersina instead of St Moritz. Treat Brussels as just a day trip stop for an hour or two on your way to Amsterdam. Ghent would be a better if you want stay get a taste of Belgium. Munich was a disappointment also.
Posted by
Wengen
2535 posts
It is not true that you will need reservations for every train on the itinerary. Reservations will be needed for London - Brussels, Rome - Venice and Venice - Milano, as well as for Montreux - Paris. All the other trains on the itinerary have no compulsory reservations. For these kinds of long trips, with a lot of travel a pass may actually make sense, as you are then also at liberty to change plans.
Posted by
Paris
7312 posts
I agree with WengenK.
To be more specific:
1/ London-Brussels: no pass, buy Eurostar tickets as soon as they are available which is 330 days before departure as I'm just reading now (!!! I swear it was 180 before, oh well).
2/ to 6/ Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Austria are friendly to pass holders. Not 100% sure about Czechia but in all of the others you do not need reservations when you have a valid pass. Therefore, a Eurail pass covering this part of your trip would probably be helpful
7/, 8/ and 9/ Italy does require reservations for pass holders and advance fares (opening 90 to 120 days ahead) on high-speed trains from Trenitalia or Italo are pretty good. And honestly, even if you book later, it is not that bad. So, no pass.
10/ to 12/ Switzerland sells its own specific passes. The Swiss Travel Pass is likely to be good value for you, because the fare from Tirano to Zermatt, then, Interlaken, then Lausanne is quite high, and it offers 50% off most mountain rides (25% on Jungfraujoch). The other option being the Half-Fare Card which basically cuts the price of every ticket, including mountain rides, by 50%.
13/ Buy a Lausanne-Paris ticket up to 120 days in advance and you'll be all set.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33994 posts
balso is correct, but to just amplify, if you decide regardless, to have a pass in Italy be aware the the smaller (yet in my mind superior) Italo trains do not accept passes, nor do Circumvesuviana. Only Trenitalia do.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
With so much train travel, fundamental planning help can be found at www.seat61.com