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eurail pass or separate tickets for this itinerary

Posted by on

My husband and I will arrive in Amsterdam on Sept 29, travel to Munich on Oct.6 and leave from Amsterdam on Oct. 24. There may be a side trip to Brussels to see one of my husband's former students.

This is our tentative itinerary:

9/30 Fly into Amsterdam and explore. 1 -2 day trips (and maybe to Brussels for an overnight or day trip)
10/6 Train to Munich

The rest of the time will be divided between Fussen, Salsburg, Brerchestgarden, Nuremburg, Beyreuth, Dresden and Berlin. We are not wedded to this itinerary, but instead plan to stay longer in places that we particularly like. We have hotel reservations for
Amsterdam and Munich but for nothing else. Will that be a problem?

10/22 Train from Berlin to Amsterdam
10/24 Leave Amsterdam

Would it be more economical to get a 2 country Eurail Pass ( my understanding is that don't need to have an Austria pass just for Salsburg) or purchase individual tickets for the Amsterdam to Munich trip and Berlin to Amsterdam trip and use local or regional train passes for the rest of the travel.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.
Jackie

Posted by
16895 posts

Correct, you don't need Austria on the pass in order for it to cover travel between Munich and Salzburg both ways. That's traveling within Germany and Salzburg is the designated border station.

A 2-country Eurail Select Pass comes with a minimum of 4 travel days for $270 per person at today's exchange rates. If it were my trip, I would choose a pass to cover at least the longest days. But since extra travel days add only $25-35 per person per day, you might spring for a few more.

If you're willing to lock in times for the two longest rides on the dates that you mentioned, then you can see what prices are available to do that now through the DB German Rail site. The two legs (Amsterdam-Munich and Berlin-Amsterdam) are currently adding up to €150-200 per person on the faster trains on your planned dates, depending on which departure time you choose, and prices will go higher as more tickets sell.

Many of your shorter trips, including Munich-Salzburg, could be covered by a regional-train day ticket, costing about €32 per day for the pair of you (not valid on IC, ICE, or RJ trains).

Posted by
7209 posts

Your time in Fussen and Berchtesgaden would be better spent with a rental vehicle. There are lots of wide open areas, countrysides and attractions like Neuschwanstein and Linderhoff and Ettal (etc) that are much easier to get to with a vehicle rather than using public transport.

Don't fall for the expensive Eurail Pass when point to point tickets are so cheap and readily available and come with any required reservations. Especially don't invest in Eurail Pass if a rental vehicle services your needs better.

Posted by
16895 posts

There are no required reservations on these trains and therefore seat assignments are not included in 2nd-class tickets. Optional reservations cost an extra €4.50 with either a ticket or a pass.

Posted by
3050 posts

If you want total freedom of travel in Germany, a German Rail Pass Twin is your best bet. The pricing is here:
https://fahrkarten.bahn.de/privatkunde/shop/produktliste.go?lang=en&country=GBR&GroupId=651#no-back**strong text**

It's a much better deal than Eurail passes. Since you're only doing 1-2 day trips I wouldn't bother with anything but point to point tickets in the Netherlands.

You may be able to get cheaper tickets doing point to point and regional offers in Germany, but to figure that out you'd have to figure out an itinerary and enter it in. The German Rail Pass at least keeps it simple. If you use it particularly for long travel journeys taking high speed ICE trains, it can be a very good value.

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