We are buying the Eurail Global Pass, but this pass doesn't include the Chezch Republic. I've been reading on the eurail website on how to get to Prague from Berlin, but really, I DON'T UNDERSTAND A THING! Can someone tell me which trains to take, or how do this pass works? I need this information because we are triyng to figure the itinerary so we can buy the air tickets.
Ast the top of this page, you'll see "Railpasses" tab...lots of great information about how rail passes are to be used, and how you can add on trips to non-rail pass countries. Basically, your pass is good to the border, then you must have a ticket to cover the rest of the route in the Czech republic. The tabbed site will also tell you about the supplements and reservation fees you'll have to pay for, in addition to your rail pass, on many of the fast trains and for sleeping acccommodations...as well as the limit that many national rail networks place on the reservations available for Eurail passholders. Depending on your trip schedule, it is also likely that it will be cheaper to purchase point to point tickets. For the trip Berlin-Prague, you can check bahn.de, the German rail company, which has the widest database of European rail schedules....it will also give you a ticket price for this journey. Other rail sites you can check for prices of point to point tickets include tgv-europe.com for France, www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html for Italy, www.sbb.ch/en for Switzerland, www.b-rail.be/main/E for Belgium, and www.renfe.es for Spain. Do your homework BEFORE you purchase the pass...indeed, before you even decide that you really need a pass. The Eurail or Raileurope sites are NOT the places to check point to point ticket, since their fares are usually at a premium cost, don't cover all trains available, and exclude any advance purchase deals that may be offered on the national rail websites.
Thanks so much Norm! I haven't check on the "railpasses" tab. until you tell me to. Great information!
And based on the info you gave me, I'll be then purchasing a ticket from the German border to Czech Republic, and then another ponit-to-point from Czech Republic to Vienna.
I have another question, does the Eurail passholders uses the train system of each country? Like, let's say Italy, they uses the Treintalia train syetem???If so, I suppose I can go on the Trenitalia website to check for timetables, right?
This is our route:
London-Paris-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Czech Republic-Vienna-Munich-Venice-Rome-Florence-Lucerne-Barcelona.
Thanks agan!!!
Yes, they use the national rail systems. If you are ONLY looking for schedules, then go to bahn.de, the German rail website....as I mentioned, the best source for European train schedules. Remember, you won't be able to use your pass London-Paris. Since you're already maxing out the pass at 10 days travel otherwise, go to eurostar.com and you can get a discount fare of $106/per person for that run. You will also have to use the Bahn.de website to see which trains require reservations (marked by a white R inside a little red circle). These you can obtain at RailEurope (expensive), as you arrive in each city before heading out to the next one (dangerous depending on what time of year you're travelling), or through calls to the various national rail companies. Make sure you get an idea as to what these costs will be before deciding on a rail pass. Your global 10 day flexi pass will cost you $939 plus $106 for London-Paris, plus reservation fees and supplements...say another $150-200. Point to point tickets (second class and taking advantage of advance-purchase no-refund tickets found on national rail websites) will cost you about $900.
Link for the Lander, Bayern/Barvarian Tickets. Cheaper than the point-to-point tickets and save the use of a Rail Pass Day.
OOPS. Here is the link:
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.shtml
Thanks for the Link, JB. I'll bel cheking it out sught now.
Norm: thanks again. All the information was so helpful that I'll be printing it out to take it with me... This is our first trip and we are so excited!!!