My friend and her husband are planning a trip to France, Germany and Austria this fall, and she is having difficulties figuring out the best transportation option. They want to travel via train, but she is having difficulty getting accurate pricing information. As this isn't something I have done (western Europe is on my to do list :)), I was hoping you may have some advice! Here are the legs they are looking for, all of different days: 1) Vienna to Salzburg 2) Salzburg to Munich 3) Munich to Dornbirn 4) Dornbirn to Zurich 5) Zurich to Marseilles
6) Avignon to Paris Thank you in advance!
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
We have bought Eurail passes twice, covering some of the first part of your itinerary. They are convenient, but quite a bit more expensive than buying tickets as you go. If you can plan ahead a few days the tickets are much cheaper if you buy then three days before you use them. We usually spend at least two to four days in each city as we go so buying the next leg ticket when we got off the train usually sufficed to meet the three day requirement. Oh, and if you add a day or two in Linz you will be well rewarded.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
From your schedule above, it appears that you will be traveling through four countries. To do this with a pass, you will need a four-country pass. You can get a three-country pass for France, Germany and Austria but you will pay extra to travel through Switzerland. Second, when you travel between countries with a railpass, the two countries must share borders. Austria and France do not share borders. Again, you will pay extra for your train travel in Switzerland. Next, you will pay supplemental fees in these countries to ride the nicer (and faster) trains. Interestingly, it does not appear to me that you are doing enough train travel in these countries to warrant the cost of a railpass. It's not as convenient as you may think. As mentioned above, you can buy the tickets for the next leg of your journey 2-3 days in advance when you arrive at a particular station. This method works well but you won't get any special discounts or fares. To do this, you need to firm up your travel schedule and then go online with the different train websites for the different countries and buy the special fare tickets. There's a certain level of frustration with this method but a lot of travelers have learned to do this.