Best way to travel around europe?

Ashely, it's going to depend on the routes you want to travel and the distance. Sometimes it may be by train, other times it may be by plane. It might even be by bus here and there....going from Paris to Madrid would probably be best by plane. Going from Madrid to Bruges would be a combination of plane and train. But if you were looking into those actual trips, it would be bad routing. Try not to backtrack. Keep going in one direction.

Frank: Do you recommend buying point-to-point tickets? How much would that typically cost going from city to city within one country? (say, Paris to Nice, Berlin to Dresden, etc) Second class of course.

Hey Ashley, see some of Rick's tips on the web such as http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/traintip.htm and others listed under "transportation". Get a map and decide which cities you want to see and how long you're going to stay in Europe. The maps and suggested itineraries in the RS guidebooks work well for our family. Then, on the German Rail (DB) site, put in some city pairs, ( Paris to Brugges for example),number of travelers, dates, and [INVALID] the time/changes & [INVALID] the class . Keep clicking and you'll have an answer for cost.. Write those down with any special info ( such as 30 day advance etc). The Rail point to point tickets are not quite as complicated as buying airline tickets, but practice will help. Then look at railpass cost for the countries you picked ( it's on the RS tab above). I'm sure you can find this said better in Rick's books and on the "travel tips', 'travel links' above. It's fun to plan a trip when you have a great guidebook with suggestions. I usually read 3 or 4 guidebook and peruse the web before going on a significant trip.

Ashley,, it is very difficult to give average prices,, as price for route can be different depending on many factors, time of day, how far in advance ticket is purchased etc. For long trip there are cheapo airlines, just be careful to see which airports they use, some use very out of the way airports that are a hassle to get to and from , especially if flight is early in am or late in pm.. ( Beavais for Paris is one).

As Pat said, it's impossible to give "average" prices. Your best bet is to go to the rail lines' websites and plug in your route and dates to see what the fares will be. For some, buying in advance will save money. For others, it won't.....Lately, the consensus is to probably buy point to point tickets for the shorter trips and check out the discount airlines for the longer ones. (And I'll reiterate....check which actual airports the airlines fly in and out of. Don't take it for granted that just because he airline says "Paris," the airport is actually near Paris.)

When I travel, rather than planning a trip that includes London, Madrid, Rome, Athens and Berlin - I try to plan a logical swath through a specific region........................... This keeps the time and expense lost to transportation at a minimum............................................. Once you have your region identified, the mode of transportation becomes easier to identify. You should consider all options available to you for your specific plans. Will the train service work for me? Are there busses if there aren't trains? Should I consider ferries (Baltics)? Will I need a car? If I drive, where will I park?................................................... In many areas, but not all, point-to-point tickets for short hops on a train will be your best choice.

Ashley, as the others have mentioned, the "best" method will depend on your Itinerary. Longer distances are often best via budget airline, however it's also necessary to consider circumstances such as time & distance to the airport, availability of flights, etc. Rail travel is usually the "best" option, especially when using high speed trains. ¶ A Railpass may save some money, but again that will depend on the circumstances of the trip. I sometimes use a Railpass in conjunction with P-P tickets. ¶ If you could provide more detailed information on the cities you plan to visit, it would help.

Something I haven't seen here but I feel deserves mentioning is that while the rail pass is usually more expensive than point-to-point, if you value flexibility and convenience, it's worth every dime. Even if you know exactly when and where you plan to hop trains, one late arrival and all your plans - and tickets - go out the window. For the way we travel, get up in the morning and look at a map and say "Go," the convenience of hopping on the next train, switching without waiting in line to buy tickets, backtracking when/if necessary, all make the rail pass ideal.

Mick,...part of the problem with a railpass is that most premium fast trains in Europe now require that you pay a reservation/supplement before you can travel, so it's not a "hop on any train" type of situation. Since many national train systems are placing limits on the number of "reservations" available to railpass holders, you can, during busy travel times, end up in the seemingly-ridiculous position where you may not be able to get a seat on the train but the person behind you in line may be able to purchase a point to point ticket on that very same train!

Ashley, one more thought. How many are traveling? Rick has said that if there are 3 or 4 of you, or you're traveling heavy ( "Kids"-his words, not mine, in the "Best of Europe") then rental cars may be better. It really depends on how much distance you are trying to cover. "Rail and Drive", where you use both rental car and train, might work for you.

Mick - I would agree with you on using Pass as long as the rides are long, daytime, and within Germany and Austria where you get max. worth out of your Pass, especially riding the ICE. Even when it is recommended that you reserve on a particular ICE departure/route, you can just hop on. If you stand, so what? And how long would that be? If you're going from, say, Stuttgart-Magdeburg, then a few days later Magdeburg-Vienna, then later Vienna-Bremerhaven for various reasons it has to be scheduled that way, using the Pass on ICE is the way to do it. As long as you don't need a couchette or a sleeper on a night train, say from Linz-Berlin, you'll just have to pay for the reservation for a compartment seat and sleep upright. You are correct as regards to the flexibility when using the Pass for rides over 4 hours daytime.