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Eastern European rail pass

Posted by (NYC) on

Me and my boyfriend are planning to head out to Europe this fall. We planned to originally purchase Eurail passes. But a guy my boyfriend knows at work told us that purchasing rail passes in the States or Western Europe is a tourist trap.

We told him that we planned to start in Western Europe and work our way east. He told us to start out east and then go west. And to purchase train passes in countries that don't yet use the Euro. ie- Hungary. The passes are not in english, but are way cheaper.

The guy is an older Hungarian man who was born and raised in Europe, Immigrated to the States a few years ago. Being that he lived in Europe for 40 some odd years, we figure that he must know what he is talking about.

Has anybody else ever purchased rail passes in Eastern Europe?

Posted by
683 posts

In 2006, we traveled in Poland,Hungary,Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as thru out W.Europe. We did not use passes, as they restrict your freedom and they are much more expensive than point-to-point tix. Buying there is very easy. If language problems beset you, travel agents will happily sell tix. We seldom envcountered any difficulties.

Posted by
12040 posts

In the old Eastern Block, point-to-point rail travel costs a fraction of the price in the West, and the difference increases the farther you travel east. My advice? Only use the rail pass in the west, and buy individual train tickets in the east.

Posted by
29 posts

I was in Europe from July 7-August 3. I used a Eastern Europe rail pass this past July because I wanted to go to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. It cost $187 for 5 days in 2 months. The pass was written in English. I also used a select pass to cover my other travels.

If I had to do it again, I would not use the railpass, but purhcase point to point tickets. I did not check the prices of point to point tickets, but it seems like everything is cheaper the farther east you go. As for the "tourist trap" thing, I found the passes easy to use. You do pay extra for a bed on a night train, and you have to purchase a reservation for some trains.

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