We are arriving into Frankfurt, and plan to travel through Germany, Austria, northern Italy, Switzerland, France, and Benelux... we are travelling for 3 weeks but plan to do more point to point travelling than all over (like we are thinking Frankfurt to Munich, Munich to Innsbruck, Innsbruck to Venice, Venice to Bern, Bern to Paris, Paris to Rouen and back, then to Holland). From your experience, would a eurail pass be worth it or are we better off to buy individual tickets?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you are willing to commit to specific dates and times, you can get non-refundable, non-exchangeable discount fares for your routes by booking online well in advance (usually up to 90 days) on the appropriate countries' national rail sites. Here are the standard 2nd class fares and the lowest discount fares (in parentheses) for your routes:
Frankfurt-Munich: €85 (€29).
Munich-Innsbruck: €34.70 (€19).
Innsbruck-Venice: €55 (€29).
Bern-Paris: €81 (€15).
Paris-Rouen: €19.80 (€10).
Paris-Amsterdam: €105 (€25).
Posted by
Redding, CA, USA
1568 posts
The Select Pass covers 5 connecting countries.
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/select.htm
Enter your cities, etc., on Rail Saver. It is useful in the planning stages.
Make a chart and the cost of point-to-point cost of tickets.
You must research and plan carefully.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Rail Saver only compares the cost of a pass to that of full fare tickets, not discount fare tickets.
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
I think you need to do alot of homework. Passes are often not cost efficent, but conveinent in that they are more flexible, many routes do not need reservations, and ones that do only require a day or two notice.
Point to point tickets, bought in advance, offer no flexiblity,, but you can save alot of money with them.
Tims post is good.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19238 posts
A question: Are you planning on spending a day or more in Frankfurt after arrival and then proceeding on to Munich, or do you plan on going straight to Munich after you plane arrives? I would not recommend using a non-refundable discount fare in the latter case, in case you flight is delayed. However there are some ways to save on fares by using regional trains and P2P tickets to the first stop in Bavaria and a Bayern-Ticket from there.
Posted by
OP
Northern BC, Canada
2 posts
We arrive into Frankfurt quite late, so would be travelling on to Munich the next day. Thanks for the great replies so far!
Posted by
Prescott, AZ, USA
33 posts
My Mom and I got a pass saver 30 day Eurail pass...It was 1088 dollars...We have changed our minds so many times once we got here, if not for that Eurail pass we would be stuck in places or have to leave before we wanted to...We have used our pass well and traveling on the spur of the moment, any other pass would have cost us much more...For us Innsbruck was okay, but Salzburg was fabulous and we even spent an extra night there...I guess if you have planned hotels or B&B's already then sticking to a schedule is what you need to do...
Enjoy,