Eurail pass

Why buy a pass at all? Until you have checked point-to-point tickets you cannot tell if a pass will save or waste money. Yes, it is a lot of research. But you have already found that passes are not simple either, especially not for routes where a supplementary seat reservation will be required.
To find much more, and much better, advice than mine, look at the purchase strategies on www.seat61.com

I don't think you even have to do research to figure out if you will save money by buying point to point tickets. We used to use passes and they are somewhat handy, but they have gotten very expensive and we haven't used them for the last three European journeys. When you get off the train go straight to the ticket window and buy your tickets for the next leg of the journey. If you buy the ticket seventy-two hours before you use it you will get a discount.

It is extremely unlikely that buying a Rail Pass would be an effective choice for your trips. You will have to make reservation for most sectors. Poland is too far to be reached by train from any of the other countries, so I'd plan flying there form wherever you are.

The Eurail youth passes are a particularly good deal, but are only available in 2nd class, so if you want to sit with your son, you will either have to sit in 2nd class or to purchase 1st class Global or Se|ect passes. In my opinion, 1st class is not worth the extra money, but the only way to get 2nd class passes is to buy Regional or One Country passes. France is not included with a Se|ect pass, but a Se|ect pass for the other countries plus individual tickets for France might be a viable alternative. Look at a map. You can't get from Poland to Italy without going through some combination of Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland, so you will have to include some of those countries in you pass. For Austria, you could purchase separate tickets from you last stop in Germany to your first stop in Italy. Alternatively, if you can commit to a specific date and train, you could book advance purchase Savings Fare tickets from the German side of the Polish border to Munich and from Munich to Rome. Understand that many of the discount tickets are a great savings but train specific and non-refundable. Purchasing them at a counter might come with an extra fee or might not be possible. They are offered for sale 92 days before the travel date and can sell out at the lowest price, so buying them at the counter three days before might not get you a significant discount.

Six countries in 21 days.. really,, and some are far apart. Have you sat down and worked out train travel times.. some trips will take all day.. so reducing time actually sightseeing at destinations.Even short trips ( Paris to Amsterdam is only 3.5 hours) but with checking out of hotel, getting to train station, travel, then getting to next hotel you have minimally blown at least 1/2 a day just in travel. Are you flying into Poland and out of London?

Hi, The rip off aspect of the Global Pass is exactly that: its exclusion of Poland. Poland is the link to riding from west to east. Without Poland you can't do Warsaw to Paris using one Pass day, ie, Warsaw-Berlin night train, then Berlin Hbf to Paris Est (day) changing in Mannheim or Frankfurt. But, Paris-Budapest can be done using one Pass day.

?? Who said anything about Budapest? If you're just going through Budapest so you can use the pass to Paris, Krakow is closer, timewise, to Berlin than to Budapest, and you can't use the pass from Krakow to Budapest, either. However, you can get an 8 hour, 2 stop IC bus from Krakow to Berlin with a Saving Fare from the Bahn. From Berlin there is a direct CNL night train to Paris. Or, since you don't seem to plan on seeing anything in Germany, go from Krakow to Vienna and from there to Italy (but then you'll have to go through the Czech Rep or Slovakia and add them to you pass (or buy a separate ticket from Krakow to Vienna and save a day of a pass).

@ Mel... Going to Budapest from Paris was just an example to show that such cities were they part of your travel plans could be done using just one Pass day. I've done part of that route, Paris-Vienna via Munich, not the last few hours to Budapest. That was prior to the French desire not to participate in the Select Pass arrangement. Take the southern route Paris-Munich CML night train direct, then Munich-Budapest on the RJ direct. You'll be in Budapest by the afternoon. Both legs count as one Pass day.

I have to agree with the others, I do believe buying a Eurail pass is not a great idea. I also had planned on getting one, but after getting some advise for these forums and friends, I found that point to point is much cheaper if you buy ahead of time. Here are some good sites to look into. www.trenitalia.com for Italy and www.thello.com for France to Italy or the other way around. Good luck.

Mel, you may find in your planning that it may be cheaper and faster to fly between some of your most distant locations. The budget carriers do not accept a Eurail pass. Also, try a bit of research on the point-to-point tickets. One of my nephews was ready to spend $1,500 on a Eurail pass for six countries about 3 months ago. With some planning, research and the purchase of a few non-refundable tickets, his transportation costs were about $800. However, you are running out of time to get the best prices on tickets. But, with 60-70 days left, there are some great fares to be snapped up. We can help if we have a better look at your itinerary.