Eurail - Pass or Point to Point - Help!

Lee has, as always, given an excellent response, so I will touch on a couple of points that you did not ask about in your OP. You will have a very tough time sleeping regardless, but for your own sake at least reserve couchette bunks. Don't even think about trying to sit up all night. Since you are traveling in peak season, couchette reservations should be made asap.

Be careful of the Berlin to Rome connection. Unless you start from Rome with a night train, it will probably take two rail pass days. But you have basically four days and the min rail pass is 5 day, so maybe it doesn't matter. As far as using a rail pass, you will get a discount from London to Brussels and from Paris to London, but I suspect Brussels to Amsterdam will be less with advanced purchase P2P than with a railpass, particularly if you factor in supplemental fees with Thalys. For Amsterdam to Berlin, with advance purchase from the Bahn, you can get Europa-Spezial-Tickets for €39 pP. You can get Berlin to Rome, via overnight train from Munich to Rome, for €63 pP for seats, €119 pP in an economy double compartment. The surcharge (reservation fee) with a pass would be €9 and €65 respectively. I don't know what Rome to Paris might cost, but you can see that you need to do the math for comparison and be sure you take into account the discount fares you can get in Germany.

Craig, For this Itinerary, I'd suggest arranging along these lines: > Train from Brussels to Amsterdam is good - it's a short trip. Note that you'll be using the local rail system and NOT "Eurail" - it may be Thalys. Eurail is a marketing entity and not a rail system. > Amsterdam to Berlin - I'd use a day train for that route, as it's reasonably short (I'll be taking the same route in Sept.). There's a train departing 08:56, arriving Berlin Hbf at 15:43 (time 6H:47M, one change at Hilversum). > Berlin to Rome - the rail trip on that route is 18-20 HOURS. You might consider using a budget flight instead. EasyJet has flights from Berlin Schoenfeld to Rome / FCO at a cost of ~74.99 (depart 12:55, arrive 15:00). However, I'd recommend BOOKING SOON as the prices will increase as the flight fills. IMO, that's a much more efficient use of your limited travel time! > Rome to Paris - there's at least one direct train (no changes), departing 19:45 with a travel time of ~15H. You could either use that or a budget flight. EasyJet has flights from Rome / CIA to Paris / ORY at a current cost of ~€66.99. You'll have to weigh the cost of the train with Couchettes vs. the budget flights. One point to note with budget airlines is that they often have fairly restrictive baggage limits and usually only allow ONE carry-on item. It would be a good idea to reserve your EuroStar tickets on the web as soon as possible, especially for July. I haven't done any "number crunching" but with the few tickets you'll require, P-P should be adequate. Try to purchase tickets a few days before travel, as you may qualify for discounts. P-P tickets will include reservations (if applicable), so you'll have an assigned car no. and seat. Happy travels!

Thanks for the advice. We really appreciate it, we went with the planes and saved time and money actually. Thanks!