I am wondering if purchasing the Eurail pass is the best option for me. I will be traveling through France, Switzerland, and Italy within 1 months time. I plan on making 2 stops in France, 1 in Switzerland and 4 stops in Italy.
It seems like a big expense, but I know it can cost a lot to travel between cities/countries.
If not the Eurail pass, what would be the next best option (dont want to drive between places).
thank you!!!
You have to do your homework. You have to price point to point tickets to determine if the rail pass will save money. Actual train travel is pretty cheap especially in Italy.
Booking in advance can get you good discount fares in France, and possibly for travel from France into Switzerland. Can you commit now to specific travel dates and times? If so, what is your itinerary? As Frank said, point-to-point tickets are very reasonable in Italy.
I will add, do not forget that the option is not one or the other, mix it up if it works out. If a reasonable cost select pass or country flexpass gets you the travel days you need for long, expensive jumps, and using Point to Point tickets for short jumps or Italy works, then great. However, if you are only looking at 3 legs to get to Italy, and three countries, then it may be difficult to justify a pass.
Try this website:
http://railsaver.com/default.asp
Enter in your itinerary as best you know it and it will tell you which rail pass or combination of passes (or possibly, just point-to-point tickets) will be the most cost-effective. You can also choose to give some weight toward the convenience of not having to queue to buy the tickets.
The price data hasn't been updated in a few years but I think the basic logic is still valid.
If you use the Railsaver site, be aware that it only compares the cost of full fare p2p tickets to the cost of a railpass. You can often get discount fares by booking in advance on a country's national rail site. However, those tickets are non-exchangeable and non-refundable so you need to be able to commit to a specific departure date and time.
Even at full fare, p2p tickets in Italy are cheaper than a railpass.
If you tell us your exact itinerary, we'll give you help in booking discount fares, where possible.
I haven't used a rail pass in years. When I work out the cost, it only saves money on big travel days. Since I go in short legs (to keep travel time from consuming my vacation), a pass costs more than point to point.
If you do purchase a pass, buy it only for days that you expect to travel a long way.
