I am traveling for 5 weeks and hope to hit paris,amsterdam, berlin, prague, vienna, munich, and interlaken for sure, but plan on visiting smaller cities and countrysides towns as well. Is it worth getting a global eurail pass (I was thinking of the 1 month continuous pass) or is it cheaper to go point to point? I have heard there are many hidden fees with eurail such as reservation fees and fees for the high speed trains, so would it be worth it to even do this? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Garrett....generally speaking, you'll find point to point tickets cheaper, especially if you can lock down your travel dates and take advantage of the early-booking specials available on many of the national rail websites.
For any trip at least partly in France, use the French national rail website. Keep the country selected to Great Britain to avoid being pushed over to RailEurope.
For any journey at least partly in Germany, check out the German national rail website.
More are available if you need them.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
There is no substitute for planning. If you can commit to a specific day and train for Amsterdam-Berlin, Berlin-Prague, Vienna-Munich, and Munich-Interlaken, you can get advance purchase, discount fare for those legs from German Rail for as low as €39, €29, €29, and €39, respectively. I don't think you can match that with a pass. Additionally, for travel in Brandenburg and Bavaria (and other German states, as well), you can get all day unlimited on/off passes for regional trains for about €20 (single), which will get you to smaller cities and countryside towns.
For German trains there are really no hidden fees. Seat reservations are a few Euro. On the other hand, lines like Thalys, between Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, often carry hefty surcharges (see here) in addition to the pass.
Posted by
York, PA
300 posts
Put your itinerary into this website:
And choose whether you're purely after the cheapest options or you're willing to pay a bit for the convenience of traveling with a rail pass. The website will tell you whether buying point-to-point tickets or some comination of one or more railpasses will be better.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Unfortunately, it requires a bit more research than just the railsaver site, if you want to get the best deals. Railsaver's database for ticket prices is limited, and does not include the lower fares you can find on national rail websites. As a consequence, it will default more frequently to suggesting the use of a pass as the cheapest way to travel when that may not be the case.
Rail pass travel isn't nearly as convenient as it use to be. Many trains require supplements/reservations on top of a railpass, which will add to the cost, and they can be difficult to obtain...railways place limits on the reservations allowed to passholders.