I know this question has been done to death, but I haven't come across any threads that fit my scenario as an exchange student. First time to Europe. I will be studying in Lyon, France from Sept to Dec 2011. Although I have some general idea of where I want to visit, I don't have anything firm yet since I don't know what my school schedule will be like until I get to Lyon. However, I suspect a lot of my trip with be weekend ones (Fri-Sun). I was thinking of getting a Global Flexi-pass for 15 days in 2 months. That way I can travel part p2p and part pass. But would travelling all with p2p be better, as in cheaper? I know in some cases (ex. from Lyon to Bruges), the pass is pretty good...but ya...I'm confused. Especially since I've read that TGV usually has few seats for rail pass users, and I'll be using TGV quite a lot. Any feedback/advice would be appreciated! I know it's hard/annoying to answer this Q since I don't have a firm itinerary, but (if it helps) I am definitely going to visit Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, London.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
You would be better off looking into deals, including passes, offered by the national rail companies for students. Students with a valid ID can usually travel for a fraction of the cost of adults.
Posted by
Champaign, IL, USA
72 posts
If you have not check it yet, be sure to read Rick's section on this site related to railpasses:
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/rail_menu.htm He even has some nice worksheets there to help you calculate costs. In your situation, one way to think of it is like this. If you get a pass that includes plenty of potential travel days, it will give you extra incentive to not sleep in on some weekends since you won't want to waste any of the days on the pass! ;-)
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
Andy Steves specializes in student weekend travel. He is Rick's son and has lots of student travel experience. Check his website. If you look on the home page of this website (Rick Steves) you should see Andy's website address.
Posted by
Los Angeles, California, United States
8 posts
Last year I travelled from London to France to Italy, and then back to London. We found that the chunnel to paris (from london) was cheaper than flying. Once in Paris, we took the train to Versailles, etc (no rail pass). We then took a budget airline (PACK LIGHT!!) to Rome. From Rome, we bought individual tickets for florence and venice. (we were students, too, and I believe there were some cheaper fares). We found that for our specific dates/times/etc, it was cheaper to buy the tickets individually rather than by a rail pass. I would make mock itineraries, and see if it's the same/partially so for you. Have fun!
Posted by
Paradise
6948 posts
"I will be studying in Lyon, France from Sept to Dec 2011" It sounds like you will have a residence permit to stay beyond 90 days - right? If so, and if you are planning to squeeze some of the lengthier trips into a period of a month or less, you might look into the Inter-rail pass, which is available to European residents; I had one as a former student abroad: http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-passes Also... it's quite possible that if you're at a real university, there'll be a student travel authority that scores very cheap weekend and vacation-period travel deals for enrolled students. These arrangements allow you to travel with any new friends you may have made at the uni and maybe to make some new ones.
Posted by
OP
Vancouver
3 posts
Thank you everyone! I'll definitely be doing more research into this. Didn't know about Andy Steves + other facts prior to this. And Randall I like the way you think haha.
Posted by
OP
Vancouver
3 posts
@Russ: Unfortunately I won't have a residence permit! Apparently since 2009 exchange students going to France for only one term don't have to (or rather, aren't allowed to) get a carte de sejour. Dumb change in my opinion. Hopefully my university will have those student travel authorities! Housing turned out to be more expensive than expected, so gotta be careful with my budget...