The whole rail thing is confusing. I am a family of 4 going to 4 countries and trying to decide which pass to go with.
My question...does a 'rail pass' cover all of the buses, subways etc to get from small town to small town or is it just for 'train travel'? We are going to Benelux, Germany, Switzerland and France. Any help would be appreciated :)
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
In Switzerland a Swiss Pass covers absolutely every form of public transport you can think of...including the city trams and the Post Buses which go to the remotest villages. Also your kids will travel free with you in Switzerland so they do not need any kind of pass there. As long as you get either the Swiss Family Card (which comes free with the Swiss Pass if you order from USA) or with the 20chf Junior Card purchased in Switzerland - your kids (<16) will travel everywhere with you absolutely free.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Most rail passes do not cover city bus or subway services (although I think the national Swiss pass does). Whether they cover country buses or not varies depending on whether the bus system is integrated with rail.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19240 posts
In Germany, a rail pass covers the S-Bahn in cities like Munich, but not the U-Bahn, trams, or buses.
Regional passes, like a Bayern-Ticket, cover regional buses and all forms of transport in the metro districts.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32325 posts
Letty,
Given that you'll be in relatively few countries, a Railpass may or may not be the best option. If you're only going to be making a few trips by train, it may be more cost effective to just use P-P tickets (Lee or Tim would be able to provide more specific information).
One thing to note is that Railpasses do NOT include the reservation fees that are compulsory on some trains (usually the fast trains such as the TGV in France). You'll have to pay separately for those. With P-P tickets, the reservation fees are included in the cost of the tickets.
You might find it helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website. Click the "Railpasses" tab at the top and then look in the lower right corner for the link.
Happy travels!