Global rail pass or individual tickets

If you get lucky someone here may do your homework for you. But your really have to do you own homework by pricing each leg of your trip using the local train sites. I know, I know it will take time and effort. Then compare the total cost of each approach. With the discounts for advance purchases and the extra fees for seat reservations and premium for fast trains, it get harder to justify the price of the rail passes. However, a rail passes does provide greater flexibility to make last minutes changes so you may be willing to pay the price for that convenience.

I would like to underline the statement above that you should use the websites of the national rail carrier for each country where the journey originates to get the actual price. Do not use RailEurope for pricing - their fares are inflated 3-4X and schedules are generally wrong.

I'll at least start you off by providing the links so you can plug and chug yourself. For Italy:

Trenitalia

For Germany:

Deutsche Bahn This will also work for going to and from Prague, and to Amsterdam.

For Amsterdam to Paris:

Thalys

For Paris to Barcelona:

SNCF

If you're going anywhere within the Czech Republic:

ČD

Within the Netherlands:

NS

And within Spain:

Renfe

I know this is suppose to be simple but the whole railpass or direct has me so confused. When I try to determine direct pricing it's not available and they ask if I have a railpass and type?

At the end of May we are planning to fly into Paris:
Paris, France to Trier, Germany (what railpass or company?)
Fussen, Germany to Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg, Austria to Cinque Terre, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy to Paris, France

Fly home

Who asks you what type of railpass you have?

When I try to determine direct pricing it's not available and they ask if I have a railpass and type?
Where or what web site are you getting this message? Do not use RailEurope. You do not get such a message if are on the national train site for that country. For example, go to Trenitalia.com, click the British flag for English, and plug your travel plans for Rome to Florence and you will get every train going that way and the various fares once you select a schedule. It is easy.
Sometime it works much better to post your own question as a new question and not hijack an existing question.

@klewi, Start a new thread rather than tagging on an existing one when you have a specific question.

Pat,

what are your ages? For a global pass, first class adult pass will hardly pay vs individual 2nd class tickets (and 2nd class is really all you need). The Eurail youth pass (2nd class) is a better deal if you are under 26.

My husband & I did a very similar route in reverse this past May. We had the 30 day Global pass as I like the flexibility of it - but you do pay more that. We never knew how long we wanted to stay in a place til we got there and we elected to stay longer in a couple and drop a couple others for a future trip. We did not pay ANY reservation fees - even in France - we chose to stay on the regional lines there which MAY take a little longer but for us was not a problem - even the ICE trains are covered in most countries - reservations are suggested but NOT required. I happen to like 1st class and regardless of what people say we met plenty of local folks there. We encountered problems getting seats only twice - traveling to & from Venice from the north - our solution - we head straight for the restaurant car and grab a table - there is usually a luggage closet in this car where we store our bags. We sit - enjoy a beverage or two and a snack - we usually end up sharing our table with others who also could not find a seat. We also consider our time on train as part of our journey we get to see the countryside, catch up emails, travel journals or blogs and just pause for a minute. It is not for everyone to travel by the seat of their pants with no firm plans but we love it. Our first trip 1997 was planned with preset hotels and transportation - that was the last time. I make our hotel reservations the night before we are headed to a new place - love the internet!

Your Venice to Munich trip will be full - either reserve or sit in the restaurant car for free. Have a great trip!