Long Rail Pass

Hi Matt. Curious as to why you say 'I know a rail pass is my best form or transportation'. From my experience, buying individual tickets usually is easier and less expensive.

The days of automatic, no-brainer, rail pass is a good deal are long gone - maybe 20 years. Rail pass comes with restrictions and surcharges so you really have to plan very carefully just to break even or get a little ahead. So you need to do some homework by determining the p2p prices and carry with the rail passes with surcharges added in. You do need to be a little careful with your time as your are only allowed 90 days in a Schengen country. Great Britain is not a part of the Schengen zone so time spent there does not count as a part of the 90 days.

A Global railpass will not cover travel in the UK, and will not cover the Eurostar from London to Paris. That means you will be paying $803 ( assuming a youth pass) for 15 trips on the continent, at an average of $54 each. To that you will have to add the cost for supplements or reservation fees that are required of pass holders on most intercity trains. You can probably do better planning ahead and buying discounted p2p tickets. You would lose some flexibility, but could save some money.

If this 3.5 months in Europe includes time in the UK too, I would plan on how many days you'll be in the UK since your Pass isn't valid there. Now, for the continent that's another story. It may be that you could use 2 Passes, depending on much zipping around you'll be doing. I would suggest getting a ten day Pass for 3 countries, France, Germany, Switzerland, assuming you're going there too. For the flanking countries, Poland, Cz, Italy, Hungary, Holland, it is not necessary to have them included. That is where the point to point tickets would be a better idea. With the Pass you'll still pay for the extras, mandatory reservations as on the TGV, Thalys, trains going from Germany to France and vice versa. and esp. the couchette or sleeper. I take night trains too but avoid the couchette/sleeper...that's a big extra expense that cuts into the Pass savings.

A railpass is not automatically the best option. But it can be worthwhile in your case. For a long stay when you won't know your exact schedule ahead of time, p2p tickets at discounts with advanced purchase are not a good option. A railpass begins to pay for itself with longer trips, something more common on long stays going from city to city. But you'll still need reservations so factor those costs in. Long trips, over 4 hours, often can be had cheaper and definitely faster by air. Something to consider. I'd recommend a pass for as many days as you'll have long trips. Use p2p tickets for short trips and try to book those ahead if you can. For really long trips, over 8 hours, consider flying. And as noted, a rail pass is no good in the UK or for the Eurostar. And watch your time. Maximum 90 days in Europe except for the UK.

Matt, As noted above, the mandatory reservations are something you have to consider when using the Pass. If you're zipping between Munich and Paris, that's only 9 Euro, 2nd class. Between Paris and Frankfurt it's 10 Euro, 2nd class. If your Pass is 1st class, the 1st class reservation between Paris and Frankfurt jumps to 25 Euro. I've done both on this route. The 1st class Pass come in handy when 2nd class reservations are sold out and when you want to get away from the locals in 2nd class.