I will be traveling with three of my college roommates through Europe this summer after graduation. Our travels will take us through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Prague. I have been looking for train schedules and pricing for all of these legs but have not been having much luck. I used Rick's "Europe by Rail" Map but cannot find tickets that match what the map calls out. Can somebody please point me in the right direction for websites to find these routes, or any advice if we should fly or buy a Rail Pass? Thanks!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16359 posts
Train schedules for next summer are not up yet---they change mid-December and mid-June. However, they do not change much (if at all), so you can look at schedules for January to get an idea of travel times and routes. Each country has its own rail website, but most cover other countries as well. People here say the German site, www.bahn.de is the most accurate and comprehensive. (Personally I prefer the Swiss site, www.rail.ch but I seem to be alone there). You can switch the site to English. Note that for Germany there are discount tickets available for travel within one "state'"(Länder tickets) as well as tickets that allow 4 or 5 people to travel together at a discount, especially on weekends. Lee on this board is very good at explaining German rail travel Train travel in Italy is inexpensive and rarely justifies the cost of a railpass. Switzerland on the other hand, can add up quickly, especially if you are using cablecars and mountain trains. Some kind of Swiss pass is often a good choice.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19100 posts
Rick's fare map is only a rough guide. It usually shows the point to point fare for the fastest, most expensive trains. Even at full fare there are often less expensive trains available. For instance, an IC connection from Frankfurt to Munich is about 20% less than the fastest ICE. In addition, there are advance purchase discount fares for as much as 2/3 less. 2nd, the map shows fares in USD, but in actuality, they are priced in Euro. The fare is only as accurate as the exchange rate on the day it was printed. Hafas compiles the schedule used by most national railroads in Europe. It is the source of German Rail schedules and also, I think, Swiss Rail. But the national rail companies set their own fares. If Swiss Rail says the fare will be x amount from Basel to Zurich, that is what you would pay for a ticket in Basel. If German Rail says the fare from Munich to Zurich is a certain amount, that is what you would pay online from the Bahn or at a counter in Munich. If you wanted to go from Zurich to Munich, Swiss Rail might charge you a different amount. Most European rail companies will show fares only for trains entirely within their country. German Rail, OTOH, usually shows fares for trains with one terminus in Germany. Often putting together a fare involves taking the fare from the start to the last stop in that country, adding the fare from the first stop in the second country to the destination, and estimating the fare for the "gap". German Rail's website is at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. Swiss Rail is www.sbb.ch. Italian Rail is at www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html.
Czech Rail is http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/vlakyautobusy/spojeni.