Rail Pass or No?

Without doing a detailed analysis, my gut says no. I don't see where it is good on the ferry to Holyhead. Not good in the UK or on the Eurostar to Paris. Paris to Amsterdam has very high rail pass reservation fees, almost has high as getting an advance purchase nonrefundable ticket. Switzerland and the Berner Oberland is best done with some kind of Swiss pass since the Eurail pass only gives a 25% discount beyond Interlaken. Italy trains are pretty cheap, especially with Super Economy tickets on fast trains. Assume you mean Venice and Genova (aka Genoa). Genoa to Barcelona would be a grueling slog on the trains. Take a flight instead.

'What would you do?' - Knuckle down and apply myself to the comparison maths.

http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm

Sam thank you very much for your response. I was definitely thinking along the same lines, and with your summary of it I think I will do as much early booking as possible and stay away from the Eurail pass. Through the Rail Europe reservation site, I input my itinerary and it looked like reservations and such would add an additional 600+ dollars on-top of the price for the Rail Pass... I was thinking that it might be worth it for the first class comfort provided by the Eurail pass. Yet it seemed like for most trains (high speed) I would be given a discount but would not necessarily get a first class seat.

Thanks again,
Matt & Shannon

P.S. That was supposed to be Geneva Switzerland... lol

When you buy advance purchase nonrefundable tickets on-line, you have the option to buy 1st class tickets, sometimes, at close to the same price as 2nd class. For instance, German trains charge an additional 4.50 euro per 2nd class ticket if you want a seat reservation, but if you buy a 1st class ticket, the seat reservation is included in the price. In an upcoming German trip with 4 rail legs, I'll be getting 1st class on 2 legs because it is only added 6 euro per person to the final ticket price.
Since you are stopping in Geneva, Switzerland, why don't you go there first from Gimmelwald? It is actually quicker to Venice by train from Geneva than from Gimmelwald. You might also want to check the price of flying. Then fly from Venice to Barcelona.

I would not plan a trip spending only two nights and one day in so many major cities that have much more to offer. I also would not bother with stopping in either Frankfurt or Genoa when time is so limited, since they're not among most the top tourist destinations on most lists, and especially not in preference to more time in Amsterdam or any other city on your list.

I guess the point of this trip is to view these countries from the train window, more than to spend time in the cities. You should know that the scenery will be similar, and not "spectacular" for most of the trip. A high percentage will be fairly common views of farmland and main transportation corridors, with some graffiti thrown in for variety.

A rail pass does not get you to Paris; those train/ferry tickets would always be separate. Flying from Dublin to Paris or Amsterdam is cheap, if you don't really need that day in London. Flying from Venice to Barcelona can be much faster and cheaper than the long train rides to connect those cities.

If you did make all these long trips by train, starting from Paris on 5/23 and ending in Barcelona on 5/30, that's 5 long train travel days during an 8-day window. 4 out of 5 will require a seat reservation fee and given your tight schedule, you'd want to make those before you go. Reservations will not cost $600 for a couple on top of the rail pass; they will total about $300 for 2, including those that are optional, for all your reservable trips on the continent. (This includes Thalys 1st class reservations at $45 per person, a lower price than last year.) If you book early and request 1st class, then you will get 1st class.

You're probably the best candidate I've identified so far for the new 5 days out of 10 days version of the Eurail Global pass at $440 per person in 1st class. It would be possible for this offer to change in 2016, but a pass purchased in November or December can (and must) be activated in Europe within 6 months of purchase.

If comparing the cost of advance-discount train tickets, the best time to buy most is 3 months ahead of your travel dates.

P.S. Maybe your reservation estimate included Eurostar tickets, but those really are separate tickets, not reservation fees.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my question. I knew I would get at least one person to chide me about my insane itinerary. And for good reason. I am well aware that I will not be able to fully experience these great destinations with such little time for each stop. And all the running around can and will make for a tiresome and possibly bad experience... However, my wife and I are experienced at "doing too much with not enough time"

This is most likely our only chance to visit Europe and we have a small bucket list of places to go and things to see. Sticking to this list will allow us to see those things in our short amount of time and we are also aware of how much we will miss because of what we are trying to do.

I think your suggestion of skipping Frankfurt and staying in Amsterdam is good advice for sure. We originally planned on staying in Amsterdam but wanted to see a little bit of Germany as well. I think the night in Amsterdam would be worth more than Breakfast in Frankfurt.

I just couldn't figure out if the Rail Pass was a good deal. We used the Rail Europe site and entered in all of our reservations for the whole trip and it came back with a price of over 600 dollars. I think I am missing something, and because we are so far out I can't really see exact prices. Going from London to Paris on a Saturday sucks... I guess I need to do some more research.

Rail Europe says that we would get a discount with Irish Ferries for the Dublin to London part. But on the Irish Ferries site, when I try to book a sail & rail ticket, there is no where to opt for the Rail Pass Holder discount. They also say there is a discount on the Eurostar, can't seem to find that discount on the Eurostar site either.

I guess after my initial research it seemed like a Rail Pass might be more of a headache.

P.S. Were not going to Genoa. Just Geneva for the tour of the LHC at CERN.

How about when we look at it this way:

Irish Ferries Sail & Rail from Dublin to Holy Head to London
Eurostar from London to Paris (On a Saturday)
Thayls from Paris to Amsterdam
ICE from Amsterdam to Switzerland with a couple connections to get to Interlaken then to Gimmelwald
Interlaken to Venice (Not sure of all the trains involved)
ETR610 EuroCity train from Venice to Geneva
TGV Duplex from Geneva to Barcelona

Rail pass or no... :)

mgriffen, You would save a little bit of time by changing the order. London - Paris - Amsterdam - Switzerland is zig-zagging south and north
. I suggest:

• London to Amsterdam (Eurostar then change in Brussels).
• To Paris (Thalys High Speed train).
• To Geneva (TGV-Lyria High Speed train).
• Onward to Berner Oberland (Swiss trains)
• Berner Oberland to Venice

Unless you actually want to stop somewhere in Germany.
Venice to Barcelona is a long way, and I would recommend flying. Even if you are taking the train, Venice - Geneva - Barcelona is not the most direct route. If you want to see Geneva, this is best done between Paris and the Berner Oberland, as one of the two routes from Paris to the Berner Oberland is via Geneva.

You can look up all these train routes and times (but not buy the tickets) at www.bahn.de For trains in, to and from Switzerland you can use www.sbb.ch