I will be traveling from England to France to Switzerland to Belgium and back to England in a few weeks. What is the best type pass to buy for 2 people and is there anything special I need to know about traveling through multiple countries.
Thanks
Cynthia
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19100 posts
The first thing you need to realize is that the Eurail pass is not valid in the UK. However, if you do have a Eurail pass that is valid at the time, you can get a discount on the EuroStar from London to the continent.
You also need to realize that, unless you are doing an awful lot of train travel, P2P tickets might be less expensive, particularly for some of the days. For two people, for travel in three countries (Fr, Be, And CH), a Select 3 country saver pass would probably be best. The minimum days of travel for that select pass is five and it would cost $428 (from ETBD) per person based on two passes purchased.
So, for the pass to pay, you would have to have five days of travel totaling over $428 ($85, about €55, per day). Add to the $428 any passholder fares you might have to pay.
If you travel between France and Belgium on the high speed Thalys, the pass will not cover the entire fare. You will also have to pay an additional passholder fare (see here) to ride on Thalys.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
There are several types of passes good for travel in the UK. Click on the Railpasses tab at the top of the page you're reading now and carefully read everything you find there. Go to www.seat61.com (a great train site) and read the Railpasses section there. Then come back and ask more questions here, if necessary.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
How much train travel do you anticipate while in Switzerland. Often times, a Swiss pass of some type is better than a Eurail pass for Switzerland. This is especially true if you plan on a lot of travel in the Berner Oberland (i.e. Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Gimmelwald, Muerren, Grindlewald and the two mountain tops - Jungfrau and Schilthorn). The Eurail pass will only get you a 25% discount in the areas I mentioned above (it costs $177 each for a roundtrip to the Jungfrau and $91 for a roundtrip to the Schilthorn). A Swiss 1/2 fare card, that costs CHF99, is good for 30 days. You get 50% off all transportation in Switzerland. Again, it depends where you are going and how much train travel you will be doing.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7570 posts
Also consider your Route. Switzerland to Belgium could potentially take you through Germany, adding a country.