Rome to Florence to Gimmelwald to Bacharach to Brugge to Amsterdam--by Train!!

First mistake is "doing the math on Rail Europe". Rail Europe's prices are higher than the walk up full fare prices at rail counters in Europe and much higher than the discounted fares you can get online.

Second, you should figure out what trains you will be taking and what the supplements, called "passholder reservation fees", are for each of the trains. For instance, in Italy, all of the fastest express trains charge pass holders an extra fee of about 10€ (?) per trip.

True, a Eurail pass allows you to travel on KD boats without any extra charge, but that is only if you have "used" a day of the pass that day's travel. If you are staying on the Rhein that day, a pass day will probably just about equal the boat fare. If you use a Bahn train to get to the boat dock, you can get a 20% discount on the boat fare by showing your train ticket.

Depending on how much long distance traveling you are doing, a rail pass could pay off, but the only way to find out for sure is to use fares from the national rail companies and to know the extra fees you will incur using the rail pass.

I don't think a 3 country pass would work because you will also need Italy to cover the segment between Florence and Brig.

RailEurope is the worst place to get fare information.

You will be better off buying separate tickets.

Trains from Fiumicino to central Rome cost € 14, trains from Schiphol to central Amsterdam cost € 3,80

The Eurail pass looks like an easy answer. It's not. You are actually planning in being in 5 different countries and you are describing buying a 3-country pass. I understand that you can buy P-T-P tickets in Italy. You will still be in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. More point-to-point tickets or a 4-country pass.

For one, from Interlaken Ost into Lauterbrunnen and onto Gimmelwald, the pass only provides a 25% discount. Also, the bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg for the gondola to Gimmelwald does not accept the pass at all. Also, if you intend to go to the two mountain tops, once again, only a 25% discount on these expensive rides. Once you get to Belgium and you take the Thalys train to Amsterdam, Thalys has one of the highest supplemental fees for Eurail pass holders in Europe. About 39Euro just to get your seat reservations. Italy (Trenitalia) will charge you 10Euro extra for each fast train that you will be on. I see 2-3 just to get to the Swiss border. You need to do a bit more homework. Point-to-point tickets are less expensive.

One of the most important questions is are you willing to accept non-refundable tickets for steep discounts on the point-to-point tickets. This requires more precise planning on the days and time of your travel. You also have to do this up to 90 days out to get these limited fares. If you are not willing to work a bit more for these tickets, you might as well get the pass and pay the full base fares as you travel. Still you will bump into the extra fees and limits described above.

For Example:

1) Rome to Florence 29Euro discount vs. 45Euro base fare on www.trenitalia.com
2) Florence to Spiez, Switzerland via a train change in Milan 41Euro discount vs 112Euro base fare
3) Spiez to Gimmelwald 10.20CHF base fare on www.sbb.ch
4) Gimmelwald to Bacharach 110CHF on www.sbb.ch
5) Bacharach to Bruge via Bruxelles-Midi 49Euro discount vs 72 Euro base fare on www.bahn.de
6) Bruge to Amsterdam via Bruxelles-Midi 47Euro discount vs 75 Euro base fare on https://www.b-europe.com/

Yes, you do have to work on multiple train websites to get any of these tickets. And, you have to plan well. One of the lures of the railpass is that you can bypass these multiple train websites - that is until you get there and have to purchase supplemental fees and seat reservations.

Yeah Belgium and Amsterdam are counted as 1 "country" for the pass so that's where I was getting those numbers from and we are doing the Rhine on the same day we're traveling to Brugge. Sounds like point to point tickets still may be the way to go.

Thanks everyone!

For a weekday in April, I see an advance purchase fare as low as 59€/person from Interlaken Ost (09:00) to Bacharach from the Bahn website. I also see an advance purchase fare of 44€/person from Bacharach to Brugge for an afternoon train (I saw 39€ fares in the morning, but you're going to be cruising then). Don't plan on going very far by boat on the Rhein. Those boats go very slowly, particularly upstream (to the SE for those geographically challenged). A long cruise could quickly take you into the afternoon.

Between Bacharach and St. Goar is the most interesting part of the river. You might consider taking the train from Bacharach to St. Goar (to get the 20% discount), then the boat back to Bacharach to get your luggage, then the train to Brugge. On the other hand, St. Goar to Bacharach takes 70 min, 30 min longer than the other way. The 2,50€ savings might not be worth the extra time.