Train travel in Europe

Olivia,, WHEN is your trip. Point to points are almost always cheaper then passes IF bought WELL in advance. Also, if trip is well in future,, then air can be cheap option too, I bought two tickets from Barcelona to Paris on Easyjet for this summer, total cost ,, for TWO one way tickets, including all fees taxes and extra luggage charges.
97 euros. Buying in advance is the one certain way to save money with so much ,, hotels etc too .

I recommend pricing each leg adding up and see if it's cheaper than a euro pass.

For a Eurail pass, you will need a 3-country pass. That's a fair amount of money. Plus, you're running out of time for RailEurope to send you the pass. With the pass, you can ride the least expensive and slower trains at no extra cost. Also, you will change trains more often as the slower Regionale trains don't make the longer journies. Once you step up to the faster and better trains, you will find that you will need to buy seat reservations. These are not included with the Eurail pass. Thus, you are most likely going to be at the train station pay for your seat reservations. In Spain, this can run from 4.50E to 10E depending on the type of train you are on. In France, it's 1.50E to 3.00E again depending on the type of train you are on. In Italy, it's 10E. The extra time in the train stations is just an extra hassle. The point-to-point tickets will be less expensive. In some cases, much less expensive if you are willing to do the homework and carefully plan you departure dates and times. But, with only 2 weeks left, you're running behind. If you are successful with purchases, you can print out your tickets at home. From Madrid to Paris, will you be stopping in Barcelona? Your train to Paris will. You'll even change trains there on many runs. The journey will take 13.0-18.0hrs depending on the run and train changes. There is a night train that you will pick up at Barcelona. If you are just going to Paris from Madrid, it's a lot cheaper and faster to fly www.vueling.com. It's a Spanish budget airline. I can see fares as low as 60E If you must take the train to Paris, it's too late for you to learn the Spanish train website. It is complicated to work. Just go to www.raileurope.com. I see $218 economy train fares for the run.

Olivia, When will this trip be taking place? Given that you only have a VERY short two weeks, it would be much better to use budget airlines for some of your trips. Using a day each for Madrid-Paris and Paris-Venice is NOT the most efficient method. Unfortunately, the prices are lowest for those booking well in advance, and increase as the flights fill up. For the trip from Madrid to Paris, an EasyJet flight from MAD to CDG would be a good choice . They currently have flights listed as low as €26.99 PP and flight time of 2H:15M For the trip from Paris to Venice, you could also use EasyJet from either CDG or ORY to VCE. They currently have flights listed at €59.99 PP and a flight time of 1H:40M. When traveling with budget airlines, read the "Terms & Conditions" and be very careful with luggage weights. If your luggage will be over the allotted weight, it's better to pay the extra charges at the time of booking. If they find your luggage is overweight when you check-in, the cost will be higher. Also note that the budget airlines typically allow only ONE carry-on item. That doesn't mean "one plus a personal item such as a Purse or Laptop case", it means ONE ONLY of the approved size (and they will likely check the size). For the trips from Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome, using P-P tickets would be the best idea. You can save money by pre-booking and hopefully get a discounted "Mini" fare. However it's important to note that pre-booking tickets for the premium trains will "lock" you into a specific train and specific departure time. You could also buy train tickets for your outgoing trips when you arrive in each location. If you're travelling on Regionale trains, the tickets MUST be validated in the yellow machine, or you'll risk EXPENSIVE fines (which will be collected on the spot!). Happy travels!