Help! I am having the most difficult time figuring out my transportation plans for a month long travel for the month of September. Both me and my friend are going. Locations:
Amsterdam -> Paris -> Nice -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> Santorini, Greece -> Barcelona -> Faro -> Lisbon I have looked into just about everything, debating whether or not to get the eurail pass for about $575 for 10 days of not consecutive train days dring a 2 month period (only traveling for 1 month). Is it worth it? Seems expensive but if I end up traveling without it, would it be more for trains and flights between those destinations? THANK YOU!
Posted by
Whittington
984 posts
Sigh - you are going to have to do a great deal of maths. Train - please read - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Should For flights at least - http://www.whichbudget.com/ or http://www.skyscanner.net/ or similar. Please get a grip of the time expended on travelling compared against the time expended wherever.
Good luck.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23230 posts
The first reaction is that early purchase discount tickets will be cheap BUT you will not know until you price out each leg using the local train site. Remember you have to pay an additional fee, seat reservation, for the fast train on top of the pass.
Posted by
Tucson
4149 posts
What Neil said, plus from me, too many destinations, too little time. Not counting Seattle to Europe and Europe to Seattle, my limited math skills indicate about 3 nights per each of the 9 locations, but not much in the way of time to spend at each location what with all the travel. Are you flying from Rome to Santorini and from Santorini back to Barcelona? How about from Barcelona to Lisbon? To get an idea of how long it might take for different train routes, use the DB Bahn website. You won't be able to buy your tickets there, but you can at least see the schedules and routes and how long it will take. Be sure to click on "show intermediate stops" and "show map." As a person who enjoys long drives or train rides, I'm not the one to discourage you from them, so long as you want that to be a significant part of your trip. And you can adjust your stops to go on more interesting routes than the most direct. But, you might not want to train it from Barcelona to Faro. The fastest route takes 19.5 hours.
Posted by
Miami Lakes, FL, USA
1 posts
I say it is definitely worth it to buy the pass, specially since you are traveling with a companion, which allows you to purchase the Saverpass which offers a discount for two people traveling together. Passes allow you to travel on trains and some ferries, and also get you discounts on ferries and other modes of transportation not specifically included in the pass. You also need to organize your travel itinerary around the most expedient way to travel by train between destinations. For example; if you travel Paris to Milan to Venice, you can use a night train and purchase a couchette (bed on a train) and sleep comfortably on your way. But, if you travel Paris to Nice and then try to get from Nice to Venice, be prepared to spend 13+ hours on a train (day or night) but it won't be a night train and you'll have to change trains 2 or 3 times during the night and sleep in a seat. Train travel in Europe is great but you will have to do your homework to make sure you can get to where you want to go around your desired scheduled. Have fun and safe travels to you.