I want to buy a "4 days in 2 months" Benelux-France Pass. Does this mean we can travel from Paris to Amsterdam (1 day each way), then have an additional 2 days of this pass to do day-trips into Belgium and/or Luxembourg?
Basically we have one week to spend in Holland/Belgium/Luxembourg, and we'll be getting there from France. This "4 day in 2 months" pass sounds like the cheapest and best option. Any thoughts?
Yes, it means that once you validate your pass (the first time you use it), you have two months until it expires. Within those two months, you can travel on any four days, consecutive or not. You get a "travel journal" page with your pass, where you fill in the days you travel.
Keep in mind that if you are traveling between France and Benelux via high-speed trains like Thalys, you will need to purchase an extra supplement. Before purchasing a pass, try looking up what point-to-point tickets would cost. They can be expensive if you don't buy them in advance or if you need flexibility in when you travel, but if you can commit to a date/time, you can often get deeply discounted tickets online.
Travel within Belgium and the Netherlands by the domestic rail companies is generally pretty cheap anyway. Research very carefully before you buy a third party rail pass- I've never found them to save any money in this part of Europe.
Belgian rail also sells it's own pass that covers all domestic routes. For about 70 euro, you get 10 trips anywhere within the country. The big advantage is that more than one person can use the pass at a time. For example, two people making a round trip between Brussels and Ghent would count for 4 trips against the 10.
Thanks for the reply Anna and Tom. Just to make sure I understand... does this France-Benelux ticket allow me to travel within the Benelux country as well - i.e. from Amsterdam to Brussels, Brussels to Antwerp?
Should I not go through the Rick Steve website?
Yes you can travel in the Benelux countries as well. Rick will be the first to tell you to compare the single trip prices with the cost of a rail pass. There is a chart in the rail pass section to help you do this. For 3 days of train travel it's probably more expensive to buy to pass.
Go to the national rail websites of each country to get an accurate quote on fairs. NMBS for Belgium:
http://www.b-rail.be/main/index.html
NS for the Netherlands:
http://www.ns.nl/
I don't think I've ever paid much more than 20 euro for a domestic ticket in either country.
