When to buy my railpass ?

In most countries, railpasses do not save you money. Most countries also add a supplemental fee on top of your railpass to ride their better trains. You cannot board these nicer trains until you have paid for your additional supplemental fee or seat reservation fee. It's not as convenient as you might think. You can ride the slower trains in each country for no charge. You can hop right on. It really helps to do more investigation of point-to-point routes and fares. It takes a bit of work but you can save money.

Melissa, In most cases, you can only purchase Railpasses here so you'll need to buy it prior to departure. Which online site were you going to use to purchase?

www.raileurope.com I was thinking about buying a pass off this site or maybe of of Rick Steve's site ? Any suggestions ?!

If you buy your pass here (Rick Steves website) you get free shipping and a "shopping spree" (20% off any purchase in the travel store). It's a good deal if you need new luggage or a daybag, etc.

Melissa, As Lola mentioned, if you purchase your pass from this website, a lot of "extras" are included. One of these extras is free consulting on three Itinerary questions with Rick's rail experts. Click the "Railpasses" tab at the top of this page for further details. The price will be the same, regardless of where you purchase it. Cheers!