Eurail pass tips, info and personal experiences
Posted: August 8th, 2006My three month Eurail pass is about to run out in a week and I figured it would be a good time to pass on some info and tips that I found out along the way.
First off, I get a lot of questions as to whether or not it is worth buying the Eurail pass. This entirely depends on what kind of travelling you will be doing. If you will be moving around lots from city to city and country to country, it will be probably be worth it (see my comment on being 26 or older and the first class pass below). However, its not entirely worth it if you will be staying in 1 or 2 countries and not moving around between the cities that much. The rail pass does not work on city buses or inner-city metros (basically inner city transportation). The rail pass has its greatest value when you will be moving around a lot and when distances are fairly great.
Train travel is quite expensive in some countries and quite cheap in others. In Switzerland for example, it is quite costly to get around as it is in the scandanavian countries. However, eastern European countries are quite a bit cheaper. So if you will be spending your time in the Eastern European countries, it may not be worth getting a pass (lots of eastern european countries aren't even covered by the pass, probably because it is so damn cheap to travel through them). I unfortunately don't know of a good site that will price out train connections for point to point tickets, if anyone knows of one, let us know.
If you are on or over the age of 26 years old, you are now forced to buy a 1st class pass which adds considerable cost. This is quite unfortunate, and could be a deal breaker as to whether or not its worth it. I'm 26, so was forced to get the first class pass, and if I remember correctly for a 1 month pass it would have cost me close to 950 US dollars and for a 3 month pass around 1700 US dollars (averages out to about 560 US dollars per month). So its almost a huge rip off if you are only travelling for one month (or at least you have to use it quite a bit to get your money's worth from it). I'm not entire convinced it would have been worth it for me to buy a 1 month pass at the first class rate, again it really depends on how much you will be moving around. It definitely "pays off" (value-wise) to stay longer and and buy the longer rail pass.
One huge benefit that I think everyone else will agree with me on is that it allows incredible amount of flexibility. We changed our travel plans several times and didn't have to worry about scheduling flights or loosing money on them. Granted if you are buying point to point train tickets, its almost as easy as having a rail pass.
Its also great to buy the railpass and then you can more or less forget about having to buy tickets and waiting in lines. I think I would hate sitting there seeing how much I am spending on each individual ticket and thinking about all the money that I am spending to get to these places vs having the railpass and feeling limitless and going where ever I want. You are much more likely to travel more and see more places if you don't have to think about how costly it will be to get you there. Once I bought the rail pass, it kind of felt like all trains were free to me and that there was no cost associated with it, basically made the trip feel less stressed about money.
Discounts: With the railpass you can get discounts on some buses and ferries. Overnight train travel is quite a bit cheaper with the railpass. When taking overnight trains, I paid about 25 Euros for a bed in a 6 bed bunk, and I think it costs closer to 100 Euros without the rail pass. Overnight trains still cost money (even for seats) but its alot cheaper with the rail pass. The discounts on ferries (between the scandanavian countries or between italy and greece as well as other ferries) aren't always worth it and its almost the same cost if you didn't have a rail pass. However, with the railpass you can be upgraded to a cabin (beds and stuff) for free if they are available, but you have to ask for it (never tried it, learned about it afterwards). I can't remember if that is for 1st and 2nd class rail passes, doesn't hurt to ask.
Extra fees: One important note is that a rail pass does not mean that all trains are free. Some trains require a reservation (cost will vary on which country you are in, varying from 5 to 15 Euros). Also faster trains (some of these trains are quite faster and others just make less frequent stops) they also charge a surcharge for. You can spot these trains that cost extra money by certain key words such as "EuroCity" and "Fast" vs the typical InterCity (IC trains). I have never had to pay extra for an InterCity train. If you goto the counter and ask for a train connection, they will usually give you the schedule for the extra-cost-train first (I guess they assume you will just want the faster one) if it exists. Keep in mind that you can always catch IC trains to the same destination, you may just have to change a few times and it will take longer, but you can avoid the extra costs this way. If you buy the Eurail pass, they give you this handy little booklet that has all the major train connections and times in it and it has a tiny little "R" in a box next to your train if you need a reservation. If you get on one of these trains without paying, someone may kick you out of the seat (because they have it reserved) and or the conductor will make you pay the standard fee plus an extra surcharge for buying it on the train (not sure if this is always an option).
The Railpass connections booklet: If you buy the Eurail pass, they give you this booklet that has all the major train connections in it, it is extremely handy, definitely bring it along. You can get all the train connections on the web as well(I used www.sbb.ch, which is the swiss transit system, but it has all the other connections as well, it has an english translation option as well, I highly recommend this site). Keep in mind that this booklet does have a few errors as far as times go, so this could bite you from time to time. It doesn't have all the trains and connections in there as well. And sometimes they only have the trains in there that have the surcharges.
Train Connections: First off trains are late and you will miss connections. Perhaps the only train connection thing to be careful of is that cities (mainly the large ones, Paris and Barcelona for example) have several train stations and the station that you came into isn't necessarily the station you will be leaving from. So if you are connecting to another train in a city, you may have to goto another station to catch your out going train. Make sure you account for this and make sure you are in the right stations. Sometimes we didn't look close enough and we ended up missing a train.
Protect your railpass: Spend the extra 12 dollars (I think thats what it cost) to get the security on your rail pass. Things get stolen and damaged its totally worth the extra 12 dollars to make sure your railpass doesn't totally bite the dust. On that note, gaurd your rail pass like your passport, if you loose it or it gets stolen, you can't buy another one in Europe and you will have to buy point to point tickets. If you get the insurance, at least you will get money back. You could potentially buy another one on the internet and have it overnighted to you, but you will most likely be buying one that is of a shorter time frame and it will be quite costly.
Useless countries: Your rail pass only works in about 18 countries and even in some of those countries its completely useless. So first off make sure you can use the pass in the country you want to goto (duh), otherwise you will have to buy the extra portion (train connections in the Eurail booklet cover connections and trains that aren't covered by your rail pass, be careful about this). Also I have found that in the following countries the rail pass is useless due to the following reasons (please add to my list):
1) Greece: The rail pass offers no discount for the ferries between islands, and although trains are used here (only on the mainland), you will most likely be using buses since 1) thats what everyone else uses 2) there have better and more frequent bus connections 3) and they are faster. I maybe a bit biased here however since I spent pretty much all of my time on the islands and on the islands they don't have train transportation, so the rail pass doesn't have much to offer in Greece except maybe on the mainland (we used a bus to get between Patras and Athens). On the mainland it may still be worth a damn (I will leave someone else to comment on this).
2) Spain: Trains are only good to get between the major cities. Now I haven't spent much time in Spain so take this with a grain of salt. Everyone uses buses in Spain, they are faster, more reliable (thats what I have heard) and they don't have stupid connections. To get between cities and certain places you sometimes have to go way out of your way and make stupid connections (taking a considerable amount more time), where buses offer a more direct route at a greater frequency. To give an example, I went to the train station in San Sabastian to ask for a train to Barcelona, the attendent looked at me puzzled as asked why I wouldn't take a bus (odd huh?).
You are supposed to have your passport on you at all times, but they usually don't check. In fact I think I have only been ask 3 times for my passport over the entire 3 months and twice it was in France (I think they saw that I was from the US and wanted to hassle me).
The passes are made of paper and they aren't extremely durable. I actually laughed at it when I first got it, I thought there was no way in hell that this piece of paper was going to survive 3 months of travelling. I had to use some tape to hold it together a bit. I also kept it in this small water seal bag (after the 1st month) and it did a great job of protecting it from further wear. On that note, I don't thing they are water-proof at all.
Sorry for the long post, I had lots of questions before I left on the passes and I couldn't find much info on them and figured it would be good to post some stuff on it. Hopefully people can add more to this post and add additional useful info. Also feel free to correct me on something that may not have been true.
First off, I get a lot of questions as to whether or not it is worth buying the Eurail pass. This entirely depends on what kind of travelling you will be doing. If you will be moving around lots from city to city and country to country, it will be probably be worth it (see my comment on being 26 or older and the first class pass below). However, its not entirely worth it if you will be staying in 1 or 2 countries and not moving around between the cities that much. The rail pass does not work on city buses or inner-city metros (basically inner city transportation). The rail pass has its greatest value when you will be moving around a lot and when distances are fairly great.
Train travel is quite expensive in some countries and quite cheap in others. In Switzerland for example, it is quite costly to get around as it is in the scandanavian countries. However, eastern European countries are quite a bit cheaper. So if you will be spending your time in the Eastern European countries, it may not be worth getting a pass (lots of eastern european countries aren't even covered by the pass, probably because it is so damn cheap to travel through them). I unfortunately don't know of a good site that will price out train connections for point to point tickets, if anyone knows of one, let us know.
If you are on or over the age of 26 years old, you are now forced to buy a 1st class pass which adds considerable cost. This is quite unfortunate, and could be a deal breaker as to whether or not its worth it. I'm 26, so was forced to get the first class pass, and if I remember correctly for a 1 month pass it would have cost me close to 950 US dollars and for a 3 month pass around 1700 US dollars (averages out to about 560 US dollars per month). So its almost a huge rip off if you are only travelling for one month (or at least you have to use it quite a bit to get your money's worth from it). I'm not entire convinced it would have been worth it for me to buy a 1 month pass at the first class rate, again it really depends on how much you will be moving around. It definitely "pays off" (value-wise) to stay longer and and buy the longer rail pass.
One huge benefit that I think everyone else will agree with me on is that it allows incredible amount of flexibility. We changed our travel plans several times and didn't have to worry about scheduling flights or loosing money on them. Granted if you are buying point to point train tickets, its almost as easy as having a rail pass.
Its also great to buy the railpass and then you can more or less forget about having to buy tickets and waiting in lines. I think I would hate sitting there seeing how much I am spending on each individual ticket and thinking about all the money that I am spending to get to these places vs having the railpass and feeling limitless and going where ever I want. You are much more likely to travel more and see more places if you don't have to think about how costly it will be to get you there. Once I bought the rail pass, it kind of felt like all trains were free to me and that there was no cost associated with it, basically made the trip feel less stressed about money.
Discounts: With the railpass you can get discounts on some buses and ferries. Overnight train travel is quite a bit cheaper with the railpass. When taking overnight trains, I paid about 25 Euros for a bed in a 6 bed bunk, and I think it costs closer to 100 Euros without the rail pass. Overnight trains still cost money (even for seats) but its alot cheaper with the rail pass. The discounts on ferries (between the scandanavian countries or between italy and greece as well as other ferries) aren't always worth it and its almost the same cost if you didn't have a rail pass. However, with the railpass you can be upgraded to a cabin (beds and stuff) for free if they are available, but you have to ask for it (never tried it, learned about it afterwards). I can't remember if that is for 1st and 2nd class rail passes, doesn't hurt to ask.
Extra fees: One important note is that a rail pass does not mean that all trains are free. Some trains require a reservation (cost will vary on which country you are in, varying from 5 to 15 Euros). Also faster trains (some of these trains are quite faster and others just make less frequent stops) they also charge a surcharge for. You can spot these trains that cost extra money by certain key words such as "EuroCity" and "Fast" vs the typical InterCity (IC trains). I have never had to pay extra for an InterCity train. If you goto the counter and ask for a train connection, they will usually give you the schedule for the extra-cost-train first (I guess they assume you will just want the faster one) if it exists. Keep in mind that you can always catch IC trains to the same destination, you may just have to change a few times and it will take longer, but you can avoid the extra costs this way. If you buy the Eurail pass, they give you this handy little booklet that has all the major train connections and times in it and it has a tiny little "R" in a box next to your train if you need a reservation. If you get on one of these trains without paying, someone may kick you out of the seat (because they have it reserved) and or the conductor will make you pay the standard fee plus an extra surcharge for buying it on the train (not sure if this is always an option).
The Railpass connections booklet: If you buy the Eurail pass, they give you this booklet that has all the major train connections in it, it is extremely handy, definitely bring it along. You can get all the train connections on the web as well(I used www.sbb.ch, which is the swiss transit system, but it has all the other connections as well, it has an english translation option as well, I highly recommend this site). Keep in mind that this booklet does have a few errors as far as times go, so this could bite you from time to time. It doesn't have all the trains and connections in there as well. And sometimes they only have the trains in there that have the surcharges.
Train Connections: First off trains are late and you will miss connections. Perhaps the only train connection thing to be careful of is that cities (mainly the large ones, Paris and Barcelona for example) have several train stations and the station that you came into isn't necessarily the station you will be leaving from. So if you are connecting to another train in a city, you may have to goto another station to catch your out going train. Make sure you account for this and make sure you are in the right stations. Sometimes we didn't look close enough and we ended up missing a train.
Protect your railpass: Spend the extra 12 dollars (I think thats what it cost) to get the security on your rail pass. Things get stolen and damaged its totally worth the extra 12 dollars to make sure your railpass doesn't totally bite the dust. On that note, gaurd your rail pass like your passport, if you loose it or it gets stolen, you can't buy another one in Europe and you will have to buy point to point tickets. If you get the insurance, at least you will get money back. You could potentially buy another one on the internet and have it overnighted to you, but you will most likely be buying one that is of a shorter time frame and it will be quite costly.
Useless countries: Your rail pass only works in about 18 countries and even in some of those countries its completely useless. So first off make sure you can use the pass in the country you want to goto (duh), otherwise you will have to buy the extra portion (train connections in the Eurail booklet cover connections and trains that aren't covered by your rail pass, be careful about this). Also I have found that in the following countries the rail pass is useless due to the following reasons (please add to my list):
1) Greece: The rail pass offers no discount for the ferries between islands, and although trains are used here (only on the mainland), you will most likely be using buses since 1) thats what everyone else uses 2) there have better and more frequent bus connections 3) and they are faster. I maybe a bit biased here however since I spent pretty much all of my time on the islands and on the islands they don't have train transportation, so the rail pass doesn't have much to offer in Greece except maybe on the mainland (we used a bus to get between Patras and Athens). On the mainland it may still be worth a damn (I will leave someone else to comment on this).
2) Spain: Trains are only good to get between the major cities. Now I haven't spent much time in Spain so take this with a grain of salt. Everyone uses buses in Spain, they are faster, more reliable (thats what I have heard) and they don't have stupid connections. To get between cities and certain places you sometimes have to go way out of your way and make stupid connections (taking a considerable amount more time), where buses offer a more direct route at a greater frequency. To give an example, I went to the train station in San Sabastian to ask for a train to Barcelona, the attendent looked at me puzzled as asked why I wouldn't take a bus (odd huh?).
You are supposed to have your passport on you at all times, but they usually don't check. In fact I think I have only been ask 3 times for my passport over the entire 3 months and twice it was in France (I think they saw that I was from the US and wanted to hassle me).
The passes are made of paper and they aren't extremely durable. I actually laughed at it when I first got it, I thought there was no way in hell that this piece of paper was going to survive 3 months of travelling. I had to use some tape to hold it together a bit. I also kept it in this small water seal bag (after the 1st month) and it did a great job of protecting it from further wear. On that note, I don't thing they are water-proof at all.
Sorry for the long post, I had lots of questions before I left on the passes and I couldn't find much info on them and figured it would be good to post some stuff on it. Hopefully people can add more to this post and add additional useful info. Also feel free to correct me on something that may not have been true.
