Eurail Passes are famous as a way to save money while exploring Europe, but they are also confusing and often misunderstood. They are still an amazing money-saving tool for certain types of travelers, and not a wise idea for most others. Before Europe introduced dynamic rail pricing (like airfares, where the price varies depending on when you buy it), a Eurail Pass was an easy way to save money since all tickets had fixed prices that were generally fairly expensive. These days most travelers can save far more money just by buying their train tickets at least a few weeks in advance.
That said, Eurail Passes are still great for longer trips and especially for people who like to make plans as they go. Dynamic rail pricing made advanced tickets much cheaper, but it also made last-minute tickets MUCH more expensive. Below we will discuss Eurail Passes and whether they are a good idea for your trip or not.
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Note: This article was written in 2012 and has been continuously updated since then, so all information is current as of April, 2024.
Eurail 2024 changes: New countries and a mobile version
This actually changed in 2019 and 2020, but it’s still a big deal and not many people were shopping for Eurail passes in the last couple of years. Eurail Passes now include England, Scotland, Wales, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Macedonia.
Aside from that it’s just the normal fact that they have updated the timetables as of December 2023 and have a few promotions going on, but those usually don’t happen over the busy summer season.
Eurail passes are now available in a mobile version
Until very recently, Eurail Passes were only available in paper form and they were quite confusing at first. You’d get a pass with a series of empty boxes on it and you’d need to enter your trip before you’d use your pass each day and then have the first conductor verify it. If you lost your ticket (and this was not uncommon), it was a whole ordeal to attempt to get a replacement.
Again in 2024 Eurail offers a fully mobile version that is delivered instantly to your mobile device with no delivery fee. And if you somehow lose your phone, you can resume using your Pass on your replacement with no extra headache. This is MUCH more convenient in every way and as long as you can keep track of your phone you’ll always have your train pass handy.
If your trip will be 2 weeks or less, a Eurail Pass probably won't be worth it
About half of the questions I get in the lengthy comment thread of this article are from people planning a trip of 3 or 4 stops in two weeks or less. The good news for those travelers is that they can get fairly cheap train tickets in advance online if they have their dates planned, and a Eurail Pass won’t help at all.
Eurail Passes are ideal for travelers on longer trips, and especially those who don’t want to plan all of their destinations and dates far in advance. If you have your itinerary pretty much planned out and you don’t require much flexibility, you’ll be far better off just locking in your dates and buying your train tickets as early as you can. Again, they can be surprisingly cheap if you buy 2 to 4 months out.
If you are age 27 or younger, a Eurail Pass is probably worth it
Those 28 years old or over must buy the 1st Class version of any Eurail Pass, which is 50% more expensive, and the added comfort isn’t a big deal to most people. But travelers age 12 to 27 can buy the 2nd Class versions at the lowest prices, and the seats are comfortable enough for virtually everyone.
With this in mind, if you are lucky enough to still be 27 or younger, you should seriously think about getting a Eurail Global Pass Youth, partly because the sense of freedom instantly gets more expensive at age 28. The age cutoff was 25 until recently, so this change is a great deal for anyone who will be 26 or 27 at the start of their trip.
You aren’t guaranteed to save money by buying a Youth Eurail Pass, but chances are good that you WILL save money and you’ll definitely save a lot of hassle as well. Especially now that Eurail Passes come in a mobile form, it’s even that much more convenient to just hop aboard any train that is about to leave the station and not worry about buying or even having a ticket. Especially for young people, it can be really fun and exhilarating to literally just walk into a train station with your backpack and look at the departure board and then decide where to go at that moment.
If you are age 60 or over, a Eurail Pass could also be great value
Another fairly recent change is that anyone who is 60 years or older at the start of the use of a Eurail Pass now gets 10% off the normal adult fare. That new discount is going to make this a great value for many travelers who might have been on the fence about buying a full-price pass before.
>>>Check prices on Eurail Passes
If you are planning on traveling in 1st Class anyway, a Eurail Pass is probably worth it
Most 2nd Class trains provide similar comfort and legroom to Business Class airline seats, or at least close enough, so for most people it’s not worth the added expense for 1st Class. However, if you are rich or elderly or fear contact with strangers, a 1st Class Eurail Pass is probably worth it no matter what.
Not only do you get much more comfort and legroom in 1st Class, with only 3 seats across instead of 4, but there is another advantage to 1st Class on European trains. Since it’s mostly business travelers and wealthy people traveling in 1st Class, the carriages are almost always mostly empty except in the mornings and late afternoons between large cities. In 2nd Class the only available seats might be two seats in an 8-seat cabin with all the other seats taken up by a loud family or a group of rowdy friends. In 1st Class you are all but guaranteed a peaceful ride, and usually plenty of empty seats from which to choose.
A hidden Eurail Pass benefit: Making extra stops on travel days for free
A one-way ticket between Paris and Amsterdam in 2nd Class on the high-speed Thalys service takes 3 hours 19 minutes, and costs €47 if you buy way in advance up to €188 if you buy at the last minute. A Eurail Pass can be helpful on this route for almost anyone because you often have to book two months in advance to get a fare under €90 or so. Even better though is the fact that the train stops in Brussels and Antwerp along the way, and both of those are really interesting cities that are perfect for a stop of 2 to 4 hours.
Brussels in particular is one I recommend a short stop in because the small historic center around what they called the Grand Place is amazing and gorgeous, while the rest of the city is rather boring by European standards. With a Eurail Pass you can jump off the train in Brussels and explore the city center for a few hours (luggage storage is cheap and easy) and maybe have lunch, and then hop on a later train to complete your journey to Amsterdam. There are opportunities like this on many if not most trips between larger cities, and if you buy the point-to-point tickets you have to stay on the train you booked.
Another example is the high-speed train between Barcelona and Madrid, which takes about 2.5 to 3 hours in each direction. There are some interesting cities in between, but in this case you could take a morning train from Barcelona to Madrid and then check into your accommodation, and then hop on another train from Madrid to Toledo, which takes about 30 minutes and costs €14 each way. Toledo is a historic and fascinating town, but it’s also pretty small and you can explore the main sights in an afternoon. With a Flexi Eurail Pass where you buy a certain number of travel days, you can save more money by adding on these sorts of nearby stops on travel days.
If you'll be touring major cities within ONE country, a single-country pass might be perfect, and Second Class passes are available for all ages
Until 2019 you could buy a Eurail “Select” or “Regional” Pass, which would allow you to buy a cheaper pass that only covered between two and five specific countries. As of April 2024, those have been eliminated and also lowered the prices of the Global Passes by around 20%.
Single-country passes are still available and they MIGHT be good value for you, but it depends on which country and how much traveling you’ll be doing. If you plan on going all over a larger country such as Germany, France, or Spain, and especially if you like to make plans as you go, a Single-country pass for one of those might be your best deal. On the other hand, smaller countries (such as the Netherlands) or countries where train tickets are already fairly cheap (such as Italy) might be harder to get value out of. Long story short, for single-country passes you really need to check fares of the places you plan on going and see how they add up compared to the pass.
>>>Check prices for Single Country Passes
Eurostar (between London and Paris or Brussels or Amsterdam) tickets are now included for Eurail Pass holders for a €30 reservation fee
The European rail system is confusing at first, so it’s worth pointing out that the Eurostar trains between London and Paris or Brussels are a totally different system and the prices are more like air tickets. In other words, they start out cheap 6 months in advance and prices go up as the travel date approaches. Since you can now use your Eurail Pass within Great Britain, it’s now the best way to get around England and Scotland by train.
Our recent tests show that Eurostar fares one-way from London to Paris can be as low as €49 if you book about 3 months out, or as expensive as €214 for the same seat if you wait until the day of travel to buy. Round-trip/return tickets can be even cheaper if there is a promotion running.
>>>Check Eurostar prices
If you are on a really low budget, a Eurail Pass isn't a good idea
Here’s the thing. As we’ll discuss below, there are many potential benefits to Eurail Passes, and they will often save you money, but they do cost a lot and they only really save you money when traveling in the more expensive countries.
So let’s say you have a flight to Rome and then US$2,000 to last you a month after you arrive. Buying a Eurail Pass before you go would help you see a lot in that month, but you’d practically need to sleep in parks for your funds to last the whole time. You’d be better off moving slowly in the southern countries, or just in Italy itself, as a way to have the best holiday on your budget. You might also be tempted to use a Eurail Pass mostly on night trains so you can save the cost of a hotel or hostel, but those aren’t ideal for most of us.
The cheapest way to get around Europe by rail is to buy all train tickets online at least a couple months in advance. The fares are low, but they are non-refundable and non-changeable. See how far in advance you should buy train tickets to get those attractive fares.
If more than a little of your travel will be in eastern Europe, a Eurail Pass isn't a good idea
While eastern Europe (Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Ukraine, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia etc), is where you’ll find almost all of the continent’s best travel bargains, its rail infrastructure continues to lag way behind. A few years ago many of the countries in that area were added to the Eurail Zone (except for Bulgaria for some reason), but even then the trains are still very slow. Worse still, in some areas the trains are much slower than buses, so you really have to research each leg individually.
The good news is that the trains operating in this region, and the buses that operate alongside and/or where trains aren’t running, are quite cheap. So if any significant part of your trip will be into this region, a rail pass doesn’t make sense.
Basic types of Eurail Passes
Long gone are the days of the simple options, replaced by specialized passes that are meant to appeal to different styles. It should be pretty easy to figure out which is best for you, and then keep going down the page to decide if it’s worth it at all.
Eurail Global Pass – 4,5, or 7 days within 1 month or 10 days within 2 months
Until recently the minimum number of travel days with 10 days within 2 months, but now you can buy as few as 4 days within 1 month for about €200 to €250 (for first class). This can actually be an interesting strategy if you are planning many shorter and cheaper trips (like within Italy or Eastern Europe), and also 4 or 5 longer trips such as Berlin to Amsterdam. This way you can buy only 4 or 5 travel days and only use them for your most expensive travel days, and just pay as you go or buy cheap advance tickets for your other journeys.
Eurail Global Pass – 15 to 90 consecutive days
This variation allows for unlimited travel on the system for between 15 and 90 total days. They are really only a good idea for people who are certain they are going to travel very often, with much of it being in the north of Europe. The problem with them is that if you really try to get your money’s worth, you will probably ruin your trip by spending too much time on trains in general. On the other hand, if you will be in Europe for 2 or 3 months and plan on traveling around a lot, you can get a LOT of use out of a longer pass. The 3-month pass is around €900 so it’s literally about €10 per day. Imagine going back and forth between Berlin and Munich or Barcelona and Madrid for €10 per day!
One Country Pass
Obviously these are for travel within one country only. Again, they can be great deals if you plan on extensively moving around one particular country.
Where to buy your Eurail Pass
Eurail Passes are cheapest and easiest to buy online, primarily from two main sources which offer all the same products at the exact same prices:
This is a reliable company based in the Netherlands but with fulfillment offices in the US and Ireland. Price of Travel is a partner with this company, and if you use the links of this site we earn a small commission to help keep this site online. Eurail.com is usually cheaper than RailEurope (discussed below) by the way.
They were founded in the 1930s and are based in New York, but owned primarily by the French and Swiss rail companies. They offer free shipping (2 to 3 business days) on all orders of US$399 or more, although now that a mobile version is available, this is meaningless. Price of Travel is a partner with this company, and if you use the links of this site we earn a small commission to help keep this site online.
Reservations on European trains for rail pass holders
For most of the fastest trains between major cities you’ll need to reserve a seat even with a rail pass. It can usually be done just before you leave and the cost is usually around €5. Here’s a full list of which European trains require reservations and which don’t.
Reservations are required on all intercity (longer distance) trains in or involving France, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy. For most trains in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, and most of eastern Europe, you can usually find trains that don’t require seat reservations. Often, if you don’t leave until after 9:30am or so, you can ride on any train with no seat reservation, but you have to research each leg to be sure.
How to determine which trains require seat reservations, and also get schedules
You can click on the link just above this section for a list of countries and their seat-reservation policies, but in some cases it’s actually a bit more complicated than that. For example, you can generally ride without a seat reservation on fast ICE (Inter City Express) trains in Germany if you depart after 09:30 in the morning. They do this to free up seats for business travelers who pay full fare, and they don’t mind filling up seats with rail pass holders on trains leaving a bit later.
The best way to be sure about this is to download the RailEurope smartphone app (iPhone and Android). It’s a free app and you can download it and use it even if you buy from Eurail.com or don’t buy a rail pass at all. Amazingly enough, it has the entire European rail schedule built into it so you don’t even need to be online to use it. You just enter a departure city and destination city and it will show you all of the trains and connections going between the two. When you click on a specific train or combination of trains it will show you whether a seat reservation is needed for that particular departure. I’ve used this app literally hundreds or perhaps thousands of times to do my own research and help people find answers, and I’ve noticed that it’s accurate at least 99% of the time. Once in a blue moon you’ll enter two cities and it will show, say, a 20-hour journey when you are pretty sure it should be under 10 hours. Usually it’s actually correct, but I’ve seen a couple times where it missed something.
Night trains in Europe are making a comeback
I’ve been traveling around Europe since the 1980s and I’ve been updating this article since 2012 and one thing that was certain was the night trains (or sleeper trains) were going out of fashion. The main reasons were that high-speed trains grew in coverage so routes that used to take 10 or 12 hours could now be done in 4 or 5 hours, at least in countries like Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. As a result, almost everyone preferred to even depart at 6 PM if they could get to their destination city at 10 PM instead of the next morning.
Fast forward to 2024 and night trains are not only expanding service, but they are very trendy. Some of it is nostalgia for the older way of getting around, but most of it is for environmental purposes combined with European hatred for the “low cost airline” experience with RyanAir and Easy Jet etc.
Personally I’m still not a fan of night trains because I find it difficult to sleep on them since they often get decoupled at interim stations in the middle of the night and then coupled onto other trains coming from other places, and I can’t sleep through any of that. But still, they are worth looking into and they are fun to try at least once.
A bit of warning that they tend not to be cheap and even if you have a Eurail Pass you’ll almost certainly want to book a sleeping cabin with a bunk or couchette, and that will come at an extra fee. On the other hand, if you are the sort of person who can sleep sitting upright in a normal seat, then that won’t cost any extra on most overnight trains.
Factors to consider when thinking about any Eurail Pass
Assuming you know which Eurail Saver Pass option is the best one for your type of trip by now, we’ll go over the main factors that should help you decide whether it’s the best idea for you.
Eurail Passes are best for standard ‘medium length’ journeys
In almost all of Europe, the major cities tend to be between 4 and 8 hours apart by train, and these journeys are perfect for Eurail Passes. For example, from Vienna to Munich it takes about 5 hours on the train, and it’s scenic and relaxing. Flying between those cities would take about the same amount of time once you factor in airport transportation and security lines, and it’s far less pleasant.
However, if you are determined to travel between Rome and Paris, it’s about a 14-hour journey that will almost certainly be overnight. In this case, a cheap plane ticket is probably better, although taking shorter hops on the train is even better, so spend a day or two in Milan or Lyon on the way instead.
And of course, if you prefer to stop in various small towns between the big ones, then a Eurail Pass won’t pay off, except for the traditional kind for unlimited travel in a given period.
Eurail Passes are better value in northern Europe, France, and Spain, and poor value in Italy
Once you do a bit of research you’ll quickly learn that train tickets (and almost everything else) are much more expensive in Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland than they are in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. With this in mind, the regional passes can make sense if you are spending time in the south, but the Global Passes almost certainly won’t. Train tickets in Spain used to be fairly cheap, but in recent years they’ve added new high-speed trains between the major cities, and these are quite expensive.
Unlike most other countries, Italy really subsidizes its train tickets so they are quite reasonable even on travel day, and very cheap if you buy a month or more in advance. For example, you can go between Rome and Florence for around €49 if you buy on travel day, and as little as €19 if you buy well in advance. In most other countries, fares are double or triple that much for similar rides.
So consider your planned itinerary. If more than half of it is in the Mediterranean countries then look into a Regional Pass or just buy tickets as you go, because they tend to be pretty cheap. But if you are planning on spending at least half your time in Paris and places to the north of it, then a Eurail Pass is probably a money saver because those tickets are expensive.
Trains are almost always better than planes
Flying sucks, even in Europe
Until you’ve experienced the joy of traveling around Europe by train you might be tempted to “maximize” your time by flying low-cost airlines between each city. This would be a mistake. In order to get truly cheap airfares you have to purchase long in advance, buying non-refundable tickets. You might also have to commit to flights in the very early morning or in the late evening, because cheap tickets on convenient flights sell out quickly.
And again, most European airports are around an hour outside of the city. They are often on the main train lines, which helps, but still you have to deal with the madness of security and also try to get there at least two hours early. From one city center to any other city center it’s about 5 hours minimum, even if they are close, and those are pretty miserable hours.
Train travel is a positive experience
While it’s true that you do have to reserve a seat on many long-distance trains these days, you can usually do it just before it leaves, or the night before to be safe. And with many trains you can literally just hop on board as it’s pulling out of the station.
Not only are all the seats comfortable on trains, but you also have an interesting view most of the time. Better still, trains deposit you in the heart of every city, which is usually the neighborhood with the cheapest hotels and food. It’s a wonderful feeling to step off a relaxing train ride, buy a hot dog or sandwich at a local shop, and then be in your hotel room only about 10 minutes later.
Eurail Passes are better than train tickets alone
As someone who enjoys the process of crunching numbers and looking for value, I have to also mention that I’d buy a Eurail Pass even if it seemed like it would cost a bit more than the individual tickets. With a pass you get an extra element of freedom that is worth a lot more than you might expect until you’ve used one.
If you fly, you absolutely have to lock in your exact schedule weeks or months in advance, and if you buy train tickets individually you will be spending hours in queues and then waiting around. You can buy European train tickets in advance, though the convenience comes along with an extra fee. But with a Eurail Pass, on most routes you can just hop on any train you feel like.
Let’s say you are heading from Amsterdam to Hamburg tomorrow morning. The 09:00 train you planned for might seem a bit ambitious after a long night out, so you can instead opt for the 10:00 or 11:00 train. As long as you walk into Centraal Station 10 or so minutes before departure, you are on. If you are flying you can’t change your ticket, and if you are buying train tickets as you go you have to be in line at the international desk at the train station at least 30 minutes early, and even then you might miss it if they are busy.
Freedom and getting to feel like a big shot
Bill Gates doesn’t worry about the cost of plane tickets or train tickets. He just goes where he wants, when he wants. When you have a Eurail Pass, you get a taste of this yourself, and even if you don’t end up doing any new spontaneous legs within your trip, it’s a great feeling.
Let’s say you are staying at a hostel in Brussels, and two groups of new friends suggest that you go along with them to their next stops. One group is going to Bruges, which is a short and cheap journey, so you can join them by buying individual tickets (unless you have the unlimited pass, making it free). Then you restart your trip from Bruges, on to your next destination. The other group is headed to Berlin on a night train, which is long and expensive, but with a Eurail Pass you don’t even have to think about the cost. On you go, just like a rich person.
Buying a Eurail Pass is great for those who might run out of money
We all know people who keep meticulous track of every penny they spend, and who are always putting money away for a rainy day. And we all know people who can take a US$100 “entertainment fund” and burn through almost all of it in just a few hours. For the first type of person, a Eurail Pass can help you keep track of expenses, but it’s really the second type of person these are best for.
It’s sad to hear about people who have big plans to see their dream destinations, but they run out of money for transportation halfway into the trip, so they have to just stay put until they fly home. It happens. Locking in your major transportation costs before you leave home, and probably saving money in the process, is a wise move for anyone who isn’t as disciplined as they’d like with their money.
>>>Check prices on Eurail Passes
Bottom line: If you want to keep travel costs down, your choices will usually be a Eurail Pass or buying tickets at least a month or more early
In the last few years, almost every long-distance train ride in Europe has switched to a pricing system similar to low-cost airlines. In other words, tickets go on sale 2 to 6 months ahead of time at very low prices, and they keep getting more expensive as the train fills up and the date approaches. For most trips where a rail pass is possible, this is how things stack up:
Cheapest possible way: Buy advanced (non-refundable, non-changeable) train tickets at least 30 days in advance
Next cheapest way: Buy a Eurail Pass and make seat reservations as you go, usually only a day or less in advance.
Most expensive way: Buy train tickets as you go, or less than a week in advance.
Thinking about it this way should make the choice a bit easier. If you are the type who likes to plan each day and travel segment long before you even leave home, then buy tickets online for the best prices. This can be the best strategy for most shorter trips (10 days or less) because you simply don’t have enough time to change many things as you go anyway.
Buying a Eurail Pass won’t be quite as cheap, but you are buying a LOT of flexibility with the extra money. If you dream of making up your plans as you go, or even making up your plans just a few days in advance, this is almost always your best bet.
But if you wait too long, and just show up looking to buy train tickets as you go, they are going to cost a fortune. As recently as only a few years ago all seats would be the same price on many rail systems, so you could always just wing it. When each country computerized its rail systems so they can sell advanced tickets cheaper, they also had to keep track of seat reservations, so the whole pricing structure had changed to favor advanced ticket buyers and rail pass holders over those who’d prefer to just hop on any train as it is leaving the station.
Have a rail pass or itinerary question of your own?
It wasn’t planned but scores of people began asking me rail pass and itinerary questions at the bottom of this article and a few others. I’m happy to keep answering them and now I’m trying to organize them better as well so they are easier for other people to find.
If you have a question about specific types of European rail passes, please ask it in the comments below.
But if you have a question more about a European itinerary or other non-rail-pass questions, please click over to the European itineraries Q & A article and ask in the comments of that one.
Dear Roger,
My friend and I have a little over three weeks (maybe 26days) for easter holiday to travel in Europe. We’ll be traveling from the UK. I’m new to traveling and so is my friend. We both want to visit 6 places. We would like to start in Paris and from there travel to our other five destinations. Our destinations are not set in stone but here the ones I would like to see
Amsterdam
Munich
Venice
Rome
Monte Carlo
We would like to stay for three nights giving us two full days to explore or two nights giving us one full day to explore. My question is what would be the best way to travel? I’m new to traveling but I think train will be better than flying.
I’m also new to the idea of reserving seats on a train. When I buy my ticket will I automatically reserve a spot on the train?
Gibson,
I agree that you’ll want to take the train most of the time, although one or two flights might actually be cheaper and way faster. First off, as a UK resident you won’t be eligible for a Eurail Pass, but you should be able to get an Interrail Pass, which is pretty much the same thing with a few extra restrictions. They also tend to be cheaper.
Three nights per city is also my preferred strategy in most places, although I’ll have more on that below.
You’ll first want to get to Paris by train on the Eurostar from London. It is its own system so the passes only give you a discount rather than a free ride. Buy that ticket as soon as possible for the lowest fares.
Paris is an amazing and large city, so I’d think about maybe 4 nights there. Then head to Amsterdam on the fast Thalys train. That’s another one that gets really expensive as the travel day approaches, so buy that one as soon as possible.
I’ll also recommend that you visit Berlin, which is about 6 hours by train from Amsterdam. You’ll love it. If not, you could go directly to Munich, or visit Munich after Berlin.
Monte Carlo is a bit of a tricky one on this itinerary. First off, Monte Carlo is one of the tiny districts in the tiny country of Monaco, and you can literally see everything interesting in Monaco in one day. It’s also a very expensive place, with no hostels or cheap hotels, so it’s far better to stay in Nice, France, and take the train to Monaco in about 25 minutes. Nice is a lovely place with plenty to see and do as well, and the hotels and hostels there are reasonable.
Unfortunately, from Paris, Amsterdam and Nice are in opposite directions, so you’ll probably want to do one in the beginning and the other at the end to avoid backtracking.
So after Munich you can take an amazingly scenic train ride to Venice. However, Venice is also very expensive and quite compact. I’d recommend no more than two days there because you can see the main sights in 8 or 10 hours, and the crowds get really frustrating not long after that. In fact, I normally recommend people visit Venice for about 24 hours, making sure to walk around in the morning and after dark when the majority of the package tourists have left the island for the evening.
From Venice you can take a train to Rome, and it’s not too expensive, although like the others it’s cheaper the earlier you buy.
From Rome you can take trains back to Nice to see Monaco (and Nice). After that it’s probably best to fly back to the UK (assuming you need to go back there) because the trains would be more expensive and much slower.
You might also consider doing Prague in between Berlin and Munich, as it’s another gorgeous and interesting (and fairly cheap) city. If you have up to 26 days you’ll have time for 7 or 8 cities, especially if Venice (and possibly Nice) are short stops.
If you can lock down your travel dates soon then buying the individual tickets is probably cheapest, but if you prefer to wing it a bit then look into the Interrail Pass. Let me know if you have other questions. -Roger
Alright! I am beyond confused with this process. I’m a first time traveler, never left Canada before. I am doing 33 days in Italy. I want to go from Milan, to cinque tere, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Rome,San Marino, to Venice. I don’t want to make exact dates as to when I’ll be where. I might have time to stop more places. Anyway, I was just wondering because I am going for the spontaneous factor if this will be worth it. As well, say I’m going from Rome to San Marino that’s one travel day, but within that travel day am I able to use local trains with the pass, or do I need to pay fare for local trains seperate. Thank you so much!!
Tanisa,
I definitely know about the confusion you are facing on this, and the Europe train system is very complicated for anyone who hasn’t been studying it for years. The good news for you is that train fares in Italy are quite heavily subsidized by the government so they are pretty cheap for riders, which is not true in Spain, France, and Germany etc.
They do offer a single-country Italy rail pass, but I think it’s overpriced and only good value if you want to go up and down the country several times. On a trip like yours you’ll almost certainly be taking short hops of an hour or two at a time, and those tickets will be fairly cheap (maybe €10 to €30 in most cases). I’m also a big fan of being able to go spontaneously (to some degree), and there’s good news with that as well. How it works is the Italian rail company sells the first bunch of tickets on any given train at a low price, and the price goes up as more seats are sold on each train. What that means is that the most popular train from, say, Florence to Siena might be the 8:30am departure for €28 on travel day, but the 10:30am train might be only €16. So what you’ll want to do is buy your ticket as soon as you are sure of the day you want to travel, and then head to the nearest train station or even buy online (they do e-tickets on your mobile phone in Italy) and choose one of the cheaper departures.
Realistically speaking, you’ll probably decide 2 or 3 days in advance when you want to travel again, so you can buy that ticket (and reserve a hostel or hotel at the same time) and get a pretty good deal. Again, the most popular trains that business travelers prefer will be expensive, but the departures in the middle of the day will still be pretty cheap. In some cases you might find that very-early morning or evening trains are the cheapest, but you’ll probably be best off shooting for late morning departures.
And in some cases, like in the Cinque Terre, it’s a fixed-price ticket (also cheap) so it doesn’t matter when you buy it. As long as you visit these cities in a logical order and buy your tickets online or in person as soon as you are sure you want to go, you’ll be able to get affordable tickets as you go. Let me know if you have any other questions. And be sure to buy from the official Italy rail website. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I am a recent graduate from college in America and planning a trip in May to June for a month to go to Europe with three of my friends. We are having a difficult time planning routes by train and bus for some of the places that we want to go. Some of the sites we want to see in England, Scotland, and Ireland seem really hard to get to without spending a lot of money. Do you know anything about transportation that is relatively cheap to get to places like the Highclere castle, isle of skye, cliffs of moher for cheap? We also want to visit places like the lavender fields in France and Chianti vineyards in Tuscany Italy. We just need pointers for the best travel routes and how to get to places off the beaten path for cheap!
Here is our itinerary (not set in stone)
Arrive in London (17th-18th)
2) Visit Newbury for Highclere Castle and then bus to Bath, England to stay overnight (18th-19th) leave at 12:00 pm for London
3) London (19th-20th)
4) Leave early AM for Cambridge for 3 hour campus tour (20th) and go back to london then take megabus from london to Edinburgh (really cheap) 10:30 pm – 7:15 am night bus 12 pounds= roughly 17 dollars US
5) Edinburgh (21st-22nd)
6) To Lochness at 7 am from Edinburgh (half-day leave at 3) then to Isle of Skye (stay the night 22nd-23rd)
7) On 23rd leave at 3-4 PM—to take train or bus to Cairnryan ferry port to Belfast, Ireland to then take train or bus to Dublin, Ireland (arrive in late night to early morning on 24th)
8) Stay in Dublin (24th -25th)
9) Leave at 7 AM for Cliffs of Moher on 25th until 3-4 pm, then take bus or train back to Dublin to stay the night until 26th to leave that AM to mid afternoon for flight to Amsterdam
10) Amsterdam (26th-28th)
12) Paris (28th-31st) but touring Giverny for Monet’s paradise and Versailles for half a day each
13) Leaving on night train or bus to Madrid (31st-2nd)
14) To Provence, France for Lavender fields aix-en-provence (2nd-3rd)
15) To Chianti, Italy in Tuscany (3rd-5th) (florence for a day)
18) To Interlaken, Switzerland for Swiss Alps (5th-7th)
19) To Munich, Germany (7th-8th) Linderhof palace
20) To Vienna, Austria (8th-9th)
21) To Berlin, Germany (9th-10th)
22) To Copenhagen, Denmark (10th-11th)
23) To Stockholm Sweden (11h-12th) same day fly back to London to have some extra days in England (12th-14th)
—–leave the 15th out of London
and then we have two more days after that to add on to two of these places!!
We really need some help and heard about how Eurail tends to only have access to international trains and not trains to some of the places we want to go to, so we want to make sure to have the cheapest transport that makes sense for all we want to do! IF they are both possible…
What are your thoughts or places you see as worth or not worth going to?
Tentative cities to visit depending on what are most interesting: Milan, Brussels, Prague, or chesterfield for Chatsworth house.
Abby,
(I edited your two comments together so the itinerary here is your updated one.)
You’ve got a very specific and interesting itinerary planned and it’s obvious that you’ve done a ton of homework. For travel within Britain, you can get almost everywhere by train, and the fares are really cheap as long as you buy a month or more in advance. This National Rail site is the one I prefer. You buy online and then use a code to pick up your tickets at the station from a machine. You can go from London to Edinburgh for £20 in 5.5 hours during the day, for example, as long as you book early enough. Trains are much more enjoyable than buses in Britain, and the scenery is almost always much better.
I’ll encourage you to skip Lochness, as it’s very disappointing. It’s a very deep lake, but not actually very scenic, and the only reason it’s popular is the whole “monster,” thing. I fell for it and it’s one of the very few attractions in Europe that I regret seeing.
I took a train up to Inverness and did a full-day bus tour from there to the Isle of Skye and it was wonderful. You might consider that as well because Inverness is very nice, and you can actually see a lot of the Highlands on a bus tour that you can’t really see unless you have your own vehicle.
But before I go through any more specifics, I really think you should slow your itinerary down a bit. I’ve done fast trips like this and it’s really exhausting. My general recommendation is to spend 3 nights in each city, and 2 nights in smaller towns. A big challenge is that a transit day is usually a very poor sightseeing day. For example, you seem to have one night planned for the huge and wonderful city of Berlin. A train ride from Vienna will take almost 10 hours, and after that ride you’ll barely have enough energy to get dinner and check into a hostel. Even after only a 5 hour train ride, you won’t arrive in a city until maybe 3pm, and the main sights will start closing in a few hours. If you are back on the train to another city the following day, you won’t have time to see anything else before heading to the train station again.
So I’d start by saving Copenhagen and Stockholm for a future trip. Both are gorgeous cities, but they are very remote and very expensive. Again, if you don’t have at least two nights to dedicate to a place, I’d save it for another trip and stretch the other stays out a bit.
As you may know, Eurail isn’t valid in Britain, so you could only consider it for the continental stops. If you want to keep in all of those far-flung stops near the end of your trip, then a Eurail Pass might be good value. But if you consolidate your stops a bit more then buying individual train tickets online in advance (2 months or so) will be much cheaper. It really depends on what your next itinerary looks like and I’ll help you decide at that point. You might even have enough time to squeeze Prague in before or after Berlin, but you really have to take the journey times into account because some of them on your list are very long trips. I’ll be happy to help you figure out something that is easier to pull off and also still loaded with your main highlights, so keep in touch. -Roger
Hi Roger,
First let me just say you are the man. I am thoroughly impressed with all of your research and your diligence in addressing every single person’s questions. So God bless you and give you many more great travels 🙂
I’m currently studying abroad in Edinburgh until June 4th. This is my first time in Europe and I don’t know when I’ll be back, so I want to travel a lot while I’m here. At this point, my priorities are to see a lot of Austria and Italy, but thanks to your articles I am also trying to see Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, and probably a trip to Spain. A bit of France and/or Scandinavia would be cool, too, if I have the chance.
I’ll have a week off in February, and from 4/1 to 6/4 I will only need to be in Edinburgh for 3 exams. I won’t know when those exams will be until the end of Feb, so I may have to take trips in waves and keep returning to my Edinburgh home base. So, I’ve grouped cities into several 7-10 day trips based on their location. Feel free to tell me what you think of these groups/this style:
– Salzburg/west half of Austria, Munich/lower Germany
– Italy (Rome, Assisi, Venice, maybe Florence)
– Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest
– Krakow, Prague, Berlin
– Spain (not sure on cities yet)
– Netherlands, Belgium, maybe add Paris/Luxembourg?
I’m assuming that flying back and forth from the UK to one or two of these areas at a time may be more expensive than a long trip through them all… would you recommend linking them up whenever possible?
Also, I’ve read in a lot of your responses to comments that buses can often be a great way to go. However, I haven’t found whether or not you assess the possibility of traveling exclusively by bus? Again, I am a student and I try to save money whenever possible (in a style very similar to your own with all of the analysis and indexing). However, if you said that trains are always a better experience and well worth the extra expense, I would be able to drop some of my funds on a Youth Eurail pass (maybe a 10day/2month global? Maybe even continuous?). It’s just that, if I don’t have the chance to link up many of my 7-10 day trips, each group seems fairly small in radius. Therefore it seems to me like bus-ing it within each one would be most cost-effective. Then, if I have the opportunity to link a couple up, I could pay the train or plane ticket 2-4 weeks in advance. What do you think of that idea?
Again, at the end of February I should know what 4/1 to 6/4 will look like. So I’ll be able to plan about a month ahead. I guess I’m just wondering whether at this point you would think railpass all the way, or buses within the groups of close cities, or some combination of buses/rail/budget airline.
Thanks in advance,
Derek
Derek,
Thanks for the kind words and hopefully I can help a bit on this.
Since Edinburgh is a pretty busy easyJet hub, along with a few other discount airlines, I think your plan of breaking your trip up into chunks could be a good idea. If you can buy those air tickets well in advance, or if you don’t mind flying at weird hours, they should be quite cheap and you can fly right into and out of key cities on your list.
I’m a bit confused about your schedule, and if you have to be back in Scotland over and over I think it would be hard to get proper use out of a continuous rail pass. For the continuous ones to be good value you really have to be planning to take a fairly significant rail journey every 2 or 3 days for the whole period. The 10 days in 2 months one could be good for you if you are able to spend most of those two months on the road rather than going back and forth to Edinburgh. I’d say that the best option would be easyJet flights from Edinburgh, as long as you can buy them early enough to get good fares. Needless to say, you can book one “trip” at a time, and book the others as your schedule firms up.
Your proposed trips look pretty good and I don’t have many comments. Assisi only seems to come up in itineraries of people with a strong interest in church. Aside from that, Florence is a much better choice with far more to see.
In my book, Bratislava is a bit of a dud compared to most of the rest on your list. It’s so close to Vienna that spending a day there is probably worthwhile, but not more than that. I’d highly recommend Cesky Krumlov instead or in addition. It’s a wonderful and cheap town that isn’t overrun yet.
Amsterdam and Bruges are both top notch destinations, but I typically recommend Brussels as a place to spend an afternoon in (checking out the impressive city center and then moving on). Luxembourg is really lovely if you can include it, but Paris is the real gem in that area and if you haven’t been yet you should make it a priority.
As for bus travel, it’s kind of a mixed bag depending on where you are going. In Czech Republic, Poland, and most of former Yugoslavia, the buses are usually better and cheaper than trains, and often faster as well. But in, say, Germany, France, or the Netherlands, the buses go at about half the speed of trains and there is usually only a couple departures per day per route. The best thing to do is look up individual trips on Eurolines. It’s a confusing website, but it’s legit, and often they have amazing promotional fares.
If you can buy the train tickets online at least a month or so in advance, you can get fares that can be almost as low for far more speed and comfort. But if you have to book more at the last minute, the bus is probably going to be a much better deal as long as you have the time for some slowish journeys.
I’m not sure I answered all your questions. In either case, please feel free to write back if you have other questions I might help with. -Roger
Hello Roger,
First of all i would like to tell you that you have a very informative website here. Great job bud. This gave an idea on how the whole CONFUSING Eurail works.
I am planning a solo backpacking trip across Europe during July to the end of August (45-50 days). Another important thing i would like to add is that I will be on a totally shoe string budget.
The places i wish to visit is start of from Amsterdam, then either head to Germany first(mostly major cities and tourist attractions) or Belgium, once done covering these i plan on moving south.
Head to Paris and other places in France (Still to figure out places to visit in each country). Was planning for swizerland too but i guess it will be expensive so dropping that idea. After i finish with France i go to Spain, Portugal and then finish my travel at Italy from where i shall be flying back to India.
The questions i have is
1. Which pass would be best suitable for me.
2. I was thinking taking a flight from Paris to Portugal (any city) then go to Spain and later to Italy. Is this a convenient option?
3. Any suggestions on the Itinery?
4. Is hitchhiking an option on the trains tagging with someone having a group pass?
Cheers!
Bhushan.
Bhushan,
The Eurail Pass situation seems to get more complicated each year and it’s even a challenge for me to keep up with it after studying it for years and using it many times. I’ll be happy to try to help.
1. The best pass for you is probably going to be a 10 days in 2 months Flexipass, or 15 days if you can afford it. The continuous 2-month rail pass could be good, but only if you want to use it every 2 to 3 days. One reason why I don’t often recommend that is it really encourages you to move all the time, which means you spend almost half of your trip on trains and in train stations rather than actually exploring the cities you’ve come to visit.
2. Yes, I think flying from Paris to Lisbon is a great idea, partly because that ticket will be cheap and Lisbon is only connected to Spain by train via an overnight train. It’s fun to do once but pointless to do that and then have to do it again on the way back. In fact, you might find that flying from Portugal to Spain is a better option on the way back because once you are in Spain you can take high-speed day trains between all the major cities rather than that overnight train.
3. A few suggestions, yes. Amsterdam is amazing but Belgium won’t offer you much unless you have something specific in mind. Bruges is lovely but it’s a lot like Amsterdam, and Brussels is kind of a bore. So I’d recommend going straight from Amsterdam to Berlin and then going to Prague and Cesky Krumlov on your way back to Munich or Vienna. Then do southern Germany on your way to Paris. You might even head to Budapest because it’s much cheaper than most of the other places on your list, yet still really cool. In other words, if you are on a shoestring budget you might try spending more time in eastern Europe and save some of the other places for a later trip. You’ll meet more shoestring backpackers in places like Prague and Budapest, which is another fun part of a trip like this.
4. There are no group train passes that aren’t tied to individual names and passport numbers. These days they are especially big on security so you can’t get away with much. Germany has these weekend fares that are really cheap for groups of people, but even on those you need to enter all the names and have everyone carry ID.
Feel free to ask other questions if you have them and I’ll try to help. Have a great trip. -Roger
Hi Roger,
After reading your blog (twice) even i came to a conclusion that a 15days in 2 months pass or a continuous would be a good way to go. I understand what you mean by cramping too many places and travel in short duration. Not worth it and i totally agree. But sometimes you are left with no choice. I always keep few buffer days so that i can catch up on the lost ones later.
Now, after a lot of thinking i have made my first itinerary. I already had in mind all the countries which i want to visit.
I land in
1. Amsterdam. (3days) (explore Rotterdam & other nearby places too)
2. Hamburg (1-2 days)
3. Lubeck (1-2days)
4. Berlin (4days)
5. Prague (thanks 🙂 for putting that in)
6. Munich (2-3days)
7. Bavarian Alps (1-2days)
8. Frankfurt (1 day if i have to or)
9. Colonge (2days)
10. Antwerp (skip this too if there is nothing much)
11. Bruges (2days)
12. Brussels (if you say it is a bore, then will be here just for transit)
13. Luxemborg City (2days)
14. Paris (3-4 days)
15. South France Countryside (will decide when i am there where to go) 3-4days
16. Barcelona (2days)
17. Ibiza (4 days)
18. Madrid (2-3days)
19. Lisbon (2days)
20. Rome (flight 3days)
21. Florence (2-3days)
22. Venice (2days)
23. Nice (flight)
24. Monaco (2 days)
25. Milan (2days)
End of trip.
Also i shall consider the option of taking a flight from Paris or Barcelona to Lisbon and then coming back to Spain and later heading to Italy.
Now i know this no where looks like a trip which will be on a shoe string. But this is just the first itinerary. There are going to be changes.
I will surely skip few places before i make my final Itinerary. Also once i reach there i will stay at a place longer which i like and move faster where i think it will not be worth it.
I really dont want to plan the entire trip before hand. There is no fun in that and no trip goes exactly the way you plan it. So i am going to book places for the first one or two weeks and then i shall book as i move.
So, will it be difficult and expensive to find places to stay in hostels? Not that i will be booking on the same day but at least a week prior. Also the flight tickets, will they be expensive too considering it will be high season time?
Now when i move south after Paris, i really want to visit some country side. Not a tourist place so i will have to do some research on that or maybe ask the locals when i am there. You can help me out there.
So this is just a trail i have drafted as to how i shall move around. i really have to think of the expenses too.
I clicked on the link (Raileurope-world.com ) which you have mentioned for booking the eurail pass. It does not give me any option for the number of days. It just gives me the 5 day option.
As of now i am just booking my flight ticket for before they get expensive.
Cheers!
Bhushan.
Bhushan,
Wow. Your itinerary looks extremely well thought out, and I think your general plan is very solid about keeping options open to some degree. I’m sure this will be an amazing trip and I honestly don’t have much else to say about it. One minor thing for now is that you’ll want to stay in Nice while seeing Monaco. It’s about 20 minutes away by train, and there are no hostels or cheap hotels in Monaco. Monaco is a wonderful place to spend a day but honestly you can see it all in maybe 4 or 5 hours (as long as you don’t mind steep hills). Nice itself is worth a couple days and you’ll enjoy that too.
As for cheap hostels, you’ll be able to find availability if you book at least a few days out. Your first choice or two might be sold out but there will still be decent options. It’s really only those who arrive in town with no reservation that usually end up at the rotten places with poor locations and high prices. Even if you book only a day in advance you’ll be okay. It’s much easier to shop online rather than on foot, and it’s nicer to know where you are going when you get off the train. Have a great trip and feel free to ask other questions if you have them. -Roger
Roger,
Thank you. I have been planning this trip for a long time. SO, i guess i am on right track after getting positive feedback from you. 🙂
As i mentioned earlier i am a Indian Citizen. SO i am not sure if you know this but we always have difficulty getting Visa’s especially when it comes to U.S and Europe.
So, i just wanted to know that do the Eurail Passes get expensive with time? I will not be able to buy one unless i get a visa as there are 50-50 chances of getting it. And i am sure these passes are non-refundable and they surely cost a ton lot of money.
I shall start my visa process 2 months prior to my departure date. I have already booked my flight ticket to Amsterdam and also the Hostel.
What i have come to know is that i need to book my return ticket before hand (which i was not planning to) or else i will not a visa.
As my travel is for a good 50 days and i will not be sure about the exact date of coming back. I dont want to miss on places nor do i want to just stay back if i finished travelling and then my flight is few days ahead.
So i shall dig into this more, let me know if you know anything of this.
Also i am planning to use Couchsurfing for most of the places around to save on accommodation. Which places from above you think will be good for couchsurfing and which will be good for Hostels?
Cheers!
Bhushan
Bhushan,
Eurail passes are fixed in price, although they do go up a bit each year. So you only need to allow yourself enough time to have the pass shipped to you, or sort out a pick-up option in Europe, and the price will be the same. Good luck on those visas.
As a US citizen I’ve never needed a visa to visit Europe, so I don’t know the rules. But I do need to show an outbound plane ticket before I am admitted to many other countries. In reality, many or most countries never ask for it, and I can just show them an email ticket when they do ask, but some countries are strict on it. If you need it before you get a visa, it doesn’t sound like there is an easy way around it. Although I assume you are referring to a Schengen Visa, which covers most of continental Europe. Could you book a flight or Eurostar train to the UK (which is not in the Schengen zone) and tell them you are flying back to India from there? If you can do that, you might be able to keep your return flexible after buying a cheap ticket that you might not use.
I’ve never done Couchsurfing although a good friend of mine has done it (and hosted) dozens of times. I’d say that the more expensive the city, the more value out of couchsurfing. So in Amsterdam, where hostels start around €25 per night, it could be a good idea. But in, say, Budapest, where hostels start around €10, then it might not be worth the hassle. Best of luck with this and feel free to ask more questions if you have them. -Roger
Roger,
I guess i will have to think a way out for the visa by myself. Lets see how it works out. Still a lot of time left to apply.
Anyways, as of now i really appreciate for all the help you have provided. I shall be getting in depth with planning the trip in coming weeks. If i have something to ask you, i surely will write up.
Thanks again, Cheers!
Bhushan
Hi Roger,
I am planning a 15 days trip covering Italy, Spain or probably Paris too. Could you suggest the most appropriate days i should spent on each places?
I am 25 years old and i will be bringing my parents with me for this trip. What are you suggesting on the train pass? Should i buy the youth pass and adult pass for my parents or should i buy family pass? Or is it cheaper to take bus as it is only a short trip.
Sarah,
My recommendations for minimum stays on the quickest worthwhile trip would be 3 nights in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome, and you could do 2 nights in Florence and 1 night in Venice. I’m not sure you’d have time to do all of those in only 15 days, considering Spain and Italy take a day to get between on a train or bus.
The trains within Italy are pretty cheap already so a rail pass often doesn’t give good value. You might even consider flying from Spain to Italy because it would be cheaper and WAY faster. The buses in that part of Europe are much slower than trains, except for trips to small cities where the trains are pretty slow as well.
As far as the youth and adult passes vs a family pass, I’m not sure how those numbers add up so you’ll have to compare your own situation. But again, you might be better off just buying your train tickets online in advance and if you buy at least a few weeks early it will almost certainly be cheaper than a rail pass for this trip. And look into flying in or out of Paris to Spain or Italy as well. The flights can be very cheap if booked early. Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
This is quite an amazing website you have. I am going to take advantage of your expertise and generosity and ask you a few questions right at the start of my planning stage.
We (my family of 2 adults and two teens) are planning 2 weeks in the end of April 2016, across Paris (4 nts), Rome (4 nts) and Barcelona (4 nts). Add a couple of days on the train. We are looking at the Eurail Select Pass for 3 countries. I really like the flexibility it offers, even if it may cost a bit more.
Based on your insights, I can see a few things we may be doing wrong:
1. Are we visiting too few cities for the given days? Which one or two short visit cities would you add within these three countries?
2. We were planning to start in Paris and then take the train to Rome and then to Barcelona. However, I see that you recommend flying from Rome to Barcelona. If we do that, then would a 2-country (France and Italy) Select Pass be enough?
3. You also recommend the direction as Paris->Barcelona->Rome. We found better flights back home to Mumbai, India from Barcelona so can we stick with Paris->Rome->Barcelona? Is the train option practical from Paris to Rome?
Thank you for being of such help and I do hope I can ask you a few more questions as we finalize our itinerary.
Regards,
Vikas
Vikas,
I’ll be happy to try to help.
1. Nearly everyone else in this comment section tries to cram too MANY cities into a trip like this, but I agree that you might be attempting too few. My recommendation is for 3 or 4 nights in Paris, and 3 nights in Barcelona and 3 nights in Rome. You can certainly stay 4 or 5 days in any of them, but your last day or two will be seeing 2nd and 3rd tier sights rather than 1st tier sights in other cities.
And Eurail Passes are only really helpful for trips involving at least 5 train journeys. If you add a few more cities you might make a go of it, but otherwise it’s probably not useful at all and would cost you more than buying the individual tickets.
You could stop for a couple days in Nice, France on your way to or from Paris. Or in Italy you can add 1 or 2 days in Venice or 2 or 3 days in Florence, and every day would be filled with highlights. Those are your best bets to add onto what you have in mind.
2. A train from Rome to Barcelona would take literally a full day, weirdly enough. There is a ferry that you can take overnight, but honestly a flight would be the cheapest option and also the shortest by far. Again, if you do this then a rail pass isn’t helpful.
3. You can visit the cities in any order to best fit your incoming and outgoing flights home. Normally I recommend train travel whenever possible, but actually Paris and Rome are at least 10 hours apart by train during the day and about 14 hours apart by night train. It’s a scenic ride, but honestly I’d recommend flying. As long as you buy at least a month or more in advance you should be able to get airfare for about US$100 one-way, and that will be less than a train as well.
I’m in a bit of a rush right now but please feel free to follow up with more questions if you have them. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I feel assured enough in our itinerary so far as my family of four are traveling to Paris for 12 days with a short trip to uk. I haven’t really seen an article with instructions for day trips out of Paris even if I know it’s mentioned. I’d like to go to Normandy but not sure how to get there. We’d be staying in Paris at rue cler for our whole stay but I don’t want to overextend us. Any ideas that may help? Thanks just 4 nitwits traveling abroad for some adventures. Lol!
Didier,
Aside from Paris and Nice, I’m not much of a France expert at this point, so I don’t feel confident in giving you detailed advice. However, I do know that it’s easy to take a train from Paris to Normandy as well as every other major side trip location in the country. We’ve yet to write our own Paris day trips article on this site, but you can find them all over the internet if you Google it. Sorry I can’t be of more help, at least until my next major France research trip in 2016. Best of luck. -Roger
Roger,
I want to explore the Europe alone for 45 days, please guide me for the same. Let me know the budget and other things related. I am 28 years old.
jyoti agarwal,
As you can see above, I’m very happy to help answer specific questions, but your question is starting out far too broad. In my opinion, half the fun of such a trip is figuring out where you want to go and then putting it together like a puzzle. The good news is that this whole website is dedicated to helping you sort out the best trip for you. Please start with the Europe Backpacker Index to choose the cities that most interest you.
After you get a basic list together you’ll see which ones are close together on a map, and you can start planning a route. I recommend planning on 3 nights in each city as a general guide, so in 45 days you can do maybe 13 to 17 cities total. Once you get your itinerary going, I’ll be happy to offer advice on how to do it the best way for the least money and all of that. Keep in touch. -Roger
I forgot to mention that I read your Switzerland article and just confused on a few things. Should I stay in Bern to get the Interlaken east station for travel? Do I buy tickets now or wait till I’m at Interlaken station for tickets to gimmelwald, murren and lauterbrunne? I’d like to visit the waterfall, is it a separate charge? Also is it extra to ride up to gimmelwald or murren for a visit? Do I purchase the schli thorn tickets while there or is it best to price for jungfreau? Trying to decide between the two for time management.
So we are in London, land 2 nights. Head to Paris via Eurostar, 2 nights and then Interlaken/Bern area. Then fly to London for home. I’m thankful for all your help and now it’s hotel bookings and rail tickets. I’m just trying to visualize the best plan of action for this itinerary, thank you again. Gillian