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.
Hi Roger,
I used the Eurail Global 2 Month pass in 2013 when traveling around Germany with my partner on a Fellowship tour. We also went to the Netherlands (twice – once planned, once on a spur of the moment on a Sunday when in Germany), Austria (Innsbruck & Vienna), and for a longer train trip to Bran in Romania. We both really enjoyed the freedom that this pass gave us, and are wondering if it’s worth buying another Global 2 Month pass for the trip we will be taking between September to November later this year:
Sept 13-14 Adelaide- Singapore (1 night)
Sept 15-21 Berlin (7 nights)
Sept 22-24 Billund [Denmark] (3 nights)
Sept 25-Oct 1 Copenhagen (7 nights)
Oct 2-8 Stockholm (7 nights)
Oct 9-11 Lyksele [Sweden] (3 nights)
Oct 12-16 Helsinki (5 nights)
Oct 17-18 Kakslauttanten [Finland] (2 nights)
Oct 19-21 Tromso [Norway] (3 nights)
Oct 22-29 Oslo (8 nights)
Oct 30-31 Bergen [Norway] (2 nights)
Nov 1-3 Reykjavic (3 nights)
Nov 4-14 Amsterdam (11 nights)
Nov 15-16 Singapore-Adelaide (1 night)
I have already booked flights between all of these locations, with the exceptions of Copenhagen to Stockholm, and Oslo to Bergen, which I intend to take via train (once again my partner will be with me at all times, so we would be buying a double pass and saving 15%). I was also thinking of doing a day trip to Hamburg whilst in Berlin. While I haven’t planned any other specific excursions at this time, I’m sure we would be using some of the big cities that we are staying in for a while (such as Amsterdam and Oslo) as the basis for day trips into the country, and to visit other cities, such as The Hague.
Do you think it would be worth buying another 2 Month Global Pass, or should I be looking at purchasing a ‘Belelux-Germany’ pass for 10-15 days in 2 months, along with a Scandinavia pass for 10 days in 2 months?
It’s all a bit confusing, so I’d really appreciated your insight.
Thank you very much,
Harriet
Harriet,
Based on your planned itinerary, I don’t think a Continuous 2-month rail pass would pay for itself, unless you plan on doing a great number of day trips and side trips from the places on your list. On the other hand, you’ll certainly have enough time for that. For example, 7 nights in Stockholm and Copenhagen is a LONG time in each, at least for typical first-time visitors. You can see the main sights in about 3 days in each, so in 7 nights you’ll have time to get outside each city a few times. And 11 nights in Amsterdam is an eternity for most people. I love all of those cities and I’ve lived in Amsterdam, but you can really see everything in 3 or 4 days.
Even if you are thinking about many day trips and side trips, many of those could be fairly cheap by train anyway. For example, Amsterdam to The Hague takes 49 minutes and costs €11.20 each way at full price. If you buy a bit in advance it can be even cheaper. So it would take a lot of those in order to justify a Continuous pass.
I’m more of a fan of the Flexi-passes with around 10 travel days in 2 months. With one of those you can use it only on the longer and more expensive train journeys, and pay cash for the shorter and cheaper ones. As long as you have valid travel days left, it means that you’ll never have to pay a fortune for a walk-up fare, and you can still shop around for cheaper ways of going and save the days. I think that might be the better solution compared to buying two regional passes, but it’s hard for me to be confident in that advice without knowing how many little trips you might add to this.
Sorry I can’t be more definitive. And feel free to follow up if you’d like to expand on this. -Roger
Roger,
After considering the pros and cons of visiting Split I’ve decided to leave it out of this trip to afford me that time better spent elsewhere. The closer I get to my desired departure date I’m realizing how quickly the time is approaching and starting to question whether or not I should be booking more hostels in advance to ensure a pleasant stay in each city. This will be my first time backpacking so I was curious to get your take on how soon I should book a hostel or how soon the good ones tend to book up or if booking days in advance is fine. Also when trying to determine the duration of my trip I’m allotting 3 days per city (which may change) but should I allot an entire day for travel between cities?
Concerning the Eurail Pass I was debating between the 10 or the 15 days in 2 months. Counting travel days from Switzerland through to Lisbon (and not including Morocco) I only count 10 travel days, 11 if I count Morocco. Do you think the 15 days is a better value/idea to offer me more possibility of flexibility? (also do travel days count 24hrs from beginning of activation time?)
Whats your take on the scenic train tours through Switzerland and do you think there is a way to fit one into a travel day efficiently? I was also considering squeezing Switzerland into my trip between Paris and Barcelona as opposed to trying to fit it between Italy and Budapest do you have any thoughts on that?
Thanks again for all the help as I’m getting much closer to finalizing my plans!
Mark,
All things considered, leaving Split off the trip this time is probably wise. The difficulty in getting there from anywhere other than Zagreb is the reason I skipped it several trips, only finally making it last year.
My advice on hostels (and hotels, for that matter) is to book them as soon as you are sure of your dates. Especially with hostels, where you only have to put about 10% down as a deposit, there is much to gain and little to lose by booking early as long as you are fairly confident that you’ll actually be arriving on that date.
And as I’ve written many times before, the best hostels in any city tend to get booked up at least a week or more in advance in summer, and the places that are available to the walk-up crowd will be the lousy and overpriced ones, usually with inconvenient locations. So weirdly enough, the best hostels are often among the cheaper places, and the expensive ones mostly rely on last-minute guests to fill up.
I think the 10 days in 2 months Eurail Pass is probably best for you. You can just pay as you go for bus rides or shorter trips, saving the pass for the expensive legs. As you travel you’ll probably consider a side trip or two, which could turn one long expensive train ride into two shorter and cheaper ones. You don’t want to use many of those travel days on shorter legs.
For rail passes, a “travel day” is a calendar day for the most part. So if you take a noon ride from Barcelona to Madrid, the travel day ends at midnight and you can’t then take a 9am ride the following morning. The only exception is for night trains, which work on what is known as the “7pm rule.” As long as a train journey begins AFTER 7pm and arrives the following day, then the journey is only counted as one travel day (the arrival day). I’ve written a whole article on night trains in Europe if you want to know more.
Oh, and I think most of your train journeys will be in the 3 to 5 hour range, so those will take up a good portion of prime sightseeing hours, but not really a whole day. The weird thing is that it can feel a bit exhausting sitting on a train for 5 hours, so you probably won’t be ready to run straight to the entrance of a museum once you arrive in a city. And I think as I mentioned before, 3 nights in each city feels pretty much perfect for all but the largest and smallest tourist cities in Europe.
As for the scenic train rides in Switzerland, I’ve done maybe 2 or 3 of the 6 most famous ones, and I don’t think they are necessarily worth doing just for the sake of doing them. In fact, the scenery all over Switzerland is pretty amazing, and the same is true for anywhere in or near the Alps, so I’d just plan your normal rides through the area and probably not do an extra day just to ride the rails. In fact, last year I rode from Interlaken to Bern by taking the train all the way to Montreux and then to Geneva and then along Lake Geneva to Bern. It was nice, but not really as special as I’d been led to believe by the brochures and such. My personal favorite scenic ride in that area is Innsbruck to Verona, and it’s not even one of the hyped routes. Your train rides in and out of Switzerland will be among the best of your trip, but there are nice rides in most of Europe.
By the way, if you use the little Hostelbookers widget in the left column of my city pages to do your hostel searches and bookings, then I get a small commission and you get the same low rates as usual. That’s one example of how I can make a living running this site and helping people plan trips. Feel free to ask more questions if you have them, and I’m sure you’ll have an incredible time. -Roger
Roger, As far as supporting your site I’ll definitely be sure to search and book my hostels from your widgets as thats the least I can do. Most recently I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a ferry from Greece to Italy as opposed to flying. Reading through the eurail site it says passage is free when your eurail pass is valid in Italy and Greece so I’m assuming a global pass qualifies. My questions are, if I haven’t yet used my pass (as I plan to begin using it in Switzerland) is my pass considered to be valid?
Do you know if it would count as a travel day if I did use it?
Also have you ever travelled from Greece to Italy via ferry routes and would you recommend this as a better option than flying?
Is it as scenic as I’d imagine?
And is passage often available the day of travel on reservation routes in the same way as train routes?
Thanks again Roger!
-Mark
Mark,
Sorry about the slow response on this. When a Eurail Pass is valid for free travel, it has to be actually within its use period, and a ferry ride would require use of a Travel Day. So it may not be worthwhile to actually use it for a ferry, depending on how much the normal cost is.
I’ve only done a ferry from Italy to Croatia, as well as ferries from Piraeus (Athens) to Greek islands. The longer ferry rides usually go over at least one night, and you usually have a choice of a bunk in a cabin, a private cabin, or just a chair in a common room. The ones I’ve taken haven’t actually been very scenic because much of the trip is at night, and it’s only the first and last parts of the trip where you can see the shore. In fact, most people (Europeans) who take them regularly, race right to a chair or bunk when they first board, and stay there the whole time.
As for availability of ferries, it can actually be quite tricky. The problem is that many if not most of these ferry routes have exactly one departure per day, so if some school group has booked for the day you want, the thing might be sold out weeks in advance. Or if there are no groups and it’s not high season, it might sail only half full. That can also happen on a train, but since there are trains going every hour on most popular routes, the worst case scenario is usually just waiting an hour. With a ferry ride, you might have to wait a day or two or three if you don’t book in advance.
Personally, I prefer to do as much travel by land and sea as possible, and only fly when there are no other decent options. I like feeling the added connection between two places for having gone on the ground. It’s just with ferries, it’s usually wise to book early or you might not get on. Feel free to keep following up if you have more questions. -Roger
Hey Roger, So I’ve changed my plans around quite a bit from what I was originally thinking and have decided to get a return flight between Toronto to Paris with 2 months of play time in between. I’ve opted out of Greece this time to avoid any extra schedule obligations during my stay. So with my itinerary now looking like this:
Paris 3-4 days
London 1-2 days (if i can get there cheap enough)
Bruges 3 days
Amsterdam 2-3 days
Berlin 3 days
Prague 3-4 days
Vienna 3-4 days
Budapest 3-4 days
Venice 2-3 days
Rome 3-4 days
Florence or other areas in Italy another week or so
Switzerland 3 days (if i can book the mountain hostel im hoping to be able to spend enough time in Italy to buy time waiting for an opening if i book once i reach Budapest)
Barcelona 3-4 days
this leaves me 12 days to play with for random cities i may want to spontaneously visit or even go more south west to Morocco if I got the nerve
Would you still recommend a 10 days in 2 months pass?
Because I will be mostly unaware of where I’m headed up untill a day or 2 I run the risk of being hit by much higher costs for tickets so do you think more days in a pass could pay for itself with convenience?
I found this train cost estimate on another site and was wondering if you could take a quick look and confirm that the costs are pretty accurate in your experience, I’m having a tough time knowing when I should or shouldn’t be using my pass. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/cost-maps
Also the train to London isn’t covered by the eurail but is there really any cheaper option other than the Eurostar?
Thanks again for all the help Roger!!
-Mark
Mark,
Your updated itinerary looks really good and well planned. Two days in Venice should be enough, partly because it’s small and extremely crowded, and partly because it’s quite expensive. Bruges is also quite compact so I’d recommend more time in Amsterdam and a bit less time in Bruges. But as you say, you can mostly wing it and decide as you go.
I’ll also recommend Cesky Krumlov in between Prague and Vienna for about 2 days. It’s a wonderful place and super cheap as well.
I’ve been a huge fan of Rick Steves for as long as I can remember, and I’ve used his rail fare estimation charts like those since the 1990s. The problem with the chart now is that almost all of the intercity trains in Europe are now priced like discount airlines in that they are cheap when they are first put on sale about 4 months out, and the price keeps going up as more seats are sold. It looks like his charts are for same-day tickets, which means that you can get most of them for much less if you buy at least a few days in advance. Often you can get cheaper fares even on travel day if you are willing to go really early in the morning or in mid afternoon or evening.
So I definitely still recommend the 10 days in 2 months Flexipass. You might even do okay with 8 travel days because quite a few of your planned journeys are fairly cheap even on travel day. Bruges to Amsterdam isn’t too expensive, for example. And if you went from Prague to Cesky Krumlov it’s faster and better to go by bus, which will cost around €20. From Cesky Krumlov to Vienna is only a bit more expensive. The rides within Italy should all cost no more than €50 each, even if you buy on travel day.
Once you are actually making your way around Europe on a shoestring, you’ll discover more places where buses are faster and better options, especially for reaching smaller cities. So 8 or 10 travel days should be plenty for the big trips, which means you’d never have to worry about paying more than, say, €70 for any leg. Many of them will be much closer to €20 or €30, so for those trips you won’t want to burn a travel day.
As for going between London and Paris, the Eurostar is pretty cheap if you buy very early, like 4 months in advance. However, there is a cheaper way if you don’t mind taking 8 hours and 45 minutes to get there. You can book on the Eurolines bus for as little as £14, which leaves Victoria Station in London and then drives onto a train that goes through the Channel Tunnel. Then it drives off the train in France and all the way to Paris. If you have time it’s an interesting journey, and to be honest, the seats on the Eurostar train are smaller with less leg room than the bus anyway.
As always, feel free to follow up with more questions as your trip is coming together. I love this stuff. -Roger
Hey Roger, the planning is coming along great and I’m definitely feeling more confident planning this thing now as you said I would eventually! I’ve taken more of your advice and have added to Cesky Krumlov into my plans. I was hoping you could suggest a way for me to get to Krakow and also make my way to Auschwitz. I’m having problems fitting it in somewhere along my route as it seems to be a 12hr train ride no matter where i go from. Sticking with, Berlin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, and Budapest, could you recommend an ideal way to squeeze it into my itinerary somehow?
Thanks again Roger!
Mark,
I know exactly what you mean about Krakow. It’s kind of off on its own in that part of Europe, so it takes a long time to reach by land no matter what. But I believe that Krakow lives up to the hype, and is also wonderfully inexpensive so it’s worth the trouble.
Probably the easiest way to do it for you would be to do Krakow right after Berlin. There is a train between the two that takes 8 hours and 24 minutes, leaving several times per day. Actually, the train takes about 5.5 hours to reach Warsaw, and then another 2 hour 40 minutes to Krakow. With that in mind, you might even consider stopping in Warsaw for 1 or 2 nights along the way. The Old Town there is really lovely, and it’s an interesting city in general. If you did that, you could get a bus from Warsaw to Krakow for a low price in about 4 hours, or take the train if you have a rail pass that fits.
Once you are in Krakow you’ll find that there are many full-day and half-day tours to Auschwitz at reasonable prices. The full-day tours also go to the salt mines or some other nearby attraction, so the half-day tour is enough (and highly recommended). You could also go by public buses, I believe, but it would be a hassle, and having a tour guide at the camp is worthwhile.
After Krakow you could either go to Budapest or to Prague, and then loop to the others in the order you prefer. The other way to do it would be Berlin to Prague to Cesky Krumlov to Vienna to Budapest to Krakow. I don’t think any of the rides on that route would be too long, but then you finish in Krakow and you are basically in the same situation of being a long way from everywhere else. Hopefully this helps. Feel free to follow up. -Roger
Thank you thank you thank you! I have been so on the fence about purchasing the Global pass for my 3 month trip and this is the only place that I have had all of my concerns/questions/doubts answered!
You have been a tremendous help. Thanks so much.
Roger,
Thank you so much for your reply. I guess my next question has to do more with your opinion of my itinerary. This is my first trip to Europe and I’m a little overwhelmed by all my options. Naturally I want to see as much of it as possible but realistically my budget wont allow for that. I will be there at least two months but if I want to stay longer I will. That being said, I really have the time to visit whatever countries I desire (within reason).
What are your thoughts on my stops? Am I hitting the right places for a first trip out there? Are there any must-see cities that I’m not including? Obviously this is a matter of opinion but you clearly know what you’re talking about so your opinion matters. As you can see I’m more interested in Western/Southern Europe. If you think one of my cities can be skipped, don’t hesitate to let me know. One of the countries I initially included in my plans was Spain but I’d be backtracking a bit if I did that.
Of course I chose the big cities in each country I’ll be visiting but what I really want is culture. I want to see how Europeans live which, if I’ve learned anything from past trips, you need to venture outside of the big cities to achieve. What are your top 15 European stops that you recommend? Forgive me if this has already been addressed in a previous thread.
Open to any and all advice. I don’t have many people to reach out to who have done this so your help is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you have any questions for me. Looking forward to your response.
Josie,
Sorry I missed this question the first time you posted it. Sometimes they get by me, so I’m glad you posted it again.
I think your current itinerary looks like a really good start, although it won’t take even close to 2 months to see just those cities. Some people (usually very experienced travelers) prefer to go very slow, spending a week in any city they stop in. But most people are ready to move on far sooner than that, and you can obviously see many more places if you move at a good clip. Personally, I like to stay 3 nights in almost any city I visit for the first time, or perhaps 4 or 5 days in the largest cities (like Paris and Rome on your list).
So looking at your current plan, I think they are all very worthwhile except for Geneva and possibly Milan. Geneva is famous for being the home of many international organizations but it’s way down the list of interesting places to visit in Switzerland. Just a couple days ago I posted an article about this because so many people are unsure of where to go in Switzerland.
While we are at it, here is my recently-updated article about where to go in France and Italy. With as much time as you have you could explore other parts of France, and I have less experience with those outside of Paris and Nice. But the Italy portion of that article should be very helpful.
I absolutely love Amsterdam and even lived there for a while. Paris lives up to the hype so plan on at least 4 nights there. You’ll love Italy and also Switzerland if you pick the right places to visit, but it’s the most expensive country in Europe so you’ll probably want to stay focused rather than lingering in order to keep your budget intact.
Athens is really interesting for a few days, but you might also want to spend time on one of the islands. They will be cheaper than normal this year, and it’s a whole different side of Greek culture.
Spain is also fantastic and I think you should try to include at least Barcelona and Madrid, with 3 nights each as a minimum. You could spend a whole month in Spain and not be bored, not to mention Portugal next door, which is very nice and also quite a bargain.
As far as trying to really get a feel for a country and its people, I think a mix of big and small cities is best. You can’t learn much about the people of France by only visiting central Paris, but Paris is a huge part of the magic of the country so you really need to see it.
Speaking of big cities, I’ll highly recommend considering a stop in Berlin. It may not sound too “sexy” but it’s a place that nearly everyone loves once they arrive, and it’s also relatively cheap. And if you are in that area, you might also consider a few days in Prague, which also really lives up to the considerable hype. I think if you add those two, and also spend a week or so in Spain, you’ll be covering pretty much the best that western and southern Europe has to offer.
On a 2-month visit you should have no trouble making about 20 stops. And if you are making that many stops, it means that most of them will only be about 3 hours apart by train, so you won’t be spending too much if your time in transit.
One other thing to mention is that on a trip that long, you’ll want to allow for at least two sightseeing breaks. In other words, you’ll discover that sightseeing every day can begin to feel like a job if you do it 7 days a week, so it really helps to figure that about once a month you’ll want to just chill out and read books or see a movie or whatever for 2 or 3 days. My preference is to do that in a smaller town, partly because they are cheaper and partly because it’s much easier to relax when there aren’t all those world-class sights nearby. A Greek Island visit would be well suited to that, as would a stop in a random small town in Tuscany or elsewhere in Italy.
As always, I hope this helps, and I’m happy to continue with planning advice so feel free to follow up. -Roger
Dear Roger,
I have already learnt so much just from reading all your posts. I am an absolute newbie to Europe. I will be travelling to Zaragoza, Spain for work purposes for 2 weeks. I have taken the liberty to extend my stay for another week. My plan was just to spend that 1 week in Spain, most probably just in Madrid and Barcelona.
I would sincerely like to ask for your advice. Do you think a week is too long to be just in these 2 cities? Should I probably pay a visit down south of Spain or maybe to Portugal or France? And under what circumstances would it be beneficial to obtain a Eurail pass?
Really appreciate your feedback Roger.
Thank you.
Michael,
Always happy to hear that this information is helpful, so thanks for mentioning that. If you have only 7 days then I think spending almost all of that time in Madrid and Barcelona is perfect. I always get asked how long people should budget for each city, and my answer with those two is that you should allow at least 3 nights in each because they are both very large and filled with worthwhile sights. They are also very different from each other, which is another bonus in your case.
If you wanted to add in another stop you could visit Toledo as a day trip from Madrid or for a night on its own. There are many good day trips from Barcelona as well, though I’m not as familiar with those. Portugal is wonderful itself, and obviously France is too, but I don’t think you’d have enough time to really get a feel for either of them, and Barcelona and Madrid are both top-shelf destinations so you’ll be making no sacrifice.
You won’t need a rail pass at all. In Spain, the train tickets are fairly cheap if you buy them a month or two in advance, and quite expensive if you buy them on travel day (unless you are willing to go at odd hours). So buy those tickets online as early as possible for the lowest cost. Toledo is only 33 minutes from Madrid by a train that leaves every hour, and that will be cheap no matter when you buy it.
Best of luck with your trip, and let me know if you have other questions. -Roger
Wow, wish i had as much time to spend in Europe as most of the folks, but we don’t. We are flying into AAlborg. Returning with my daughter, who spent a year there on exchange from our home state of Kentucky. We are going to visit her host families that keep her during her stay. We would like to loop around Europe and make our way back to Aalborg to fly home all in about 10 to 11 days. My plan was to rent a car and drive. Wife thinks it may be better to try the trains. We would like to visit Amsterdam, then Paris then Barcelona, then Monaco then Rome, Venice, then Prague then maybe somewhere in Germany as we head back to Aalborg. Does this sound like a train or car trip and is the route a smart one? Thanks so much for all you do on this site. Victor
Victor,
I know what you mean about wishing I was going on one of these longer trips, but right now I’m in front of my computer just like everyone else. 🙂
This definitely sounds like a train trip, although parts of it sure could be enjoyable by car as well. My usual advice about renting cars to get around Europe applies here in that it can be a great way to do a trip if you are going to be visiting a lot of countryside, and/or if you are traveling with a whole family. But if you are mainly wanting to spend time in the great cities of Europe, which it sounds like you do on this trip, then the trains are a better way to go. For one thing, Europe purposely discourages car holidays by making fuel expensive and parking in cities very tricky and expensive as well. And in all of the cities on your list, you wouldn’t want to drive once you got there, so you’d end up paying maybe €20 per day to park while you spent a couple days sightseeing.
Now to your itinerary. If you only have 10 or 11 days, I’d choose no more than 4 or maybe 5 cities to visit, and even then you’d be rushing. I normally recommend 3 nights in each of the big cities in Europe. Monaco is tiny and you should visit it as a day trip from nearby Nice, and Venice is small enough to see it in about 24 hours. But the other cities on your list are worth at least 2 nights and probably 3. If you only did 2 nights in each one you’d literally be spending half of your days in transit, and the other half actually seeing the sights.
Prague is a long way from the others, so I think the best you could do is to do Aalborg to Amsterdam for 2 nights, then Amsterdam to Paris for 3 nights, then Paris to Barcelona for 3 nights OR Paris to Nice for 2 nights and then Nice to Venice for 1 night and Venice to Rome for 3 nights and then fly back to Aalborg for your trip home. Rome, Paris, and Barcelona are all huge and 3 nights is really the minimum to see even the basics.
Or you could do Aalborg to Amsterdam to Berlin to Prague and back up again. So I’ll urge you to trim your city list down to 4 or 5 at most, and I’ll be happy to help you sort out the details if you like. Best of luck. -Roger
Hello again Roger. Been pondering your advice for about a month now and seems to make a lot of sense. Looks like we will be following your 1st itinerary of Aalborg to Amsterdam to Paris to Barcelona to Venice to Rome then fly back to Aalborg. Should we buy Euro Rail pass or buy tickets between each stop? Also we are traveling 1st 2 weeks of July. If we buy individual tickets, should we start buying them now? There will be 3 of us. Thanks so much for your awesome advice.Victor
Victor,
If you are comfortable locking in those non-refundable and non-changeable train tickets for this trip, then you’ll definitely save money by buying them now as opposed to later or using a rail pass. Those train fares will be surprisingly cheap if you buy them 3 months out or so, so it’s all a matter of how much flexibility you’ll want.
Just a quick story that might help, I’m constantly researching things like this and I struggle to lock in even trips that seem ideal because something inside me really prefers more flexibility. But in the end, about 90% of the time or even more, I end up doing exactly what I had planned. And when I buy tickets in advance, it’s 100% of the time. So if the departure times and everything else seem good, I say go for it and lock in the cheap tickets. Realistically, I think even if you miss a particular train on a particular day, I think you could use the ticket for the next train for a small fee or no fee. These European trains (except for high-speed TGV trains in France or the Eurostar) are run on a more casual basis than flights. And of course, if you don’t have any weird emergencies, then you’ll be on time for all of your trains anyway.
Feel free to follow up if you have specific questions. A rail pass would only save you money if you needed to make plans on travel day or the day before. Have a great trip. -Roger
I will make this short for you… but kudos for keeping up on your page as long as you have! 🙂
Here is my itinerary, planned for two months…
Fly into Amsterdam>Paris>Geneva>Munich>Milan>Venice>Florence/Tuscany>Rome>Athens
I’ve crunched the numbers and am still coming up with the same question… does it make more sense to purchase the Global 10 days in 2 months pass (just in case I decide to add a few stops along the way) or the 4-country Select Pass (I’d probably choose the 6 or 8 day option)?
I know it’s only a difference of a few hundred dollars but any bit of savings helps!
Thanks in advance,
Josie
I should mention so that you don’t think I can’t count… I understand the tickets between Italy’s main cities are inexpensive, so I would just purchase those tickets individually. I will also fly to Athens.
Thanks again!
Josie,
I think you’ll most likely do best with the 4-country Select Pass for 6 or 8 days, but it would mostly depend on which countries you’d be most likely to want to add stops in. Extra trips in France and/or Germany could cost quite a bit if you bought them separately, but extra trips in Switzerland are reasonably priced because distances are small and fares don’t keep going up as the travel day approaches like they do in most of Europe. And extra trips within Italy would also be fairly cheap because most distances are short and tickets there are heavily subsidized by taxes.
Another factor to be aware of is that most train journeys in France will require a seat reservation, which can cost €20 or even more on the high-speed luxury trains. If you buy those same tickets a couple months in advance, they are sometimes only a bit more expensive than the reservations for rail pass holders. So it’s kind of a mixed bag.
And I assumed you knew that you’d need to fly to Athens, although there are also ferries leaving from Bari in Italy. Hopefully this helps, and let me know if I can answer any other questions for this trip or decision. -Roger
Roger,
Thank you so much for your reply. I guess my next question has to do more with your opinion of my itinerary. This is my first trip to Europe and I’m a little overwhelmed by all my options. Naturally I want to see as much of it as possible but realistically my budget wont allow for that. I will be there at least two months but if I want to stay longer I will. That being said, I really have the time to visit whatever countries I desire (within reason).
What are your thoughts on my stops? Am I hitting the right places for a first trip out there? Are there any must-see cities that I’m not including? Obviously this is a matter of opinion but you clearly know what you’re talking about so your opinion matters. As you can see I’m more interested in Western/Southern Europe. If you think one of my cities can be skipped, don’t hesitate to let me know. One of the countries I initially included in my plans was Spain but I’d be backtracking a bit if I did that.
Of course I chose the big cities in each country I’ll be visiting but what I really want is culture. I want to see how Europeans live which, if I’ve learned anything from past trips, you need to venture outside of the big cities to achieve. What are your top 15 European stops that you recommend? Forgive me if this has already been addressed in a previous thread.
Open to any and all advice. I don’t have many people to reach out to who have done this so your help is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you have any questions for me. Looking forward to your response.
Hi Roger
Great page you got here..Thanks for all the wonderful Information
The wife and I are going to Europe this July 11 thru August 23rd.
Based on what I have read her I’m in for a tongue lashing, but would still be open to some constructive advice from an expert. I will be purchasing a 30 day global Eurail Pass and will be attempting the following itinerary
Brussels – Frankfurt 2 days
Frankfurt- Amsterdam 2 days
Amsterdam-Copenhagen 1
Copenhagen- Oslo
Oslo- Stockholm
Stockholm-Berlin
Berlin- Prague
Prague-Vienna
Vienna-Salzburg
Salzburg-Venice
Venice-Rome
Rome-Florence
Florence-Nice
Nice-Barcelona
Bacelona-Geneva
Geneva-Bern
Bern-Paris
Paris-London (Eurostar) I Have an additional week planned for the UK
on top of the 30 days for the train trip.
Is that itinerary insane? High speed trains, I don’t see an issue.
Figured I’d be on trains for 100 of the 720 hours of the month.
The Scandanavia portion is strictly sightseeing by train only. we will get of and possibly spend the night in those cities, only to get back on the train the next day for the next city.If you were to spend 1 full day and night in any of those (Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm), which would you choose. We are not very cultural, history obsessed or culinary type folks. We are strictly about the scenery, maybe hitting one highlight in each city, ie: Coliseum, Eiffel Tower, Interlaken, some castles in Germany, etc..
Could use some advice for sure on the Scandanavian portion. That’s some long train rides for just allotting a day for each.
I see no cheaper way to do this aggressive of an itinerary other than the Global pass. If wee poop out halfway through, the flexibility will certainly come in handy.
I figure we will have to do Laundry once every 5 days so that will consume some time as well.
Also trying to figure a way we can do sleeper cars and save time that way as well. Any info on which legs provide that service would be quite helpful.BTW we are both mid 50’sand travel quite often and sometimes ambitiously. First trip to Europe though.
Don’t hold back, Give me the Scoop as you see it 🙂
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it very much..All ears from hear.
George Taylor
George,
There are no tongue lashings on this page, and you’d have to look long and hard to find a greater advocate for fast travel in Europe 🙂
Still, as someone who has actually done trips at the pace you are suggesting (I push myself hard on research trips to gather all this experience and information), I’m confident that you wouldn’t enjoy it very much after the first week or so. If you got the 30-day continuous Global Eurail Pass, I really wouldn’t recommend more than 15 total travel days. Even doing a train ride every other day, it will feel more like a game show than a holiday, and if you do train rides on many back-to-back days, you’d soon want to pack the whole thing in.
Interestingly, I’ve become a similar traveler to what you are describing in many ways. I’m generally bored with museums and that sort of thing, and I feel like I can get the gist of most cities in 2 days or so. So I think if you did this with an open schedule, making plans as you go, then you could probably really enjoy visiting 15 cities in 30 days, as long as you didn’t mind feeling quite exhausted when you were done. But if I were you I’d shoot for no more than 15 cities, and also make a back-up plan to see 10 or 12 great cities in case you don’t want to keep up that pace.
Needless to say, with that rail pass you’d be traveling in 1st Class the whole way, and 1st Class is much more forgiving and comfortable for doing what you have in mind.
Since you asked my opinion, I’ll recommend trimming at least a few cities from your list:
Frankfurt has a lot of banks and a busy airport, but not much else. See my recommendations on where to go in Germany for more options and an explanation.
Brussels has a really lovely city square (called the Grand Place) but the rest of it is built for business travelers and bureaucrats. My uncle (a former EU bureaucrat) lives there, but since you don’t know him I’d consider skipping it or just stopping for a few hours to see the Grand Place and maybe the Manneken Pis.
Oslo is also kind of a dud, while Bergen is quite nice. Norway is also crazy expensive so I’d skip it for a quick visit and maybe visit the fjords and Bergen on another future trip.
Geneva is famous but not because it’s interesting for tourists. Bern is much more interesting and worth a stop, and actually Interlaken and Lucerne are both MUCH better stops if you want to visit Switzerland. At this moment I’m writing a long article all about visiting Switzerland, and it will be published in a day or two.
If you were to skip the cities I mention above and not replace them with other cities, then you are at around 14 stops, which I think is doable.
By the way, when you do the math for time spent on trains, it’ll be more like this: Check out of your hotel at 9am to be in time to board a train at 10am. Arrive in the new city at 1pm or 2pm or whatever, and hopefully a bit less than an hour later you are checked into your hotel there. So even if it’s a 3-hour train ride, it’ll be 5 hours from hotel to hotel, and usually in the middle of the day. If you check into a hotel at 2pm and your train leaves the next morning at 10am, you’ll have just enough time to see one or two things before dinner, and then it starts again. A few of your journeys will be more like 5 to 7 hours by train, so that takes most of the whole day in transit.
Now to the questions you actually asked…
Copenhagen and Stockholm are both very beautiful cities (filled with beautiful residents) and I highly recommend both. The train rides to get there are long so I don’t think you should leave the next day, and the scenery between them isn’t as nice as you might expect (it’s flat with trees). Oslo, as I mentioned before, is generic by comparison. Copenhagen is obviously the easiest to reach if you only want to do one.
When I do trips like this I usually bring one week’s worth of underwear, and only a few shirts and pairs of trousers. Doing laundry once a week is a nice way to relax for a few hours, and it’s usually easy to find a place that will wash and fold it for a reasonable price.
I’ve written an article that should interest you on night trains in Europe and what to consider. It might not be a bad idea on the stops involving Copenhagen (especially with not-great scenery), but pretty much all of the rest of your journeys will be in the 3 to 5 hour range, so they don’t even offer night trains on those. Also, I’m a big fan of train trips for scenery as you have in mind, and night trains pretty much ruin that.
Lastly for now, I’ll give you some recommended minimum stays in many of your cities. You are hitting some smaller ones that could be okay in one day, but not all of them.
Berlin 3 nights recommended, but 2 is okay
Prague 3 nights recommended, but 2 is okay
Vienna 2 nights recommended, but 1 is okay
Salzburg 2 nights recommended, but 1 is okay
Venice 1 night is enough
Rome 3 nights recommended
Florence 2 nights is okay for a fast trip
Nice 2 nights is okay for a fast trip
Barcelona 3 nights recommended, but 2 is okay
Bern 1 night is okay
Paris 3 nights recommended
London 3 nights recommended
So I think your current plan is close to something that will work and be enjoyable. But I will urge you to think twice about some of the cities on your list. Something I often say is that you should have at least a sentence or two of explanation as to why you want to visit each city. If you can’t come up with specific reasons, it might not be worth a stop. Believe me, I’ve spent many nights in cities that I only stopped in because the name is famous.
Best of luck, and feel free to follow up if I can be of further help. -Roger
Hi Roger
Thanks for the information and timely response, Much appreciated..
To Clarify, Frankfurt was not my intended destination, I figured I just needed to get there so I can get a local train to Wiesbaden. I spent 5 years there as a youth and wanted to go back there and revisit.I also would like to take my wife through Bavaria and thru the Black Forest and Would also like to do a short half day trip on the Rhine. Do the local or regional trains cover these areas?
As for the other major cities. I was under the assumption that you had to go there to get to some of smaller more scenic areas of the country such as Austria and Switzerland for sure. You left Amsterdam and Copenhagen off of your suggested itinerary, was that just an oversight?.
Also I didn’t mention that this trip has 2 additional weeks, 1 week on each side of the train trip that we will spend in the UK, England and Scotland. We obtained tickets to this years Open Championship at St Andrews, so we will be spending a few days in Edinburgh.
Any way back to the trip at hand, SO leave Oslo out, right? should we also avoid the trip up to Stockholm and back then too? I have no issue leaving Geneva out, Again, just thought that may have been another hub to access areas such as Montreaux, lucerne etc..
The thing that kind of concerns me is that we live in Northern Utah, and much of the scenery I am seeing in photos of Switzerland and Austria looks very similar to areas such as Park City which is right down the road :-). Makes me wonder if a Scenic run through those to countries may be best.. who knows. It’s tough to try and plan the “perfect” trip..
You are right, stopping in some of those cities just because the name is famous, makes very little sense, and I am definitely going to re consider stopping in them. As I said some of them were going to be use as a connection to get to some of the smaller villages and towns which is really appealing to me.
Im all over the board here but here’s a thought. If we are going to Copenhagen any way but leaving Stockholm and Oslo out, would it be worth crossing the bridge over to Malmo from Copenhagen for a few hrs just to get a quick taste of the Swedish culture, and we’ll just leave Norway out for another future trip as you suggested.
I am going to check out some of these links you recommend looking at for sure and look forward to your publication on Switzerland. (How do I access it when its out)?
Thanks again Roger, you’ve really got me thinking now.. lol
Planning is sometimes more enjoyable than the trips themselves. haha
I do group cruises every year for family and friends and just enjoy the heck out of the planning..Have a great day
George
George,
I’ll respond in order of the topics as they came up…
It’s good to know that you weren’t planning a major stop in Frankfurt, and better still that you are familiar with Germany. Yes, the regional and local trains should cover anywhere you want to go within Germany, provided there is at least some outside tourist interest like through the Rhine Valley.
I only left Amsterdam and Copenhagen off the list since they are a recommended 2-night stay, which I took as the default for your trip. It was confusing that way though. Of the two, Amsterdam has far more checklist attractions than Copenhagen so I’d otherwise recommend 3 nights. But if you are more interested in moving quickly then 2 nights should be fine.
Yes, I’d skip Oslo on this trip because it’s not very interesting and a long way from the others (and it’s really expensive). If you are in the mood to see more of Scandinavia then the 5 hours from Copenhagen to Stockholm could be worthwhile. I’m a big fan of both cities, and they look almost nothing alike, but going to Stockholm would also mean backtracking to Copenhagen and then all the way to Hamburg before you see anything new.
Nearly all the train journeys within Switzerland are scenic and wonderful, so if you choose somewhere other than Geneva to stop, you’ll enjoy your time there. I’d say that Lucerne provides the most bang for your buck for a place to stop. The tourist center is just across from the main train station, which isn’t true in most other Swiss cities.
I’ve been through northern Utah and it’s one of the most beautiful and unique areas of the world. Switzerland, in my opinion, is very different. Not only are the Alpine peaks of a different type from most of the Rockies, but the land itself there is mostly green meadows with cows and traditional farms and such. I’m fairly confident that you’ll also be impressed by the scenery in Switzerland.
As for Malmo, I’ve been to Copenhagen a few times and to Stockholm, but not yet to Malmo. Really, the culture of both countries is very similar, and the residents acknowledge that. Malmo, from what I’ve read and heard, is not really a tourist city either. Since it’s so close it might be fun to pop over there for a short look around, but I’d probably do the 5 hours to Stockholm or save Sweden for a future trip.
The article on where to go in Switzerland and how to go about it should be published later today (March 4). It will be the top article on the homepage of priceoftravel.com, in the main blog area rather than the top section with the most popular articles permanently pinned.
I’m right there with you on the enjoying planning trips almost as much as taking them. That’s one of the reasons that I try to help visitors to this site plan as well, because it feels like I’m back there a bit while I’m thinking and typing and such. Again, feel free to keep following up, and if I need help planning a group cruise then I know where to look. 🙂 -Roger
Dear Roger,
Thank you so much for your advice. We’ve decided to cut out some trips. Here’s our itinerary. We fly into Zurich take the train to Bern from the airport, then stay in Bern for four nights, go to Murren stay overnight, head back to Zurich fly to Krakow, stay two nights (visit Auschwitz/salt mines) fly to Vienna stay two nights and then head back home. We are wondering if it’s best to rent a car during the switzerland portion if we want to make short trips to Lucerne and nearby sights. Is it worth buying the swiss pass? Seems terribly expensive. Also we have the option to fly from Krakow to Vienna with a 22 hour stop over in Berlin which would allow us to see Berlin as well and stay overnight. Would you recommend that? Please advise, really confused about the train passes and car vs train.
jyothi,
Sorry I missed this question the first time you posted it. You wouldn’t want to rent a car to drive around Switzerland. For one thing, the trains there are fairly cheap, partly because distances are short. The trains also charge the same no matter when you buy, so you can buy as you go there. And Murren is in a mostly car-free part of the Alps, which you reach by train or cable car from below. The public transportation system in Switzerland is among the best in the world, famous for running on time, so you’ll enjoy using it. Even a train from Interlaken to Lucerne is fairly cheap, so you could even do that visit as a day trip, although an overnight would be better.
The Swiss Pass is kind of a tricky one. It is expensive but it covers many expensive things, as well as a 50% discount on the famous mountain railways and cable cars. The best and most famous railways and cable cars can cost US$100 or more per person, so the Swiss Pass savings can add up quickly if you want to do those things. If you mainly just want to check out the basic and convenient sights, then a Swiss Pass probably won’t pay for itself. But if you wanted to take some expensive scenic train rides and cable car rides, it can pay off.
Berlin is one of my favorite cities in the world, so if you are adventurous I think the 22-hour stopover would be fun and worthwhile. The problem is that Berlin is huge and quite spread out, so you’d only have time to focus on a few things in the city center. The area around the Brandenburg Gate and down to Potzdammer Platz is the most interesting for a short visit, so if you are able to find a hotel in that general part of town it would be convenient.
As always, let me know if you have other questions I might help with. -Roger