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: this website is a godsend – such valuable information!! My husband and I (seniors) are planning a trip to Europe this summer. We want to start in Brussels and go to Maastricht to see a show. From there we wish to visit Amsterdam, Berlin, Krakow/Aushwitz, Praque, Salzburg, Vienna, Plitvice, Split and Dubrovnik.
Can you advise if a global rail pass is advisable and how accessible are the trains for carting our luggage? Are there staff to help and how much is the cost? Also, how long should we allow for this trip?
Many thanks for your wisdom:)
Shehenaz,
You’ll definitely want to do most of this trip by train, and a Eurail Pass might be the best way to do it. You have two primary choices. One way would be to buy all of your train tickets online at least a month or two out, and this would probably be the cheapest way of going. Or you could buy a 8 days in 2 months Global Flexi Pass with the Saver option of two traveling together. That pass may look a bit expensive at first, but it would be cheaper than buying individual train tickets on short notice. You also get to travel in 1st Class with that rail pass, which is really nice for older people who can afford it (or really for anyone who can afford it).
With the rail pass you’d be able to make or change plans as you go, and still have all of your transport paid for. If you wanted flexibility and didn’t buy your tickets well in advance, they would be very expensive.
All of the trains in Europe will have space for luggage, although some 2nd Class carriages might not have enough if you are a heavy packer. You can rent a little push-cart in most train stations for a small fee, but I never do it so I’m not sure just how much. Once you board a train, the staff or sometimes other travelers are always able to help people lift suitcases into the overhead bins, and obviously that’s free. But I don’t think there are porters that you can pay or tip to carry things for you. Long story short, people of all ages and economic classes ride the trains in Europe and are able to get around and safely stow their things, so you should be okay as well. And of course you’ll thank yourself if you pack light enough that you can carry your own bags. Pack enough clothes for one week, and plan on doing laundry once a week as you travel.
Once you leave Brussels, I’d recommend 2 or 3 nights for Amsterdam, 3 or 4 nights for Berlin, 3 nights for Krakow (visiting Auschwitz will take most of a day), 3 nights in Prague, 2 or 3 nights in Salzburg, 2 or 3 nights in Vienna, one full day for the Plitvice Lakes National Park (so probably 2 nights), 2 or 3 nights in Split, and 2 or 3 nights in Dubrovnik. You could obviously stay longer in any of these cities so my recommendations are really the minimum numbers of nights in order to see the main sights without racing between them.
Oh, and by the way, the train goes to Split, Croatia, but it doesn’t go near Plitvice or Dubrovnik. I recently rented a car to visit all of those places, which wasn’t too expensive even for a one-way rental. If not a rental car you can take comfortable buses to Plitvice (from Zagreb) or Dubrovnik (from Split).
Best of luck, and let me know if you have any other questions. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thank you so much for this super helpful website. I’m hoping you can provide me some advice for my trip to Europe. My fiancé and I are both in our mid-30’s and this will be our honeymoon. We are planning to stay in Europe from Jun 1 – Jul 3 and visiting the following cities. Can you please advise on whether I should fly or train from these destinations? Would you recommend the Eurail pass?
1.) From Rome to Florence
2.) From Florence to Venice
3.) From Venice to Nice
4.) From Nice to Barcelona
5.) From Barcelona to Paris
6.) From Paris to Amsterdam
7.) From Amsterdam to London
Would like some advice on how many nights I should spend in each city as well. Any other cities not on the list that I should see?
We’ve never been to Europe before and would appreciate any advice.
Thank you so much in advance!
-Amy
Amy,
In 32 days or so, you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy all of the cities on your list, and even a bit of extra time to add one to three more stops. You’ll definitely want to take the train between all of these cities, except perhaps from Nice to Barcelona. For the others, the train will actually be faster in addition to being infinitely more pleasant. From Nice to Barcelona it will take 8 to 9 hours on the train compared to about 5 hours from city center to city center if you flew. If it were me, I’d take the train (and I actually have done this route on a train) because it’s fairly scenic and zero stress. However, in my experience, 7 hours or more on a train can wear a person out.
On the rail pass question, you have two good choices. One would be to buy all of your train tickets in advance. If you buy all of these train tickets at least two months in advance, they will actually cost quite a bit less than a Eurail Pass. The other option would be if you were much more in the mood to “wing it” and make your plans as you go. If you wanted to do that, then buying these train tickets on travel day or the day before will get very expensive. My advice is usually that the longer the trip, the more there is to be gained by winging it. A 5-week trip like this is definitely long enough to qualify for that, but if you are the type of people who prefer to lock plans in to reduce stress, then buying tickets online in advance is the way to go.
If you were to want to wing it and buy a rail pass, I’d recommend the 5 days in 2 months Global Flexi-pass in 1st Class with the Saver option for 2 traveling together. It’s not cheap, but it would be cheaper than buying as you go. Also, since this is your honeymoon, it might be extra enjoyable to travel in 1st Class, while it would be very hard to justify buying individual 1st Class tickets (which cost 50% more than 2nd Class). With the Saver option, the 1st Class pass is only a bit more than the 2nd Class pass, so easier to justify.
Regarding the rail pass, all of your trips could be used with it except for Amsterdam to London. For that one you’d take one train from Amsterdam to Brussels and then the Eurostar from Brussels to London. The Eurostar is a separate system and you can get a 25% discount on it if you buy a rail pass, but you can’t use it for the whole thing. Whatever you do, buy the Eurostar tickets as far in advance as possible because they can get really expensive if you wait.
Also, the trains from Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice are short and cheap rides (maybe €20 to €30 each) so you wouldn’t want to use a rail pass travel day on those. Either buy those online in advance if you are sure of your dates, or just buy them as you go for a bit more money. Even buying on travel day won’t be more than €50 each, which is less than each travel day will cost on a rail pass.
Now to your itinerary…
Rome should be 3 nights minimum and 4 nights might be good, but Rome is actually kind of crazy and stressful (and expensive) so I don’t recommend lingering there longer than needed.
Florence can be appreciated in 2 nights, but it’s the heart of Tuscany so you can also do day trips to various hill towns or Pisa or Siena. So even in 4 nights you won’t get bored, and it’s a pleasant place to hang out.
Venice can be appreciated in about 24 hours for those in a hurry, but it’s your honeymoon so I’d recommend 2 or 3 nights because it’s incredibly romantic. The tricky thing about Venice is that it’s quite small and it’s so insanely crowded that it can be dispiriting and hard to even get around during the day. The good news is that most of those people are day-trippers on bus tours who arrive at 10am and leave by 5pm. So if you stay on the main island, you’ll have the mornings and evenings mostly to yourselves.
Nice is worth at least two nights. As you’ve probably read, Monaco and Cannes are each about 20 minutes away from Nice by train, and both are very worthwhile for day trips. You can even see them both in the same day because they are both fairly small. It will be a bit easier if you stay near the train station in Nice, and that’s where the cheaper hotels are located anyway. Starting July 1, that whole area gets totally swamped by French people and other Europeans, but June should be okay.
Barcelona is worth 3 or maybe 4 nights. It’s really big, and pleasantly located on a beach. You might even go to Madrid as well because it’s also very worthwhile and very different from Barcelona. One way of doing it would be to fly from Nice to Madrid and stay for 3 nights, then take the train to Barcelona and continue from there. Or you could take trains the whole way and backtrack to Barcelona before heading to Paris.
Paris needs at least 3 nights, and on a honeymoon trip I’d say 4 or even 5 is better. It’s very large and packed with excellent sights. It’s also fairly pleasant to just walk around, unlike Rome. There are tons of great day trips from Paris, including Versailles.
Amsterdam can be appreciated in 2 nights, but 3 nights is better and probably enough. I love Amsterdam (and lived there for a while) but so does everyone else so it gets crowded and it’s expensive. From Amsterdam you could conceivably head to Bruges for 2 nights or so, which is another great place. However, Bruges is kind of a small version of Amsterdam, architecturally speaking, so it won’t feel very dramatic.
For London I’d recommend at least 3 nights, and more if you can spare them. London is another that totally lives up to the hype on your first visit, and it’s enormous. Also, there are loads of wonderful day trips or side trips you could do from London. The most popular for first-time visitors are Bath (you might enjoy staying in nearby Bristol instead), and York, not to mention Stonehenge.
So adding all of those up, you could enjoy this trip in as few as about 20 nights, so having 32 nights means you’ll be able to go at a modest pace and add a side trip or two. Feel free to follow up with more questions if you have them. This sounds like an unforgettable trip, even if it weren’t a honeymoon. Congrats, and bon voyage. -Roger
Oh wow! Thank you so much for the quick and thorough response Roger! You’re most helpful! Can you give me some advice on accommodation? I was thinking of booking apartments instead of hotels to save money and to take advantage of laundry (I’ve heard from others that hotels can get really pricey and are really small in Europe). Do you have any suggestions on which areas I should stay in each city? Ideally, I would like to stay close to metros or somewhere convenient to get around to the sights.
Thank you so much for your help!!
– Amy
Amy,
I’m also a big fan of renting apartments when on trips like this, but in some cases it will mean having to stay in a random residential neighborhood that isn’t close to many services or attractions. Apartments that are in the heart of tourist districts are typically even more expensive than hotels. And yes, pretty much all hotels in or near city centers in Europe will be tiny compared to those in the US and most of the rest of the world. You’ll be wise to pack maybe 6 to 8 days of clothes and plan on doing laundry a few times on the way. It’s usually not difficult to find a full-service laundry in any of these cities who can do your stuff for around €12 or less per load. But if you included at least a few apartments along the way (check to be sure they have laundry) then that would be much nicer.
As you might expect, Airbnb is the best source for holiday apartment rentals, at least in the European cities you’ll be visiting. My own strong preference is to stay as close to the center as I can afford because each day tends to be far more enjoyable when everything is at your fingertips. If you opt for a larger place that you have to take a 30-minute bus ride in each direction, you’ll probably end up lumping all of your sightseeing into one big trip, and coming back to your place exhausted right after dinner. When you stay in the heart of the tourist areas, you’ll be able to come and go as you please, and even have a rest or nap in the afternoon.
After getting these sorts of questions many times I compiled lists of recommended hotels in most of the cities on your list. To find them just go to the city’s page on this site (here’s Paris for example) and then look for the link to the Recommended Hotels post in the center column. On those lists you’ll see some advice up top and a map of the hotels at the bottom. It’s hard to keep track of prices and availability so you might find that the recommended hotels are more expensive or unavailable on your dates, but you’ll at least know about the good areas where reasonably priced and convenient hotels are located.
If you get stumped on a particular city, or anything else, please feel free to ask about it and I’ll try to help. This should at least help you start planning with some confidence. -Roger
Awesome! I’ll check them out and ask for your help if I get stuck. Thanks again for your help Roger! I really appreciate it.
-Amy
Dear Roger,
This site is really a Godsend. My husband and I, (52, 53) are planning to visit Europe from March 23-April 5. We will be flying into Zurich on the 23rd and then take a train to Bern where we are attending a conference from the 25-27th. After that we are free. I have been reading your site and we are planning to go from Bern to Interlaken and then up to Grimmelwald and Murren as you suggested. Between the 29-5th We also want to visit Auschwitz, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest and then fly out of Vienna on April 5th. I’m a little confused on how to proceed from the Alps. Do we go to Krakow first or to Vienna and then do day trips? Is this too much to do in a week? My husband is set on Auschwitz, I don’t want to miss Vienna, the rest is flexible. Please do give us some advice. Should we buy a Eurail pass? What is the best order of travel? Looking forward to your response before we book our tickets and hotels.
Jyothi,
I’m glad you find this stuff useful. First off, yes, I do think trying to see 6 different cities in 8 days is far too ambitious, at least if your goal is enjoying your holiday. The cities on your list are about 3 to 5 hours apart by train, and so going between them will take most of the middle of each day. Flying would take even more time when factoring all the airport transport on both ends.
So your two best choices would be to stay at least 4 days longer, or to trim your list of destinations down to maybe 3 or 4 after leaving Bern. If your flights and schedule are locked, I’d recommend going from Bern to Gimmelwald and then to Salzburg and then to Prague and then to Vienna. Two days in each city is really the minimum that is worthwhile, except for a small place like Gimmelwald that is a short distance from the previous stop, which Gimmelwald is. For Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague, two days will feel rushed (although enjoyable), and one day would feel like a cruel tease.
By the way, Salzburg and Vienna are VERY different from each other so I think you’d get a lot out of visiting both. In place of Prague you could potentially substitute Budapest or Krakow/Auschwitz, although in those cases the travel time would be at least a few hours longer. Of the three, Prague is the most dramatic and interesting, but Budapest and Krakow are both fine choices as well.
If you are able to stay longer and still want to see those other cities, let me know and I’ll help you figure out the best way to go about it. Auschwitz is in the suburbs of Krakow and you can see it in half a day. Still, I’d recommend at least 2 nights in any city you visit, and even that will feel somewhat rushed.
I’m sure you’ll have a great trip, and I’m happy to help you sort these details out if you follow up. -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.
Roger, first I have to commend all of your in-depth information and advice you’ve been giving people for years. This page alone has a wealth of knowledge I can’t find anywhere else on the net. Keep it up! I’m a 32 year old male from Toronto, Canada and I’ve been trying to plan a solo 2 month long backpacking trip through Europe either this spring or fall, most likely May through June. I thought I had pegged down where I wanted to go but after reading so much I’ve started to become overwhelmed at all the possibilities. I know for sure I’d like to see Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Spain, and hopefully not blow a huge chunk of change there as I’ve read places like Venice can be expensive. I also have a whole list of other places I’ve read are a must see like; Budapest, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Prague, Lisbon, Morocco (if safe). Originally I intended to just book a flight and have a single nights hostel booked and wing the whole trip jumping from hostel to hostel, but after reading so much about other places I hadn’t considered, combined with achieving maximum value from the Eurail pass, I’ve started to get a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of potentially having to plan this whole trip out ahead of time and not knowing which route I could or should take, especially since I was hoping for spontaneity! There’s also confusion as to whether the Eurail pass works for the random national trains I was hoping to just wander onto at any time or if that’ll be additionally charged. Plus the Eurail website says I needed to reserve night trains 8 days in advance, although I’ve heard you say it can be booked the night before or even the day of. With all that said, I would be very interested in hearing a proposed Itinerary of places you recommend I go that would be safe, relatively inexpensive, and maximize my time in Europe, while offering a great dose of culture and adventure I probably wouldn’t know where to find on my own.. I’m totally ok with smaller off-the-beaten-path cities that would meet that criteria as I’m sure some of the best places are more unknown. Thanks again for all the help in advance!
-Mark
Mark,
Thanks. I won’t type up a starter itinerary for you, but I’ll help you sort out your plans so you’ll have confidence doing it yourself.
First off, I DO recommend “winging it” and planning as you go, but I also recommend having at least a basic route in mind before you go. For one thing, I highly recommend booking a hostel bed in each place before you arrive, which is still fairly easy to do on the road as long as you have at least a smart phone or tablet. Especially during the summer high season, the better hostels sell out, sometimes days or weeks in advance. The people who jump off a train at 5pm and walk from hostel to hostel will end up paying the highest prices and/or staying in the crummiest hostels. If you book at least a day or two in advance, you should still be able to get a decent deal at a place you’ll be happy with, AND you’ll know exactly where you are going once you arrive in town.
And your trip sounds perfect for a Eurail Pass. In much of Europe you don’t even need reservations still. A few months ago I did a 3-month rail trip that included Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, and Slovenia, and I didn’t need a reservation on any of those. I also went into Italy, and I DID need a reservation on some of the high-speed trains, but not on the local ones. In France and Spain you do need reservations on all high-speed trains, and in France they charge €20 or more for them. When you DO need a reservation you can usually buy them just before the train leaves unless it’s actually sold out, which is rare. For example, a train leaving a big city at 8am might be packed or sold out, but the same train leaving at 10am or 11am will pretty much always have empty seats.
In general I recommend the 10 to 15 travel days in 2 months for a trip like yours rather than the continuous passes. There are parts of Europe you’ll be going where the trains are actually pretty cheap, and parts where buses are a much better (and cheaper) option. If you bought a 10 days in 2 months pass you could save those 10 days for your longer and more expensive journeys, and pay as you go for the short and cheap ones. Buses are usually the same price no matter when you book.
As far as your itinerary, all of the places that you’ve mentioned are worthwhile to visit (and Morocco is definitely safe, as long as you stick to the main tourist cities, which are also the interesting cities for a first visit). You can get at least my main thoughts on every major tourist city in Europe on the Backpacker Index, and even more details on the page dedicated to each city on this site. Most of the cheapest cities on that list (Kiev, Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade etc) are also fairly uninteresting, at least for a first visit. The cheap ones that ARE interesting are Budapest, Krakow, Cesky Krumlov, and Prague. Split, Croatia is also great, and also consider going to the Plitvice Lakes National Park, as well as Sarajevo.
So what I’ll recommend is to figure out where you want to fly into, and then stare at a map until you figure out an efficient route that includes most of the other places you want to visit. There’s even an interactive map on that Backpacker Index page near the bottom, which might help. On a 2-month trip you should have time to hit pretty much every place on your list as long as you don’t linger too long in one place. My preference is for 3 nights in each place, which is long enough to hit all the highlights and not so long that you need to do some filler attractions to pass the time. Smaller cities like Cesky Krumlov can be done in 2 nights, but they are almost always the cheaper cities so it can be nice to still stay 3 nights and chill a bit between bigger cities.
Switzerland can feel insanely expensive, but I still highly recommend 2 or 3 nights in the Alps above Interlaken (stay at the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald) because it’s an amazing experience that isn’t available anywhere else. Skip the cities in Switzerland, though Lucerne is nice.
One way to do it would be to, say, book a roundtrip flight into a city you might like to end your trip in, and then book a cheap ticket from there to Athens that you can take as the official start of the trip. Spend 2 or 3 nights in Athens and then head to one of the islands by ferry for a few days. You might even want to book a cheap ticket from an island or Athens to another city you want to visit next because at this point Greece is otherwise cut off from European transport. After you fly out of Greece, you can take trains and buses the rest of the way, ending up in your final city for the flight home. You could even book a one-way ticket to Athens and figure out the trip home later, but it will probably cost a lot more that way.
Hopefully this helps, and I’ll be happy to give you more advice as you put a starter itinerary together. Most of it is pretty straightforward, though there are some tricky things like getting around the Alps or going into the Croatia area. I’m sure it’ll be an awesome trip. -Roger
Roger, Thanks a ton for all the help and suggestions thus far. I’ve started to nail down a much more concrete plan as you suggested and would love to get your opinion on some things further. After looking into flight options I was able to find a reasonable one way flight into Athens from Toronto to start my trip and also if I book early enough a reasonable one way out from Lisbon back to Toronto. The most difficulty I’m currently having is finding an efficient route from Greece through the first part of my trip because it seems I’ll be backtracking a bit and I’m also confused when I should utilize my pass. My general route for 2 months is: Greece – (Split – Venice – Rome – Mountain Hostel in Switzerland) not quite sure how to navigate these very efficiently – Vienna – Budapest – Prague – Berlin – Amsterdam – Bruges – Paris – Barcelona – Madrid – Morocco (if time permits) – Lisbon. I was considering the Mountain Hostel so I was glad to hear you also recommend it. I’m assuming it tends to book up early so I was considering booking in advance if I can manage to get the days leading up to it more solidified. I’m considering visiting Hydra or some other island and spending 5-6 days in Greece to make it worth it. All other cities I’m planning for a 3 night stay.
Trying to navigate from Greece through Croatia, Italy, and Switzerland is the most difficult as it all seems pretty straightforward once I reach Budapest or Vienna. I was considering flying to Split and then taking a ferry across to Italy somehow. Or flying into Rome and fitting Split in between Venice and Budapest but I’m not quite clear on the best transportation method surrounding these destinations and when I should utilize my pass. I was considering even leaving Split out altogether if it proves to be too difficult. If you could throw some ideas you might have in navigating this part of my trip I would very much appreciate it.
-Mark
Mark,
I’m glad this has helped so far, and it sounds like your plans are coming together in an organized manner. I can tell you’ve done a ton of research because that’s the only way you could have figured out the challenge of getting through the Balkan area (Croatia etc). The former Yugoslavian countries were cut off from the main transport lines in Europe, and even now they range from bad to terrible. The good news is that bus service within Croatia is cheap, comfortable, and reliable, but getting into the country is still challenging. There are virtually no cheap and/or non-stop flights into Croatia from Greece, mainly because most tourists from Croatia come from Germany and other northern countries. Croatia Airlines flies nonstop from Athens to Split, but only 3 days a week, and it’s very expensive.
I know a lot of this because I was in this same situation myself just a few months ago, trying to connect coastal Croatia to any other logical destination. I think in your case you are probably best off flying from Athens to Budapest (Ryanair flies nonstop for US$50 plus various fees), and then taking trains to Zagreb and then to Split. At least it would mean little or no backtracking. Zagreb itself is a nice city for a day or two, and hotels (and apartments) there are cheap. The train from Budapest to Zagreb takes 5 to 6 hours and should be pretty cheap, so probably not a good rail pass usage. And from Zagreb to Split you can take a train or bus in about 6 hours, which should also be cheap.
From Split you can also see the nearby islands, and maybe pop down (by bus) to Dubrovnik, which is also very nice, although also more expensive. From either Split or Dubrovnik you can take a ferry to Italy. During the summer you’ll have several options, both during the day and overnight. Once in Italy you’ll obviously want to take trains, and start using your rail pass most of the rest of the way. Keep in mind that rail fares within Italy are pretty cheap, especially if you buy well in advance. But once outside of Italy (and the former East), fares will be expensive if you buy close to departure date, so the pass will work well starting then.
By the way, this all seems like a lot of work to include Croatia in a trip like this, which it is. On one hand I highly recommend Split and Dubrovnik (as well as the Plitvice Falls National Park if you can squeeze it in), and Zagreb is quite nice too. But if it feels like too much of a hassle to include Croatia on this trip, you might be better off saving it for the next one. I’m sure you’d be happy either way.
As for Gimmelwald, I stayed in Esther’s Guesthouse, which is right behind the Mountain Hostel, but I had an excellent pizza dinner and some fun drinks at the Mountain Hostel both nights I was there, and most people rave about the place for location, service, and value. You will probably love it there.
As always, let me know if you have other questions I might help with. -Roger
Good night Roger, I will travel to Amsterdam on 24/04’m going out on 26/04 to Cologne – Germany will leave 28 and go to Brussels.
24- Amsterda
25- Amsterda
26- Amsterda to Cologne
26- Cologne (Germany)
27- Cologne (Germany)
28- Cologne (Germany) to Brussels
29- Brussels-gent
30-Brussels – Brusel
01 -Brussels
Is it worth buying a Eurail pass for 2 people?
Eurail Benelux – Germany Pass
4 days Within 2 months
get a 15% discount: € 212 per person or € 424 Total price for 2 Adults
Outside the values ??of reserves !!!
I made a BUYING SIMULATION INDIVIDUALLY separate train on the site today:
Ida26 / 04/201508: 05 AMSTERDAM CS 10:45 KOELN HBF2 PassageirosICE 105
Direct – 2h40m
Seat reservation: included
Class: Second class € 150.00
Ida28 / 04/201516: 42 KOELN HBF 18:32 BRUXELLES MIDIMelhor Tarifa2 PassageirosThalys 9472
Direct – 1h50m
Seat reservation: included
Class: Second class € 38.00
Ida29 / 04/201508: 22 BRUXELLES MIDI 09:28 BRUGGE2 PassageirosTrain Eurocites 2829
Direct – 1h06m
Seat reservation: not included
Class: Second class € 39.20
Ida29 / 04/201 516 26 Brugge 16:50 GENT SINT PIETERS2 PassageirosTrain Eurocites 1816
Direct – 0h24m
Seat reservation: not included
Class: Second class € 19.20
Ida29 / 04/201520: 23 GENT SINT PIETERS 20:54 BRUXELLES MIDI2 PassageirosTrain Eurocites 519
Direct – 0h31m
Seat reservation: not included
Class: Second class € 26.40
Service charge € 150
Delivery Option € 9.5
Plan proteçãoNão
Total: € 432.3
What u think more worth it? Eurail Benelux – Germany Pass or buy individually ??
André,
You’ll definitely want to buy those tickets individually, hopefully on another site from where you found those prices. I just checked the Amsterdam to Cologne part and right now that trip is offered at €29 on bahn.de (the official German rail website). That is a Savings Fare, and even the Standard Fare is €66. The other journeys should be even cheaper as long as you buy them online in advance.
I’m guessing you found those prices on raileurope or another site like it. Raileurope (owned by the France and Swiss rail companies) sells rail passes at normal prices but they charge a big premium on individual tickets for some reason. So try those trips on bahn.de or ns.nl (the Netherlands rail site) and hopefully you’ll see lower prices.
In general, those shorter rail passes like the 4 days ones are poor value unless you will be taking long trips on short notice. If you don’t see lower fares on those sites I mention, let me know and I’ll try to help you. -Roger
Thank you very much for your help !! Thanks for listening !!
Hi roger !
i am planning to travel a lot of places in europe for 3 months. I dont want to have a strict itinery. I just know that i am hoping to see the folliwing places in tree months
brussel
amsterdam
berlin
oslo
bergen
stockholms
helsinki
moscow
saint-petersbourg
warsaw
krawkow
budapest
dubrovnik
zagreb
bratislava
bucarest
sofia
prague
montenegro
madrid
barcelone
and lisbonne
i know its a lot but ive already went to a lot of them
should i buy a eurorail global pass?
Kiana,
This would normally be the sort of trip that would be perfect for a Global Eurail Pass, but in your case you’ll actually be spending most of your time in places with trains that are already quite cheap. The Eurail Pass isn’t valid in Russia, and in the Balkans area (Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Croatia etc) the trains are slower than buses.
In fact, in Poland and most of eastern Europe, buses are often a better choice than trains because they are faster and are far more frequent.
Between Oslo and Bergen you can get a very cheap train ticket if you buy well in advance (a month or more), but if you wait until travel day it will be quite expensive. That same thing is true in Spain.
A few other of your trips (Brussels to Amsterdam, for example) are short so the train ticket isn’t really expensive.
By the way, Bucharest is far from everything except Budapest, so you’ll discover that getting there and then getting somewhere else on your list will take a full day each way. This is one of the things that makes Romania a challenging place to visit.
So my recommendation is to buy the more expensive train journeys as far in advance as possible, and honestly for most of the rest you will do better taking buses. Let me know if you have any other specific questions about this, and have a great trip. -Roger
Hi Roger!
I made it to March of 2014 before scrolling all the way down to write a comment, and you are probably one of the most helpful human beings on the planet STILL answering questions about three years later, thank you!
I am so happy I stumbled upon this site, because I am finally traveling to Europe mid september until the beginning of November (about 50 days). This whole Eurail pass business is definitely confusing with deciding which one is worth your money.
Here is what my boyfriend and I are hoping to be the *almost* final draft (I have a lust for traveling everywhere, so it’s been difficult on my part to make decisions :)) (Oh and I am under 25 but he is 26):
Fly to Iceland for a stopover, then onto Paris
Paris-day trip to Versailles (of course);
Brussels (Just for about a day)
Munich
Prague
Krakow-From here we were thinking of flying to Rome instead of the train
Italy (Thinking Rome with a Naples day trip, Florence, and Venice-Fly from Venice to Barcelona)
Spain (Thinking of Barcelona to Madrid, Madrid to Seville, and a possible day trip or overnight to Granada)
End in Portugal (We haven’t decided if we should train from Madrid or Fly)
I tried mapping it all out on a calendar and it seemed to work out BUT if there was any chance we could plan a couple days in Marrakech as well it would be amazing, but that’s on the maybe list. Any comments about itinerary and Eurail pass choices would be appreciated, thank you!
Blaire,
As maybe you can tell, I really enjoy helping people plan their trips, and I consider this as part of my full-time job. Doing this also helps me understand where people want to go and how they prefer to get around. In fact, I have a new planning tool under development right now, based mostly on doing this.
Overall I think your itinerary sounds quite good and well thought out. I agree that flying from Krakow to Rome is probably wise, partly because trains in and near Poland can be quite slow. And based on what you’ve said, I think it’s pretty clear that you want to be able to do some or most of your planning as you go. On a 50-day trip I wouldn’t recommend carving out a fixed itinerary, so your plan to kind of wing it is ideal.
As for a rail pass, I’d recommend a Global Select Pass for somewhere between 6 and 10 travel days out of two months
. Since your boyfriend is 26 it means you’d have to get the 1st Class version, but at least you’d be able to do the Saver Option, which saves 15% for traveling together, making it not too much more than 2nd Class anyway. And just between you and me, traveling in trains in 1st Class is awesome and it makes getting last-minute seat reservations (where needed) or finding empty seats on trains much easier.
On your trip you’ll be going through some areas with very expensive train tickets, and other areas where the individual tickets are fairly cheap. Brussels to Munich would cost a fortune if you bought it on travel day, as an example. It would be much cheaper if bought a month or more in advance, but I get the feeling that you don’t want to do that.
On your list, Prague to Krakow would be fairly cheap no matter when you bought the ticket (though earlier is always cheaper). And all the main train journeys within Italy are pretty cheap as well. So on those trips you’d be best off buying a bit in advance or even as you go, and saving the Eurail Pass for the other trips.
The trains in Spain are mainly expensive as well, at least the high-speed routes between big cities. So if you bought a Eurail Pass with, say, 8 travel days, you can use those for longer and more expensive journeys, and buy the others as you go. This is the perfect type of trip for a Eurail Pass, and you’ll love the freedom that comes along with it.
Here are some specific thoughts on your itinerary…
Iceland: If you can stay for at least two nights you’ll enjoy it much more. Reykjavik isn’t anything special, but the scenery along the southern coast (or the whole island, really) is amazing. If you can stay at least two nights and rent a car to drive to Hofn and back, you’ll never forget it.
Brussels is also kind of a dud of a city for tourists. Bruges is better for most people, and Amsterdam is amazing, so it’s a bit weird to be in that area and skip Bruges and Amsterdam. You probably have something specific to see in Brussels, which would be understandable.
You might want to stop for a night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber on your way to Munich, which is very cool for a short stay.
Prague is a major highlight, but if you are in the mood for something a bit more mellow you should consider a couple days in Cesky Krumlov as well.
For your Naples day trip, you might consider going from Rome to Sorrento and spending a couple nights there. You can visit Naples and also the Pompeii ruins easily, not to mention the Amalfi Coast and Capri island. Sorrento is a wonderful town on its own as well.
Flying from Italy to Spain seems wise because the train across southern France takes a long time and is expensive.
As long as you have a couple spare days, it’s easy to visit Morocco from Spain. The wonderful port town of Tarifa is the best place to catch a ferry, and it’s easy to hop a train from Tangier to Marrakech. Evidently, Tangier itself has gotten MUCH nicer in recent years, so even spending a day there would be better than nothing. In the past, including when I visited Morocco, people said Tangier was horrible and should be skipped, but that’s no longer true.
Hopefully this helps, and let me know if you have any other questions I might answer. Have a great trip. -Roger
You are a travel god! Thank you so much that is all very helpful!
I agree with you about Iceland, judging by photos the beauty is around the island! I think we have the option of being able to stay two nights, so I’ll look into that! The city looks very colorful and there are a few spots that we want to take pictures at, and of course the Blue Lagoon is something we really want to check out. I’m not quite sure how long it takes to get to places on the island but if you had a full day to go explore outside the city, are there any attractions that you would recommend for the amount of time we would have? (I’m pretty sure with only having looked at pictures that I will want to return and do a whole trip in Iceland, but for now we’re just taking advantage of that stopover for a taste!)
I kept Brussels on the list and took Amsterdam off because of time, I didn’t want to be too crammed, but Brussels was on there just because it looked like a nice city. We both are very much into photography, culture, and food, so we don’t mind not paying for ALL the attractions or museums that places have to offer, mainly just ones that can’t be missed and that we have a special tie too. So we’re excited to walk, try the food, meet people, and take amazing photos. But, I don’t mind taking Brussels off the list and either using that extra day in somewhere else to look into Sorrento, Italy! That sounds amazing, I’m glad you mentioned it!
I know that Paris to Munich (If we took Brussels out and didn’t go anywhere else in that area), is a bit of a train trip, but we’re mainly wanting to experience Oktoberfest and see some sights in Munich before continuing on to Prague. Prague and Krakow have been on my must-see list for a while so I’m trying to figure out how to make that long, long train ride to the east better. And I’m trying not to plain hop a lot either, minus the few ones already in place. I guess I just rambled and didn’t ask a direct question here, sorry!
Regarding Italy: I know Rome will definitely be one of the longer stays since it is so large. I am definitely going to look into Sorrento and your tips above, but for Florence an that area, I would love to try and take a day trip somewhere more in the countryside to see Tuscany. I’m not quite sure how that works or what we can do, so if you have any knowledge it would be greatly appreciated! I believe we will spend the least amount of time in Venice (It might be 2-3 days, I can’t quite remember).
For going to Portugal from Madrid, would you recommend the train or to fly?
And for Marrakech if we had time, I know the ferry to the train to Marrakech takes a while but do you think it’d be the same amount of money roundtrip if we chose to take that way or to fly? Thanks so much, again!
Blaire,
It’s my pleasure to help, and I’ll try to answer your questions in order below…
If you are just stopping in Iceland for a day or an overnight, and especially if you think you’ll be motivated to come back later, it’s probably best to just do one of the “Golden Circle” (not to be confused with the Ring Road) tours that hit 3 top attractions in the greater Reykjavik area. You see the original geysir, a really nice waterfall, and a national park that sits on the Continental Divide. Reykjavik itself is interesting for part of a day as well, but the best attractions are beyond that little area, and it really requires more time and hopefully a rental car to take advantage of them. If you can stay for 2 days and rent a car, you could drive to Vik and back, which would be MUCH nicer than just the Golden Circle.
The historic city center of Brussels around the Grand Place square is really wonderful, but you can see that in a few hours, and outside of that, it’s kind of a dull city. I think saving the day for use later in your trip is probably wise. And if you are going to do just one city for one day in that area, go to Amsterdam, which is incredible, even on a short visit.
Not that you asked, but hotel prices in Munich during Oktoberfest are literally triple what they are any other time of year. It’s fun, and something you really won’t see anywhere else in the world, so as long as your interest is high enough then it’s probably worth it. You could save by staying somewhere else and taking a train in in the morning, staying over one night, and leaving after the afternoon drinking session for a hotel somewhere else.
I’ve spent most of my Tuscany time in its cities, but I do know that the best way to see the countryside is to head to one or more of the hill towns, which are far more traditional than the market cities on the flat lands. I’m very fond of Rick Steves and his travel advice, and here’s his introduction to the hill towns of Central Italy.
As for Venice, it’s quite small and you can actually see it all in about 24 hours. The problem is that it’s absolutely packed with other tourists from about 9am until 5pm, with thousands of daytrippers on bus tours. So the trick is to stay on the main island in Venice (anywhere near St. Marks Square) and spend your morning and evening seeing most of the sights, before and after the crowds. Doing that, you can really enjoy the town far more than if you stayed at a cheaper hotel on the mainland and only came into town during the day like the other tourists.
The only train from Madrid to Lisbon is a night train, which is quite popular. So flying is obviously much faster, but that night train is kind of fun, and it might work out well if you have a rail pass.
If you plan a Marrakech leg of your trip early enough, you might get a cheap flight, although probably only on Ryanair, which sucks. You’ll have to figure that out as you are on the road and weigh the prices and your options. I’ve only done the ferry from Spain and trains in Morocco, so I can’t really comment on how efficient a flight would be.
I’m sure you’ll have a great trip, and feel free to follow up with other questions if you have them. -Roger
Hello Roger,
As stated many times before on your comments section, your advice on this site has been very helpful and informative. A little background on our planned travels is provided below and if possible, I am hoping to get some confirmation/feedback on our itinerary from you.
We have booked our round trip flights from Seattle, WA into Copenhagen, Denmark to arrive on 3/22/15 in the afternoon and will return to the US on 4/18/15, flying out around noon. We are both over the age of 26, we have read up on how to pack, as will be only carrying a backpack. We plan on staying in hostels (www.hostelworld.com) and also will utilize some AirBnB offerings for lodging. In reviewing most of the train schedules on our plan, we’ll plan to leave mid-morning and arrive in the next city either mid-day or evening timeframe. We have the following cities and countries on our plans:
Copenhagen 3/22 – 3/24 (2+ days, 2 nights in Copenhagen)
Copenhagen to Berlin 3/24 – 3/28 (3+ days, 4 nights in Berlin)
Berlin to Stuttgart 3/28 – 3/31 (2+ days, 3 nights in Stuttgart)
Stuttgart to Zurich 3/31 – 4/2 (2 days, 2 nights in Zurich)
Zurich to Venice 4/2 – 4/4 (1.5 days, 2 nights in Venice)
Venice to Rome 4/4 – 4/8 (3+ days, 4 nights in Rome)
Rome to Milan 4/8 – 4/10 (2+ days, 2 nights in Milan)
Milan to Paris 4/10 – 4/14 (3+ days, 4 nights in Paris)
Paris to London 4/14 – 4/17 (3+ days, 3 nights in London)
London to Copenhagen 4/17 – 4/18 (1 night in Copenhagen)
Fly from Copenhagen to US on 4/18
A couple of questions…
Should we fly or try to take a train from London to Copenhagen? I’m having difficulty looking at the reservations on RailEurope for this leg.
We’re thinking the Eurail Global Pass is our best/most affordable option based upon on our travel plans. We are planning 8 or 9 travel days in about 30 days which is approx. $1382 per RailEurope website. A rough calculation at looking at the rates for trains between the above listed cities adds up to approx. $1874 (not counting the London – Copenhagen leg).
If needed, we could cut out the Milan stop/visit in order to spend these 2 days in other cities. What are your thoughts on our planned journey as a whole? The only “set-in-stone” dates are the flights inbound and outbound from the US to Copenhagen.
Any websites or must-see attractions in the cities we have listed that you recommend?
Many thanks for any remarks that you may provide.
Regards,
Nick and Kathy
Nick & Kathy,
Your itinerary looks really well planned and impressive. I’ll try to answer your questions in order…
Definitely fly back from London to Copenhagen. You can get a cheap ticket on EasyJet. The rail option would be to take the Eurostar to Brussels and then a normal train the rest of the way to Copenhagen. This would take a long time and cost much more than a plane ticket anyway. Plus, the scenery in that part of Europe isn’t really great from the train window.
The Eurail Global Pass with the Saver option for two traveling together
seems ideal for this trip. It would allow nearly unlimited flexibility, and 1st Class seats. However, if you are checking fares for individual tickets you don’t want to use RailEurope.com because they charge a high premium on those tickets for Americans and Canadians. Instead, check the fares on the individual country sites, which will be cheap if you buy early. You could buy 2nd Class tickets and I’m sure it would be cheaper than a rail pass.
The benefit of a rail pass is that you can go whenever you want, unlike the advance tickets, which are non-refundable and non-changeable. And of course you’d be able to go in 1st Class, which is wonderful on a longer trip like this with quite a few train trips in a short time.
As far as your choice of cities, I do have a few comments…
Stuttgart isn’t really one of Germany’s more popular tourist cities, unless you are a huge car fan. If you have something specific to see in Stuttgart I’m sure you’ll love it, but if not, you might consider Munich instead.
Zurich is a bit similar in that it’s fine if you have something specific you want to see or do there. But if you want to visit a “city in Switzerland” then I’d recommend Bern instead, which is really more interesting and a bit cheaper. However, if you mainly just want to “visit Switzerland” then I’d highly recommend Interlaken (for the Alps) and/or Lucerne (for lake activities) instead. Both of those are lovely and would be highlights of your trip, while Switzerland’s cities would be way down the list of memories.
In Italy the “Big 3” are Rome, Florence, and Venice. Again, if you have a specific reason for visiting Milan (the Last Supper, for example), then it’s great. But if not, you might think about Florence instead, which has more famous sights and arguably better food (being in the heart of Tuscany).
I think you are allowing enough time in every important city on your list, so I don’t think it would be necessary to trim a city away, although you will be spending quite a bit of time on trains on this trip, and you’ll be pretty exhausted when you get home.
As far as things to do, I think the main sightseeing highlights are generally worthwhile in all of these cities. But I do recommend the free walking tour on the first morning in the city, especially in Berlin, Paris, and London. Those are a great way of getting oriented and seeing a lot quickly.
Let me know if you have any other questions I might help with. Have a great trip. -Roger
Hi Roger!
This website is amazing, thank you so much for the amazing advice.
My boyfriend and I will be traveling across Europe for the month of May and would like some advice on what the best way to do it would be, if we are trying to do too much or if we are missing out anywhere. We were thinking of doing air travel as we found tickets for $30-$50 from each destination.
This is our idea so far:
We are starting out in Amsterdam on 5/4-7th
Prague 7-10th
Budapest 10-12th (the reason we are going this way is a friend will be leaving us from Budapest to Moscow on the 11th)
This is where we are kind of uncertain, we would like to go to Greece, but don’t know if we have enough time, as we are meeting friends in Paris on the 19th or 20th.
So if we skip Greece, it will be
Slovenia 12th-14th
Italy 14th-20th
Paris 20th-22nd
Barcelona 22nd-25th
Switzerland 25th-28th
Munich 28th-31st
We’ll fly back from Munich to Moscow as that is where our return flight is from on the 1st of June.
Any advice you could give would be much appreciated!!
We were also thinking of going to the ice caves in Werfen, Austria if we had time.
Vanessa
Vanessa,
Always happy to hear that this stuff helps. I think your general itinerary and the number of days you have planned all sounds reasonable.
Amsterdam to Prague is a long way (many people would stop in Berlin on the way), so flying is probably best. Prague to Budapest is about 7 hours by train, and probably cheaper and more enjoyable than trying to fly it, and only a bit slower when you factor all the security and transport time into and out of the cities.
Within these countries you’ll want to take trains, but from one country to another you might find cheap airfare to make flying worthwhile. I’m not sure what advice you are looking for, but if you have specific questions I’ll be happy to try to answer them. -Roger
After sending the last comment I have come with clear idea of my iti -nerary. PSe check up if it is ok for 15 day tour. Turku-Stockholm-Berlin(via Malmo-Venicee-Rome-Paris three days – Brussels-Amsterdam -Berlin-Stockholm-Turku
Thanks for your patience
Venkat
Venkataratnam,
That looks like a very nice tour. I still think you are probably better off flying from the Nordic area into central Europe, but it can be done by train this way as well. Or you could make a few more stops along the way, like in Copenhagen or Bruges or Florence or a few others. But this should work as you’ve described it. Let me know if you have other questions I can help with. -Roger