Hello, just a quick opinion question… I’m planning on taking a 4-6 week, 15 city backpacking trip through Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Spain in 2-3 months. I had been budgeting for a rail pass of some sort and wanted to ask your opinions about what was the best way to arrange for transit?
I had at first thought a Global Pass for two months was the best idea ($1447 USD), but then heard perhaps a one-month pass would be better since I’m barely staying more than that anyway ($1025 USD) – I might need two or three extra tickets purchased separately, but I would save. THEN I found out about the Flexi passes, giving 10 or 15 days of unlimited travel… and thinking I’m planning to see 15 cities or so… that sounded ideal for $988 USD.
But then I recently had a pair of friends independently suggest just purchasing transit individually everywhere I go. They say it’s really easy to get tickets (which I believe), but the passes are often not a good deal. I priced a few of the tickets I’ll want to buy online and found travel between most of the major cities I priced to be $100 - $250 each! This doesn’t sound cheaper at all?
Any ideas about what’s the best way to do this? Thanks so much!
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Interrail for 1 month all zones:
up to 25 years 385 EUR ~ 500 USD
over 25 years 546 EUR ~ 710 USD
doesn%26#39;t matter which country you buy it in - always the same rate - ok, don%26#39;t know how much it would be in switzerland in their currency.
ÖBB (Austria)
oebb.at/vip8/…index.jsp
DB (germany)
bahn.de/p/…offers_europeans.shtml
buy it directly at one of the local train companies not through any other website like raileurope.com or some other they charge you way to much. I%26#39;d definitely go with the monthly pass - you just don%26#39;t have to worry about any ticket, you just get on any train you like. you don%26#39;t have to worry about some time-frame. should you %26#39;unintentionally%26#39; get on the TGV in France where you would need an extra ticket, well then you pay it. I loved it. would do it again anytime if I could just get 4 weeks off from work.
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I apologize ... the whole thing I wrote is of absolutely no use for you ... I really missed the info that you have to prove that you live in Europe ... what a rip-off.
now I found the site where you took the rates from. as you%26#39;re staying at least 4 weeks I don%26#39;t think the flexi passes are any good. as you%26#39;d have to visit the 15 cities in 15 days. I%26#39;d still stick to the one-month pass as you wouldn%26#39;t be bound to any schedule. I can%26#39;t believe that they force you to travel by first class.
sorry again
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Hi nestorcua,
As someone who has used the Eurail and select/flexi pass for 6 weeks and 5 days travel respectively in Europe, I would say, definitely go for the pass and not buying individual tickets. This is because the pass also allows you to use on inner trains (not metro) like S bahn,SNCF,etc to go to nearby destinations like Versaille, Postdam and airports for the day you use the pass.
Depending on your travel plan, how intensive or sparse between travel stops, you can choose the cheaper select pass if you are only traveling on trains for 10 NON consecutive days or 21 days consecutive (no using it at start or end destinations). You can even choose select pass for 3 - 4 adjoining countries (France, Switzerland, Germany %26amp; Spain) and buy indiviudal tickets or country pass for Austria.
You can get discount for under 26 or travelling with another companion on select/Flexipass saver. US and non European residents pay different rates and you can compare prices between flexipass and Eurial based on your itinerary. Go to raileurope.com for more details or ask further questions here. If it all gets too complicated, you can visit an authorised agent for consultation.
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Hi again,
By the way, I forgot to mention that even with the pass, you need to reserve seats 24 hours in advance by paying small booking fee of few euros for night trains or long haul trains, otherwise you may end up with bad seats or smoking carriages. This can be done at main stations either one shot or on each arrival for the next travel.
The individual ticket prices online are pricier on third party sites such as raileurope. You can use each country%26#39;s official site for counter price or book online direct (www.oebb.at, www.sbb.ch/en, www.bahn.de, http://www.sncf.com, http://www.renfe.es/ingles/). Remember try not to buy train onboard as there is a surcharge.
If you have drawn up your itinerary, you can then plan your train routes from map and count how many days you will be using trains.
For instance, if you use the non consecutive select pass, you may want to use the innercity or intercity rails together with long haul train on the same day to maximise the usage of the pass.
With this, you can decide the most economic ways of travelling, either by select pass, eurail or individual tickets.
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