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Eurail pass??
tremblaynicholas
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Hi, on april 29th I’m leaving Canada for a 47 days europe trip with 2 friends. destination : london-dublin-berlin-amsterdams-paris-barcolona-carcasonne-nice-canne-geneva-venice-roma. From lon-dub and dub-berl

I plan to cheap plane ticket like raynair but for the rest of the trip, I have 2 choose : Buy City-to-City tickets or a Eurail pass! the thing is that we dont want to plan exactly how long will we stay in each city (some city maybe more interesting that I expected and vice versa). Also, I heard eurail pass was hard to use (sometime employes at train station dont even know what it is and there is only one coach per train for eurailpass so it is very hard to book) and some train routes cost extra charges. what are your experiences with eurailpass?

My question is, can you sugguest me the best transportation way if, during my trip, I want to be able to stay one more night in a nice city?

Thanks and sorry for my english, Im a French Canadian!

mim
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Quote:
the thing is that we dont want to plan exactly how long will we stay in each city (some city maybe more interesting that I expected and vice versa)

No need to know how long you will be in each city to use a eurail pass. You just have a certain number of travel days up to 2 months for the select pass in 3-5 bordering countries or up to 3 months of unlimited travel with the global pass.

My suggestion is to create a trip and our app guesses which pass works best for you.

Quote:
Also, I heard eurail pass was hard to use (sometime employes at train station dont even know what it is and there is only one coach per train for eurailpass so it is very hard to book)

Not true. Conductors are very much used to passes. The only snag is that you don’t have a reserved seat with the pass. Most trains you can just get on and probably find an empty seat. You can also reserve a seat for a few euro a day or two before. If you are taking a special train, or you want a couchette, a reservation may be required for a bit more.

I am leaving from New York, NY and traveling for 64 days
Reykjavik, London, Lille, Berlin, Kraków, Lviv, Istanbul, Selçuk, Pamukkale, Kızkalesi, Göreme, Kars, Bat'umi, Akhalts'ikhe, Tbilisi, Telavi, Istanbul

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tremblaynicholas
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Ok so dont need to book anything with eurailpass…. Sound great for me…!

oldlady
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Sometimes you do need to buy a reservation to use with your rail pass…

A Eurail pass will serve as your ticket for virtually every train in the countries your pass covers. The rare exceptions are a handful of privately owned scenic rail lines, mostly in Switzerland. Some European trains require reservations. The vast majority of trains don’t require reservations, but the express trains between major cities and almost all overnight trains do. You can often avoid reservations by taking slightly slower (because they make more stops) regional and local trains. Reservations are not covered by the rail pass and are an additional charge if you buy a ticket. If you choose to take a train that requires a reservation, then you have to buy one. If you use a rail pass for your ticket, then you have to buy a separate reservation if the train you choose to take requires a reservation. You can buy a point to point ticket either for the route (say Munich to Berlin) in which case you will need to buy a reservation later if you choose a specific train that requires one or you could buy a ticket with reservation for a specific train (specific day and time).

For many travelers, particularly those wanting flexibility, a rail pass will save significant money. If you are willing (and able — some tickets are all but impossible to buy on-line) to purchase non-refundable tickets for exact days and times about 60 days in advance then you can probably find special fares that will be cheaper than a rail pass. If you aren’t willing to have a rigid itinerary and spend the considerable time involved in searching out and buying advance purchase special fares, then I’d buy a rail pass.