Looks like a good trip.
Not sure you need a railpass, but Oldlady and others may be more qualified to answer that question (don’t forget we have a Transportation, Hostel as well as Nightlife forum.)
I liked Montpellier, but (for quaint small town purposes) you may prefer to stop in either Arles or Collioure instead. I loved Rouen, very walkable and historic.
We stayed here in Berlin. The hostel was roomy and the Kreuzberg neighborhood was colorful.
Die Fabrik
But you might want something cheaper.
This is a funky (but good food) restaurant on the river.
Freischswimmer
What transportation are you using to get back to Barcelona from Berlin?

Have you purchased your airline tickets?? An open jaw flight would save the time and expense of getting back to Barcelona.

Since most of this is in France, Benelux and Germany, some sort of rail pass will probably save money if you aren’t willing and able to commit to advance purchase, non refundable tickets from the national rail company websites. Enter your trip into the trip planner to see what railsaver recommends. Perhaps a 3 country, 5 day select pass and point to point tickets in Spain??

@Cil – Thank you for the suggestions. They look lovely! For getting from Berlin back to Barcelona was thinking of train, since the cheap flights seem to insist on charging me fees of up to $150 a person… is that normal?

@Oldlady – Yes, unfortunately I’ve already bought my plane tickets. (They were $700 a pop however, so I’m quite happy to be saving money on that.) Forgive me because I’m not too familiar with how the railpass works. Why would I only buy a 3 country railpass if I know I’m going though more countries than that? Would it be cheaper for me to buy certain individual tickets once I’m in Europe? It seems to me you’re suggesting I buy directly the ticket from Barcelona to Montpellier, is that correct? Sorry if this is the wrong forum to ask…

Oh, and I tried the Railsaver website and they did recommend a 3-country 5 day pass… how should I get from Berlin back to Barcelona in that case? Thank ou!

Your pass covers Germany and France. All that isn’t covered is the bit in Spain. You buy a point to point ticket to cover Barcelona to the French border. Or, you might be able to find a cheap special on an overnight train that’s only a few euros more than the cost of the reservation (required on overnight trains and not covered by the railpass) for the whole trip from Barcelona to Montpelier. For your trip back to Barcelona, I would never take the train from Berlin to Barcelona — it’s a minimum of 21 hours. Look for a cheap flight. Use www.whichbudget.com to see which low fare airlines fly which routes and check our “cheap flights” forum for more links, search engines, tips and help. I’m not sure 5 days covers this?? Perhaps railsaver is also suggesting a point to point ticket between Montpellier and Avignon?

Hi Oldlady,

I think I will be taking your suggestion and taking plane from Berlin to Barcelona. Now I will be buying point-to-point tickets from Barcelona to Avignon, and would prefer to stop 1 or 2 nights in Arles or Collioure as Cil suggested. Would the 3-country 5 day pass still be sufficient? Would Arles or Collioure be a better choice from a transportation/variety point of view? Thank you…

I have more transportation questions but I will ask them in the proper forum.

Which pass is best depends on what you’re going to do with your days. If you’re going to be taking day trips by train, then you’ll need to compare the price of point to point tickets for those trips to the price of adding extra days to the railpass. Railpass prices are in US$, point to point prices are in Euros. I think you will want to use your pass to cover the trip from Southern France to Paris, Paris to Bruges and Amsterdam to Berlin for sure (well, unless you find some fabulous on-line specials). I would guess that Spanish border to Arles or wherever and Brussels to Amsterdam will also be expensive enough to use the last 2 days of the pass.

Assuming a youth pass, I’d probably add the 6th day for $32 just to have the option open for a trip in Southern France.

With four days scheduled for Paris I’d limit yourself to one daytrip.

@oldlady – My boyfriend accidentally bought the 5-country 8-day railpasses before consulting with me, and I don’t think we will be able to return them without paying a 15% fee. Since returning and buying the cheaper pass won’t be saving us much, I think we will be keeping them and using it for most of our trip, as you suggested. This also gives us more flexibility to stop in places in Southern France.

@austin – Thank you, I will definitely be taking the Rouen day trip, then.

oldlady wrote:

Quote:

My boyfriend accidentally bought the 5-country 8-day railpasses before consulting with me,

End this relationship before it’s too late.

Ha ha.

Hey everyone,

I just finalized my itinerary (for now) using the feature on this website. Please take a look at it and offer any advice/suggestions for travel, accommodations, sights, etc.!! The link is: http://www.eurotrip…..

Thanks so much!

Chris

I think you’ve got way too much ground to cover for the last 1/2 of your trip. Everything from Budapest on is going to be way too rushed once you figure in the travel times.