Why do you think the recommendation you have in the trip planner isn’t the right choice?

because it gives me 3 different passes adding up to $914 when I can buy a global 15 day pass for less. Am i wrong?

It recommends a single 5 country select pass for 8 days of rail travel (in a 60 day period) for $570 (adult) plus $56 in point to point tickets — $626 total. A 15 consecutive day adult global pass is $730 and a 21 day is $946 — the right rail pass and some cheap point to point tickets saves you a lot.

yes, although i havent completely nailed down my itenerary. p.s. that price doesnt include the train from berlin to prague and prague to austria?

The price of the ticket to/from Prague is what the $56 in point to point tickets covers. If you want to save money, the railsaver recommendation is the way to go — although you might be able to beat it by buying non-refundable tickets for exact dates and times 60 days in advance. I’d just go with the railpass.

oldlady… last dumb question. how and where to you pay the diff in city to city fees? example berlin is covered but prague is not, it says $37. Do i use the pass for half the trip and pay for the other half? same with prague to munich. i know.. dont kill me im close to the final decision!

Argh — I had this all figure out, with costs and everything and lost it. You can either 1) use your railpass for the German portion of the trips to/from Prague and buy a ticket for the Czech portion or 2)you can buy a ticket for the whole trip and not use your railpass.

Railsaver recommends an 8 day pass, so that would be option 1. That’s because standard fare for Berlin/Prague is about 61 euros — 41 of that for the German part. 41 euros = about $55 dollars. The costs are similar for Prague/Munich. The difference between a 6 day pass and an 8 day pass is $95 (less than $50 for each additional day) so it’s slightly to your benefit to buy the longer pass and use it for these trips. This will be easy to do at the station in Berlin. Just show the ticket agent your railpass and tell them what you want to do. Write out Berlin (arrow) Schona (border crossing town) (arrow) Praha (local spelling for Prague) with the departure date and time and do a lot of pointing if you have trouble. It might be slightly easier to buy both tickets in Berlin as you’re more likely to get an agent with great English skills, however the Praha to Furth i Wald (border crossing between Praha and Munchen) might be a couple of euros cheaper if you buy it in Praha.

If you could commit to exact dates and were working farther in advance, I’d recommend a 6 day railpass and not using it for your trips to/from Prague. 29 euro specials are available on both these routes, but for your dates 39 euros to Prague and 49 euros from Prague are the cheapest fares that haven’t already sold out.

Hi Oldlady,

I got my rail pass today thank god. One question for you. I understand the Berlin to Prague city to city fee since Czech is not on my pass but this confused me…….

Munich, Germany to Rome, Italy

This leg has 2 stops and you will use the following passes:
Passes used by Scott

* Eurail 5 Country Benelux/France/Germany/Italy/Switzerland 8 Day 1st Class Adult Select pass * 2nd Class Adult City-to-City Ticket

What is the city to city fee on this route? both countries are on my pass. BTW I looking to take the overnighter from Munich to Rome.

THanks

The direct overnight train from Munich to Rome goes through Austria which isn’t covered by your pass. There are no cheap specials available for the travel date in your itinerary, so you’ll definitely want to use your railpass for the German and Italian portions of this trip and buy a ticket for the small portion in Austria. The direct train at 21:03 crosses the German/Austrian border at Kufstein and the Austrian/Italian border at Brennero/Brenner. You can find that information by clicking on the specific train on the German rail website: http://reiseauskunft… You can price and buy this ticket at the Austrian rail website: http://www.oebb.at/e… — 20,10 euros in 2nd class, 35,20 euros in 1st class. You can use a 2nd class ticket for this because you’re probably going to be using your railpass in a 2nd class car, anyway. In second class you have your choice of a seat (reservation cost 4 euros). 6 berth couchette (20 euros), 4 berth couchette (30 euros — this would be my choice), economy double (60 euros) or economy single (100 euros). If you want a double or a single go for first class and spring the extra for the 1st class ticket across Austria. Reservations for a deluxe double and a deluxe single with a 1st class pass are the same as the costs for the economy versions in 2nd class.

You could pick a routing that went through Switzerland instead of Austria, but it would take several hours longer and require at least 2 connections. It looks like the options via Switzerland (I have not checked all possibilities) would not fit the “7:00 PM rule” so would use two days of your railpass instead of just one if you go through Austria.

ahhh… didnt think about the crossover through austria. that makes sense. I figure to purchase these reservations and supplements upon my arrival in Munich train station (3-4 prior) in case dates change. Think that will be good enough? Also, to get from Cinque Terre to Interlaken I figure to take La Spenzia – Milan and Milan – Interlaken??? And from Interlaken to Paris? Interlaken – Bern? – Paris. Ive got the timetables that came with the pass. Do i just tell the people at the La Spenzia station my destination (Interlaken) and they will help me find the routes? Please help me with these routes plus reservation fees and supplements. Thank you so much Old Lady… U are helping a great deal.

Assuming you mean when you arrive in Munich from Prague, that should be just fine. This time of year you could probably wait longer, but since it’s a weekend departure (?) and the options other than the one direct train might require two days of the railpass, I wouldn’t wait. Yes, that will work, but having an idea of the available options will help. The schedule that came with your railpass includes only a tiny fraction of the 10,000 daily trains in Europe. I usually print out schedules I’m likely to use from http://reiseauskunft… for reference and print the “intermediate stops” for a couple of the options on the back. If you spend a little time “studying” the schedules you will see patterns that mean you don’t need to carry much paper.

Reservation costs depend on the country and the specific train. On day trains reservations typically cost 4 or 5 euros, but some of the fancy name trains (particularly in Italy) are up to 19 euros in 1st class. This link, from Rick Steves, is the best I’ve found. http://www.ricksteve… It’s a little complicated with both prices to buy from US and prices to buy in Europe, so take some time to figure it out.

If your plans change and you end up a day short on your railpass, the cheapest point to point ticket will probably be Rome to Cinque Terre — the cost of the reservation could double the price for that one. Since you’re already using point to point tickets for part of Berlin to Prague and Prague to Munich buying a ticket for the whole route for those will be relatively cheap, too.

Don’t forget to breath. This isn’t going to be hard. Everything about the European rail system makes sense — it just usually doesn’t make sense the way you expect it’s going to. A couple of train rides and you’ll be an expert. Check your library for a copy of Europe by Eurail for some pre-trip reading.

Well i think its too late to book a reservation from the US since I leave in 2 days. Wouldnt they have to ship a ticket? Same goes for the Austria portion, think I’ll be ok if I wait till next week and buy at any euro train station?

I’d probably buy the Austrian portion with the reservation for the rest of the trip. When you arrive in Munich should be fine. If you want to buy it earlier, I’d do it in Berlin — you could book all your fairly complex transactions at once.

Consider buying the reservations to Cinque Terre and Interlaken (if you’re planning on trains that require reservations) when you buy the Munich/Rome combo. I think you can change a reservation (one time, before the original date and time) in Italy at the automated kiosks without charge. This would avoid waiting in reservation lines in Italy — don’t know if that’s a problem in April, but there were lines in late May in Milan and in mid-September in Rome.