It’s hard to find the prices for international tickets, but I’d check Bahn.de (the German rail site) first as they list prices within Germany and to/from Germany and some major destinations outside Germany. The individual national railsites (SNCF.com for France, trenitalia.com for Italy, etc.) will give you accurate prices for tickets within one country.

Sites like railpass.com, "buy a railpass" at the top of this page and raileurope.com generally list the prices charged to buy the tickets from the US — which used to be 20 to 35% more than you’d pay in Europe however the poor dollar/euro exchange means they’re closer to accurate than they used to be. The maps at ricksteves.com are also helpful, but certainly not perfect.

If you have an fairly complete itinerary, use railsaver.com Check a preference for 2nd class travel, fill in your age and check "use a railpass only if it saves money" Railsaver uses prices that are pretty close to the actual cost to buy the tickets in Europe in their calculations.

Have you looked into Eurolines busses? They usually cost about 50% of the train. Of course it’s less comfortable if you travel overnight and sometimes less convenient (but then e.g. to go east from Belgium, they’re usually more convenient). Their website is www.eurolines.com – go to the national sites for schedules, prices, etc. They also offer a pass, but it’s only valid between a limited number of cities, so it’s rarely good value.

Prices for Copenhagen to Berlin or Berlin to Amsterdam you can get from the[url=‘http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/english.html’]DB timetable[/url].

If you’re a UK resident the given sites like railpass.com or railsaver.com are of no use for your. Eurail Passes are only for Non-European residents.

In your case you have to check for an InterRail Pass or EuroDomino Pass
http://www.interrail…
http://www.bahn.co.u… (scroll down)

An InterRail Pass for zone C (Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Austria) normally pays for. Normal tickets are quite expensive in these countries, but on the other side they have excellent railway networks.

thanx for all the info – www.eurolines.com how do they work if i bought a 15 day pass say on the 2st of the month would it run out on the 15th? or is it like bus about when each time u get on/off the buss it classes as 1 day on your pass?

amanda?

It’s valid for 15 days from the day you say you’ll start using it. So if your first trip is on the second, it is valid until the 16th of that month.

i cant get a eurorail pass as im from the uk? whats the difference between the eurorail pass and the interail pass?

amanda?

http://www.raileurop…

I don’t know the sepcifics of the Eurail passes, but I think the main difference is that Interrail passes are cheaper, and that Europe is divided into different zones; you can buy a pass for al zones, but if you’re only travelling to a few countries, it’s cheaper to buy a pass for just the zone(s) you need. Here’s a good overview: http://www.b-rail.be…

Eurail offers various "zones" as well. Click on the "home" icon on the link I posted earlier.

www.interrailnet.com

quote:You can buy an Inter Rail pass if your country of residence for at least 6 months has been:

- one of the Inter Rail community members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia,

- one of the European countries of CIS : Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Moldova,

- one of the Baltic States : Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,

- Algeria, Tunisia, Cyprus, Iceland, Malta.

If you are resident in Russia, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Algeria, Tunisia, Cyprus, Iceland, Malta, you can buy the Inter Rail pass in any country which is a member of the Inter Rail community: the conditions of the country of purchase will then be applied.

www.eurail.com

quote:Anyone is eligible to purchase a pass, except for residents in the countries of Europe, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia. Since rail passes are intended for NON-European residents, it is very difficult and more expensive to find an outlet to buy these passes in Europe. Most Eurail Aid offices sell them, but at a 15% higher rate.

Thus the first difference is that you have normally no choice between these two kind of passes.

InterRail Passes – the original idea was to give young Europeans the chance to discover their continent cheaply.
Only consecutive passes are available. High speed trains are not covered and often IC/EC trains require a small supplement.
Prices are in local currency. A range of bonuses (e.g. hostels) exists and the national railway museums are typically for free.
(Bigger) railway stations in your home country normally have leaflets on InterRail with maps and more information.[url=‘http://www.bahn.de/pv/view/mdb/images/dbreisetou/interrail/interrail_brosch_re_april_04.pdf’]Here[/url] the one from DB (German Rail). In German of course – but I found no other online quickly.

Eurail Passes are mainly directed to the typical tourist from North America. Europe in a fourtnight. Thus high speed trains are covered. For over 25 year olds only 1st class passes are available. Prices are in USD (and have become thus relatively cheaper in the last time). Bonuses are e.g. that the paddle steamers on the Swiss mountain lakes or the KD boats on the Middle Rhine are included.