Technically the pass has to be "in effect" to use it for the Eurostar discount. Thus, you’d need to have the pass validated before you could purchase the &quotassholder fare" ticket. In practice, I’m not sure that would be enforced, so it might be worth the chance to try to buy the &quotassholder fare" ticket with your unvalidated railpass.

You can get your pass validated in London at (pasted from www.eurail.com):

Rail Europe Travel Shop, 179 Picadilly (London)
Tel: (08705) 848 848

Have you checked www.eurostar.com for what fares are available on the date/time you want to travel? If you travel in the middle of the day in the middle of the week you can often get deals that are as good as or better than passholder fare — even for adults.

Also, are you sure the 3 month Eurail pass is the best deal for this trip. You may find that a few cheap flights, a flexi or select pass for the long, expensive trips and point to point tickets for short trips is a better deal. Have you checked the visa requirements for a stay of over 90 days?

Thanks for the eurostar advice. I plan to travel throughout Western europe for a little under three months, morroco for a week (included in that 3 month period), and turkey for a week, and eastern europe for about two-three weeks. From what i understand, from visa requirements this wouldn’t be a problem, i think, as long as i don’t stay in WESTERN europe for more than 3 months(total time)?? Totally, i plan on traveling the area around 3 1/2 months. I guess i assumed that a 3 month eurail pass would be best. The flexibility of a 3month pass seems awesome and i plan on riding a lot of trains great distances. Advice would be appreciated.

I wouldn’t need to apply for a schengen visa given my traveling dates mentioned above, right? I think turkey is the only place i would need a visa for. And maybee some other eastern european country i might go to.

You shouldn’t have a Schengen visa problem. However, because your roundtrip ticket will be for more than 90 days (or, God Forbid, you have a one-way ticket) you may need to show proof of your "onward travel" to the ticket agent before they let you on the plane. This might not be a problem if you’re flying into London, since I think UK allows a six month stay.

You can buy your Turkish visa upon arrival in Turkey. Only issue is that you’ll have to pay for it in your home currency. Best to have the exact amount with you in crisp, US bills (assuming you’re American). You probably won’t need any other visas since you’re only spending a couple of weeks in Eastern Europe so you probably won’t get to places like Ukraine where you still need a visa. Personally, I’d reverse the trip and spend 2 weeks in Western Europe and 3 months in Eastern Europe.

More personal opinion: Don’t confuse the convenience of rail travel in Europe with the need to buy a railpass — you have that "awesome flexibility" whether or not you buy a railpass.

Oldlady, is it okay for me to fly into london then take a cheap flight to spain(instead of using Eurostar) and travel around there by train and visit morocco quickly, then validate my railpass when i arrive back in Spain. I’m thinking i don’t want to waste my eurail time in morocco where it isn’t valid and spain where train travel is cheap. I guess i’m asking if i can use the rail system for a couple weeks then validate my pass later and still have a full 3 months left on it.

Yes, your plan would work fine. Your pass is validated twice. The first time is when you buy it. That establishes the "issue date" and you must begin to use it within 6 months of that date. I’d order tha pass about 3 weeks before you leave home.

The second validation takes place in Europe. You must have the pass validated at a train station (not on the train) before you can use it. The date of that validation establishes the beginning date for your 3 months, so don’t have the pass validated until you get back from Morocco.

Train tickets are cheap in Spain, but lots of Spanish trains require expensive reservations — which aren’t covered by a railpass.