Rail travel to 

   Europe: 

   general 

   information 

A beginner's guide to buying & using a

Eurail pass or other European railpass. . .

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Whether you use a railpass or point-to-point tickets, trains are easily the best way to travel around Europe, no contest.  Here's why:

Speed & practicality... European trains link almost every city & town at up to 198 mph, often faster than flying as it's city centre to city centre, no trek to the airport, no 2-hour check-in, no airport security strip-search.  A '1 hour flight' actually means 4-5 hours.  Paris-Amsterdam now takes 3h20 by train, Paris-Geneva 3h20...		Comfort & a chance to relax... ...unlike air travel, train travel is low-stress & low-hassle, and unlike bus travel it's high comfort.  After all, aren't you supposed to be on holiday?  On trains, you get space to move around, lots of legroom (remember that?) and often a café, bar or even restaurant.  Overnight sleeper trains cover huge distances while you sleep, such as Amsterdam to Prague or Paris to Barcelona, in effect faster than flying and it saves hotel bill, too.  The train journeys become a welcome chance to chill out between cities...				Scenery & the experience... ...and there's often superb scenery, too.  Unlike flights or long distance buses your train journeys become an integral part of your European experience, something to enjoy for their own sake, giving you a real ground-level feel for the countries you're visiting... Above:  Scenery from a Milan-Paris TGV, with my feet up & a glass of wine to hand...

Trains versus buses, planes & automobiles...

Planes:  In Europe, a 1-hour flight means 4 or 5 hours of taking a bus/train/taxi to a remote airport a long way out of town, a lengthy check-in with humiliating security checks, and a flight that may be delayed.  In Europe, flights average 63%-69% on time, whereas high-speed trains often achieve 90%-95%.  Then there's more airport arrival hassle followed by another long bus/train/taxi ride into town.  You miss out on the relaxing scenic overland journey which should be part of every European holiday.  To get cheap air tickets you must arrange all your flights in advance on a no-refunds, limited-changes basis, compared to the freedom & flexibility of a go-as-you-please railpass.  And the extra cost of airport transfers, baggage fees, check-in fees & credit cards fees must be factored into the cost of the flight.  Finally, short-haul flights cause disproportionate environmental damage, whereas trains are the environmentally-responsible choice.

Car hire:  In Europe, cars and city centres don't mix.  Hiring a car can be a great way to explore a rural area off the main routes, such as Tuscany or the Dordogne, but to see great cities such as Paris, Rome, Barcelona or Florence, definitely don't hire a car.  Driving long distances in foreign countries can be tiring, long hours on motorways can be depressing, traffic in urban areas can be a nightmare, and parking in European city centres is either expensive or non-existent.  Some car hire companies won't let their cars cross borders even within the EU, others charge prohibitive drop-off charges for doing so.

Long-distance bus:  Long distance buses like Eurolines or tourist buses like Busabout use ugly motorways which spoil the scenery they pass through.  At 60 mph, a journey that's only 3 hours by train could be 8 hours by bus.  You're stuck in a bus seat for hours & hours, no restaurant or bar to go to, and at night you sleep in your seat, a horrible experience.  Buses generally only serve the largest cities, often just once a day, making them very inflexible.  You're not allowed to bring your own food & drink and there's certainly no alcohol permitted on board!  Buses are really an option aimed at very, very low-budget travellers...  Avoid them if you can.

Train:  Trains run on a vast rail network covering almost every town & city in Europe, with a range of departures every day.  Trains run at  up to 198 mph (300 km/h), and are now faster than flying for many key journeys such as London to Paris (2h15), Paris to Amsterdam (3h20), Paris to Geneva (3h20), Barcelona to Madrid (2h40) or Florence to Venice (2h40).  Overnight sleeper trains have beds to sleep in and are an experience in themselves.  They cover huge distance while you sleep, such as Paris-Barcelona, Paris-Florence, Amsterdam-Prague or Prague-Krakow, city centre to city centre, saving a hotel bill and saving time over the 4-5 daytime hours that flying would use up.  Trains run city centre to city centre, low-hassle, zero stress.  There's loads of legroom, you can get up and wander to the bar or restaurant car if you like.  Feel free to bring your own picnic and your own bottle of wine or beer if you want, no problem, it's allowed on trains!

So whether you use a rail pass or buy normal tickets, the train is definitely the way to see a lot of Europe in a relatively short time, in comfort.  There's simply no contest.  But more than that, train travel is part of the European way of life, the way we Europeans travel, and an experience in itself.  You might even meet some of us Europeans!

Here is a quick (OK, fairly quick) guide to European railpasses, assuming you know virtually nothing about them to start with, and talking you through pretty much all the key points about buying & using a railpass.  If you need more detail, the other sections on this page will help.

What is a railpass?

• Let's start with the basics.  A railpass is a special ticket which gives you unlimited train travel on the national rail network of one or more countries, so you can travel around freely and explore.

• 'Unlimited' means just that.  With a railpass, you can take one train or fifty trains, travel 10 miles or 800 miles a day, for the same fixed price.

• A 'railpass' is different from an ordinary point-to-point ticket.  A point to point ticket allows you to make just one specific journey from A to B.  Point to point tickets vary in price, long journeys cost more than short journeys, booking in advance is often cheaper than buying on the day, and fares in (say) Switzerland are more expensive than fares in (say) Bulgaria.

• So if all you want to do is make one simple journey from A to B, a point to point ticket is probably what you need.  But if you want to travel round extensively making multiple journeys and travelling flexibly, a railpass may be what you need.

Is a railpass cheaper than buying point-to-point tickets?

• There's no easy answer to this, because it depends on what journeys you want to do.  The pass price is fixed whatever journeys you make with it, but point-to-point prices vary enormously in price, some are cheap, others expensive, depending on the distance, the country, where you buy them, and whether you book a cheap ticket in advance or a more expensive ticket on the day.  But here are the 'rules of thumb':

• If you're only making a few short journeys, you're almost certainly better off buying ordinary point-to-point tickets at the station on the day.  For example, Florence to Pisa costs 5.70 euros, so why buy a railpass costing around €40-€50 per day just to make a €5.70 journey?  Even Brussels to Amsterdam on the hourly InterCity trains costs only €37, full-price, even on the day of travel.  For help finding out what point-to-point fares would cost, see here.

• Italy deserves a special mention, as it's such a popular destination.  Rome to Florence costs 44 euros full fare by 'Eurostar Italia' high-speed train, Florence to Venice 42 euros, even bought on the day.  Rome-Venice costs 73 euros.  With passes typically working out at 40-50 euros per day plus a 10 euro passholder surcharge required for every journey on a Eurostar Italia train, railpasses for Italy only make sense if you plan to do the equivalent of Rome-Venice every time you step onto a train.  They do not make financial sense if you're only going Rome-Florence day 1, Florence-Venice day 2, Venice-Verona day 3, etc.  You can check Italian train fares online at www.trenitalia.com.  There are similar issues with railpasses versus normal tickets in Spain and in eastern Europe, see here.

• For a pre-planned fixed-itinerary trip around Europe, the cheapest option is usually to buy cheap advance-purchase point-to-point tickets online direct from the European train operators.  There are some amazing bargain train tickets available, the rail equivalent of 'budget airline' fares, available up to 3 months in advance at the relevant European train operator websites.  For example, it's not difficult to find a 25 euro Paris-Geneva ticket at the French railways website www.voyages-sncf.com and print out your own ticket or collect it at the station in Paris.  The 25 euro fare includes the 'Lyria TGV' reservation, with no credit card fee, no booking fee & no postage.  Is this €25 deal cheaper than a €40-€50 per day railpass, plus travel agency fee & postage, plus the €8 passholder surcharge for the Lyria TGV (I'll explain about surcharges in a minute)?  You bet!  So don't buy a pass for pre-planned trips before checking what cheap point-to-point fares were available, see the advice in this section.

• For long-distance spontaneous & flexible trips:  That cheap 25 euro Paris-Geneva ticket might be the cheapest option if you can pre-plan, but it means 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans'.  You must book a month or two in advance, and maybe the €25 price will be available when you want it or maybe it won't.  The normal flexible 'on the day' price for Paris-Geneva is around €75.  Does a €40-€50 railpass make sense now, even with €8 Lyria TGV surcharge?  Yes, the railpass now saves you money!  The pass gives you the flexibility to change your mind and your plans as you go.

• To sum up, don't assume you need a railpass.  Short distance and many medium distance trips are best made with an ordinary point-to-point ticket bought at the station on the day.  For a long-distance pre-planned fixed-itinerary trip around Europe, the cheapest option is usually to buy a series of cheap advance-purchase point-to-point tickets from the various European train operator websites booking a month or two in advance, if the cheap deals are available when you want them (and many will be) and if you don't mind a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' ticket.  However, if flexibility is important to you, a railpass is a fixed price for go-as-you-please freedom.  Although even with a pass, a few seat reservations may be required and there's the odd surcharge to pay, more about that in a minute.

• The only way to know for sure whether a railpass or point-to-point would be cheaper is to work out the point to point prices for most of the trips you're planning using the various European train operator websites (not overseas ticketing agency websites which often charge more or ignore the cheap deals, I mean buying direct from the French railways website, the German railways website, and so on, at European prices with all the European special deals).  If you're on a tight budget, taking the time and effort to do this can save you a lot of money, so see this section.

• Don't be afraid to mix & match a railpass with one or more point to point tickets.  For example, for 11 days of train travel in Europe, it's cheaper to buy a 10-day Eurail Global pass plus one point-to-point ticket for the shortest/cheapest of all your train rides, than to buy the next pass size up, which is the 15-day Eurail Global pass.  If the start of your trip is known and fixed, the rest flexible, you could buy a cheap ticket for the first one or two journeys, then start using a railpass.

What trains does a railpass cover?

• Railpasses cover all the trains run by the main national train operator in each country covered by the pass, be they local trains, suburban trains, regional trains, inter-city trains & international trains.  Occasionally (notably in Switzerland) they also cover a few private train operators as well.

• Railpasses do not cover metro or Underground ('subway') trains (or for that matter, buses or trams) within cities.  Nor do they cover some small private operators, such as the Circumvesuviana Railway in Italy (Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento), FEVE or Euskotren narrow gauge local trains in northern Spain, or some private operators in Switzerland such as the Jungfraubahn up the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn in Switzerland which operates the line to Zermatt & half of the Glacier Express route.

• Railpasses also don't cover Eurostar, the high-speed train through the Channel Tunnel between London & Paris or London & Brussels.  In fact that's not totally true, because there's are 'discounted' passholder fares, but as these passholder fares are actually more expensive than the cheapest book-ahead fare (yes, really!) there may as well not do.  Only if you suddenly need to use Eurostar at short notice will the passholder fare be less than the regular fare.

• You'll find a list of what operators are covered by railpasses in the country by country guide below.

How do passes work?  Seat reservations & surcharges...

• Generally speaking, you can simply hop on any train you like, find any empty seat to sit in, and show your railpass when asked by the conductor.

• However (and it's a big 'however'), people who think buying a railpass means there's nothing further to pay sometimes get a shock.  Many premium daytime trains require railpass holders to pay a small surcharge and/or make a seat reservation.  Here are the rough 'rules of thumb':

• Local, suburban & regional trains almost never require seat reservations or surcharges in any country.  Just hop on!

• Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark:  With a handful of exceptions, internal & international trains within and between these countries don't require a seat reservation or surcharge, even on premier high-speed inter-city trains like Germany's superb ICE.  You just hop on.  Railpasses retain their 'convenience factor' in these countries, as you can hop on & off trains spontaneously.  However, even though it's optional, making a seat reservation for a long journey can be a smart move as it guarantees you a seat, well worth the 3-5 euro seat reservation fee.  Key exceptions:  Thalys trains between Brussels & Amsterdam and Brussels & Cologne have compulsory reservation & a special fare for railpass holders.  A few scenic tourist trains in Switzerland require a seat reservation & small supplement, such as the famous Glacier Express & Bernina Express.  International journeys from these countries into France, Italy or Spain do require reservations and supplements.  Although they don't participate in the Eurail pass scheme, trains in Britain & Ireland are also 'reservation optional', never compulsory, and there are no passholder surcharges.

• France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden:  This is the problem area.  Virtually all domestic & international trains to, from, between & within these countries require compulsory seat reservation & payment of a passholder surcharge of some sort, varying from 3 to 20 euros per trip.  I suggest using 10 euros per train ride as a rule of thumb for budgeting purposes.  Railpasses have lost their 'convenience factor' in these countries as you can't just hop on, you need to make a reservation, even though you make a reservation ten minutes before the train leaves (in Italy, simply use the excellent self-service machines at every main station with an English-language touch screen).  Although you'll seldom find trains fully-booked except at key holiday periods, be aware of the possible quota problem with reservation-compulsory trains in these countries, especially France.

• In Eastern Europe it varies.  Some premier trains require a seat reservation (3-5 euros fee), these will be shown in the timetable with an 'R' symbol.

• Sleeper trains:  You'll need to pay a supplement and make a reservation for sleepers or couchette on overnight trains, in all countries.  Fr budgeting purposes, reckon on 20 euros supplement for a couchette in a 6-bunk compartment or 50 euros per person for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper, in eastern Europe it's cheaper, reckon on 15 euros for a couchette or 26 euros for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper.  Remember that with Eurail and InterRail flexi rail passes, an overnight train leaving after 19:00 counts as running on the following day (as long as the overall validity period has started), so it only uses up one day of your rail pass.

• You'll find a detailed list of which trains require compulsory seat reservations, and what surcharges cost, in the country-by-country guide below.

• You'll find a more detailed guide to using a Eurail pass, including validating a Eurail when you first start to use it, in the How do Eurail passes work section.

How to make reservations with a railpass...

• At stations:  You can easily make seat or berth reservations and pay any surcharges at the station as you travel around, there are almost always places available on any given train even in summer, though of course some trains do get full at peak times.  Notably, the Paris-Italy 'Artesia' sleeper trains do leave fully-booked in summer, as do many high-speed trains in Spain, so think about pre-booking those.  Also be aware of the annoying passholder quota problem, especially in France.  European reservation systems are linked, so you can usually (but not always) make reservations for a journey starting at stations other than the one you're at, even in different countries.

• In advance, using train operator websites:  Unfortunately, train operator websites usually only sell complete tickets and don't allow railpass holders to make 'reservation only' bookings. The useful exceptions are the German railways website www.bahn.de  (for trains to, from & within Germany, also sleeper trains from Amsterdam to Prague/Copenhagen/Zurich/Munich, and Paris to Berlin/Munich) and the Italian railways website www.trenitalia.com (though this has trouble accepting many non-Italian credit cards, see here).  In both cases, use the journey planner as if you were going to buy a ticket.  On bahn.de you're then given the option to make your booking 'reservation only'.  On Trenitalia.com, select a train, then change the drop down fare box to 'other fares' then 'Global pass'.  As you pay the ticket office price with no fees or postage, this is the best way to make a reservation if you can.

• In advance, online or by phone from the overseas agency which sells your railpass:   You can usually make reservations by phone or online from the agency which sells you the pass. You can make seat or berth reservations to go with a railpass on many western European trains at any of these agency websites, although bear in mind that agencies will charge a bit more that you'd pay at the station (or online direct from the train operator) and add a booking fee or postage fee on top.

  If you live in the United States		www.raileurope.com
  If you live in Canada		www.raileurope.ca
  If you live in Australia		www.raileurope.com.au
  If you live in New Zealand		www.raileurope.co.nz
  If you live in India		www.raileurope.co.in
  If you live in Singapore		www.raileurope.com.sg
  If you live in Hong Kong		www.raileurope.hk
  If you live in Japan		www.raileurope-japan.com
  If you live in South Africa		www.raileurope.co.za
  If you live in Brazil		www.raileurope.com.br
  If you live in Israel		www.raileurope.co.il
  ...in any other country:		www.raileurope-world.com

What types of railpass are there?

• European residents qualify for the InterRail pass range.  They do not qualify for the Eurail pass range.  So if you're a European citizen or an overseas citizen who has been resident in a European country for more than 6 months, go straight to the InterRail pass page where all will be explained.  Citizens of the Russian Federation & Turkey plus a few other north African countries also qualify for InterRail passes.

• Overseas visitors (Americans, Australians and so on) qualify for the Eurail pass range.  If you are not resident in Europe you cannot buy an InterRail pass.  Citizens of the Russian Federation & Turkey do not qualify for Eurail passes, they qualify for InterRail passes.

• InterRail & Eurail passes cover exactly the same trains.  So a European and (say) an American can travel together, the European using an InterRail and the American using a Eurail, no problem.

• There are a handful of other railpasses that anyone qualifies for, for example a Swiss Pass, explained here.

Understanding the Eurail pass range...

• Eurail is the pass range for overseas visitors who don't live in Europe.

• Eurail (often mispronounced 'Eurorail') isn't a company or a train operator.  It's simply the brand-name for a range of international rail passes for overseas visitors to Europe, offered jointly by the various national train operators.  There are no special 'Eurail' trains, Eurail passes simply give unlimited travel on all the normal scheduled train services run by the various national train operators.

• The national railways participating in the Eurail scheme are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic (which joined in January 2009), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland. 

• You can see the countries covered with this map of rail network in the Eurail countries

• Eurail Global, Eurail Selectpass & Eurail Single-country:  The first choice is between a Eurail Global pass covering almost the whole of Europe, a 'Eurail Selectpass' covering your choice of any 3, 4 or 5 neighbouring European countries, or a 'Eurail single country pass' covering just the one European country of your choice.

• 'Continuous' & 'Flexi':  Eurail Global passes come in both 'continuous' & 'Flexi' versions.  The original 'continuous' version gives unlimited train travel around most of Europe for a continuous period of either 15 days, 2 days, 1 month, 2 months or 3 months starting on any date you specify.  The 'Flexi' version only gives either 10 or 15 days free train travel within an overall 2-month period, with the ability to 'spend' those unlimited travel days on whichever days you choose within the 2 month period.  The Eurail Selectpasses all work on the 'Flexi' principle with a choice of 5, 6, 8, 10 or 15 days unlimited train travel within a 2-month period, as do the Eurail single-country passes which offer a choice or 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 days unlimited train travel within an overall 1-month period.

• How do 'Flexi' passes work?  Let's say you buy a 10-days-in-2-months Eurail Global 'Flexi' pass.  The 2 month overall period starts on any date you specify.  There are 10 empty 'boxes' printed on your pass.  Each time you want to 'spend' one of your 10 unlimited travel days, you simply write the date in ball-point pen in one of the boxes, and you then have 24 hours unlimited train travel from midnight to midnight in the area covered by the pass.  In fact, it can be more than 24 hours, because of the 'overnight train rule'.  An overnight train leaving after 19:00 counts as the following day, so you could in theory start travelling just after 19:00 on a sleeper train, then travel all around through the next day until midnight.

• Adult, Youth & 'Saver':  Each type of Eurail pass comes in adult, youth & saver versions.  Youth means anyone under 26.  'Saver' simply gives a discount for 2-5 people all buying Eurail passes and travelling together.

• You can mix & match passes:  Don't be afraid to buy a combination of passes.  If you were spending 5 days in France and 5 days in Italy, two 5-day single-country passes would be the cheapest pass option, a 10-day Eurail Selectpass covering both France and Italy costs a bit more, though would give you more flexibility.  A 10-day Eurail Global pass would cost more than either of these options, but to no purpose if you're really only going to visit France and Italy.  Though of course, if you changed your mind and suddenly wanted to see Amsterdam, you could do that with the Global Pass...

• Detailed advice on how Eurail passes work, including how to validate your Eurail pass at a station when you arrive in Europe.

Other railpasses worth mentioning...

• There are a few other passes in addition to the main InterRail & Eurail pass ranges.  Key amongst these is the excellent Swiss pass for Switzerland.  For more information on this and other passes, see this section if you're an overseas visitor or this section if you're a UK or European resident.

How do I buy a Eurail pass, browse pass types or check current Eurail prices?

You'll find the quick answer to this question in the Quick guide to Railpasses section above, but here's the more detailed version...

People seem to think there's a definite answer, such as 'a rail pass is always cheaper than normal tickets if you're going to Switzerland, but normal tickets are always cheaper than a pass if you're going to Italy or Spain or eastern Europe'.  It's true that some rail passes (like the excellent Swiss pass) are better value than others (like railpasses for Italy or eastern Europe where fares are so cheap anyway), as you have to clock up more mileage in Italy to justify the pass, whereas it doesn't take much in Switzerland to make a Swiss Pass worthwhile.  But it depends on how much travelling you plan to do, and on which sort of point-to-point ticket you compare it with.  A $70-a-day railpass (even with a $10 reservation fee on top) is cheaper than a $150 fully-flexible buy-it-on-the-day point-to-point ticket, but much more expensive than a $45 cheap point-to-point ticket bought online in advance on a no-refunds-no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.  So there's no simple answer without working it out for yourself.

OK, so how do I work it out?

Here is a step-by-step guide to checking whether a pass will actually save you money over normal tickets.  If you find this too difficult, can't be bothered or can't afford to spend half an hour working it out, skip this bit and go straight to the Which railpass should I buy section.  But a little legwork can save you a lot of money.  Here's how:

• Decide where you want to go:  First, decide which countries and which cities you want to visit.  This is the fun bit!  Decide what interests you, and use a good European guide book like the Lonely Planet Guides or Rough Guides.  If possible, sketch out a rough itinerary.  It doesn't have to be detailed, though you can use the invaluable online timetable at http://bahn.hafas.de to plan train times if you like.

• Decide which railpass best fits this itinerary:  Look for the rail pass that most closely fits your trip, see what rail pass should I buy?

• Work out the 'pass-price-per-day':  Divide the rail pass price by the number of days train travelling you expect to do, to get a 'pass price per day'.  This is your yardstick.

• Allow for railpass supplements:  Remember that in addition to the cost of the pass, passholders have to pay a surcharge to travel on many long-distance premium trains.  You'll also need to pay a sleeper or couchette supplement on overnight trains (though these save a hotel bill).  A rough 'rule of thumb' for budgeting purposes is to add 10 euros per journey for any daytime long-distance journey to, from, between or within France, Italy or Spain, but there's seldom any supplement to pay on trains within or between Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, and in eastern Europe there either is no supplement or it is small, say 3-6 euros.  For overnight trainsl, again as a rough rule of thumb, add 20 euros for a basic couchette or 50 euros for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper (per person) for any overnight journey.  For a more accurate and route-specific idea of which trains do and don't have supplements, and how much they cost, see the do I need to make reservations or pay supplements? section.

• Find out what the point-to-point fares would be:  See how can I find out what the point-to-point fare would be?.  The point-to-point fares produced by the journey planners on railway websites include any supplement or reservation charge, so no supplement worries here.  You'll need to decide if you want flexibility and the ability to vary your itinerary and be spontaneous (in which case, you should compare the rail pass price with the most expensive fully-flexible fare shown in the journey planner search results) or if you are prepared to commit to specific trains on specific dates, to take advantage of cheapest advance-purchase fares.

• And compare the two:  Compare the pass price per day with the typical point-to-point fare for the sort of journeys you expect to make.  If you've planned an itinerary, compare the cost of the pass with the cost of normal tickets for those journeys.

• Don't forget that a rail pass is more flexible, usually allows you to hop on and off trains spontaneously, saves you time queuing at ticket offices, and may cover additional trips that you didn't expect to make (for example, if you plan to spend a few days in Paris, it will cover a daytrip to Versailles).  Even if a rail pass is a bit more expensive, it can still be better to buy one.

The examples below show that it pays to do your research.  Don't assume that a rail pass is always the most economical option.  In fact, your working assumption should be the exact opposite:  Assume that normal point to point tickets are the cheapest option unless you can prove that a rail pass will save you money.

Railpasses - a warning about 'quotas'...

• There's one other problem with railpasses that can occasionally raise its head, especially at busy times and especially (it seems) on TGV services in France and on trains between Paris & Italy, Paris & Switzerland, Paris & Belgium/The Netherlands.  I'm not sure how often it happens, as it's only cropped up in people's emails to me once or twice - but perhaps many railpassholders are simply told the train is full, and go away thinking it really is full when if you're paying cash there's lots of seats left.

• Here's the problem:  In the old days, if you had a railpass you were treated as having a normal 2nd class ticket, on an equal footing with other passengers.  So if there was one seat left on the train and you were first in the queue to make a seat reservation on that train with your railpass, then you got it and the person behind you didn't.  But many trains in western Europe are now yield-managed, meaning that the number of seats sold at each price is controlled by a quota held in the reservation system, and there's a separate quota for railpassholders.  At busy times this quota can be very small or even zero.  So now, if there's one seat left on the train, a railpass holder is told "Sorry, the train is full" (in other words, there are no passholder places available), and the seat is sold to the passenger behind you willing to pay cash.  They already have your money after all, as you've already paid for the railpass!  Personally, I think this is sharp practice, though as I say it may not be a problem except on certain trains at very busy times.  But you should be aware of how things work.  If you need to be on a specific train on a specific date, a normal point-to-point ticket booked on that train guarantees you a place, whereas simply holding a railpass and expecting to make a reservation at the station on the day may not, even if there are seats available!  Of course, you could buy any mission-critical reservations along with the pass from the same agency in the same phone call, so you only buy the pass if the reservations are OK.

Common railpass mistakes:  Italy...

• Many people buy a railpass to tour Italy, but fares in Italy are very cheap.  A railpass typically costs 40-45 euros per day (this is the pass price converted into euros and divided by the number of days of free train travel).  Perhaps this sounds good value.  But all fast trains in Italy now require a 10 euro passholder reservation surcharge even with a pass, so there's no 'convenience factor' in having a pass, you still have to make a seat reservation, and with the surcharge added the pass price per day becomes 50-55 euros per day.

• They then travel from Rome to Florence on day 1, a journey which only costs 44 euros for a full fare point-to-point ticket including high-speed train reservation, bought at the ticket office even on the day of travel.  Next day they do a day trip to Siena, a 16 euros return ticket.  Then they go from Florence to Venice, a 42 euro ticket.  Venice to Verona is less than 25 euros.  So why buy a pass?  Venice to Rome is only 73 euros, so now a pass does save money, but you need to do a journey of this length every day of your pass validity to make it pay.  You can check normal ticket prices for Italy at www.trenitalia.com.  You want 'Base' fares for flexibility, although if you pre-book in advance you can get a 30% or even 60% discount, if you can persuade Trenitalia to accept your credit card.

• Conclusion:  A railpass seldom makes sense for Italy unless you plan to commute between Milan and Sicily, as passes are overpriced relative to normal Italian point-to-point fares.  Eastern Europe is also cheap, so be careful about buying a pass for those countries, too.  Switzerland is just the opposite, where high point-to-point fares and good-value railpasses make railpasses a good bet.

Common railpass mistakes:  Eastern Europe...

• Many people buy a railpass to tour eastern Europe.  But as with Italy, normal fares in that part of Europe are so cheap anyway it hardly makes sense to use a pass.  Bought at the ticket office when you're there, you can often find cheap deals too, making point-to-point even cheaper.

• For example, an InterRail pass (for Europeans) costs around £48 per day.  The normal fully-flexible fare from Prague to Krakow is only 1,068 koruna (£35) if you buy it at the station in Prague, but usually they can do you a cheaper fare of 855 koruna (£29).  So why buy a pass?

• It's often difficult to buy tickets online (or even just find out the real ticket-office fare) for journeys in eastern Europe, but it's easy to buy tickets at the station when you're there.  Bear in mind that tickets for eastern European journeys bought from UK, US or Australian agencies are usually more expensive than the price you'd pay at the ticket office when you're there.

Common railpass mistakes:  Budget train fares for Spain...

• A railpass typically costs the equivalent of 40-45 euros per day (the pass price converted into euros and divided by the number of days validity).  But remember that every long-distance train in Spain now requires a reservation even with a pass, and passholders have to pay a supplement of around 6 to 10 euros per train ride.

• If you insist on flexibility, a pass will probably save money on balance over full-fare buy-on-the-day tickets for long-distance journeys.  For example, railpass-per-day + supplement =  45 + 10 = 55 euros.  A full-fare Madrid-Seville ticket costs around 75 euros.  The pass saves 20 euros on this trip.

• But if you're prepared to book in advance and commit to a fixed itinerary, you can buy cheap 'Web' fares online at www.renfe.es, in this case Madrid-Seville costs only 28 euros, saving 27 euros over using a railpass.  These blow railpasses out of the water price-wise.  And less queuing at the ticket office as you print out your own ticket and breeze onto the train!

• Conclusion:  Cheap book-ahead online 'web' fares are a better bet for travel around Spain, if you're prepared to pre-book on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis.  Remember to budget for the supplements which apply to all fast trains in Spain

Common railpass mistakes:  Budget train fares in western Europe...

• Passholders now have to make a reservation and pay a special passholder fare (typically 5 to 15 euros) before boarding most international trains in western Europe, certainly those involving France, Spain and Italy, so passes have lost their convenience factor.  You can no longer just hop on and show your pass, you need to queue up at the ticket office to make a reservation.

• The same trains have adopted airline-style point-to-point fares, with cheap fares if you book in advance on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis, and much more expensive fares if you buy a fully-flexible ticket on the day of travel. 

• Let's take a typical example.  Paris to Geneva, Bern, Basel or Lausanne in Switzerland by high-speed TGV starts at £25 one-way for a cheap point-to-point ticket if you book in advance, rising to £90 for a fully flexible buy-on-the-day ticket.  This compares with an InterRail pass (for Europeans) costing around £48 per day plus an £8 passholder fare or a Eurail pass (for non-Europeans) costing maybe 45 euros per day plus a 10 euros passholder fare.

• So if you insist on flexibility, railpasses may save money over normal full-fare tickets for long-distance trips.  In our example, the pass cost was £48 + £8 = £56, the fully-flexible fare was £90.

• However, if you're prepared to commit to a fixed itinerary, the cheap book-ahead train fares blow railpasses out of the water price-wise.  £25 using a cheap point-to-point ticket versus £56 using a pass, half the cost!  Of course, maybe the £25 tickets have sold out for your date of travel, so maybe you end up paying £35 or £45 instead, whatever, but it's still cheaper than buying the pass.  And you can easily buy the cheap point-to-point ticket online with no booking fee, whereas the railpass and supplement cannot be booked online direct from the train companies, you will probably have to buy them from an agency, and the agency will no doubt add a booking fee or postage charge on top.  So why bother with the pass, just go online and snap up that cheap ticket!

• A particular example to note are the Paris-Madrid, Paris-Barcelona, Zurich-Barcelona & Milan-Barcelona overnight 'trainhotels'.  For travel in a 4-berth sleeper, a special point-to-point fare of around 75 euros (£67) is easy to get on almost all trainhotels up to a few weeks before departure, when the fare goes up to the fully-flexible fare of 130 euros (not a very sophisticated fare structure, I grant you!).  When I go to Spain from the UK, this £67 sleeper fare is what I always buy.  An InterRail pass costs around £48 per day (or, for non-Europeans, a Eurail pass maybe 45 euros per day), then you have to pay a 75 euros (£67) supplement for the same 4-bed sleeper.  That's right, the supplement is £67/75 euros, exactly the same price as the book-ahead fare that everyone in their right mind pays without a pass.  So why bother buying the pass?  I certainly don't bother with a railpass for any international trips I make from the UK to Spain, Switzerland or Italy.

• Also worth quoting as an example are the City Night Line sleeper trains on routes such as Amsterdam-Prague, Amsterdam-Vienna, Paris-Berlin, Paris-Munich and so on.  Their budget fares start at 49 euros including a couchette, whereas with a pass you have to pay a 20 euros couchette supplement plus the cost of the pass.  Again, if you're prepared to pre-book an can get the cheapest rates, passes don't make sense.

• Conclusion:  'Budget train fares' have arrived, as train operators copy budget airlines and offer very cheap point-to-point deals if you book in advance.  If you're prepared to pre-book your itinerary a couple of months in advance on a 'no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans' basis online direct from a European train operator (as opposed to buying from an overseas booking agency), these cheap fares blow railpasses out of the water price-wise.  There's advice on how to book which train tickets on the How to buy European train tickets page.

• For a journey wholly within one country, use the journey planner on these websites:

Austria	www.oebb.at
Belgium	www.b-rail.be
France	www.voyages-sncf.com
Germany	www.bahn.de
Italy	www.trenitalia.com
Netherlands	www.ns.nl
Portugal	www.cp.pt
Switzerland	www.sbb.ch
Spain	www.renfe.es
Sweden	www.sj.se
There is a complete list of websites for all countries on the useful links page.

• For international journeys, follow the advice on the How to buy tickets page.

• Fares for international journeys in eastern Europe are difficult to find online, so here are some approximate fares as a rough guide.  These are all one-way adult 2nd class fares.  1st class fares are 50% more than the 2nd class fare.  Returns are normally twice the one-way, but in many cases there are reductions for return tickets.  Children under 12 travel at half fare.  You will need to add the same sleeper & couchette supplements to these basic fares as you'd pay with a rail pass.

Prague-Krakow 35 euros* Prague-Budapest 57 euros* Prague-Vienna 48 euros* Prague-Bratislava 44 euros* Prague-Bucharest 153 euros Prague-Belgrade 82 euros Budapest-Krakow 64 euros Budapest-Prague 69 euros Budapest-Bratislava 28 euros Budapest-Bucharest 80 euros Budapest-Vienna 37 euros Budapest-Warsaw 83 euros

Budapest-Moscow 97 euros Budapest-Istanbul 124 euros Budapest-Belgrade 39 euros Budapest-Sofia 84 euros Budapest-Thessaloniki 118 euros Budapest-Kiev 69 euros Budapest-Zagreb 36 euros Warsaw-Budapest  73 euros Warsaw-Prague 54 euros* Warsaw-Vienna 63 euros Warsaw-Budapest 83 euros Sofia-Istanbul 18 euros

Vienna-Prague about 50 euros* Vienna-Budapest 37 euros** Vienna-Warsaw 63 euros Bucharest-Istanbul 40 euros Bucharest-Belgrade 142 euros Belgrade-Istanbul 43 euros Belgrade-Sofia 45 euros Belgrade-Zagreb 44 euros Belgrade-Budapest 39 euros Belgrade-Venice 80 euros

* You can find special cheap fares from just 18 euros (496 Czech Koruna) available on daytime trains if you pre-book using www.eshop.cd.cz & print out your own ticket!

** You can find special cheap fares from 19 euros if you pre-book online at www.oebb.at.

• Some American travel agency websites show sample point-to-point fares for comparison with the rail passes they sell.  These point-to-point fares are often the most expensive fully-flexible fares, not the cheap deals that you can now get on many international trains in western Europe if you book in advance.  It's best to check the actual fares quoted on the European train operator websites.

• European trains normally only open for reservations 90 days before departure (or sometimes 60 days) and most websites will only show train times and ticket prices within this time period.  So if your European trip is still many months away, choose a random date within the next 60 days and enquire about fares for that date.  The prices won't change much in 6 months!

       You can buy these rail passes if you live in the UK or another European country, or can prove you have been resident in a European country for more than 6 months.  If you live overseas, for example in the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, see the next section.

Rail passes for just one country...

Any country in Europe:		You can buy a single-country InterRail pass for almost any country in Europe, giving unlimited train travel in that country for either 3, 4, 6, or 8 days within an overall 1-month period.  The days of unlimited travel don't have to be used one after the other.  Each time you want to use up one of your train travel days, you just write the date in one of the empty boxes printed on your rail pass.  This is a good option if you are only going to be making train journeys occasionally, with long periods staying in one place between trips.  Note:  Eurodomino passes were withdrawn from April 2007, replaced by this new range, as was the France pass.
France		The France Pass was replaced with the single-country InterRail pass in April 2007.
Switzerland		Swiss Pass:  3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 days unlimited travel in Switzerland within 1 month.  The Swiss Pass is very good value and highly recommended, as Swiss rail fares can be expensive.  Unlike many other railpasses these days, you don't have to rack up a huge mileage to make a Swiss Railpass worthwhile.  And as virtually no Swiss train requires a supplement or reservation, a railpass gives you that wonderful 'hop on, hop off' convenience.  You can check Swiss point-to-point fares at www.sbb.ch.  Map of Swiss routes showing which routes are covered by a Swiss rail pass and which only give a 50% discount for passholders.
A few other singe-country rail passes are also available.

Rail passes to visit several countries...

InterRail pass		InterRail is one of the best pass deals there is.  Unlimited train travel for 5 days in any 10 day period (flexi), 10 days in any 22 day period (flexi),  22 days continuous or 1 month continuous, covering almost all of Europe.  Adult or child 2nd class, adult or child 1st class, youth (under 26) 2nd class versions are available.  For more information, see the InterRail page.
Benelux Railpass		5 days unlimited train travel within 1 month in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.  Also consider the similar Benelux InterRail pass.
European East Pass		5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 days unlimited train travel within one month in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia & Poland.  Choose 1st or 2nd class.
Balkan Flexipass		5, 10 or 15 days unlimited 1st class train travel within one month in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro.  However, normal fares in these countries are already extremely cheap, and ordinary tickets are often cheaper.
ScanRail pass		ScanRail passes used to give unlimited train travel in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, but were withdrawn from sale in December 2007.  They have been superseded by the new range of InterRail passes.

Rail passes for a grand tour of Europe...

• If you want to travel extensively across most of Europe, an InterRail pass is ideal, see the InterRail page.

            This is the range of rail passes available if you live outside Europe, for example, in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India or Singapore.

Help choosing a railpass...

Rail Europe has a pretty good system for choosing which rail pass or combination of passes would be best for you, depending on which countries you're visiting, how many days actual train travel you plan to do, an how many total days you plan to spend in each country.  Pick the Rail Europe website for where you live and use their online pass chooser system:

The rail pass for a grand tour of Europe:  Eurail global pass

• If you plan to travel extensively across most of Europe, the famous Eurail pass is the top-of-the-range rail pass which gives unlimited train travel in 18 participating countries, covering most of western Europe plus Hungary, Romania & Greece.  It's available in both 'Continuous' and 'Flexi' versions for varying periods of time.  Map of rail network in the Eurail countries. 

• See the Eurail section below for an explanation of the Eurail pass range and how Eurail passes work.

Rail passes for just one country...

Here are the main single-country rail passes.  Eurail is the main pass range, but there are others.  The links below go to raileurope.com in the USA, if you live elsewhere see the list of Rail Europe websites above.

• Single country Eurail passes for most western and some eastern European countries.  More on Eurail

• France Pass for France.  For comparison, you can check French point-to-point fares at www.voyages-sncf.com.  Remember that most long-distance French trains require a reservation before boarding, even with a pass.

• Paris Visite card:  Unlimited travel on the Paris metro, and more.  Eurail passes for France cover the national rail operator (SNCF) but not the Paris metro.

• Swiss pass for Switzerland.  The Swiss Pass is very good value and comes highly recommended, as Swiss rail fares can be expensive.  Unlike many other railpasses these days, you don't have to rack up a huge mileage to make a Swiss Railpass worthwhile.  And as virtually no Swiss train requires a supplement or reservation, a railpass still gives you that wonderful 'hop on, hop off' convenience that railpasses have lost in France, Spain or Italy where every long-distance train now requires a reservation.  You can check Swiss point-to-point fares at www.sbb.ch.  Map of Swiss routes.

• German Rail pass for Germany.  A good deal, as no supplements or reservations are required on most German trains, you just hop on and show your pass.  For comparison, you can check German point-to-point fares at www.bahn.de, there are some amazingly cheap point-to-point fares available if you're prepared to pre-book and commit to a particular date and train.

• Czech Flexipass for Prague & the Czech Republic.  Though Czech rail fares are very cheap anyway, so don't buy this pass unless you're sure it will save you money.

• Spain Pass for Spain.  The issue here is that every long distance train in Spain requires a reservation and 6-10 euros supplement in 2nd class, or 10-30 euros 1st class (the first class supplement may include an at-seat meal & drinks).  For comparison, you can check Spanish point-to-point fares at www.renfe.es, and the fares quoted here include the reservation and supplement.

• Portuguese Rail pass for Portugal.  You can check Portuguese point-to-point fares at www.cp.pt.  Most Portuguese long distance trains require reservation before boarding.

• BritRail Pass for Britain.  Reservation is never compulsory on British trains, and there are no supplements to pay, so you can always just hop on and show your pass, making BritRail passes very easy to use.  For comparison, you can check British point-to-point fares using the online form here or at www.nationalrail.co.uk.  There's advice on understanding the different types of UK rail fare on the UK page.  For unlimited travel on the London Underground for 3 or 7 days when staying in London, you can get a London Visitor Travelcard, easily bought in London at an Underground station.

Rail passes to visit several countries...

'Eurail' is the brand name for the main multi-country railpass range.  The links below go to raileurope.com in the USA, if you live elsewhere see the list of Rail Europe websites above.

• With Eurail Selectpass you can choose any  3, 4 or 5 neighbouring countries out of the 18 European counties in the Eurail scheme, and choose to buy either 5, 6, 8 or 10 or 15 days unlimited 1st class train travel within any 2 month period on the national rail networks in those countries.  More on Eurail.

• Alternatively, for 2 countries, there is are Eurail Regional Passes, such as the France 'n Spain pass, the France 'n Italy pass, the Iberic pass for Spain and Portugal, the Hungary and Romania pass, the Britain+Ireland pass, and so on.  More on Eurail.

• For 3 or more countries, there's the Benelux Tourrail pass covering the Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg, the Eastern Europe pass covering Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, the Balkan Flexipass covering Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia & Serbia.  ScanRail passes (covering Denmark, Norway, Sweden & Finland) were withdrawn in December 2007, replaced by 'Eurail Scandinavia' passes.

Which countries are included?

The national railways participating in the Eurail scheme are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic (which joined in January 2009), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland. 

Who qualifies for a Eurail pass?

You can buy a Eurail if you live in the USA, Canada or the rest of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and most of Asia and Africa.  If you are a European citizen or if you live permanently in Europe, Turkey, Russian Federation, Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia, you cannot buy a Eurail pass, but you qualify for an InterRail pass instead.  Eurail passes should normally be bought before leaving your home country.

Eurail pass...

The original Eurail 'Global' pass is the deluxe option, giving unlimited 1st class train travel across all 18 participating countries for a continuous period of either 15 days, 21 days, 1 month, 2 months or 3 months.  If two of you travel together, the 'Saver' version of the Eurail pass gives you a discount.  If you are under 26 years of age, there is a cheaper 'Youth' version of the Eurail pass which gives 2nd class travel.

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in the USA

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Canada

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Australia or try here

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in New Zealand

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in India

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Singapore

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Japan

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in South Africa

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Brazil

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Israel

• Eurail Global prices & details, if you live in any other country

Eurail Flexi pass...

If you don't want continuous unlimited travel - for example if you will stay put for long periods between train trips - the Eurail Flexi pass gives 10 or 15 days unlimited 1st class travel within any 2 month period.  You choose when the 2-month period starts, and you choose which days within those 2 months you do your train travelling.  You simply write the date in one of the ten or fifteen spaces provided on your Eurail pass each time you want to 'spend' one of your 10 or 15 days unlimited travel.  If two of you are travelling together there's a 'Saver' version of the Eurail Flexi pass, which gives a discount.  If you are under 26 years old there's a discounted 'Youth' version of the Eurail Flexi pass which gives 2nd class travel.

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in the USA

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in Canada

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in Australia or try here

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in New Zealand

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in India

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in Singapore

• Eurail Global pass prices & details, if you live in Japan

• Eurail Flexi passes, if you live in South Africa

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in Brazil

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in Israel

• Eurail Flexi pass prices & details, if you live in any other country

Eurail Selectpass...

If you don't want to tour all 18 Eurail countries you can save money by choosing a Eurail Selectpass giving either 5, 6, 8 or 10 or 15 days unlimited 1st class train travel within any 2 month period on the national rail networks of any 3, 4 or 5 bordering countries.  Again, if two of you are travelling together there is a discounted 'Saver' version of the Eurail Selectpass.  If you are under 26 years old there is a 'Youth' version of the Eurail Selectpass giving 2nd class travel.

• Eurail Selectpass range & prices, if you live in the USA

• Eurail Selectpass range & prices, if you live in Canada

• Eurail Selectpass range & prices, if you live in Australia or try here

• Eurail Selectpass prices & details, if you live in New Zealand

• Eurail Selectpass prices & details, if you live in India

• Eurail Selectpass prices & details, if you live in Singapore

• Eurail Selectpass pass prices & details, if you live in Japan

• Eurail Selectpass prices & details, if you live in South Africa

• Eurail Selectpass pass prices & details, if you live in Brazil

• Eurail Selectpass pass prices & details, if you live in Israel

• Eurail Selectpass pass prices & details, if you live in any other country

Eurail 2 or 3 country passes...

There are also special deal Eurail passes covering just two or sometimes 3 countries, such as the popular France-Italy Eurail pass, France-Spain Eurail pass or Switzerland-Austria Eurail pass.  These all work on the 'flexi' principle, of 4 or more days of free travel within an overall 2-month period.

• Eurail regional pass range prices & details, if you live in the USA or Canada

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in Australia or try here

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in New Zealand

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in India

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in Singapore

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in South Africa

• Eurail regional pass range, prices & details, if you live in Brazil

• Eurail regional pass prices & details, if you live in Israel

• Eurail pass prices & details, if you live in any other country

Eurail single-country passes...

There is a range of single-country Eurail passes covering just one country, all based on the 'flexi' principle of 3 or more days of free travel within an overall 2-month period.

• Eurail single-country pass range & prices, if you live in the USA

• Eurail single-country pass range & prices, if you live in Canada

• Eurail single-country pass range & prices, if you live in Australia or try here

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in New Zealand

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in India

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in Singapore

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in South Africa

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in Brazil

• Eurail single-country pass prices & details, if you live in Israel

• Eurail pass prices & details, if you live in any other country

Validating your Eurail pass...

• Before starting to use your Eurail pass, you need to 'validate' it at any main station when you arrive in Europe, before you get on your first train.  You do this by going to the ticket office, where the booking clerk will enter the start date on your pass.  Your Eurail pass is then valid for the overall pass period.  See the video below about validating your pass.  It really is that simple!

Using your pass...

• 'Continuous' type Eurail passes are then valid for unlimited train travel for the whole pass validity period.

• 'Flexi' type Eurail passes give you a certain number of unlimited travel days during the overall pass validity period, which is usually 2 months starting on the date you choose.  If the number of days is, say, 5, there will be five empty boxes printed on your Eurail pass.  On a day when you want to use one of those 5 free days of travel, you simply write in the date in one of those boxes in ball-point pen.  You now have unlimited train travel from midnight to midnight on that date.  You do not have to decide in advance which 5 days these will be, you can decide as you go, simply writing the date in a box each time you want to 'spend' a day of free travel, until all your boxes of free travel are used up.  Simple!

• Unlimited travel really does mean unlimited travel.  I'm not sure which part of 'un' people don't understand, the 'u' or the 'n'!  You can take as many trains as you like that day, you can stay on trains all day of you really want to!  Though there may be seat reservations or small supplements to pay on certain trains, more about that below.

The 'overnight trains leaving after 19:00' rule...

• Although a Flexi pass day normally runs from midnight to midnight, direct overnight trains leaving after 19:00 count as running the following day, so this only uses up one day of your pass.  So for example, if you travelled on the 'Phoenix' sleeper train from Amsterdam to Prague, leaving Amsterdam at 19:01 on August 2nd arriving Prague 09:38 next morning, then travelled on to Cesky Krumlov later that day, this would only use up one day of free travel, and the date you'd write in the box on your pass would be August 3rd.  You will need to pay the normal supplements for overnight travel in a couchette or sleeper, see the couchette & sleeper page. 

• Important:  To use this sleeper train rule, your pass validity period must have started on or before the day the sleeper train leaves.  In other words, in this example the pass validity must have started on or before 1 August, even though the first day written into any of the five 'boxes' on the pass would be 2 August.  Obviously with continuous passes this isn't an issue, the rule just applies to 'Flexi' type Eurail passes.

What trains can you use with a Eurail pass?

• A Eurail pass gives unlimited free travel on all the normal scheduled train services run by the national train operator in each of the countries it covers, although you'll need to make a reservation and/or pay a supplement on some trains, see the country-by-country list below.  Eurail passes also cover the main private operators in Switzerland and a few other countries, as shown in the country by country guide.  Map of rail network in the Eurail countries.

• You're given a small timetable booklet with your pass.  People often think that the trains in the booklet are the only trains you're allowed to take with your Eurail pass.  Of course not!  You're allowed to use any normal scheduled train run by the operators covered by your pass, whether it's in that booklet or not, read the bullet point above!

• However, Eurail passes do not give free travel on underground or metros in big cities, or on some small private train operators such as FEVE narrow-gauge trains in Spain or the Circumvesuviana railway (Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento) in Italy.  If you want unlimited Paris metro travel for a day or more, you can buy a Paris Visite card for US & Canadian travellers, or a Paris Visite card for Australian, NZ, Asian or African travellers.

• To find train times, go to the excellent German Railways online timetable at www.bahn.de (English selector upper right).  It covers the whole of Europe.  As a general rule, any train shown in its database can be used with an Eurail pass when travelling within a country covered by the pass, although supplements or special fares must be paid on some.  It will also show which trains have compulsory reservations.

• Some Eurail pass agencies give out a Eurail timetable booklet, and people sometimes think these are the only trains they can use.  Nonsense!  You can use any train operated by the national rail operators covered by your pass, and the booklet contains only a tiny fraction of the thousands of trains you can use.

• Eurail only covers certain countries.  For example, it does not cover the UK, Russia or Ukraine.  It does not cover Eurostar trains between Paris & London, although passholder fares are offered.

What about supplements & reservations? 

• Just about every international train in western Europe and many internal trains, require passholders to make a reservation or pay a supplement before boarding, see the country-by-country guide which explains this and gives you an idea of the cost on each route.

• You can make reservations (and pay supplements) in advance with the agency that sells you your Eurail pass (although they may charge you a booking fee), or you can make them when you get to Europe at station ticket offices.

What if my Eurail pass doesn't cover a city I want to visit, like Prague or London?

• No problem, you just need to buy a ticket to cover the section of journey within the country that's not covered by your pass.  For example, Eurail passes do not cover the Czech Republic but lots of people want to visit Prague.  So if you want to travel from (say) Berlin to Prague, you need an extra ticket to cover the section from the German/Czech frontier to Prague.  You should buy this at the station before you start the journey, you cannot buy it at the frontier. 

• Prague Excursion pass:  There's no need for this any more, as the Eurail global pass now includes Prague & the Czech Republic as of January 2009.

• Eurostar London-Paris:  Eurail doesn't cover Eurostar trains between London & Paris, or trains within the UK.  However, Eurostar offers a passholder fare to Eurail passholders from Paris or Brussels to and from London. To buy a Eurostar passholder fare, click here if you're in the US or Canada, click here if you're in Australia, NZ, Asia or Africa. 

• London Underground visitor Travelcards:  Once in London, a Visitor Travelcard is a good idea, giving unlimited bus and Underground travel:  London Visitor Travelcard for US & Canadian travellers.  London Visitor Travelcard for Australian & NZ travellers.

How can I find out more?

• You can find out more about Eurail passes at www.raileurope.com (if you live in the USA), www.raileurope.ca (if you live in Canada), www.raileurope.com.au or International Rail Australia (if you live in Australia or New Zealand), www.raileurope.co.za (South Africa) or on the official Eurail website, www.eurail.com.

Where can I buy a Eurail pass?

It's easy to buy a Eurail pass online at either www.raileurope.com (USA), www.raileurope.ca (Canada), www.raileurope.com.au or International Rail Australia, (Australia, New Zealand or worldwide) or www.raileurope.com.au (Australia) or www.raileurope.co.za (South Africa).  To buy a Eurail if you're already in the UK but have an overseas passport, try railchoice.co.uk.

This is often the biggest surprise for people who thought their rail pass gave them unlimited train travel with nothing further to pay.  For example, almost all long distance trains to, from and within France, Italy, Spain & Portugal now require railpass holders to pay a small surcharge of some sort and make a seat reservation before they board the train.  This doesn't mean you shouldn't buy a railpass, but you should be aware of these supplements and factor them into your budget and your assessment of the cost of a pass versus point-to-point tickets.

Which trains require a seat reservation or payment of a supplement?    See the country-by-country guide

How do you make reservations or pay supplements with your rail pass?

• At the station as you travel around:   You can make reservations and pay any supplement or special fare at the station ticket office either in advance or on the day of departure, normally up to half an hour or less before the train leaves.  Just show your rail pass at the ticket window and ask for the reservation.  Many European railway staff speak some English, but if you don't speak the language, just write down what you want and show it to the booking clerk.  Easy!  In Italy, you'll find it easier to use the self-service ticket machines, which have a touch screen with an English language facility, and accept cash and credit cards - look for the 'global pass' option when you're offered a list of fares.

• In advance, either online or by phone from the agency that sells you the rail pass:  You can make reservations when you buy your rail pass (or after you bought it), from the same agency which sells the pass, though most agencies charge a booking fee and possibly postage as well.  You can make reservations to go with a railpass online at the various Rail Europe websites (but unfortunately not the Rail Europe's UK website), using the 'Buy tickets' section and tick the 'I have a railpass' box.  Be warned, I've come across a few cases where it was cheaper to buy a cheap advance-purchase point-to-point ticket online direct from the train operator as if no pass was held and print out your own ticket, than to pay an overseas agency for the passholder reservation charge plus their booking fee plus postage!  Here's that list of Rail Europe websites again, to make reservations with a railpass online:

If you live in the United States		www.raileurope.com
If you live in Canada		www.raileurope.ca
If you live in Australia		www.raileurope.com.au or www.railplus.com.au
If you live in New Zealand		www.raileurope.co.nz or www.railplus.com.au
If you live in India		www.raileurope.co.in or www.railplus.com.au
If you live in Singapore		www.raileurope.com.sg or www.railplus.com.au
If you live in Hong Kong		www.raileurope.hk
If you live in Japan		www.raileurope-japan.com
If you live in South Africa		www.raileurope.co.za
If you live in Brazil		www.raileurope.com.br
If you live in Israel		www.raileurope.co.il
...in any other country:		www.raileurope-world.com

• Online direct from the train operators, either before or after buying your rail pass:  Unfortunately, most ticket selling websites will only sell complete tickets (including a reservation), they don't allow 'reservation only' bookings for passholders.  This notably includes the French Railways website www.voyages-sncf.com and the Spanish Railways website www.renfe.es.  However, there are a couple of rail operator websites that do allow 'reservation only' bookings to go with a rail pass.  The German Railways website www.bahn.de and the Italian Railways website www.trenitalia.com allow 'reservation only bookings' if your train is a domestic German or Italian train, or an international train starting in Germany or Italy.  On www.bahn.de, proceed as if you were buying a ticket, then select 'reservation only' at the purchase stage.  On www.trenitalia.com, again act as if you were buying a normal ticket, when you see the search results select a train to see the fares, in the list of fares choose 'other fares', then 'global pass' in the list of fare types (warning:  Trenitalia.com has a very bad record in accepting non-European credit cards, but by all means try)..

Can I avoid paying a supplement?

• Sometimes you can avoid the supplement if you don't mind a slower or less comfortable journey.  For example, different types of train may serve one route, and a supplement may be charged only for the faster or more comfortable ones.  From Rome to Florence there are high-speed Eurostar Italia trains which carry a 10 euro surcharge, but on the same route there are comfortable and reasonably-fast 'InterCity' trains with only a small 3 euro surcharge, and finally there are 'InterRegional' trains which are much slower and much more basic, but there is no supplement or compulsory reservation at all.  The choice between speed and comfort or saving the supplement is yours!

• In other cases, the only way you can avoid the supplement is to take a succession of local trains, taking hours longer and involving several changes of train.  It may be better to bite the bullet and pay the supplement.  To find out if there is a reasonable non-supplement alternative, use the Europe-wide online timetable at http://bahn.hafas.de, but change the 'means of transport' box at the bottom of the page from 'standard search' to 'without ICE/IC/EC'.

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train, bus & ferry times for every country in Europe (eastern and western) plus currency and climate information.  It is definitely worth buying if you're planning an extensive rail pass tour - having your own comprehensive timetable puts you in control of your own trip, and saves you hours in queues for station information desks or struggling with station timetables which show only the most basic information.  It costs around £13.99 from the bureau de change section of any UK branch of Thomas Cook, or you can buy online at www.thomascooktimetables.com (with worldwide delivery).  Alternatively, you can buy the twice-yearly  Independent Traveller's edition at Amazon.co.uk also with shipping worldwide.

The Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe is easily the best and most comprehensive map of train routes all over Europe.  High speed and scenic routes are highlighted - well worth buying to go with your rail pass!  Buy online at Amazon (with worldwide delivery).

The all-Europe online timetable:  You can check train times for almost any European train journey online at http://bahn.hafas.de.  This is an extremely useful resource for trip planning, provided by the German Railways.

Recommended guidebooks...

If you're planning a grand tour, I strongly recommend investing in a Thomas Cook European Timetable for in-depth train information, and the relevant Lonely Planet Guide for in-depth country information on the sights to see, places to stay, places to eat.  Alternatively, the Europe by Rail guide combines basic train info with country information.

Click the images to buy online at Amazon.co.uk...

Or buy Lonely Planet guides direct from the Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.

Hotels & guesthouses...

It's easy to book hotels online to go with your rail pass, but there are almost too many hotel booking websites to choose from!  I recommend these sites to find a hotel in most European countries:

• Hotels Combined.  This isn't a hotel booking site, but a free search tool that checks all the other sites, saving you hours on the internet going round in circles.  Highly recommended as the place to start when looking for a hotel anywhere worldwide!

		◄◄◄ Search all the major hotel booking websites at once...
Powered by Hotelscombined.com

• www.laterooms.com lists a huge number of hotels in any given town or city on a single page showing price and availability for your specific dates.  As its name suggests, Laterooms gets big discounts for hotel rooms booked within 3 months of travel, making it ideal for anyone buying a rail pass within the normal 90 days of travel.  These discounted prices are shown in orange.

• www.venere.com has a more personal approach than laterooms.com.  On Venere, the price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras, and you simply pay the hotel when you get there.  After you've booked, you can change or cancel your reservation in line with the hotel's own change and cancellation policy.

• www.tripadvisor.com is a huge resource, and a good place to browse independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.

Budget backpacker hostels...

• www.hostelbookers.com:  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about the hostels.  Hostelbookers allows online booking of dorm beds or ultra-cheap private rooms in backpacker hostels in most European cities at budget prices.

Get travel insurance..

Never travel without insurance from a reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover loss of cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year (I have an annual policy myself).  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.

If you live in the UK, get quotes from Columbus Direct or Go Travel Insurance, or go to Confused.com to run a price comparison on a whole range of travel insurance providers for your dates of travel, seeing their policy's features at a glance.

Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, but European international rail conditions of carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and non-changeable.  Feedback from using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.

        If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, see Columbus Direct Australia.

   If you live in the USA or Canada, see Travel Guard USA.

Get an EU health card...

If you're a UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with the NHS.  This replaced the old E111 forms as from January 2006.  The EHIC card is available from www.ehic.org.uk.  It doesn't remove the need for travel insurance, though.

Get a pre-paid euro currency MasterCard from Caxton FX...

You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a Caxton FX euro currency MasterCard, or indeed the multi-currency 'Global Traveller' MasterCard.   Find out about these cards & sign up here.

Get an international SIM card...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're not careful you can return home to find some huge bills waiting for you.  I've known people run up over £1,000 in data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a simple trip to Europe.  However, if you buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company such as www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid.  Go-Sim cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide, and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries.  It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills when you get home.  It also allows cheap data access for laptops & PDAs.  A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone number' for life.