Visit Europe by Train – Travel cheap and easy with a Eurail Pass
If you’re planning to visit Europe, rail travel is an excellent option. The modern international trains that are available to you are the most advanced in the world and on many routes, rail travel is not only cheaper, but faster than travelling by airplane. France’s flagship high speed train, the TGV (train à grande vitesse – “high-speed train”), recently set the world record for the fastest wheeled-train during a test run in which it achieved a speed of 575 km/h (357 mph). International routes include Paris to London (Eurostar), Paris to Brussels (Thalys), and Paris to Geneva. Germany’s Intercity (ICE) trains are also an excellent and very fast options for connections inside Germany.
Once you’ve decided to travel by train, the next question is, how much does it cost? Enter the Rail Pass. If you’re planning on visiting more than one city a rail pass can be the cheapest alternative. Buying individual train tickets before leaving home can end up being much more expensive than buying them locally and your itinerary will be less flexible in the event that you change where you want to go after you leave. One of the greatest advantages of travel by rail is the liberty to choose your destination from one day to the next.
Rail passes allow the holder to travel by train within a specific geographical area, for either a set number of days or an unlimited number of days during a specific period of time. Perhaps the best known is the Eurail Youth Pass that allows the holder (under 26 years old) to travel within Europe for an unlimited number of days during a period of up to two months (residents of Europe can buy a similar pass called an Inter Rail pass). Equally popular are country passes, such as the France Rail Pass or the Eastern Europe Rail pass, that allow travelers of any age to travel for 3,4 or more days during a period of one month, within a specific country or group of countries. Other options are possible including “Rail and Drive” passes that allow the holder to rent a car and drive during part of the validity period of the pass.
In practice, using a rail pass is much more practical than buying an individual train ticket as you don’t have to worry about reserving tickets in advance and planning every day of your travel itinerary before you arrive in Europe. The rail pass is validated by the conductor on the first day of travel and from that date its validity period begins and the owner can travel for the specified number of days during the validity period without buying individual tickets or waiting in line. There are some exceptions however; when riding trains that require seat reservations, such as France’s TGV trains and Germany’s Intercity (ICE) trains, the Rail Pass holder must also purchase a reservation (sometimes called a supplement). The reservation should generally cost only a few euros. But if you’re running late and you don’t want to wait in line, you can just jump on the train, hope you can find an unreserved seat, and pay the conductor the cost of the supplement when he comes around to stamp your rail pass.
If you’re planning on spending more than three days travelling by train in more than one country, as a general rule of thumb, a Rail Pass will probably save you money. The additional benefits of having a flexible schedule and the tendancy to use the train for more than days that you would otherwise, means that with a Rail Pass you will see more and different locations than you would without the Rail Pass. And that means that your vacation has that much better chance of being an unforgettable one.
Joshua Green writes about travel and tourism and has lived in Paris since 1994.
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