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Rail Pass or Individual Tickets for travel in France, Germany, Belgium, Germany, Czech Rep, Austria, & Italy?
Planning a vacation in November and December, essentially touring Christmas Markets in Europe with some other stops along the way.Our party consists of myself, my wife and our 21 year old daughter. Our tentative itinerary includes Paris, Lille, Strassbourg in France Brussels & Liege in Belgium, Dresden,Nuremberg, Stuttgart & Munich in Germany, Prague Czech Republic, Salzburg & Vienna in Austria and Venice, Naples and Rome Italy. I would think a Eurail Global Pass would serve us best, but with the added reservation fee's indicated I am not sure it is the best bet. Can you comment on the best way for us to go.
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Hi Joe,
For such extensive rail travel, you would want to purchase a rail pass instead of regular tickets. The only single pass that would cover travel to that many countries is the Eurail Global Pass. You would check costs for and purchase the Eurail Global Pass by clicking here: http://www.raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/eurail-global-pass/index.html.
A rail pass covers the ticket costs on trains between different cities in the country or countries included on a pass. When applicable, reservations are a supplementary cost to a rail pass (considering that any costs for needed reservations would be factored into the cost of individual point-to-point tickets, a rail pass still often works out to be the most economical option for travelers taking multiple trains of substantial distances while in Europe.)
Reservations are required on most high-speed trains, many international routes, and all overnight trains
For travel with a rail pass, you would check reservation costs and purchase reservations by clicking on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' on the homepage of our website, www.raileurope.com.
In France and Italy, most major cities are connected almost exclusively by high-speed trains. Therefore, it is likely that reservations will be required for many of their trips in those two countries. The same would likely be the case for any internationally operating trains (trains going from one country to another).
While reservations are required on high-speed trains throughout the rest of Europe, that would not be the case with the high-speed trains in Germany. Reservations aren't required on the high-speed trains in Germany, but they are recommended. In any case, there are generally regular trains operating along the same routes as the high-speed trains in Germany, for which reservations would not at all be needed or even accepted. The high-speed trains in Germany are labeled as 'InterCity Express' (ICE) trains. We would recommend booking reservations on these trains, especially during the busy Spring and Summer travel season.
With the exception of any trains departing out of Prague, reservable trains in the countries you mentioned can only be booked within 90 days of an intended date of departure. Reservable trains departing out of Prague (or any city in the Czech Republic, for that matter) can only be booked within 60 days of an intended date of departure.Comment -
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Jeff,
We will be flying to Rome and staying in a home outside of Cortona. Our thought is to take a train from Rome to the nearest train station to Cortona (Siena?) rent a car for the week, then take train to Florence for a few days and return to Rome by train for a few days before we fly out. What is the best way for two seniors to book that type of trip? Thanks, Joel G-
Hi Joel,
The closest rail stations to Cortona are either 'Camucia Cortona' or 'Terontola'. Camucia Cortona may a little bit closer, but either station would be perfectly feasible. From either station, you would be able to take a bus to get you right into Cortona.
There are direct regional trains from Rome that stop at both of these stations, and there are direct trains from either of stations to Florence.
You would purchase tickets from Rome to Camucia Cortona or Rome to Terontola and tickets from Camucia Cortona to Florence or Terontola to Florence by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on the homepage of our website, www.raileurope.com. -
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a trip from prague to belgium ,please show me the best path to belgium and the cost for two adults-
Thank you for your question.
The most feasible connection from Prague to Belgium during the daytime would take about 10 to 11 hours in duration. A connection from Prague to Brussels, for example, would take about 11 hours in duration and involves 2 train changes en route; once in Nuremburg and then once in Frankfurt. The segment from Prague to Nuremburg would actually be on a bus.
Otherwise, an overnight connection from Prague to Brussels would take about 14 hours and involves changing trains once in Cologne along the way. The segment from Prague to Cologne would be on the actual overnight train.
You would purchase tickets and check schedules by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our homepage. For both of these options, you would just piece together the connection by doing a separate search for each segment.
Therefore, for the daytime connection, you would do one search to access the buses from Prague to Nuremburg, another search for connecting trains from Nuremburg to Frankfurt (high-speed 'InterCity Express' trains), and another search for connecting trains from Frankfurt to Brussels (high-speed 'InterCity Express' trains).
For the overnight connection, you would do one search to access the night train from Prague to Cologne ('City Night Line' train) and another search for connecting trains from Cologne to Brussels (high-speed 'Thalys' trains or high-speed 'InterCity Express' trains).
The day trains can be booked within 90 days of an intended date of departure, while the overnight train from Prague to Cologne can generally be booked within 90 to 180 days of an intended departure date. -
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