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This is a one-stop independent guide to choosing, buying & using a European railpass, either a Eurail pass for overseas visitors or an InterRail pass if you live in Europe.  It aims to answer all the regular questions, such as railpasses versus point-to-point tickets, which railpass to buy, how railpasses work, when you need to pay supplements, and how to make reservations with a railpass.

Railpass information on this & other pages...

  Why explore Europe by train rather than plane, car or bus?

  The quick guide to European railpasses - How do railpasses work?

  Rail pass or point-to-point tickets? - read this before buying a pass!

  Rail passes for UK & European residents

  Rail passes for overseas visitors to Europe

  InterRail passes, the rail pass for European residents

  Eurail passes, the railpass for overseas visitors

  How do Eurail passes work?

  Will I need to make reservations or pay extra fees?

  How to buy your rail pass

  1st versus 2nd class

  Luggage arrangements & left luggage at stations

  Sleepers & couchettes on overnight trains

  Train travel in Europe general information

  Recommended guidebooks & timetables

  Hotels & accommodation in Europe

Country-by-country Eurail reservations & supplements guide explaining which trains are covered by a Eurail pass in each country, which trains need reservations, and what the extra fees are.

Why explore Europe by train?

Taking the train is the best way to get around the great cities of Europe, in comfort, seeing a lot in a remarkably short time.  But it's 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!  A Eurail or InterRail pass gives you unrivalled freedom and flexibility, or you can get the speed and comfort of a train at a knock-down price with one of the new advance-purchase 'budget train fares'...

Speed & practicality... European trains link almost every city & town at up to 198 mph, often faster than flying as there's 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 3h09 by train, Paris-Geneva 3h05...		Comfort, relaxation, a chance to chill out... ...unlike air travel, train travel is low-stress & low-hassle, and unlike bus travel it's high comfort.  Aren't you supposed to be on holiday?  On trains, you get space to move around, lots of legroom and often a café, bar or even restaurant.  Overnight sleeper trains cover huge distances such as Amsterdam to Prague or Paris to Barcelona, effectively 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.  Unlike flights or long distance buses your train journeys are an integral part of the European experience, something to enjoy for their own sake, giving you a ground-level feel for the countries you're visiting... Above:  Scenery from a Milan-Paris TGV, feet up & a glass of wine to hand...

Trains versus buses, planes & automobiles...

In Europe, cars and city centres don't mix.  Hiring a car is a great way to explore a rural area off the main routes such as Tuscany or the Dordogne, so combining inter-city train travel with a few days' car hire to explore the countryside is a wonderful idea.  But to see great cities such as Paris, Rome, Barcelona or Florence, definitely don't hire a car.  In the USA or Australia, driving 300 miles is no big deal, and cities are car-friendly.  In overcrowded Europe, even 100 miles on busy motorways can be stressful, tiring & depressing, and city centres are car-hostile.  Traffic in cities 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.

The one-hour flight fallacy & the stress of flying...  In Europe, a one hour flight actually means 3, 4 or sometimes even 5 hours of taking a bus, train or taxi to an airport way outside the city, a lengthy check-in with stressful security checks, and a flight that may be delayed.  European flights typically achieve only 63%-69% on time, high-speed trains typically achieve over 90% on time.  After the flight there's more airport hassle followed by another bus, train or taxi ride into town.  You miss out on the relaxing scenic overland train journey which allows you to chill out.  To get affordable 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 you must factor in the significant extra cost of airport transfers, baggage fees, check-in fees & credit card fees.  And don't forget that trains are the responsible choice environmentally, as short-haul flights cause disproportionate environmental damage.

The nightmare of the long-distance bus...  Long distance buses 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, no restaurant or bar to go to, and at night you sleep in a 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, let alone alcohol such as a nice beer or glass of wine!  Buses are really an option for very, very low-budget travellers...  Avoid them if you can.

Relax by train, city centre to city centre...  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 (3h09), Paris to Geneva (3h05), Barcelona to Madrid (2h38) 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-Venice, 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!

The quick guide to European railpasses...

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?  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 without limit.  You can take one train or fifty trains, travel 10 miles or 800 miles a day, it doesn't matter, for the same fixed railpass price.  Obviously, railpasses will therefore be better value for extensive trips than short ones.

• One or more countries means that you can choose a pass that covers 1 country, 2 adjacent countries, 3 adjacent counties, or a global pass which covers most of Europe, it's up to you.

• National Rail operator means the main national train operator running international, inter-city, suburban and local trains in each country.  Within big cities, the urban metro, buses & trams won't generally be covered because they are usually operated by a city transport authority, not the national train operator.  You'll also find a few small private railways such as the Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento Circumvesuviana which aren't covered as they aren't run by the national operator (although in Switzerland passes do cover several key private operators).  More detail on what's covered in each country here.

• You can choose how many days you want from a range of possible pass durations.  Consecutive passes give you continuous unlimited travel for a set number of consecutive days, starting on a date you specify.  Flexi passes are more economical, they give you a set number of days free travel within an overall 1 month period, and you can 'spend' each of these unlimited travel days whenever you like within that 1 month period, by writing the date into one of the date boxes printed on your pass.  The 1 month period can start on any date you like.

• Although railpasses give unlimited travel, you still need to pay a fee to make a reservation to travel on certain trains.  As a very rough rule of thumb, every long-distance train to, from or within France, Italy & Spain requires a reservation and a typical fee of around €10 per trip, so passes have lost much of their convenience in these countries, and the extra costs must be factored into your budget.  On the other hand, within and between Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria & Denmark you can usually just hop on any train without a reservation and show your pass when asked, so passes retain their convenience in these countries, with few if any extra fees to pay.  More about reservations & supplements here.

• A railpass is different from a point-to-point ticket.  A point to point ticket allows you to make just one specific journey from A to B, but railpasses give unlimited travel.  If all you want to do is make one simple journey from A to B, a point to point ticket is usually what you need, a railpass would be overkill.  But if you want to travel round extensively making multiple journeys and travelling flexibly, a railpass may be the best bet, depending on the distance you intend to travel.

What is a Eurail pass?  What is an InterRail pass?

• Eurail is the brand name for the major European railpass range offered to overseas visitors, in other words to people who do not live in Europe.

• Eurail is not a company, nor are there special Eurail trains.  Eurail is simply the brand name for the railpass range for overseas visitors marketed jointly by all the European national rail operators.  Eurail passes allow you to travel on the normal scheduled trains run by the participating train operators.  More about Eurail.

• InterRail is the brand name for the railpass range offered to European residents, it's not available to overseas visitors.  It's not a company or special trains, like Eurail it's just a brand name used to market a railpass range offered jointly by all the various national train operators.  If you qualify for an InterRail pass, go to the InterRail pass page for details of how these passes work and what they cover.

What trains does a railpass cover?

• A Eurail global pass covers the countries shown on this map of rail network in the Eurail countries.  Or you can buy a pass covering 1, 2 or 3 adjacent countries. 

• An InterRail global pass covers a similar but slightly different area, see the InterRail page.  Or you can buy an InterRail pass covering just 1 country.

• Railpasses cover all the trains run by the main national train operator in each country covered by the pass, including 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.  Eurail passes usually come with a little timetable booklet, and some people (and even some travel agents) mistakenly believe these are special Eurail trains and the only ones you are allowed to take.  Nonsense!  You can take any normal scheduled train run by the main national train operator in the countries your pass covers.  The timetable booklet contains only a tiny fraction of these trains.

• Railpasses don't cover metro or underground (subway) trains in cities as these are run by urban transport authorities, not the national rail operator.

• Passes don't cover some small private train operators such as the Circumvesuviana Railway in Italy between 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 don't cover the new open access operators competing with the national rail operator.  In several countries, new private operators are springing up under EU legislation allowing open competition on the rails.  These are not covered by Eurail or InterRail passes.  However, at the moment there are only a few such operators, including Italo in Italy, Westbahn in Austria, Leo Express in the Czech Republic, and the national rail operator always has its own trains on the same route which you can use.

• Railpasses don't cover Eurostar, the high-speed train between London & Paris or London & Brussels through the Channel Tunnel.  If you're willing to pre-book, the best and cheapest option is usually to forget your pass and buy a regular cheap Eurostar ticket up to a maximum of 4 months in advance at www.eurostar.com.  These start from just £39 one way or £69 return, no refunds and no changes to travel plans allowed, so make sure you are 100% certain of your travel date and time.  In theory Eurostar offers a 'special fare' for Eurail passholders, a massive £82 one way, £144 return, with changes to travel plans allowed, but as you can see, this is over twice the price of the cheapest regular £39 one-way fare if you book a month or two in advance and commit to a specific date and train.  True, if you want to buy a Eurostar ticket only a week or two before departure, the £82 passholder fare (if it's still available) may by then be cheaper than the cheapest-available regular fare, but be warned, the number of passholder tickets is controlled by a quota.  People have turned up at the station on a Sunday expecting to buy a Eurail passholder ticket for the next Eurostar departure, only to be told there are no Eurail passholder places available on any Eurostar until Wednesday, and if they wanted to travel immediately they'd have to pay the full-price regular fare, a whopping £170.  So don't rely on being able to buy a £82 passholder fare on the day of travel or even a day or two before, I'd strongly suggest forgetting the passholder fare and simply pre-booking a cheap £39 regular ticket well in advance and just building your plans around these specific dates.  For the record, if you do find a Eurail passholder fare available, it can be used by anyone who has bought an Eurail pass, as long as the overall pass validity has started and not yet ended, if you have a Eurail Flexi pass you don't need to use up one of your free travel days.

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

How do railpasses 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, people who think buying a railpass means there's nothing further to pay often get a shock.  Many premium daytime trains require railpass holders to make a seat reservation and pay an extra fee.  Here are the rough rules of thumb:

• Local, suburban & regional trains almost never require seat reservations or surcharges in any country.  Just hop on and show your railpass when asked!

• In Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, long distance train travel is just as easy.  With only 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 can just hop on, find any empty unreserved seat and show your railpass when asked.  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 seat reservation fee.  The key exceptions are as follows:  Thalys trains between Brussels & Amsterdam and between 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 celebrated Glacier Express & Bernina Express.  International journeys from these countries into France, Italy or Spain do require reservations and supplements.  For the record, 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.

• But in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden the problems start.  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 per trip.  I suggest using €10 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 passholder quota problem on long-distance trains in France and on some international trains such as Thalys serving France.

• In Eastern Europe it varies.  Some premier trains require a seat reservation (€3-€5 fee), these will be shown in timetables and on departure posters 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.  For budgeting purposes, reckon on €25 supplement for a couchette in a 6-bunk compartment or €50-€70 per person for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper.  In eastern Europe it's cheaper, reckon on €15 for a couchette or €27 for a bed in a 2-bed sleeper.  Remember that with an Eurail or InterRail 'flexi' type pass, 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 Thello 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 and the Italian railways website www.trenitalia.com. 

• The German Railways website www.bahn.de can make reservations for trains to, from & within Germany, also sleeper trains from Amsterdam to Prague, Copenhagen, Zurich, Munich, and Paris to Berlin/Munich.  Use the journey planner as if you were going to buy a ticket, locate the train you want and click 'check availability', then look for the easily-missed link 'Book only extra charge' at the bottom right.  On the next page, select 'Pass offer (InterRail, Eurail...)'. 

• The Italian Railways website www.trenitalia.com can make reservations on trains within, and leaving from, Italy.  Use the journey planner as if you were going to buy a regular ticket.  Find the train you want in the search results and click 'Select'.  Now select 'View other prices and services' and hit 'continue'.  Now select 'Global Pass' in the drop down box.  As there are no booking fees or postage, this is the best way to make a reservation if they cover the trains you want.  However, you may find it easier to make reservations on www.italiarail.com, just tick the 'I have a railpass' box, they charge a €3.50 booking fee but will refund it if you email your PNR to seat61@italiarail.com.

• 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
  ...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, or a citizen of the Russian Federation, Turkey plus a few north African countries, go straight to the InterRail pass page where all will be explained.

• 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 mistakenly called 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 2009), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland & Turkey (which joined in 2013). 

• 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.  Note that France is no longer a Selectpass option as from January 2013.

• Continuous & Flexi passes:  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, 21 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 Select passes 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 Eurail 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, there's also a Spain Pass for Spain.  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 prices?

Railpass or point-to-point?  That's always the big question!

If you'll excuse me for saying so, many overseas visitors seem brainwashed into thinking that European train travel has to mean a 'railpass'.  Of course it doesn't, you can buy the same cheap A to B tickets that we Europeans use.  And they often seem brainwashed into thinking that a 'railpass always saves money'.  These days, it's usually the gold-plated option, more flexible but more expensive than simply buying a cheap ticket.

• The first thing to realise is that many European trains are now priced airline-style.  Just like the budget airlines, trains in much of western Europe now have variable prices.  There's no longer one fixed price between (say) Paris and Amsterdam, but a sliding scale of prices from €35 to €130 depending on how far ahead you book and how popular the train and date are, just as with air fares.  If you are willing to pre-book 1 to 3 months in advance on a no refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis, you'll easily find some unbeatable 'budget train fares', such as Paris to Amsterdam from €35, Rome to Venice from €9, Paris to Geneva from €25, Milan to Zurich from €19, Amsterdam to Berlin from €29.  See which websites to book which journeys here.  These prices blow railpasses out of the water, IF you are willing to commit to a specific train and date.

• So it's not a 2-way decision, it's a 3-way decision.

Option 1:  Pre-book cheap point-to-point budget train tickets online from the relevant train operator's website.  For a fixed pre-planned itinerary this is usually the cheapest option.  No way can a typical railpass costing €55-€70 per day (admittedly 1st class) compete with a €9 Trenitalia super-economy ticket from Rome to Venice, especially when the cost of a passholder reservation fee is added, whereas online tickets (even €9 ones) include any necessary reservation.  But remember, no refunds, no changes to travel plans with the cheapest point-to-point tickets.

Option 2:  Buy flexible regular-price point-to-point tickets at the station as you go.  This may or may not be cheaper than a railpass, depending on distance and which country you're travelling in.  You certainly don't need a €70-per-day railpass to go from Florence to Pisa, a €7 hop, but in this case a pass will save money over the €130 full-price fare from Paris to Amsterdam, even with the passholder reservation fee added.

Option 3:  Buy a railpass for unlimited flexible travel.  Usually the gold-plated option.  Ultimate freedom and flexibility, but you pay for it.  May or may not save money over option (2), but usually more expensive than option (1).

• So buy a railpass if you want amazing freedom and flexibility, but to save money on a pre-planned itinerary, you are usually better off buying cheap advance-purchase train tickets direct with the train operator, just like budget airlines.

• Why not mix-and-match a railpass with budget train tickets, to save money on key pre-planned parts of your trip?  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 a 15-day Eurail pass.  If the start of your trip is known and fixed, but you want to stay flexible for the rest, you could buy a cheap ticket for the first one or two journeys, then start using a railpass.

• Be warned, some overseas travel websites claim to compare railpasses with the cost of normal tickets, then only use the expensive full-price fares for the comparison, neglecting to mention the cheap fares you can easily get if you book in advance - these agencies often have a vested interest in selling you a pass, they may get double-digit % commission simply for handing a piece of card across a desk, why would they want single-digit % commission on a €9 ticket?  These days, railpasses are about enjoying freedom and flexibility, not about saving money.  So don't buy a pass for specific pre-bookable trips before checking what cheap point-to-point 'budget train fares' are available, see advice on how to buy the cheapest European train tickets here.

• Are you just making a few short trips?  To state the obvious, if all you want to do is make a few short €10 train trips, why buy a $700 Eurail pass?  For example, Florence to Pisa costs around €7, so why buy a railpass costing around €40-€50 per day just to make a €7 journey?  For help finding out what point-to-point fares would cost, see here.

• 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.

• Passes seldom make sense for Italy!  Italy deserves a special mention as it's such a popular destination.  Rail passes seldom make financial sense here, even compared to buying full-price tickets at the station on the day, see the advice here. 

OK, so how do I work out the answer for my own trip?

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 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.  For overnight trains, again as a rough rule of thumb, add €27 for a basic couchette or €60 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 in France - 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) in France on TGV services and on trains between Paris & Italy, Paris & Switzerland, Paris & Belgium, Paris & 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 railpass holders 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 Eurail pass 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 Eurail, 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 railpass holders.  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 Eurail pass 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 passes seldom make financial sense.  Here's the maths: 

• A railpass typically costs €55-€65 per day 1st class, and there's a €10 passholder reservation fee for any Italian high-speed train.  OK, so that's €65-€75 for the railpass option, assuming one long-distance train per day. 

• Now the point to point option:  Rome to Florence costs costs €63 first class full-price including reservation, bought at the station on the day.  So on for a Rome-Florence journey you save between €2 and €12 by sticking with point-to-point tickets. 

• But hang on, you don't need to buy a full-price ticket, you can easily pre-book a discounted Economy or Super-economy 1st class fare at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com from only €29 (the price varies like air fares).  Now we're still travelling first class, on the same train in the same seat, but for €29 with a cheap point-to-point ticket, versus €65-€75 with a railpass. 

• And you can save more money by going 2nd class.  Eurail passes are only available in first class (except for the Eurail Youth pass) but 2nd class is perfectly fine, so why not simply buy a 2nd class point-to-point for €44 full price or from a mere €9 (yes, just €9!).  In other words, agencies give you the 'hard sell' for a railpass costing €65-€75 per day when you can easily pre-book a €9 fare for the same journey!  The maths is almost identical for Florence to Venice. 

• Only if you go Rome to Venice or an equivalent distance every single day you use the pass does the pass start to save money over regular first class full-price fares, and of course even journeys of this length can be made more cheaply with a Super-economy fare or with 2nd class travel. 

• So to sum up, railpasses do not make financial sense if you're only going Rome-Florence day 1, Florence-Venice day 2, Venice-Verona day 3, etc.  You need to do Rome-Venice or the equivalent every pass day you use to make a railpass pay.  And as you have to make a reservation to travel on any fast train even with a railpass, railpasses have lost their 'hop on and flash your pass' convenience factor in Italy.  You can check Italian train fares online at either www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com.

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 Eurail pass costs around €50-€65 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 €55-€65 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 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 =  €55 + €10 = €65.  A full-fare Madrid-Seville ticket costs around €80.  The pass saves €15 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.com, in this case Madrid-Seville costs only €30, saving €35 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 €4 to €15) 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 over €110 for a fully flexible buy-on-the-day ticket.  This compares with an InterRail pass (for Europeans) costing around €50 per day plus a €10 passholder fare or a Eurail pass (for non-Europeans) costing maybe €50-€65 per day plus a €10 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 €50 + €10 = €60, the fully-flexible fare was €110.

• 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 €60 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 overnight trainhotels.  For travel in a 4-berth sleeper, a special point-to-point fare of around €74 (£68) 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 €135 (not a very sophisticated fare structure, I grant you!).  When I go to Spain from the UK, this £68 sleeper fare is what I always buy.  An InterRail pass costs around £48 per day (or, for non-Europeans, a Eurail pass maybe €50 per day), then you have to pay a €74 (£68) supplement for the same 4-bed sleeper.  That's right, the supplement is £68/€74, 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 including a couchette, whereas with a pass you have to pay a €27 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.tgv-europe.com
Germany	www.bahn.de
Italy	www.trenitalia.com
Netherlands	www.ns.nl
Portugal	www.cp.pt
Switzerland	www.sbb.ch
Spain	www.renfe.com
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 €40 Prague-Budapest €60* Prague-Vienna €48* Prague-Bratislava €44* Prague-Bucharest €153 Prague-Belgrade €82 Budapest-Krakow €64*** Budapest-Prague €69 Budapest-Bratislava €28 Budapest-Bucharest €80 Budapest-Vienna €37 Budapest-Warsaw €90***

Budapest-Krakow €85 Budapest-Moscow €97 Budapest-Istanbul €130 Budapest-Belgrade €40 Budapest-Sofia €84 Budapest-Thessaloniki €118 Budapest-Kiev €69 Budapest-Zagreb €36 Warsaw-Budapest  €73 Warsaw-Prague €60* Warsaw-Vienna €65 Warsaw-Budapest €83

Sofia-Istanbul €18 Vienna-Prague about €50* Vienna-Budapest €37** Vienna-Warsaw €63 Bucharest-Istanbul €40 Bucharest-Belgrade €142 Belgrade-Istanbul €43 Belgrade-Sofia €45 Belgrade-Zagreb €44 Belgrade-Budapest €39 Belgrade-Venice €80

* You can find special cheap fares from just €19 (496 Czech Koruna) available on daytime trains if you pre-book using www.cd.cz/eshop & print out your own ticket!

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

***  You can buy special fares from €49 including a bed in 2-bed sleeper online at www.mav-start.hu, see the advice here.

• 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!

Rail passes for UK & European residents...

       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 in 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.
Spain		As well as the single-country InterRail pass for Spain, Renfe (Spanish Railways) has decided to offer its own Spain Pass to anyone who is resident outside Spain, see www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/spainpass or www.petrabax.com/renfe.  The pass covers a specific number of journeys from 4 to 12 in one month, rather than unlimited travel, but unlike InterRail passes, I gather that there are no extra fees to pay for reservations, although reservations must still be made.  You can buy the pass online at www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/spainpass or (if you have payment problems) www.petrabax.com/renfe.  The pass saves money over full fares, although the cheapest 'web' fares are still a cheaper way to travel if you pre-book.
A few other singe-country rail passes are also available.

Rail passes to visit several countries...

InterRail pass		This 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		You can only buy a Balkan Flexipass if you live outside Europe.
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, see the InterRail pass page.

Rail passes for overseas visitors...

            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 23 participating countries, covering Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic (joined January 2009), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia (joined 1 January 2012), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden & Switzerland.  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, except France.  More on Eurail

• France Rail Pass for France.  Confusingly, there's isn't a Eurail Single-Country Pass for France, as French Railways decided to offer only its own France Rail Pass.  For comparison with the pass price, you can check French point-to-point fares at www.tgv-europe.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.  Renfe (Spanish Railways) offers its own Spain Pass, not to be confused with the single-country Eurail pass for Spain.  Renfe's Spain Pass works differently from the Eurail Spain pass, as it gives a set number of journeys (you can pay for between 4 and 12 journeys in a one-month period), not unlimited travel.  However, the Renfe Spain Pass is usually better value than the Eurail Spain pass as it includes all reservations, there are no hidden fees.  Eurail holders must typically pay a €6 to €10 reservation fee per journey on almost all long-distance Spanish trains, but with Renfe's Spain Pass it's all included, reservations are free and can be made online.  You can buy a Spain pass either online at www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/spainpass or www.petrabax.com/renfe.  The pass is emailed to you.  For comparison, you can check Spanish point-to-point fares at www.renfe.com, 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.

• Eurail Selectpasses allows you to choose any  3, 4 or 5 neighbouring countries out of the 23 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.  Unfortunately from 2013 you can no longer choose France as one of your Eurail Selectpass countries, as SNCF French Railways has pulled out.  They still participate in the Global Eurail pass, but not the Eurail Selectpass.

• Eurail Regional Passes cover two adjacent countries, 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.

• The Benelux Tourrail pass covers the Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg.

• The Eastern Europe pass covers Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

• The Balkan Flexipass gives unlimited 1st class travel on the national rail networks in Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greece, Montenegro, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, The Serbian Entity of Bosnia Herzegovina, and Turkey, with a choice of 5, 10, or 15 days of unlimited train travel in a one-month period.  Not available unless you live outside Europe.

• The ScanRail pass (covering Denmark, Norway, Sweden & Finland) was withdrawn in December 2007, replaced by the Eurail Scandinavia pass.

The Eurail pass range

Which countries are included?

The national railways participating in the Eurail scheme are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic (which joined in January 2009), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia (joined 1 January 2012), Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and (from January 2013) Turkey.  Map of rail network in the Eurail countries.

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 Global pass...

The original Eurail Global pass is the deluxe option, giving unlimited 1st class train travel across all 23 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 www.internationalrail.com.au

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

Eurail Global 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 www.internationalrail.com.au

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

Eurail Selectpass:  3, 4 or 5 adjoining countries...

If you don't want to tour all 23 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.  Incidentally, from 2013 you can no longer choose France as one of your Eurail Selectpass countries - SNCF French Railways still participates in the Global Eurail pass, but has pulled out of the Eurail Selectpass.  Unsurprisingly, a high proportion of these passes included France, and SNCF felt is wasn't getting its fare share of the revenue, so threw its rattle out of the pram.

• 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 www.internationalrail.com.au

• 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 2 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 www.internationalrail.com.au

• 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 www.internationalrail.com.au

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

How do Eurail passes work?

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 2 August, even though the first day written into any of the five 'boxes' on the pass would be 3 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, such as 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.

• Prague Excursion pass:  There's no need for this any more, as the Eurail global pass now includes Prague & the Czech Republic from 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 live in Australia or NZ.

• 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, click here if you live in Australia or NZ.

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), www.raileurope-world.com (if you live in New Zealand, Asia, Africa, South America) 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 www.internationalrail.com.au (Australia) or www.raileurope-world.com (if you live in New Zealand, Asia, Africa or South America).

Will I need reservations or have to pay extra fees?

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 reservation or extra fees?    See the country-by-country guide!

How to make reservations 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 touch-screen ticket machines to make your passholder reservations, it's really easy, see an illustrated step-by-step guide to using these Italian ticket machines.

• 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
...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.com.  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 (or www.italiarail.com) allow reservation-only bookings if your train is a domestic German or Italian train, or an international train starting in Germany or Italy.    Also now www.sj.se in Sweden.

• To make passholder reservations on trains to, from or within Germany, go to www.bahn.de.  It also works for City Night Line sleeper trains across Germany, such as Amsterdam to or from Copenhagen, Prague, Warsaw, Munich, or Zurich.  Use the journey planner as if you were buying a ticket.  In the search results, locate the train you want and click to check availability.  Now look for the little black link bottom right 'book only extra charge'.  It's easy to miss!  It appears on most but not all trains.  If it doesn't show up, you'll have to book by phone or at the station.

• To make passholder reservations on trains within Italy, or on direct international trains departing from Italy, go to www.trenitalia.com.  Use the journey planner as if you were going to buy a regular ticket.  Find the train you want in the search results and click 'Select'.  Now select 'View other prices and services' and click 'continue'.  Now select 'Global Pass' in the drop down box.  As there are no booking fees or postage, this is the best way to make a reservation if they cover the trains you want.  You may find it less fiddly to make reservations on www.italiarail.com, just tick the 'I have a railpass' box, they charge a €3.50 booking fee but will refund it if you email your PNR to seat61@italiarail.com.

Can I avoid paying a supplement?

• Sometimes you can avoid the supplement fairly easily 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 Frecciarossa & Frecciargento trains which carry a €10 surcharge, but on the same route there are comfortable and reasonably-fast InterCity trains and slower more basic InterRegional trains, neither of which require reservation or extra fees for railpass holders.  The choice between speed and comfort or saving the supplement is yours!

• In other cases it's more trouble than it's worth, as the only way you can avoid the high-speed train reservation fee is to take a relay-race 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'.

How to buy your rail pass...

The cheapest and easiest way to buy any European rail pass is online.

Click to buy rail passes at the www.raileurope.co.uk.

Click to buy a rail pass at www.raileurope.com or www.raileurope.ca. 

Click here to make train reservations to go with your rail pass in the USA  ...or here if you live in Canada.

Click to buy a rail pass in Oz at www.raileurope.com.au, but also check prices at www.internationalrail.com.au.  Make reservations with a rail pass (use the 'buy tickets' section & tick the 'I have a railpass' box).

If you live in New Zealand see www.internationalrail.co.nz or www.raileurope.co.nz.  

If you live in any other country worldwide see www.raileurope-world.com

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 tour with a rail pass - having your own comprehensive timetable puts you in control of your own trip, and will save you hours in queues for station information desks or struggling with station timetables which show only the most basic information.  It costs around £14.99 from the bureau de change section of selected UK branches 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 www.bahn.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...

Which train companies in each country are covered by Eurail?  

Which trains require a reservation or extra fees with a Eurail pass? 

How much are the reservation fees?

Here is a country-by-country guide to which train operators are covered by Eurail passes in each country, which trains require a reservation or payment of a passholder supplement, and how much that supplement is likely to be.  It is not 100% complete, so always check in the timetable to see if the train you want to take is 'supplement payable' or 'special fares apply' and check prices when you book.  If you can provide more accurate information, please email me!  Supplement are generally the same whatever type of rail pass you have.  You can pay the supplement and make a reservation in your own country from the agency that sells you the rail pass (a booking fee may be charged) or you can pay at the ticket office before boarding the train.  The supplements shown below are per person, per journey, with any type of Eurail pass.  The first class supplement is usually the same as the 2nd class one, but is sometimes higher.  For an equivalent country by country guide for InterRail passholders, see the InterRail pass reservations & supplements.   Map of rail network in the Eurail countries.

Finding hotels & accommodation in Europe...

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.

◄◄◄◄ Search all the main hotel booking sites at once... I'm a big fan of www.hotelscombined.com as it checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, LateRooms etc.) to find the widest choice of hotels & the cheapest rates.  Try it and see!

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

• www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system (Hotels Combined being a booking site comparison system).  It has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one price, then charge you another!).

• www.venere.com has an especially good range for hotels and guesthouses in Italy, as they are an Italian-based company.  On this site, 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.

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.

Travel insurance

Get travel insurance, it's essential...

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) & belongings, and cancellation. An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year (I have an annual policy myself).  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, though, see the advice on missed connections here.  Here are some suggested insurers, Seat61 gets a little commission if you buy through these links, and feedback from using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.

In the UK, use www.confused.com to compare prices & policy features across major insurance companies.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65 (no age limit), see www.JustTravelCover.com.

        If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct's other websites.

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

Get an EU health card, it's free...

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 spare credit card, designed for foreign travel with no currency exchange loading & low/no ATM fees

Taking out an extra credit card costs nothing, but if you keep it in a different part of your luggage you won't be left stranded if your wallet gets stolen.  In addition, some credit cards are better for overseas travel than others.  Martin Lewis's www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use an ATM abroad.

You can avoid ATM charges and expensive exchange rates with a Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or their multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card, see www.caxtonfx.com for info.

Get an international SIM card to save on mobile data and phone calls...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're not careful you can return home to find a huge bill.  Consider buying a global pre-paid SIM card for your mobile phone from www.Go-Sim.com, which can slash costs by up to 85%.  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.

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