Getting Around ---- Train travel in Europe

Trains in Europe are efficient, clean, and lots of fun. My favorite trips usually involve gazing out the window at the Swiss Alps, or spotting the Fairy Tale Castles and Baroque Churches which dot the Austrian countryside.

If you should decide on a train pass,you may find yourself overwhelmed at the variety of passes available. The most comprehensive, gives you unlimited access to 18 countries for x amount of consecutive days. Others, permit a limited number of days, but allow you a window of 2 months. And still yet, there is a popular pass that allows for so many days of train travel, along with a couple of days of car rental.

The best pass for you will depend on how much flexibility you are seeking, and the countries you intend to visit. For example, car rental is relatively cheap in Austria and Germany but quite pricey in Scandinavia. Yet much of Scandinavia's beautiful countryside is not serviced by trains. Therefore, the train/car combo might be a great way to see Scandinavia from the convenience of an auto without the high rental cost.

For our trip in 1998, we purchased the unlimited pass with access to 17 countries. We visited Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, Germany and Hungary. Upon returning home, I calculated all the trips we took (short day trips and longer country to country travel). I was pleasantly surprised to discover that had we purchased each ticket individually, we would have paid twice the amount of the Eurail pass. The convenience is wonderful too. No waiting in ticket lines and being able to change your course on a whim.

Below are links that may help you make a determination on the best pass (there are quick links to the right but with no description). The first link, Rail Europe, gives you the cost of point to point tickets. If you have a firm itinerary, this is a great way to see if a pass provides you with any savings. Not all little cities and towns are included, but it will give you a rough idea.

The second link, Die Bahn, provides a very comprehensive table that gives you the complete schedule from point to point. You'll notice that whereas some departure times provide you with a quick and direct route, others will contain frequent stops and can take hours longer!

The third link, Michelin, is actually a driving guide provided by Michelin. This is a good way to compare drive times with time spent on a train. It's also handy if part of your trip includes a car rental.

The last group of links provide information on the various rail passes. Please note that many countries offer a pass specific to just their country. One of the benefits of the country passes, is that they usually include local trams and subways.

Rail Europe
The drop down boxes allow you to select a departure city and an arrival city, then provides you with the cost of a point to point ticket. You can access a schedule here too, but the link below will provide you with a more comprehensive schedule to all cities and towns.

Die Bahn
Although this site is a service of the German train system (or Deutsches Bahn), it includes towns and cities from all over Europe. It'll even tell you if you'll be transfering to a bus to complete your journey.

Michelin
This is an excellent site. It will let you know which routes require a toll, quickest route vs. shortest route, and offers a handy print out version of the route you select.

Rail Pass
Lot's of great information.

EuropRail
This site has a handy pass wizard. By asking you a series of questions it will recommend a pass based on your travel plans.

Rick Steves
By purchasing your Rail Pass from Rick Steve's site, not only will you be helping support a great program, but Rick will throw in a bunch of little goodies (books, maps, tapes and more) worth about $45 bucks, plus they'll help you prepare an itinerary.

Rail Europe
This site runs specials, from time to time, that I've not come across elsewhere.