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So I've bought my plane ticket already but now am trying to figure out whether to buy a Eurail pass or just buy train tickets at each individual station.
I did contact Eurail's customer service but their response (and poor English, which surprised me) confused me all the more, as this will be my first time using a Eurail pass.
The Eurail agent emailed me that Great Britain train travel is not covered by Eurail. Then this person mentioned something about a fast train called Eurostar? Fast trains and slow trains? Huh?
The only countries I plan to visit are: England, France, Italy, Portugal and Austria. So that means that Eurail won't cover any of those countries?!
Has anyone ever used Eurail or know anything about Eurostar? Would I only want to travel via Eurostar's fast trains?
My trip is 4 months away but the quicker I figure this out, the better off that I'll be.
Depends how long your trip is and how many rail journeys you'll be making.
But a 15 day Eurail pass costs 369 euro. Eurostar is not covered. Eurostar runs through the channel tunnel from London to Paris and Brussels. You can get onward travel to other destinations for an extra charge.
Figure out the journeys you'll make then compare prices against the cost of a Eurail pass here:
Thanks for your help Stewart. My plan is to fly into London (already have my planet ticket) for 5 days. Then I'll take a train to Paris, France to visit with a friend for 3 days. Then I will take a train (?) to Lisbon, Portugal (or should I fly?) where I will stay with friends for a week or so. Then after that, I'd like to go to Italy for about 3 days to see Venice, Positano, Rome and Tuscany. Then I have friends in Tyrol and The Hague whom I'd like to see, and I imagine I'd spend 2 or 3 days with each of those friends. So probably one month in Europe at the most, 3 weeks at the least, that includes travel time.
My reason for not wanting to buy a Global pass is that it will cost me $1000 U.S. THAT is a lot of money.
So the Eurostar is what travels underground (?) from central London to Paris in 2 hours? Otherwise I'd have to fly or take a ferry to Paris from London, correct?
Flying would be my choice for all of those journeys. Way quicker and almost certainly cheaper. Perhaps I'd use the train for journeys within Italy.
Except London to Paris. I'd use the Eurostar train for that. Central London (St Pancras Station) to central Paris (Gare Du Nord) in 2hrs. The only underground bit is through the tunnel from England to France which is about 15 minutes of the journey.
Its a service I've used quite a few times. Usually very reliable and good prices if you book ahead.
Thanks for your help Stewart. My plan is to fly into London (already have my planet ticket) for 5 days. Then I'll take a train to Paris, France to visit with a friend for 3 days. Then I will take a train (?) to Lisbon, Portugal (or should I fly?) where I will stay with friends for a week or so. Then after that, I'd like to go to Italy for about 3 days to see Venice, Positano, Rome and Tuscany. Then I have friends in Tyrol and The Hague whom I'd like to see, and I imagine I'd spend 2 or 3 days with each of those friends. So probably one month in Europe at the most, 3 weeks at the least, that includes travel time.
My reason for not wanting to buy a Global pass is that it will cost me $1000 U.S. THAT is a lot of money.
So the Eurostar is what travels underground (?) from central London to Paris in 2 hours? Otherwise I'd have to fly or take a ferry to Paris from London, correct?
Well I checked flights online and this is what I came up with:
To fly from Rome, Italy to Tirol, Austria costs $144 U.S., for a one hour flight.
*While in Rome, I could take the train (not Eurail) or bus to Venice, Tuscany, Positano.
To fly from Paris, France to Lisbon, Portugal costs $180 U.S. for a 2 1/2 hour flight.
*I could take the train from Lisbon to Porto where I also have friends.
I found those airfares on Trip Advisor. But then I looked on raileurope.co.uk and it will cost me $203 U.S. to take the train to The Hague from London.
So I have to determine which friends to visit with first (the friend in Paris isn't flexible, but the friends in Lisbon, Porto, The Hague and Tirol will be home all summer).
Initially, I wanted to go from England to France, from France to Italy, from Italy to The Hague and Tirol. Not sure where I'd fit my Portugal visit in? Any ideas Stewart for the best travel route?
You don't want to take the ferry from England to France. You would have to take a bus to England's south coast where you would board the ferry for a several hour journey across the English Channel to La Havre and France's northern coast, where you would board a normal speed train to Gare du Nord, Paris. Take the Eurostar, both ways. The Eurostar is simply a high speed train for London to Paris, with a stop for Brussels. ***So I just read your last post... just take the Eurostar London to Paris. Take a local train from The Hague to Brussels, then Eurostar on to London. Unless you want to head into Amsterdam, then take the high speed (Thalys) to Brussels to connect to the Eurostar.
The trip from Paris to Lisbon is a long one so you want to take the TGV (Tres Grand Vistesse = very high speed). It's been a while since I've taken that journey but at some point you may have to switch to a normal speed train (like around Montpelier). There will be a delay around Cerbere where the control will switch to Spain. That may have changed and may be a high speed train across Spain now but for my journey there was not. It was a long slow slog to Madrid, change trains and on to Lisbon. Weigh the cost of the trip with flying. If you have a ticket in advance, it may be cheaper. I took that train from Madrid to Lisbon on an overnight.
Going from Lisbon to Italy is going to be the same thing in the opposite direction. Check cost of flight compared to train. Be sure to carry water and cookies or something to snack on. If you can get a good route for Italy to The Hague then take the train. You'll see some awesome country side.
I used a EuroPass for my trip. You just have to keep track of your use and don't mess it up or you'll wind up paying more. AND you must purchase it before leaving the U.S. - or last I knew. Be sure to confirm that the EuroPass will include the countries through which you will be traveling.
I would suggest you want to go to Paris first. If so, then on to Lisbon then Italy and The Netherlands. I am very biased to Paris.
Well I checked flights online and this is what I came up with:
To fly from Rome, Italy to Tirol, Austria costs $144 U.S., for a one hour flight.
*While in Rome, I could take the train (not Eurail) or bus to Venice, Tuscany, Positano.
To fly from Paris, France to Lisbon, Portugal costs $180 U.S. for a 2 1/2 hour flight.
*I could take the train from Lisbon to Porto where I also have friends.
I found those airfares on Trip Advisor. But then I looked on raileurope.co.uk and it will cost me $203 U.S. to take the train to The Hague from London.
So I have to determine which friends to visit with first (the friend in Paris isn't flexible, but the friends in Lisbon, Porto, The Hague and Tirol will be home all summer).
Initially, I wanted to go from England to France, from France to Italy, from Italy to The Hague and Tirol. Not sure where I'd fit my Portugal visit in? Any ideas Stewart for the best travel route?
Those airfares sound a bit steep. Try easyjet or ryanair. Likewise the train from The Hague. Probably cheaper to buy a ticket from The Hague to Brussels for about $70, then take the Eurostar to London. Check out the prices on their website. They start from about $60. Be flexible on dates for the best prices.
I don't think the order you do things in matters much. Just go to the nearest country next, that will keep the airfares down.
Thanks ToFurkery and Stewart. I think I"ll avoid Eurail all-together now and just take the Eurostar to Paris from London, and rely on local trains and airfare (if needed).
While Eurail sounds like a good idea, it's too confusing, and seems really limiting (must travel within a certain amount of days - I mean, who needs that pressure when they're on vacation?), and expensive.
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