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I will be in Europe for a month at the end of August and would like opinions on purchasing a rail pass vs booking individual tickets ahead of time once they start becoming available. My itenerary is as follows:
Paris to
Zurich to
Florence to
Rome to
Venice to
Munich to
Salzburg to
Prague fly to
Amsterdam
Any opinions? A rail pass will cost me almost 1000 dollars. Is the convenience worth having one?
Also, other than Berlin, is there anywhere else you recommend going in Germany? Already going to Bavaria.
Railpass, without a doubt. Those are some very expensive train routes you're doing, especially Paris--Zurich. I did that once, and the ticket vendors couldn't believe I was purchasing that ticket. You might explore flying from Paris to Zurich as an alternative, and then the rest wouldn't be so bad as individual tickets.
Paris to Zurich costs 95 if you go today. On January 30th it can be had for 65 Euros.
Zurich to Florence - for the train leaving in one hour it's 120 Euros. January 30th for 72 Euros.
Florence to Rome costs 30 Euros. January 30th costs the same. So I chose another date. February 12th costs 20 Euros.
Rome to Venice is 20 Euros for January 16th. January 40th same. February 12th is 20 Euros.
Venice ( Verona Porta Nuova ) to Munich January 16th costs 98 Euros. But different train station, changing train once but same duration, in Venice ( Ve. Mestr ) costs 24 Euros tomorrow. Same price for both on January 30th. February 12th costs the same unless you book longer in advance, then you can get it for 20 Euros from Ve. Mestre. Verona Porta Nuova costs 84 Euros on February 12th.
Munich to Salzburg is 23 Euros today, the 15th, and same on 30th, February 12th costs 19 Euros.
Salzburg to Prague 31 Euros for today, January 30th same price, February 12 as well.
Therefore:
Tickets the same day = 686 Euros.
In Advance = 494 Euros.
You could probably get below 400 if you book them 2-3 months in advance.
Paris to Zurich costs 95 if you go today. On January 30th it can be had for 65 Euros.
Zurich to Florence - for the train leaving in one hour it's 120 Euros. January 30th for 72 Euros.
Florence to Rome costs 30 Euros. January 30th costs the same. So I chose another date. February 12th costs 20 Euros.
Rome to Venice is 20 Euros for January 16th. January 40th same. February 12th is 20 Euros.
Venice ( Verona Porta Nuova ) to Munich January 16th costs 98 Euros. But different train station, changing train once but same duration, in Venice ( Ve. Mestr ) costs 24 Euros tomorrow. Same price for both on January 30th. February 12th costs the same unless you book longer in advance, then you can get it for 20 Euros from Ve. Mestre. Verona Porta Nuova costs 84 Euros on February 12th.
Munich to Salzburg is 23 Euros today, the 15th, and same on 30th, February 12th costs 19 Euros.
Salzburg to Prague 31 Euros for today, January 30th same price, February 12 as well.
Therefore:
Tickets the same day = 686 Euros.
In Advance = 494 Euros.
You could probably get below 400 if you book them 2-3 months in advance.
Thank you for this post. I am trying my best to navigate some of the sites and since I am not going until August I will be able to book well in advance once they have prices listed for that month.
Have you compared the price above with the cost of eurail passes? It would be cheaper to get two short passes (one 15-day pass + one 10-day, depending on your travel dates, it may work) than to pay for separate tickets, even with advance booking. For two 15-day passes, you may break even.
Have you compared the price above with the cost of eurail passes? It would be cheaper to get two short passes (one 15-day pass + one 10-day, depending on your travel dates, it may work) than to pay for separate tickets, even with advance booking. For two 15-day passes, you may break even.
Where are you looking at prices? Everything I see for a rail pass is like $800+, but I might be looking at the wrong place. Thanks
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Rail pass is too expensive...
