So, do I need a rail pass? Or should I just buy individual tickets? There is no easy answer to that question, but here are a few things to think about. The first thing to do is of course to think about where you actually want to travel. Spend some time thinking about a rough itinerary, which countries and destinations do you want to visit? Are you spending all of your time in one or two countries or travelling through a number of different countries? How long do you want to travel for? How many journeys do you want to make? These key questions will help you to establish which rail pass is likely to be the best option for your journey. This is, of course, the first stage of working out whether you actually need a rail pass at all! If you are travelling in only one or two countries, you should probably be looking at the 'one country' passes. For a trip to multiple countries, which is fairly common with European travel, you should be looking at the global passes.
How many journeys do you want to make? Many people make the mistake of gravitating towards the unlimited travel passes. They do offer the flexibility to make as many train journeys as you want, but do you want to be getting on another train every day? 10 days travel in 22 (for example) means that you can travel on any 10 days of your choosing during the 22 days that your pass is valid. That means you can move on every 2/3 days. If that is what you were planning anyway, why pay more for journeys you don't need to make? What if your journey is a little over 22 days? Obviously if it's a lot over, you may need to consider another pass (the monthly unlimited option, or perhaps you need more than one pass), but don't forget you probably won't be using the pass for the first few days of your trip. If you are flying into Europe, or taking a Eurostar into Paris, you may be spending a few days in the first city before moving on? Maybe you are also spending a few days in the last destination you are visiting? If you don't need the pass during this time, there is no point paying for days you are not going to use!
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So, this is probably enough information to help you decide which pass you are going to look at. One final point, if you are under 26 make sure you are looking at youth prices as they are a fair bit cheaper! The next question to ask yourself is how flexible do you need to be? If you are able to pre-book your train travel on a non-changeable, non-refundable basis, you can actually get some reasonably cheap point-to-point fares. If you are able to chose an itinerary and stick to it this may be the most cost effective option for you. If you need real flexibility though, a railpass is a great bet. With the global passes, for example, no part of your itinerary is fixed. In fact, you can completely change the itinerary you just worked out once you start travelling and that won't cost you a penny (unless you have pre-paid for seat reservations or for sleeper carriages). In fact, with a global pass you don't even need to stick to the same countries you were planning to visit, you can go wherever you like in Europe for the duration of your pass. That is incredible flexibility!
If you don't need the flexibility though, or if you want to be flexible but you are still curious as to the cost of a pass compared to point to point, the next stage is to calculate the cost per day's travel. Take the cost of the pass you selected, and divide it by the number of journeys you plan to make. For example, if you are under 26 and plan to make 9 journeys (using a 10 day in 22 pass costing £228) each individual journey will cost you £25.33. The same pass for an adult will cost £446 or £49.55 per journey. Next you need to work out what (if any) supplements you will be paying.
You will need to pay a supplements whenever you want a bed on a night train. This is well worth doing, remember you have saved the cost of a hotel or hostel and this can mean the difference between a great first day in your at your destination or a miserable one. It’s hard to sleep in a seat! Generally speaking there is no need to get hung-up on sleeper supplements, as the comparable point to point ticket is also more expensive. The exception is the 'trainhotels'. At this stage the more relevant additional costs are reservations costs and the supplements for travelling on high speed trains. In many countries covered by Interail a seat reservation is not compulsory. You simply get on the train and show your pass, job done. Where a seat reservation is compulsory there is a fee for making the reservation.
Now follow the links on this site to check the cost of the individual journeys. How do they compare to your pass?
