Train travel in Europe- Individual tickets or Eurail Global Pass?

[disneyfanforever]

We are planning our trip for next year to Europe for the first time. We live in the US and have never traveled by train. Is it better to buy individual train tickets or the Eurail Global pass for the days we need it. I have read that it is usually cheaper to buy individual tickets but when I am pricing sample plans (our dates aren't available yet), it seems like Global Pass is the clear winner. Am I missing something? I know reserving seats costs extra but it seems the the Global Pass would still save us a significant amount. We will need train tickets for the following
1) London to Ediburgh
2) Edinburgh back to London
3) Eurostar-London to Paris
4) Paris to Rome
From my searching, it looks like just the tickets from Paris to Rome are more expensive than the Global Pass. I would really appreciate any advice!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’ve usually found that purchasing advanced individual tickets is cheaper (advanced is the key word though) but price out your itinerary and go with the the Eurail if it’s cheaper. It certainly offers more flexibility over individual tickets.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We did not purchase the Eurail Pass when we went in May because it did not make financial sense for us as it was more expensive than individual tickets. Seat reservation rules do apply differently to Eurail Passes (such as they are not included on trains like you mentioned) Make sure that the trains you do intend to take are available with the Eurail Pass.

We pre-purchased all of our train tickets except for Malmo, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark.

We did pay extra for a flexible ticket for some Deutsche Bahn trains because it allowed us to change our pre-selected ticket if need be. We did end up using that when we adjusted our plans on the fly for when we were leaving Trier, Germany.

We did London, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. We did mainly do first class seats when possible/made sense.

The should you or should you not can depend on the countries you're going to. Of what you mentioned we only had the experience of London to the main land part of Europe. To your point IIRC the most expensive train ticket for us was the Eurostar from London (it was 220 euros total for two people for Standard Premier which is the mid-level and was great!). We booked that about 2 months ahead. From what I remember learning that London to Paris can be quite pricey too.

 

[disneyfanforever]

Does having the Eurail pass allow you to get tickets/reservations as early as buying them separately? We have specific days we want to travel and can't afford to miss the train or have it full. I guess I just don't understand how train travel works as I can't imagine showing up to the airport without a ticket.

 

[wabbott]

We've used the Eurail Pass twice - this past August and September and last year during July. We did quite a few train trips, so it was more economical for the pass for us. You will need reservations on the London/Paris trip and the Paris/Rome trip. IIRC, the London/Edinburgh route needs reservations. The Eurail website will tell you which routes need ressies,

It looks like you have four (4) trips planned. The Eurail pass for two adults for 4 travel days within 1 month is $1075, first class. Second class is 847. Seniors are a little cheaper.

https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-pa...ViEB_AB2FbTCGEAAYASACEgLBbPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
According to Rome2Rio, one way for 2 ppl London to Edinburgh is about $250, and the return would be that much again.
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/London/Edinburgh#trips/transport/London/Edinburgh/r/Train/s/0

London to Paris, about $160

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/London...aris#trips/transport/London/Paris/r/Train/s/0
Paris to Rome, about $300. That trip is a pretty good haul, about twelve hours.
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Paris/Rome?search=Paris,Rome#trips
This website has more train info that any other place on the web.
https://www.seat61.com/index.html

Eurail passes would give you a little more flexibility if you have to travel a different route than what you planned. We ran into a cancellation this year (short of personnel), but simply went another route to our destination. A day of travel with the Eurail Pass will allow travel anywhere for that day.

Now about European train travel. It is a living dream compared to air. Much more room, scenic, folks much friendlier, minimal checkpoints, etc. If there were a railroad across the Atlantic, I would go by train rather than air. You are in for a treat! We like it so much, we are planning another trip next spring in Switzerland and Italy.

There is a drawback in that you have to heft your own luggage, so pack light.

We are familiar with the two London stations you'll use, and the Edinburgh station. So if you have specific questions about them, I'll be glad to help.

 

[disneyfanforever]

Thank you so much for the info! I am confused on the Global Pass Pricing. When I am pricing, I am getting around $800 for 2 adult first class passes. where do you get the $1000 amount? Am I looking at the wrong type of pass?

We are so excited about this trip! It is definitely a bucket list trip, and my dad has always wanted to travel by train in Europe

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

minimal checkpoints,

This isn't quite as true as it once was. Countries are starting to roll back that freedom of travel without checkpoints.

Both Germany and France have re-instated controls at their borders though they have given a duration timeframe.

The OP isn't set to go to Germany but Germany until mid-March checks are in effect with France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Denmark.

France just started with a duration of 6 months for Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

For information to the OP you will go through the French border police checkpoint for the Eurostar when you're in London on your way to Paris. Even though we were going from London to Brussels you do that same process as you cross first into France for the rest of Europe.

 

[wabbott]

Thank you so much for the info! I am confused on the Global Pass Pricing. When I am pricing, I am getting around $800 for 2 adult first class passes. where do you get the $1000 amount? Am I looking at the wrong type of pass?

We are so excited about this trip! It is definitely a bucket list trip, and my dad has always wanted to travel by train in EuropeView attachment 909160

First class vs second class, probably. Or it could be different dates. I just checked again, and your price seems correct.

 

[wabbott]

This isn't quite as true as it once was. Countries are starting to roll back that freedom of travel without checkpoints.

Both Germany and France have re-instated controls at their borders though they have given a duration timeframe.

The OP isn't set to go to Germany but Germany until mid-March checks are in effect with France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Denmark.

France just started with a duration of 6 months for Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

For information to the OP you will go through the French border police checkpoint for the Eurostar when you're in London on your way to Paris. Even though we were going from London to Brussels you do that same process as you cross first into France for the rest of Europe.

I should have noted "compared to airports." This past September, we traveled from London to Munich, with transfers in Brussels and Frankfort. Once we got through customs at St Pancras in London prior to boarding, there were no other checkpoints or customs checks at either of the other stations.

 

[wabbott]

One other thing we've learned besides the luggage is that you will want to book a hotel within a reasonable walking distance of the train station. We've stayed in a dozen or more cities in Europe, and that's not an issue so far. In London, the underground is really user-friendly. In Edinburgh, there's a tram that is very modern, and a good bus system.

 

[wabbott]

These were the places we visited in Edinburgh

https://www.theforthbridges.org/

https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/

https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Does having the Eurail pass allow you to get tickets/reservations as early as buying them separately?

As far as I know they are under the same rules as what the train operator allows. We had to wait for example on when we could book our seat reservations for the Brussels to Ghent, Belgium segment as the train operator only opened purchasing of tickets a month in advance; we had bought a combo ticket with Eurostar that allowed us on the same day of travel an additional ticket anywhere in Belgium after Brussels but couldn't do the seat reservations until the Belgium train operator opened up that ability.

I think they try to warn people about train reservation with the Eurail because some people might not realize that seat reservations are a second step that costs extra (sometimes unavoidable cost if the train operator/route requires reservations).

We have specific days we want to travel and can't afford to miss the train or have it full.

I know exactly how you feel because I felt the same way but unfortunately that is how train travel works. The ones I can say have bad reputations are Deutsche Bahn (Germany's system) though we did not experience a delay that impacted us and Eurostar for rail strikes though it can hit other train operators as well.

For Europe rail strikes are legal for most countries and you need to make sure you keep up to date on when the will strike. For example, and this isn't meant to scare you just inform you, there have been strikes that cut off England from the rest of Europe leaving passengers without a train route there. Usually these things are planned in advance. However, airports (either an airline employee, baggage handling, or security employees) also have legal strikes allowed (Heathrow frequently is part of it) so unlike the U.S. where these things are considered illegal there they are legal and frequent enough. Be it airline or train its hard to avoid this being a possibility unfortunately.

Just keep an eye out on the news and every now and then search.

As far as full that can happen. First class is treated different than second class as in I don't know that you can do standing there. However, generally if the seats are full for second class you *should* be able to stand in certain areas of the car however that's without me knowing how Scotland handles it. We had to stand on our 40 min journey from Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmo, Sweden as first class was sold out but we didn't have our luggage luckily as we were touring Copenhagen that day with our hotel being in Malmo. However, quite a few others did have luggage. You make due with trying to either use the luggage racks (which there was a central one for the train from Malmo to Copenhagen) or keeping it in your hands/control.

I do agree with the PP to try and keep luggage light. We traveled with carry on luggage (slightly smaller than standard U.S. size) and a personal item (that was a backpack) and did laundry in our hotel on the days we could.

I guess I just don't understand how train travel works as I can't imagine showing up to the airport without a ticket.

I know we felt the same So for Europe like I mentioned we pre-purchased basically all of our tickets but we just got back from Japan about 2 weeks ago where we also traveled around central Japan via train and there we only pre-purchased Shinkansen (bullet trains) and it actually made me more nervous there without having things pre-purchased.

My personal advice is to try and book trains that allow a decent transfer. Decent in airline travel is a whole 'nother definition but IME decent for train travel in Europe is at least 15mins. We did have some incredibly tight connections (6-8 mins) and that was not my cup of tea. One connection we barely made it as in we made it to the platform right as the train came and it left quickly enough after. There can be walking in between where your train drops you off and where your next train takes off. Generally if you miss your train it's not the end of the world as another will come along there just may be some time in between that.

 

[wabbott]

Good advice on the transfers. 15 minutes is minimal, imo. Eurail allows you plug in a minimum time when you plug in your itinerary.

 

[disneyfanforever]

I greatly appreciate this information. With the Eurail pass, if you make seat reservations in advance, are you for sure to get a seat on that specific train? I don’t think my dad who will be 75 nor I for that matter can stand for almost 4 hours between London and Edinburgh

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I should have noted "compared to airports." This past September, we traveled from London to Munich, with transfers in Brussels and Frankfort. Once we got through customs at St Pancras in London prior to boarding, there were no other checkpoints or customs checks at either of the other stations.

I can see what you mean. I think I would put that in the eye of the beholder. At an airport you know you'll generally have 2 points of checks your departure and your arrival some of those may include more to it like facial recognition being used but it's still it's own checkpoint.

But because train travel in Europe is often meaning through different countries this can mean potentially a lot more and will mean a lot more as the countries start to enact more border checks due to immigration and terrorism concerns. The OP may have an additional checks (depending on when their trip is) in Italy or Switzerland potentially Germany all route dependent from Paris to Rome and back again.

I don't disagree with you but the landscape is changing in Europe particularly in the Schengen area and so is freedom of travel the same way it used to be. I really liked how easy it was but I admit I felt personal unease as how easy it would have been for us to just pop off the train in a little town in France as opposed to our destination in Belgium.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Good advice on the transfers. 15 minutes is minimal, imo. Eurail allows you plug in a minimum time when you plug in your itinerary.

I would honestly prefer more but it will depend on the train schedules. Sometimes just not possible to have more time in and actually get to your destination at reasonable time.

 

[wabbott]

I greatly appreciate this information. With the Eurail pass, if you make seat reservations in advance, are you for sure to get a seat on that specific train? I don’t think my dad who will be 75 nor I for that matter can stand for almost 4 hours between London and Edinburgh

Yes, you will be assigned seats.

 

[weewuvvdisney]

Word of warning.... years ago we had a Eurorail pass to go from Paris to Budapest with layovers in a few places. The night before, we went to the train station in Paris to ask some questions. Was sold first class seats so we were all set.. Asked if we needed to check out luggage early and was told no. Not told anything else. My french is basic but had a friend with us whose Mom was born & raised in Paris so no language issue. Got the train station early the next day to check in our luggage. Oh, it had to be checked at least 24 hrs in advance if we wanted it to arrive at the same day as us in Budapest. So, we asked if there was room for our luggage on the train. Oh, yes we were told. No there was not. Found our first class seats to be told that the car was not going all the way to Budapest. We would have to change cars sometime during the night. Basically paid for first class for nothing. We ended up in a small cubicle for 6 people. We were happy though, we were only three but still our luggage didn't fit. It was an overnight train so we settled in. Every time there was a shift change or we were in a different country, someone banged on our cubicle door and shined a light in our eyes. They needed to see our passports & tickets. At 6am, the train was then considered a commuter train. 6 people in our cubicle plus our luggage. What a trip!

And the most important thing, if you have a Eurorail pass, you need to validate it before getting on the train. We were not told this. The conducter charged us $25.00 US each to stamp our pass.

Plus, the coffee on the train was terrible. Did have a great trip despite all of the above.

Just check out all the information and read the fine print on every document. Have a great trip!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I greatly appreciate this information. With the Eurail pass, if you make seat reservations in advance, are you for sure to get a seat on that specific train? I don’t think my dad who will be 75 nor I for that matter can stand for almost 4 hours between London and Edinburgh

It's not the Eurail pass that will guarantee the seats, it's that you make the reservations and those are subject to availability. You should be able to select your own seats or change what ones it suggests for you if you want to prior to fully purchasing your actual seat reservations. Do note that if there is an issue with the train such as a cancellation or a shortening of the length of the train by removing cars those seat reservations do not carry over to another train (assuming this is the case for Scotland as well). This is the case with or without the Eurail.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We ended up in a small cubicle for 6 people.

6 people in our cubicle plus our luggage.

Just a word on this first class doesn't mean the same as someone might think. First class or whatever a train operator calls it is what they define.

We had first class tickets for both Frankfurt to Hamburg, Germany and Hamburg to Copenhagen, Denmark (we had more destinations as first class but these two are pertinent to your experience). Both were 6 person cubicle style with luggage racks up top and then you'd have your personal item right by you but each one with slight variances to what the cubicle looked like. The Frankfurt to Hamburg was through train operator Deutsche Bahn but the Hamburg to Copenhagen was a different train operator (I can't remember but I believe it was a train operator for Denmark)--for this leg we were given a snack box and a drink as part of our ticket but in truth the a/c was terrible and it was hot in there, from the German and Dutch women in our cubicle this was common for that train operator.

I agree on sometimes thinking about money wasted, it just depends on weighing what that ticket gets you either less seats so less noise potentially, bigger seats, access to food/drink, etc.

They needed to see our passports & tickets.

We had ticket checks common-ish, it depended honestly how busy the train was and the station as well. The less busy the more likely we were to have checks. Many of our tickets were on our phones so they just scanned that or visually checked it. Interesting on the passport check I've wondered how the newly reinstated checks would be done and although your trip was a while back I could see them wanting people's passports if they were doing a country border check that was reinstated.