Eurail Stories

What connects Gdansk with Amsterdam and Rome with Trondheim? The ESNtrain. From March 28th to April 21th it will drive through 18 European countries. Be part of it.

One breakfast in Rome, the next in Ljubljana, another in Budapest, the week after in Copenhagen. Get on board of the ESNtrain and enjoy during one, two or up to 25 days, traveling throughout Europe in a unique way and visit up to 40 cities.

Nora Kleisli from ESN train told us,

The journey is the reward: the encounters of people from all over Europe, the friendships that are made and the borders that are overcome by personal relations.

Traveling mainly during the night, participants will have the pleasure of waking up in a different city every morning, where they can take part in activities especially organized for the ESNtrain.

It’s going to be a blast — book now on www.esntrain.org and then come back to Eurail Stories and share your tales.

Here are some photos taken during my 2006 Eurail trip through Switerland. It was easily the most scenic of all our travels that year. Except, perhaps the South Island of New Zealand.

Swiss countryside

Brienz, near Interlaken.

Magnificent Bern. With real bears.

Swiss mountain journey.

Train carriages ahead.

If you can write then this might be your chance for a great four-six week, all expenses paid trip.

With a hat-tip to hostelbloggers, The Independent and SABMiller Breweries are giving away a European tour worth five thousand quid! With an extra thousand pounds to spend along the way. The trip takes you to seven countries – The Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary and Holland.

Entry is as easy as 200 words on the city you’d most like to visit. I’d recommend

a) Choosing a city from the prize-tour countries.
b) Polishing your writing — competition will be fierce.
c) Not over-doing the beer angle; too cliched.
d) If you can point to your travel blog in the application it might score in your favour.

If you win, you have to visit SABMiller breweries in each country. You might even get to drink some beer too.

Enter now. Good luck! And make sure you let us know when you win.

A Eurail Global pass is the mother of all European train passes: 20 countries of unlimited travel in Europe! It doesn’t get better than this.

How long?

A Eurail Global pass allows you unlimited train travel (within the Eurail zone) for a set number of days. You can travel every day of this pass; there are no time or distance limitations. How many days you choose really depends on your schedule and budget. Options are:

• 15 days
• 21 days
• 1 month
• 2 months
• 3 months

Where is it valid?

The Eurail Global pass is valid in all 20 countries of the Eurail network:

• Austria (including Liechtenstein)
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Denmark
• Finland
• France (including Monaco)
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

Some journeys may require a reservation to be made in advance at a small extra cost.

The perks

A standard pass puts you in first class all the way, baby! That’s pretty good going and can have some excellent advantages. Of course there’s the extended leg room, more comfortable chairs and quieter surroundings but each countries train network has its own unique touches too.

Buying a pass means you save a lot of time stuffing around at the ticket counters. On occasion you’ll have to make a seat reservation — this is usually for sleeper carriages or peak-time intercity trains — but that’s not going to be too common.

You can jump off and on any train you like at any time. Bored with the city you’re in? Jump on a train. Want to stay another day? Just do it.

Carrying a pass is more secure than carrying month’s worth of travel cash. If you’re the type of person who prefers a cash budget then at least your pass can be insured, unlike most of your money.

How does it work?

You will receive lots of information with your Eurail Pass. In short, you activate the pass on the first day of your travel by showing it at the station along with your passport. When conductors ask to see your tickets simply show them the pass. Since Eurail Passes are linked to one person, some conductors may ask to see your passport as well, especially (we’ve found) if you are on a Youthpass.

Can I get one?

Eurail passes are available to anyone who:

• has not lived in Europe for the last six months

and who is not a resident of

• The Russian Federation
• Turkey
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Tunisia

This means people from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Africa and Asia, and all of South America can buy a Eurail pass.

Discounts?

If you are under 26, you qualify for the under 26 “youthpass”. This gives you unlimited second class travel. Although people have been known to end up in first.

If you are travelling in a group of 2-5, you should investigate a SaverPass which offers group discounts.

There is a centralised network which sets the prices of all Eurail passes, so beware of sites offering big discounts and “sales”. You’re most likely to find sales sites offering giveaways, a “free” days travel, or free shipping rather than a straight discount.

Where can I buy one?

It is difficult to buy a Eurail pass from a station or shop in Europe; and if you can it’s more expensive. I recommend buying one in advance. The easiest way to do this is online. Although you can find offline outlets, it is likely to be inconvenient. (Updated thanks to reader comments.)

Eurail Stories has decided to set up an affiliate programme with Rail Europe because we trust their service and found them to be prompt with their customer service. You can buy a Eurail Global pass from them here: Rail Europe: Specials & Promotions

More info

• Subscribe to our RSS feed or join our mailing list (in the sidebar).
• Read about other European Rail passes here.
• Ask questions in our forums: travellers and experts join in.

Buy now

• Click here for Rail Europe
• Get good travel insurance here.
• Book hostels for all your destinations here.

Using the Eurail pass on the Swiss rail system was a great idea. Firstly, because the CHH system is clean, efficient and punctual. And secondly, because it’s really expensive, so the pass makes it affordable to use.

We’d been warned in a multitude of different ways that some of the rail lines in Switzerland were privately owned and not covered by the Eurail pass. However, we still managed to end up in the middle of the mountains on a train that felt suspiciously unique. We were heading straight up a mountain, and the trains passing us seemed to be filled with American tourists sipping champagne and eating three-course meals. A quick question at the ticket office at the next station confirmed it – we weren’t covered, none of the trains within thirty kilometres were, and we had to buy a ticket to the next stop. 160 euros later, we arrived in Liechtenstein with much lighter wallets. Needless to say, we were a lot more careful next time we used the Swiss rail system.

Linda was travelling on a Eurail Global Pass. Read more of Linda’s stories.

The Swiss Youth Hostel Association issue an extremely useful brochure listing information about all the YHA hostels in the country. In addition to the essentials of address, price and phone number, it also has details of distance from public transport stops, and how to get there from the main train station in the city. We were in Switzerland on a tight budget, in deciding where to stay chose a town called Zug, about an hour on the train from Zurich. According to our handy leaflet, the hostel was cheaper and closer to the train station than the one in Zurich, as well as having a kitchen and smaller rooms.

We were put into a six-bed room on the first floor opposite the toilets, a narrow room with three sets of bunks. An older Swiss couple had taken the two lower beds near the window, so I chose the upper bunk nearest the door. After a nice chat with the Swiss couple, who were walking across the country and trying out hostelling for the first time, we locked the door and went to bed.

The hostel was quiet enough, though I woke up once or twice in the night when people clomped down the corridor and into the toilets. At one point I heard someone taking a leak across the hall, opened my eyes and noticed someone standing over the Swiss guy’s bed. I thought it was the Swiss guy playing a joke on his wife, but realised that it couldn’t be since he was still in bed. You know what it’s like when you are half-asleep. It took me a second to realise that the sound of someone taking a leak wasn’t coming from across the hall, but from the guy standing over the bed!

As I fumbled for my glasses to make sure, the Swiss guy jerked upright with a yell when realised he what was going on. The young pisser was unconcerned and continued what he was doing until the Swiss guy took his arm and led him out of the room. We took the mattress into the corridor and the Swiss guy moved to the upper bunk to the sound of his wife chuckling from her bed. She was still laughing when we woke up in the morning.

Linda was travelling on a Eurail Global Pass. Read more of Linda’s stories.

Enjoying the train ride through Europe. The views are spectacular and the ride extremely comfortable.

Thanks to Quixstart for this excellent montage from last October. Quixstart was using a Eurail pass for his train connections.

Tripso came out with this shocker:

Eurail passes these days aren’t what we baby boomers remember from back in the ’60s and ’70s and even the ’80s. I fondly remember when travelers could get on and off trains at will and the biggest decision was whether to buy a 1st-class or 2nd-class pass. Not any more. The world of rail travel in Europe has become much more complicated. Spontaneity has been squashed.

Tripso

Spontaneity has been squashed? I don’t know ’bout those hippy 60′s or even the great 80′s but I do know I didn’t have any spontaneity problems with my Eurail pass. Each night I choose where I’d spend the next day; each day I pitched up to the train station and got on a train. I went through Italy, France, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany and Holland. Not bad.

I do agree that it can be more cost-effective to combine point-to-point tickets with air travel: it all depends on where you want to go and what time frame you’re travelling on.

Sometimes it can be hard to find space to sit on European trains. I know the first time Craig travelled in Europe that was the case! So how can you ensure you find a great place to sit?

Make a reservation: most European trains, especially international and intercity trains, allow you to reserve a seat when you book your ticket. If you’re travelling on a Eurail pass you can buy an extra supplement at the train station. You must do this several hours before your train arrives and you often have to do this a day in advance. The price of a booked ticket depends on the country you are travelling in.

It’s not always necessary to make a reservation (although it’s compulsory on some trains). Try to be aware of public holidays beginning and ending as well as the week-long commuters heading home for the weekend.

If you’re not willing (or too late) to make a reservation you might still have a chance.

1. Move quickly

Those hunched grandmas may look slow, but not after you’ve received several elbows in the ribs. It’s often a case of first on first served.

2. Divide and conquer

If you’re part of a group, split up and find what you can. Rendezvous using your mobile phones.

3. Check the reservation signs

Sometimes a seat reservation will begin after you plan to leave the train. Score! If things look desperate you’ll at least get a seat part of the way.

4. Ask people to move their stuff

Seats are for people, not bags or coats. Don’t feel embarrassed about asking people to move their things. Try to be nice though: you don’t want to be sitting next to an angry passenger for several hours.

5. Sit where you’re not meant to

There’s a certain risk involved here, but playing the dumb tourist can help you. If there are no standard seats left check if the mother’s compartment is empty, buy a drink in the restaurant and drink it very, very slowly or risk invading first class.

Wow, check out this steamy article on the Indie Travel Podcast as Dave Prine talks of his passionate affair with the European rail system…

I have a confession to make: I had a tawdry affair in Europe. It started out innocently, but before long it escalated into a full-blown relationship. I spent the better portion of a year getting to know her. I returned to Europe several summers in a row and continued the relationship, often exploiting it to my advantage. After a while, we lost touch when I stopped traveling. But last year, I returned and was reunited with my true love: the European rail system.

Hot stuff? I think so. Read all of Love on the Rails here.

How would you describe your relationship with Eurail?