Jen * asked:
Hi Guys,
Can you please help me with the below??
Im off to Europe in november and we are doing the following train travel
Berlin – Munich (Germany)
Munich – Salzburg (Austria)
Salzburg – Venice (Italy)
Venice – Rome (Italy)
Should I get a Eurail pass or buy as I go? If I should get a pass can anyone please help to tell me which one? Im finding it all very confusing!!
thanks in advance for all your help!
Jenn
The best way to answer your question is to go directly to the website yourself. RailEurope.com…and compare.
There are so many options, that only you can answer that one.
There are different passes, and they differ by age, by country, and by amount of time you will be there. You can compare the exact ticket prices, and I’ll bet the site will even tell you if there are supplementary prices you’ll have to pay, and how much they’ll be. I’m going to bet you’re going to have to pay extra for all four trips. but that’s just a guess. They look like popular routes.
You are better off buying individual tickets for your planned journey. The EuRail-Pass is nothing but a well-planned marketing strategy by the European railway companies. They offer first class tickets at an incredulous lump sum as Eurail-passes, having the opportunity to marketing cheap last-buy tickets. The second class in European trains does almost show no difference from first class, except paying higher price. I recommend get individual tickets for each part of your journey, especially since you are travelling during a non-seasonal time, and tickets are often marketed at a lower price.
As the others have indicated, it’s generally cheaper to get point-to-point tickets. It does depend on your age and how willing you are to ride the slower regional trains and possible make several train changes. There are supplements for the higher speed trains and the night trains.
Here’s how your trip breaks out: Individual tickets standard fare:
Berlin – Munich 109 euro
Munich – Salzburg 24.50 euro
Salzburg – Venice 59 euro (via Villach) You might also be able to get this fare for 37.55 euro on some trains
Venice – Rome 56.10 euro
Total – 248.60 euro
Eurail Pass (5 day, 3 country) – 207 euro (25 or under) or 270 euro (group per person older than 25, but 1st class)
Supplements for ICE, Eurocity/Intercity, Eurostar trains: 27 euro
Total 234 euro or 297 euro per person depending on your age
However, there are discounted tickets available for several of the point-to-point tickets. You can get the Berlin to Munich train for 29 euro by booking in advance (no earlier than 89 days). You can also save 11 euro (Smart fare) on the Salzburg to Venice and 11.20 euro (Amica fare) Venice to Rome by booking in advance. Clearly, it’s cheaper to go for the discounted single tickets. It’s also not likely to save much, if any, even if you’re stuck with the standard fare here.
You can check specific schedules and prices at: (Germany), (Austria),
Eurail supplements and reservation fees:
I’ve done about a dozen of these calculations for people in the past couple of months and only once was it clearly cheaper to get the passes.