Rail Pass Info needed

[CathyCruises]

Okay all you smart people!

 

We are still trying to plan our vacation for next month. Trying to get in Venice, Zurich, Barcelona for boarding the ship, and France. I have been on eurail.com, and eurorailways.com and found a pass for $478 (dollars) for travel between the 4 countries on 5 days.

 

My question is, are these the best sites to obtain passes like this, or are they resellers and I should be looking elsewhere? I have priced individual legs of the trip and this looks like a good deal for all the places we want to go.

 

We have thought about a car, been there done that, really want to train it this time. We may rent a car for a few days in a couple of the destinations however.

 

Any thoughts appreciated. :)

 

Cathy

[riffatsea]

The sites that you mention are travel agencies that sell passes. I do not know if the individual train companies in each country sells their own pass.

I know that in Italy it is always cheaper to buy point to point tickets than to buy any of the passes but I do not know the price comparison with all the countries you intend to visit.

[ab0si]

That is the same price you'd pay per person for a 4 country, 5 days of travel within a 2 month period 1st Select Saver Pass bought directly from the German rail company. They list the price as 352 euros. They can only sell it to you in Germany. If bought in the U.S. you have to use an authorized reseller.

[CathyCruises]

Well good to know. I did price point to point--it would have been way more money. Just Venice to Zurich was about Euro 90 ($130+/-) at the cheapest, and Zurich to Barcelona was $235, not to mention the other legs we would be doing, so I really do think this is cheapest.

 

I always use the Trenitalia site for Italy but can't seem to find one provider for the inter-country routes other than the ones named above. I don't mind paying a little more for the convenience but hate being ripped off or missing something obvious.

[riffatsea]

There is not one provider for inter country routes because each country has their own railroad system. If you priced point to point tickets on the Rail Europe site then that is not a true picture of actual prices.

This may be the same as the pass you can buy from the German railroad site but it is Trenitalia's international offers. Not sure it is better but at least you'll have a comparison.

http://*******.com/3d44t6x

[CathyCruises]

There is not one provider for inter country routes because each country has their own railroad system. If you priced point to point tickets on the Rail Europe site then that is not a true picture of actual prices.

This may be the same as the pass you can buy from the German railroad site but it is Trenitalia's international offers. Not sure it is better but at least you'll have a comparison.

http://*******.com/3d44t6x

 

That got blanked out for some reason. I can't think of any CC rule we would be violating! Can you email me at cathy@riverrimranch.com? Thx!

[riffatsea]

I sent an e-mail to you just now.

I don't know why it got blanked out.

I added some other info I found on Trip Advisor. They have a specific train forum.

Hope it helps.

[Hlitner]

4 countries in 5 days! Hmm. Kind of like doing California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington in 5 days. Enough said :)

 

Hank

[CathyCruises]

No, that's not how it works. You get 5 TRAVEL days within a 2 month period; you just use the pass whenever it's time to move on. Useless otherwise, although RiffatSea has come up with some info from Trip Advisor saying that the passes have catches, so I am doing more investigating. We are not interested in using the high speed rail however, which is the one that has the most restrictions; we are wanting to do daytime trips on the slow train, so it still may work out. I believe the Trip Advisor advice pertains specifically to the TGV-type trains.

 

Thanks for all the input--you guys (and girls!) are the best!

[agabbymama]

No, that's not how it works. You get 5 TRAVEL days within a 2 month period; you just use the pass whenever it's time to move on. Useless otherwise, although RiffatSea has come up with some info from Trip Advisor saying that the passes have catches, so I am doing more investigating. We are not interested in using the high speed rail however, which is the one that has the most restrictions; we are wanting to do daytime trips on the slow train, so it still may work out. I believe the Trip Advisor advice pertains specifically to the TGV-type trains.

 

Thanks for all the input--you guys (and girls!) are the best!

 

CathyCruises,

 

I've used RailEurope a number of times for the passes. Not sure about the two sites you are listing. But their 4 COuntry Pass says $562 pp.

 

http://www.raileurope.com/index.html

 

Good Luck, whatever you decide to do. Have a great trip.

[CathyCruises]

That's one of the ones I was looking at--we qualify for the 'saver' rate since there are two travelling so it's a little cheaper than that. If you have used it before, did you have any issues getting on the trains you wanted? There seems to be some question about these passes being used on certain trains, having to pay extra for a 'seat reservation', etc.