Rail Europe Global pass and other tips

[Fedup]

As an example of what I was alluding to earlier, when we announced we were visiting Bulgaria prior to catching a ship for a transatlantic cruise, I exchanged a couple posts on another site with someone who thought going there was 'exotic'.

Reading the entire thread it became apparent that the majority of contributors flew into the city closest to the point of departure, arranged for private transportation airport - hotel, (where the rest of them were staying), and then they all went en masse to the ship.

No thank you.

I think, I have to admit I don’t have the stamina to be a hummingbird traveler anymore. Actually, I don’t think I had it before either, but less more so now.

 

[NW-Bound]

As an example of what I was alluding to earlier, when we announced we were visiting Bulgaria prior to catching a ship for a transatlantic cruise, I exchanged a couple posts on another site with someone who thought going there was 'exotic'.

Reading the entire thread it became apparent that the majority of contributors flew into the city closest to the point of departure, arranged for private transportation airport - hotel, (where the rest of them were staying), and then they all went en masse to the ship.

No thank you.

Some people take the cruise as the main point of their trip. You and I think of the cruise as transportation, or just a place for a leisurely rest. Cruising is not really "travel" to me.

 

[Fedup]

Some people take the cruise as the main point of their trip. You and I think of the cruise as transportation, or just a place for a leisurely rest. Cruising is not really "travel" to me.

Com’on, you are going to get a lot of flak for being a snob. Travel snob. The whole point of travelling as with anything is you do what you like. Hey it’s your vacation. Some people like cruise, some don’t.

 

[Freedom56]

I save a little bit of every country that I’ve been to so I have an incentive to go back. I stay mostly to the one side of Switzerland because of convenience. Next time if I do another country within close distance to the other side of Switzerland, then I visit those places you mention.

Even for the UK, which is like my adopted country through marriage, I’ve been there more than 10 times but less than 20 times, I have not visited Stonehenge and York. I might do that next time.

We like going to the UK. We were in London and Brighton in July for a few days on our way to Sweden and then Switzerland. We were in London last year also. As far as large cities go, London is one of the greatest in the world. I was crowded and I can see why it draws so many visitors. The English countryside is really nice also. Driving there took a bit of getting used to our first time, but now it's okay. Scotland is nice too. We haven't been to Stonehenge either but it's not on our priority list either.

 

[brett]

We do all sorts of travel. Cruises, AI's. But mostly independent extended land trips. They are all good. Cannot imagine why anyone would denigrate someone else's choice of travel product. We often combine them-grab a last minute cruise while traveling independently as a bit of a break. DIY travel can involve lots of work. Sometimes it is good simply to sit back and go with the flow.

Next week we will do two weeks of independent travel in the Yukatan. Then a week in an AI (probably Mexico again) after Christmas with daughter and family. Then a month in Thailand and a month in Australia doing independent travel to avoid our winter. Chances are that when we are in Australia we may pick up a last minute cruise for part of the times as we have done in the past.

Whose is to say that the way we travel is better or worse than what someone else does? And why would we even care?

 

[Fedup]

I don’t think NW_Bound denigrated it, perhaps he expressed his preference. But what’s AI, I was thinking of Artificial Intelligence. I’m a computer person after all. Lol

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, after several intense DIY trips I’m ready to sit back and go with the flow.

 

[RunningBum]

I've driven a bit in Europe, mostly a 10 day trip in Ireland/Scotland. It's stressful to me with narrow roads, different signs, unfamiliar territory, figuring out where to park, and of course driving on the opposite side for that trip. I like the freedom and flexibility of driving, but riding the train was relaxing. Instead of getting places stressed and tired, I'd get there relaxed and ready to go. With the frequency of trains in much of continental Europe it was worth it to me to go on their schedules.

 

[Moemg]

As an example of what I was alluding to earlier, when we announced we were visiting Bulgaria prior to catching a ship for a transatlantic cruise, I exchanged a couple posts on another site with someone who thought going there was 'exotic'.

Reading the entire thread it became apparent that the majority of contributors flew into the city closest to the point of departure, arranged for private transportation airport - hotel, (where the rest of them were staying), and then they all went en masse to the ship.

No thank you.

You have no idea how old these people are or how difficult it may be for them to travel at all . On our last trip I saw four people with portable oxygen machines several with walkers and one with a seeing eye dog . I give them and their spouse a lot of credit for making any kind of trip .You are lucky that you can still travel your way but not everybody is that lucky .

 

[Nemo2]

I happened upon this site, (that I'd never visited before), and found that this is apparently not an isolated discussion:

https://www.travellerspoint.com/forum.cfm?thread=113847

 

[morriss003]

Folks,

I am planing a 4 weeks Europe trip in April 2019, this is our first trip to Europe. We plan to travel by train (although, rental car is also cross our minds). We will arrive to Frankfurt Germany (see a few friends and family in Germany) and plan to visit several countries (Czechia, Austria, Switzeland, France, Belgium, Netherlands)

I wonder if you experienced folks could give us some tips regarding traveling by train (ie getting 10 or 15 days pass, when to book your pass? 2 or 3 months in advance?).

We also plan to use airbnb, if we travel by train, any tips for getting to the airbnb location from the train station (uber, taxi, metro, or just book the airbnb near the station)

Thanks.

PS This is not a 'blow your dough' trip

The railroad pass we purchased on our first trip to Europe was our most foolish expense and the process of using one is ridiculous. We knew better on our second trip. They are practically useless in France, Italy, and Spain. Only buy one if you are traveling extensively in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. If you are only spending a few days in each country, buy point to point tickets. Train travel is especially cheap in eastern Europe.

 

[morriss003]

The pass in general is not that great a deal anymore. Some countries like France have major restrictions - require reservations on high speed trains between cities but don’t make many seats available for passholders. A pass does not guarantee a seat on a train, and you may still need to pay to make a reservation.

I recommend reading The Man in Seat 61 web site to get the latest tips on Europe rail booking and travel.

We book major connections requiring reservations well in advance when you can get discounted fares, great deals sometimes, and for local (close) travel not requiring reservations we just get them last minute as there is rarely a discount. Varies by country of course. Makes it complicated.

https://www.seat61.com/

 

[morriss003]

I would like to thank all of you for your tips. We will definitely

- look at The Man in seat 61.
- book train with the carrier
- consider to cut down number of countries.
- travel light and stay close to the train station
- Boat in Paris. Sounds like a lot of fun.

What about travel maps? do you use Rick Stevens countries/cities maps? or just google maps.

Cities we would like to visit:
Salzburg, Vienna - Austria
Lucerne, Zurich, Geneva - Switzerland
Paris, Orleans, Normandy - France
Brussel, Louvain - Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich - Germany
Prague - Czechia

Looks like my next step is working on the route for those cities then start to book Airbnb for lodging then trains.

I am Firsttech Federal Credit Union member, I vaguely recall that their credit or debit card are great for Europe (chip + pin). Should I care? How about cash? Do you bring cash USD/Euro with you?

We are currently using att wireless - I plan to switch to T-Mobile 55 soon.

We found this to be a great sim to use in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. https://www.worldtravelsim.com/faqs.asp

Also, an International Driving Permit is easy to get and sometimes useful for identification. Try Triple A.

 

[jcfradio]

I would like to thank all of you for your tips. We will definitely

- look at The Man in seat 61.
- book train with the carrier
- consider to cut down number of countries.
- travel light and stay close to the train station
- Boat in Paris. Sounds like a lot of fun.

What about travel maps? do you use Rick Stevens countries/cities maps? or just google maps.

Cities we would like to visit:
Salzburg, Vienna - Austria
Lucerne, Zurich, Geneva - Switzerland
Paris, Orleans, Normandy - France
Brussel, Louvain - Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich - Germany
Prague - Czechia

Looks like my next step is working on the route for those cities then start to book Airbnb for lodging then trains.

I am Firsttech Federal Credit Union member, I vaguely recall that their credit or debit card are great for Europe (chip + pin). Should I care? How about cash? Do you bring cash USD/Euro with you?

We are currently using att wireless - I plan to switch to T-Mobile 55 soon.

Hi Neihn,

I am a "slow traveller" who likes to spend 4 to 7 days in one place as a base for seeing the local area, so take my comments in that context.

Having spent about 60 trips to Europe for work over the past 3 years (yes, thats about two trips per month! I know, its insane!), I whave the following favorites amongst the countries that you suggest:

Czech Rep - Prague
Austria - Salzburg is crowded. I really enjoy and feel comfortable in Vienna - one of my favorite cities
Germany - Munich and Dresden. Dresden is surprisingly pretty, they call it the Florence on the Elbe. Right up there with Vienna as one of my favorites
Swtzerland - while nice, if you are pressed for time and money, I think that Austria and Germany are just as nice
Netherlands - a hidden gem is Leiden. Just 20 minutes from the Amsterdam airport it is a compact University town with all of the canals of Amsterdam, none of the crowds and if you want to see Amsterdam, it is only 30 minutes away. We stayed in Amsterdam last year, and agreed that we likeld Leiden much, much better.

As others have said, book long distance inter-country trains in advance, but local trains can be booked as you need them, no planning required.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[KrisS]

You will greatly reduce your travel hassle if you have a debit or credit card with chip and pin. Sometimes more than one as US cards can be difficult.

 

[GoodWishes]

Mobile apps we found useful

visit a city
https://www.visitacity.com/
Enter the city and it will give you things to do for that city. There are various choices for itineraries or you can custom build your own. You can do that on the web site or on the mobile app. The best thing is the mobile app is location based. It knows where you are, plan the most efficient route for you and give you detail directions. Or you are at some location and wanted to know what attractions are near by, it will tell you based on your location and how to get there.

Rick Steves Audio Europe
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-europe
Rick Steves has audio walking tour. We did several of them and they are pretty fun. Remember to bring earbuds since it might be hard to hear the phone on the street. Also we keep our phones in our pocket and sometimes only use one earbud. We usually find a nice spot to sit/stand listen to what he has to say, then move on.

We used Google map all the time. You can download local maps so you can use them any time.

Google translate can be very useful as well. You can download local languages so you can use them any time. The camera works great for restaurant menus, supermarket items, signs, etc.

Train pass

We spent almost a month in France and Spain this April and did not buy a rail pass. As others pointed out, a rail pass is not too useful in those countries. For example, the Spain train Renfe requires reservation. The pass doesn't save you any time or money. You have to pay a reservation fee and have less seat choices as a pass holder.

We spent almost a month in Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany last September and we bought a pass. We never calculated if we saved any money which we might but we think the convenience is worth it. For trains that don't require reservations, you can get on/off the train freely. We used Eurail.com to buy our pass. Their mobile app Rail Planner worked well for us. The only train we needed to reserve was the high speed train from Florence to Rome. So other than buying the pass, we only had to buy one other ticket. But this all depends on your route. You can check which trains require reservation, which trains are reservation optional and which ones cannot be reserved. If trains are reservation optional, you can see how popular they are.

There are several train routes in Europe that are known to be very scenic. We fitted part of one in our Switzerland travel. If you like relaxing in the train looking out to beautiful scenery, look into it.

From train station, we have walked, took metro/bus, took taxi or Uber. Every city is different.

Lodging

We have stayed in Airbnb many times in many countries. The main advantages of Airbnb is more space if you get an entire apartment since there is usually a living area/dining area, sometimes have laundry facilities. Airbnb check in/out can be more cumbersome, cancellation policy might be more restrictive. When it is only DH and I, we would look into staying at hotels as well.

In case you want to consider hotels:
We stayed at a hotel right across from the Lucerne train station, hotel is very charming and location is good. Lucerne is a small town, you can almost walk everywhere.
We stayed at a hotel right across from the Munich train station, hotel is fine, location is fine. It is very convenient since the train station has a very large food court with all kind of cheap/good eat. Also the metro station is there as well, so you can take the metro easily but also within walking distance to some attractions.
We stayed at a hotel right next to the Zurich train station which is also the metro station and across from the airport. It is a huge station with restaurants, supermarkets, shops, etc. It is farther from the city center so you need to take metro wherever you want to go. We stayed there because we were flying out of Zurich otherwise we probably would stay else where.

 

[deserat]

To save time, energy, and money - here's all you need to know:

Very funny! And sooooooo true...they do all seem to run together after awhile -and even with the different languages..