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 With so many sites and attractions to visit and with so much history at just about every turn, it can take weeks to travel through Europe.
Even with an extended itinerary, it’s doubtful that you will have even scratched the surface of culturally rich Europe. However, if you travel through Europe by train, you can come close to seeing the continent’s signature sites. To make train travel easy throughout Europe, you can purchase one of the two main train passes (Eurail Pass and Europass) that make train travel on the continent affordable and convenient.
Eurail Pass
The Eurail Pass opens the door to just about every imaginable European country (20 countries in all) in first-class style. You can purchase a Eurail Pass for as short as 15 days or up to three months, depending upon your need and budget. Usually, you need to travel on consecutive days (the Eurail Global Pass), but you can also purchase a flexi-pass, which allows you to travel a certain number of days during the time period. There’s also the option of a youth pass for those under 26 who don’t mind traveling in second class for a cheaper rate. If you want to travel to even more countries, purchase the Eurail Select Pass, which allows you to travel up to five more European countries.
Europass
Though not offering as many countries to visit on their pass, the Europass is another option. Europass covers five countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and France) in its list of countries, and might be suitable for someone who is interested in visiting fewer countries at a better price. You can, however, add up to two additional countries at an extra cost.
Some important side-points
Though train travel on both of these passes is inclusive of most charges, you will need to pay an additional fee (nominal) to reserve a seat, especially during the busier summer months. In addition, if you start your train travel after 8 pm, it goes towards the next day of travel. In other words, if you want to travel from France to Italy, and you begin your journey at 9 pm and end it the next day in the afternoon, it will only be counted as one day. Not only that, but you can save money on lodging as you can sleep soundly on the train throughout the night. |
