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.
In Switzerland, this spring, the Swiss Rail Pass worked like a charm. It seemed to function just like rail passes of yore. I had a 1st-class pass and simply got on trains and postbuses whenever and wherever I pleased. I thought that was how all rail passes functioned. I was wrong.
My niece and a friend headed to Europe and I arranged a two-week Eurail pass and sent them on their way. They had problems at every stage of their rail journey. In Italy with a normally-purchased ticket getting on and off trains is playing a game of reservation roulette. Some trains require reservations. Some don’t. Heaven forbid if I could figure it out. Neither could the ticket sellers without their computers.
Here are five lessons about European rail travel I wish I had known before having to deal with the rail systems that can make airline ticketing seem simple and straightforward.
1. 1st-class and 2nd-class are the same.
Once upon a time the differences between 1st-class and 2nd-class were dramatic. 2nd-class trains, especially in southern Europe, meant packed compartments, crates of oranges and maybe an animal or two. After traveling on trains in Spain and Italy this summer, that is no longer the case. The amenities seem to be far more uniform and the biggest difference is between the amount of space — and peace and quiet — individuals have while traveling.
2. All trains are not the same.
In Italy, for example there are Regional, InterCity, EuroCity and EuroStar trains that I discovered on the simple route from Venice to Verona. Except for the “Regional,” the rest may or may not require a reservation. The EuroStar seems to always need a reservation.
Ask an Italian traveler and they will say that they never buy reservations. Ask a conductor checking tickets and they will claim that everyone needs a reservation and pull out a machine to charge you on the spot. Ask the ticket window person and they will tell you that some InterCity and EuroCity trains need reservations and some don’t. Maddeningly, the public schedules don’t have much information that will help.
3. Reservations are needed everywhere.
From Venice to Verona, reservations were required on more than half of the trains. From Pamplona to Madrid and Barcelona earlier this summer, reservations were required on all of the trains. And after the Running of the Bulls, the trains were full. Some travelers had to wait days to leave or pay to take a bus to Zaragoza or up to San Sebastian.
There was no hopping on and off trains at will. No looking out the window and thinking to yourself, “This town looks interesting — Let me get off the train and explore it a bit.”
In some cases a bit of spontaneity is possible if the trains are not fully booked. Italian tickets have a 6-hour validity period. Eurail passes have validity ranging from a day to a month. Travelers can get on and off a train during that time. However — and this is a big however — every time travelers get on and off a train, they have to be aware of whether or not a reservation is required. A reservation on one train is useless on another train.
4. Get ready to stand in line and pay.
The result of reservation roulette is that the lines for purchasing tickets are long (especially at main tourists centers like Rome, Venice, Madrid and Barcelona) and even rail pass holders need to stand in line and buy reservations.
Travelers must make a reservation for most long-distance trains. They have to check to see if reservations are necessary when they change their plans. The rigidity of conductors collecting supplements and reservations fees combined with the randomness of the reservation requirements can make traveling trying.
All these reservations cost money. The Eurail and other rail passes are by no means all-inclusive. That hundreds-of-dollars pass is only the start. Some reservations are only €1, others are €3, yet another is €5.50. I paid €10 for reservations from Zaragoza to Barcelona for pass holders and the reservation from Verona to Venice (for a pass holder) on the EuroStar costs €15!
5. Couchettes are expensive.
My advice to my niece when I purchased her European rail pass this summer was to sleep in a couchette for long journeys. That way she could save the money for a hotel room and travel overnight and not lose a day of sightseeing.
I reconsidered when I found out that a couchette from Barcelona to Milan cost €72 ($115). I went online to check again and found that on her trip back she would have to pay €82 ($131) from Milan back to Barcelona. Gads. I almost choked.
When staying in hostels and inexpensive pensions costs at the most around €60 a night for two traveling together, couchettes don’t seem to make much sense except from a time-saving point of view.
Travelers who need to save time should fly on one of Europe’s low cost carriers.
Once upon a time, a Eurail or European country pass was a relatively boundless ticket to adventure. These passes provided the maximum freedom and flexibility. That is not the case in many countries. Switzerland is the big exception (and I’m sure there are some limitations). The price travelers pay for their Eurail pass or other country passes is only the beginning. Reservation costs will be added to most of the rail travel.
My advice for young students these days who can not rent automobiles is to look at a mix of a rail pass and Europe’s low cost carriers.
Here is an example of cost comparisons. A couchette from Milan to Barcelona and then a connecting train to Madrid will take a day and a half and costs €90 or more for the bed and reservation. A flight from Milan to Madrid can cost between €30 and €130 depending on when reservations are made. It makes taking the train seem silly.
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In Romania you can buy a RT ticket which is valid for up to 30 days provided you didn’t choose the return date. As I found out, if I wanted to get just the seat from Vienna (Arad in Romania to Vienna RT) I had to pay 3 euros for each seat in Vienna…gah! better not. we ended up going by car wt a friend and the total cost was 1/2 of that of the train tickets.
And yes, 2nd class also means clean and ok in high speed trains and only the bit more room and high price makes it different than 1st class!
Come to the UK. No reservation required. Reccommended on some trains, highly reccomended on a very few trains but not required.
While we have passes and tickets that can be bought on the day the best deal is usually booking in advance. The advance booking system is very airline like – Apex, no refund, best deal on the train you don’t really want but it can offer some real bargains like 1 pound fares on some routes (www.megatrain.co.uk).
I find the best generic site for UK railways is http://www.nationalrail.co.uk
Your observations are spot on – especially with respect to the Italian train system. Such a huge change from when I was inter-railing with my sister in 1991.
But, even though spontaneity is somewhat compromised today, it’s still possible to (a) travel mostly by train pretty easily in Europe – which is a nice change from the U.S.; and (b) plan-as-you-go without breaking the bank.
Before our recent trip to Italy, I researched all available rail passes, supplements and reservations. In the end, it was pretty apparent that rail passes were nice, but really didn’t save us very much money. Instead, we bought point-to-point tickets. In general, we bought tickets a day or so in advance, to avoid having to wait in line while rushing for a train. The Italians were pretty good about switching reservations once we had a ticket in hand. On EuroStar and InterCity trains we were able to take advantage of some pretty cool family discounts.
There’s a brief summary of our trip here: http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blogs/wandermom/2008/07/06/travel-kids-and-blogging/
Michelle
I also tend to favor a mix of point-to-point rail and cheap regional flights in Europe. The advantage of rail for short hauls is the city centre to city centre service. Cheap flights can easily cost you 3-4 times the initial purchase price because of the cost of getting to/from the city centre and additional fees, such as baggage, etc..
Today, “spontaneity” is for the money-is-no-object travelers. Cheap and “promo” air fares need to be booked in advance and carry restrictions. Most western Europe rail services offer good deals on tickets when bought in advance – for example: 29 euros from Venice to Budapest.
Eastern Europe seems to be the only spontaneously cheap place to travel by rail and where a rail pass is not economically advantageous.
Hi Charlie, I’m glad your Swissrail pass worked, but I’m surprised your niece had so many problems on a Eurail. I’ve never found that.
We had to book on some busy international trains and whenever we wanted a couchette. There were also times I wish I had made a reservation since I needed to really fight for a seat.
I have to agree with Dianne’s comment on spontaneity though; it’s not cheap in most cases.
(Perhaps you’d be willing to drop by Eurail Stories and add your wisdom to our fledgling site?)
Thanks for the tips Charlie!
If you’re traveling in Italy by train and need more travel tips, take a look at this article : http://www.venere.com/blog/italy-train-tips/
I spent 8 months traveling around Europe. The first trips started with airline reservations made months in advance, and (obviously) set times in each city/country. By the time I was wrapping up my exploration of the continent, I was booking plane tickets to Milan or Rome or Budapest with no return ticket and only a hostel for the first night.
I found that this style of travel was MUCH cheaper. If you have the time to spend in a place and no agenda, I feel that traveling with a bit of spontaneity is not only cheaper, but better as you can come and, more importantly, go as you please.
There is no way I would ever limit myself or deal with the hassle of buying a Eurail pass. With all of the low-cost airlines in Europe and the ease of buying point-to-point tickets, it just seems like buying a train pass would constrict the traveler and end up being more expensive anyway.
Before our recent trip to Italy, I researched all available rail passes, supplements and reservations. In the end, it was pretty apparent that rail passes were nice, but really didn’t save us very much money. Instead, we bought point-to-point tickets. In general, we bought tickets a day or so in advance, to avoid having to wait in line while rushing for a train. The Italians were pretty good about switching reservations once we had a ticket in hand. On EuroStar and InterCity trains we were able to take advantage of some pretty cool family discounts.
I found out about reservations the hard way, traveling from Venden Austria to Frankfurt, with a stop in Salzburg. Had no idea about the reservation issue when I bought the Vendel –> Salzburg leg, and there was only a machine at the station to consult, anyway. The conductor took pity on me and let me sit in a compartment with no additional charge.
When I got to Salzburg I went to the window to buy the Salzburg –> Frankfurt leg. I asked several times whether we had covered everything, that I would have a stea on Sunday when I left, and was assured we had covered everything. Apparently, I forgot to say the magic word “reservation” when I said seat. When I boarded the train to Frankfurt, indeed, I had no seat.
I’ve decided to forget trains in Europe except for short hops (like a subway or surburban trip) and fly or drive the rest of the time. I just can’t figure out the secret code.
EuroStar in Italy is not the same as Eurostar in the UK. Eurostar UK trains travel between St Pancras or Ebbsfleet to France. EuroStar italia travels between Milan, Venice, Rome, Bologna & Naples.
I sure looks like things have changed since I was young. And definitely not for the better.
Very Sad