How to buy a Eurail Pass for Eurorail Travel

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By Wasatch
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Mountain train Europe

If you are going to travel Europe one of the most convenient and economical ways is with a Eurail pass, also called a Eurorail pass. It will give you peace of mind knowing you have already covered your train expenses and help budget your trip.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

A Eurail pass is a pass that allows you to take just about any train in Europe at your convenience. There are many options available. You can buy a Eurail pass that covers all 21 counties that participate in Europe. It allows unlimited train use for a period of time. It can be valid from 15 days to 3 months. That pass is called a Global pass.
Step 2

Bullet train

There are also Eurail passes called a Select pass that is valid for 3 ,4 or 5 countries that you chose. There are regional passes like a Benelux pass that covers the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. I have a link below in resources about a Benelux pass. A Britrail pass that covers areas of the United Kingdom and so forth. You can also buy just a single European country train pass. A Flexi pass is available for use 10 to 15 days in a 2 month period.Prices will vary with these and other options.
Step 3

You can buy and research the cost and types of passes online easily. I recommend using a local travel agent to book your pass as there are many options and they can help with your other planning and show you deals. Our agent when we went showed us a London pass that included all the London buses and metro trams that we could use for our time in London before we crossed the English channel and activated our Eurail pass.
Step 4

I highly recommend buying your pass in the U.S. before you go. You can generally be flexible and not start the time frame for the pass until you chose to activate it and take your first train ride. They are 20% more in Europe and not easy to find. Only a few major train stations carry them. Sometimes you can only buy a pass for the one country you are in. Save money on your travel budget and buy the pass before you go. You can also buy online and have one mailed to you in Europe in a last minute decision. It is better to plan ahead.
Step 5

A eurail pass for the trains covers most trains. There are a few high speed bullet trains that are not available or have an additional charge. Overnight sleeper trains or hotel trains also have a bed charge. It is worth it as you save a night of hotel expenses and wake up in another country so you can travel while you sleep. Great for the whirlwind European tour.
Step 6

Usually you can use your pass to board any train without reserving in advance. If you are taking a long distance multi country train, a sleeper car or an overnight train, or a high speed train reserve a seat in advance. Otherwise you can walk right on. My wife and I occasionally hoped a train not knowing where we would go and found some very nice towns not on our vacation itinerary.