Is EuRail Worth It?
We purchased Eurail global pass which is valid for 3 months (continuous travel, first class "saver" - which means you need to buy two to get a little discount) for 1,330 Euro per person before we started this trip. I wanted to see if it was really worth buying the EuRail pass so I've kept records of all our travels, cost for train tickets with & without EuRail pass.......Here is the summary.
So without EuRail global pass, we would have had to pay 2,317.91 euro for all above.
With EuRail pass we only paid 298.49 euro (as reservation fee).
Now....the cost of 3 months continuous EuRail global pass was 1,330 euro.
which means the total spent per person was really 1,330 + 298.49 = 1,628.49 euro.
2,317.91 - 1,628.49 = 689.42 euro.
So, 689.42 euro cheaper by getting the EuRail global pass.
IF you just looked at these numbers, EuRail was definitely the right answer, and it probably was for us. BUT, the 'cost without EuRail' are all standard prices, so if you book the tickets in advance, chances are you can get them a lot cheaper. Also, if you travel second class, the price goes down quite a bit... And of course, there are other transportations other than trains, like discount airfare, ferries, bus etc.. and they can be cheaper in a lot of situations.
We were moving around almost everyday (as you can see from the record!) during the last two weeks of our Europe trip, partly because we had this EuRail pass and wanted to make the most of it. But it really was exhausting to be on such a tight schedule!
So my EuRail pass - Verdict:
Only recommended if you:
1) can't plan ahead all the travelling dates but you'll be in Europe for 3 months and be travelling extensively in those 3 months and continuously.
2) don't mind waiting in queue at every station to get your tickets reserved (or inquire if you need to reserve a ticket or not for that particular trip... sometimes you can get on the train without reserving a seat but we could only find this out by lining up in the queue and asking the customer service people. If you don't have EuRail pass, you can easily buy tickets at the machine or online* - so much easier....)
*There are lot of countries where you can get tickets at the machine (with EuRail too) but not everywhere.
We purchased Eurail global pass which is valid for 3 months (continuous travel, first class "saver" - which means you need to buy two to get a little discount) for 1,330 Euro per person before we started this trip. I wanted to see if it was really worth buying the EuRail pass so I've kept records of all our travels, cost for train tickets with & without EuRail pass.......Here is the summary.
| Date | Country | Without Eurail | With Eurail | Notes |
| Greece | €34.05 | €24.05 | Kos to Santorini | |
| Greece | €38.05 | €26.69 | Santorini to Athens | |
| 5/28/2014 | Spain | €25.55 | €4.35 | Algeciras to Granada |
| 5/28/2014 | Spain | €65.55 | €14.35 | Granada to Madrid |
| 5/30/2014 | Spain | €1.80 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 5/31/2014 | Spain | €1.80 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 5/31/2014 | Spain | €1.65 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 5/31/2014 | Spain | €110.00 | €10.35 | Madrid to Barcelona |
| 5/31/2014 | Spain | €21.80 | €13.00 | Madrid to/from Toledo |
| 6/2/2014 | Spain | €1.80 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 6/2/2014 | Spain | €1.80 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 6/3/2014 | Spain | €1.65 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 6/3/2014 | Spain | €1.65 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 6/3/2014 | Spain | €1.80 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 6/7/2014 | Spain | €4.10 | €0.00 | Barcelona to La Garriga |
| 6/7/2014 | Spain | €4.10 | €0.00 | La Garriga to Barcelona |
| 6/8/2014 | Spain | €13.50 | €0.00 | Barcelona to Cerbere |
| 6/8/2014 | France | €75.50 | €0.00 | Cerbere to Ventimiglia |
| 6/8/2014 | Italy | €30.00 | €3.00 | Ventimiglia to Milan |
| 6/8/2014 | Italy | €86.00 | €10.00 | Milan to Rome |
| 6/11/2014 | Italy | €32.50 | €0.00 | Rome to Naples |
| 6/14/2014 | Italy | €144.00 | €10.00 | Naples to Milan |
| 6/15/2014 | Italy | €51.50 | €10.00 | Milan to Venice |
| 6/15/2014 | Italy | €51.50 | €10.00 | Venice to Milan |
| 6/15/2014 | Italy | €40.00 | €3.00 | Milan to Ventimiglia |
| 6/15/2014 | Italy | €38.00 | €0.00 | Ventimiglia to Nice Ville |
| 6/15/2014 | Italy | €133.00 | €18.70 | Nice Ville to Paris |
| 6/24/2014 | France | €82.00 | €31.00 | Paris to Bruges |
| 6/29/2014 | Belgium | €75.60 | €0.00 | Bruges to Amsterdam |
| 7/1/2014 | Netherlands | €79.00 | €0.00 | Amsterdam to Bremen |
| 7/3/2014 | Germany | €28.00 | €0.00 | Bremen to Hamburg |
| 7/3/2014 | Germany | €85.40 | €0.00 | Hamburg to Copenhagen |
| 7/6/2014 | Denmark | €61.71 | €0.00 | Copenhagen to Goteburg |
| 7/7/2014 | Sweden | €63.18 | €0.00 | Goteburg to Oslo |
| 7/9/2014 | Norway | €110.12 | €0.00 | Oslo to Stavanger |
| 7/18/2014 | Norway | €110.12 | €0.00 | Stavanger to Oslo |
| 7/19/2014 | Norway | €103.97 | €24.00 | Oslo to Stockholm |
| 7/25/2014 | Sweden | €18.00 | €9.00 | Stockholm to Turku |
| 7/29/2014 | Finland | €29.00 | €14.50 | Helsinki to Tallinn |
| 8/6/2014 | Germany | €107.40 | €4.50 | Berlin to Prague |
| 8/8/2014 | Czech | €72.50 | €3.00 | Prague to Vienna |
| 8/10/2014 | Austria | €15.80 | €0.00 | Vienna to Bratislava |
| 8/10/2014 | Austria | €2.30 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 8/10/2014 | Austria | €2.30 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 8/11/2014 | Slovakia | €15.00 | €0.00 | Bratislava to Budapest |
| 8/13/2014 | Hungary | €109.00 | €50.00 | Budapest to Munchen |
| 8/14/2014 | Germany | €129.40 | €5.00 | Munchen to Zurich |
| 8/14/2014 | Switzerland | €2.73 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| 8/15/2014 | Switzerland | €2.73 | €0.00 | Local Train |
| €2,317.91 | €298.49 |
So without EuRail global pass, we would have had to pay 2,317.91 euro for all above.
With EuRail pass we only paid 298.49 euro (as reservation fee).
Now....the cost of 3 months continuous EuRail global pass was 1,330 euro.
which means the total spent per person was really 1,330 + 298.49 = 1,628.49 euro.
2,317.91 - 1,628.49 = 689.42 euro.
So, 689.42 euro cheaper by getting the EuRail global pass.
IF you just looked at these numbers, EuRail was definitely the right answer, and it probably was for us. BUT, the 'cost without EuRail' are all standard prices, so if you book the tickets in advance, chances are you can get them a lot cheaper. Also, if you travel second class, the price goes down quite a bit... And of course, there are other transportations other than trains, like discount airfare, ferries, bus etc.. and they can be cheaper in a lot of situations.
We were moving around almost everyday (as you can see from the record!) during the last two weeks of our Europe trip, partly because we had this EuRail pass and wanted to make the most of it. But it really was exhausting to be on such a tight schedule!
So my EuRail pass - Verdict:
Only recommended if you:
1) can't plan ahead all the travelling dates but you'll be in Europe for 3 months and be travelling extensively in those 3 months and continuously.
2) don't mind waiting in queue at every station to get your tickets reserved (or inquire if you need to reserve a ticket or not for that particular trip... sometimes you can get on the train without reserving a seat but we could only find this out by lining up in the queue and asking the customer service people. If you don't have EuRail pass, you can easily buy tickets at the machine or online* - so much easier....)
*There are lot of countries where you can get tickets at the machine (with EuRail too) but not everywhere.
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