Lexia269
Traveller
3 comments
Posted 9 years ago
I'm planning on spending a couple of months travelling through France, Spain and Italy, and trying to find out opinions on whether it'd be cheaper to just get point to point rail tickets travelling through those countries, rather than getting an interrail pass?
I know those countries have a lot of compulsory rail reservations on top of the pass, so is a pass still worth it or is point to point a better idea? Any advice appreciated.
nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments
allt he math you really have to do yourself- use brains: do you really expect someone selling passes to advise you on that and even do the math for you? And then the guys from this site also sell normal tickets via many of their links-which makes some money as commission and keeps this site alive. And you even dont yet seem to have discovered that your age also influences pricing.
But you mention a few MONTHES: now look at how long the max=most expensive IRail is: 1 month, and what it cost.
Yes, for additional cost and hassle to IR you have exactly chosen about the worst countries; ALL long-distance trips need REservations at cost. But getting lower prices on trains will also mean book long advance, struggle with languages and terms you likely do not know and certainly for busy long weekends, determine on your route that long before and if you miss the train: money gone.
Its plain child knowledge that a pass will only pay if you travel quite a lot in the allotted time.
Lexia269
Traveller
3 comments
Thank you for replying, albeit rather condescendingly.
I posted here, because despite having spent a long time looking over the sums and trying to figure out routes both with and without an IR pass, I was still struggling to work out which would be the better option, and having seen a lot of extremely helpful people on this website who seem to know what they're talking about, I thought I'd ask for some advice, believing people with experience in travelling along those routes would have more of an idea than I would.
I'll be sure next time to think twice about doing so.
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
If you want to travel several months, then a combination might be interesting. For example to combine a 10 in 22 days Interrail pass (for a period you travel a lot) with special price point to point tickets.
But it is hard to give you a general answer without knowing your exact route. :)
For all three countries you can get inexpensive advance fares.
France: [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf[/ux]
Spain: [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/renfe[/ux] or Renfe directly
Italy: [ux]https://rail.shop/omio[/ux] or Trenitalia directly
Also have a look at the Spain Rail Pass: [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/renfepass[/ux]
In France a reservation is required for all high-speed-trains with Interrail, the same for Spain. In Italy you can avoid reservations using free regional trains or inexpensive IC trains (reservation recommended for EUR 3).
Peter :)