Kaleem
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 3 weeks ago
I need some information regarding train travel in Europe. Are the Interrail and Eurail Global Pass the same thing?
We are planning to explore the beauty of Europe as tourists. Our intended stay is approximately 60 days (within the 90-day Schengen visa limit). We will be based mostly in Finland, staying at my brother’s place, but we also wish to visit several other European countries—especially Switzerland, Norway, France (Paris), Germany, and possibly more.
I came across the Eurail Global Pass, which mentions:
"Unlock over 30,000 destinations in 33 countries with our classic Pass. Whether you want to chase sunsets in Portugal, savor gelato in Italy, or admire dramatic landscapes from the train window, you can have it all with the Eurail Global Pass."
This sounds perfect for our plans. However, I would appreciate it if you could please clarify the following:
Are Interrail and Eurail the same pass? If not, what’s the difference?
As non-European tourists, which pass is suitable for us?
What is the difference between Flexi Passes and Continuous Passes? Which one would be better for someone staying 60 days and traveling occasionally within that period?
MisterSteve
Traveller
1126 comments
Interrail and Eurail are BASICALLY the same thing run by the same organisation. The important difference is that those who are NOT resident within the pass area should use the Eurail pass which gives them unlimited travel throughout the area. Residents cannot buy Eurail, they have Interrail which didn't used to allow travel within home country but in recent years this was relaxed slightly to allow 1 fairly direct journey (on 1 day) to reach the border/airport/harbour and the reverse on return home - these days are part of the pass length, not extras. So your brother would need Interrail and would be very limited on where he could go in Finland.
From Finland, forget the Baltic states because their fares are cheaper than the cost of pass days AND the cross border services are hopeless.
Many train in Scandinavia have compulsory reservations on top of the cost of the pass - see the Eurail website for details, most but not all can be bought from Eurail although DB in Germany, OBB in Austria and SNCB in Belgium might do some cheaper. France is a nightmare with compulsory reservations which are so expensive they are more like a surcharge, Spain is worse because not all reservations can be made outside of Spain. Portugal is currently difficult to reach from Spain, forget any blogs you read about the Sud Express, that died of covid. Italy can be a pain for reservations and bizarrely the pass isn't valid on a lot of the CHEAPER regional trains!!! But Germany, Switzerland, Austria and most of Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg is easy (Eurostar trains on the Amsterdam-Brussels-Paris fast route have French style reservations and 2nd class travel within Luxembourg is actually free of charge for everybody so a pass isn't needed).
A Schengen visa is not valid in UK (or Ireland) - if you visit the UK you need to check what visa you need and you will need to obtain an ETA before you arrive - but the Schengen 90 day count is stopped for the time in UK and restarts if you go back to Schengen. The Eurostar trains to London can only be used with a surcharge reservation which are sold by quota and not on certain busy trains. Apart from those and the few overnight trains, references to compulsory reservation in UK are wrong! And ACP's fee is 100% service charge because the reservations are available free of charge at ticket desks in Britain.
Continuous passes have a start date and then every following day for the length of the pass - if you don't travel a few hours every day it's a waste of money. Flexi passes have a number of travel days within the overall length, the daily cost is higher but you can cut out wasted days. If you board an overnight train in the evening your travel day continues until you get off that train even after midnight - but if you need a connection you'll need another day or a seperate ticket. Calculate the number of pass days carefully, for short rides around a city it will be cheaper to buy local tickets, the pass is NOT valid on most Metro/U-Bahn/Tram networks anyway.
Use www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/top-destinations and check country by country what complusory reservations and exclusions there are.
MisterSteve
Traveller
1126 comments
.......also the pass in NOT valid on Flixtrain in Germany or Italo in Italy, check carefully for night trains from Scandinavia to Germany, especially of you want to go to Berlin as a ferry from Sweden to North Eastern Germany might be easier.
Kaleem
Traveller
1 comments
Thank you so much, Steve, for sharing such great information.
nltrainer
Traveller
1465 comments
More info+tips/hints also on seat61.com
That scheme also has its very own community.eurail.com, where all those tipical 1st time/dk questions are posted in multiple+ all the same answers as above. For specific queries it mighht be handier.