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Hi everyone. I just joined the community as I have few questions to understand how and importantly when to buy EU rail pass. I have summarised my trip below:

 

travelling dates: April 2025

requirements: 15 days continuous travel global pass

travelling adults : 2 adults

citizen: non EU citizens 

 

question 1 - does EU rail pass prices change? How soon we need to buy if we have a travel booked in April 2025?

soon we buy is better? Please suggest?

 

question 2 - not able to see all trains in rail planner app but I can see few trains for April 2025 on EU rail website, why is that so and how soon in advance we can see trains on app?

 

question 3 - not able to see all trains on EU rail website as well but I can see more trains on direct train website , why is that so as these trains are not matching my timings when I need to go as per my plans.

 

question 4 - pass needs to be activated on day of travel as far as I know. To book the journeys, do we need to add all journeys in the app before activating the pass on day 1? How does that work? 

question 5 - if there are seat reservations to be done on that route, pass is not activated and how can we book reservations in advance?

 

question 6 - any tips for first time users?

 

question 7 - 

frankfurt airport to Amsterdam central - is DB fine? 
Amsterdan to Brussels central - no trains come up, it starts from midi station. Which train line and company is good?

Brussels central to Paris nord - which train line and company is good? 
Paris nord to Bern - which train line and company is good? 

 

Welcome!

  1. Yes, you can expect prices to rise annually with inflation. I’m not sure exactly when the price rises will be, but quite probably before April. So if you buy now, you can avoid the price rise. There’s often a sale during the end of November, so keep an eye open for that discount.
  2. Don’t use the Eurail app or website for planning, the timetables are often out of date. Try searching on bahn.com/en which is much more up to date
  3. As above, the Eurail timetable isn’t always up to date
  4. You can make reservations without activating the pass. You have to add all trains to your app before you travel, but it doesn’t need to be done far in advance.
  5. Really good info here: https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm
  6. Yes, read that page on Seat61, and this one, which explains the pass really well. Post your itinerary here, and other travellers can help you with any specific questions/ problems  https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

Frankfurt - Amsterdam
Yes, DB is good. Avoid Eurostar if possible, because they charge expensive reservation costs.

Amsterdam - Brussels
Again, avoid Eurostar. There’s a good Intercity service, which is slightly slower

Brussels - Paris
You probably need to use Eurostar on this route. The alternative (if you’re travelling with a Eurail pass) is much slower and indirect.

Paris - Bern
Option 1: Direct TGV to Basel, then Swiss trains to Bern. Quite an expensive reservation cost, but fastest.

Option 2: TGV to Strasbourg or Mulhouse then TER to Basel then Swiss trains. Cheaper, because you only have to pay for the domestic TGV reservation, but slower.

 

You should be able to find all these routes by searching on bahn.com/en. Let us know if you have any problems.


Paris - Bern also has a few options via Frasne. Also with the cheaper domestic TGV reservation.


Thanks everyone for helping me out.

  1. As mentioned about Black Friday sale - when this is coming out? and is it FCFS basis?
  2. My routes on EU Rail planner website shows no reservations for Frankfurt to Netherlands, Netherlands to Brussels and Bern to Salzburg. 
  3. Only reservations are showing for Brussels to Paris and Paris to Bern as you guys mentioned this is one of expensive route and I can take alternatives but they are longer, I will look into it once I have purchased the pass.
  4.  To confirm - EU rail pass covers all Inter City trains in Netherlands (Zaandam, Giethoorn, Amsterdam etc), Belgium (Bruges, Ghent), Switzerland (Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Brienz, Zermatt etc ), Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstat etc) as I can see these routes are coming on EU planner website under EU rail pass and I assume all these trains are covered under EU rail pass
  5. Also any suggestions if Bernina express is best one to cover as I see its only closest to Bern I am staying and I can cover it from Zweisimmen to Montreux and come back via intercity from Montreux to Bern. I see this is fully covered under EU rail pass except I need to book reservation with small fee?

Thanks everyone for helping me out.

  1. As mentioned about Black Friday sale - when this is coming out? and is it FCFS basis?
  2. My routes on EU Rail planner website shows no reservations for Frankfurt to Netherlands, Netherlands to Brussels and Bern to Salzburg. 
  3. Only reservations are showing for Brussels to Paris and Paris to Bern as you guys mentioned this is one of expensive route and I can take alternatives but they are longer, I will look into it once I have purchased the pass.
  4.  To confirm - EU rail pass covers all Inter City trains in Netherlands (Zaandam, Giethoorn, Amsterdam etc), Belgium (Bruges, Ghent), Switzerland (Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Brienz, Zermatt etc ), Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstat etc) as I can see these routes are coming on EU planner website under EU rail pass and I assume all these trains are covered under EU rail pass
  5. Also any suggestions if Bernina express is best one to cover as I see its only closest to Bern I am staying and I can cover it from Zweisimmen to Montreux and come back via intercity from Montreux to Bern. I see this is fully covered under EU rail pass except I need to book reservation with small fee?
  1. No idea, subscribe to the news letter and you’ll get a notice once it’s there.
  2. Indeed, to be precise they have optional reservations. Potentially obliged reservations in the busy summer months (june-august). Recommended to get some on busy days, but very moderate reservation cost (get them via www.bahn.com or www.oebb.at - click seat reservation only)). Reservations in Swizerland are a waste of money, since nobody reserves them anyway.
  3. Indeed, although you can minimise reservation cost by taking Belgian regional trains from Brussels to Lille, and take a TGV from there. Same for Switzerland, if you take a TGV to the last French stop, like Mulhouse, Lyon, Frasne, Strasbourg and continue by reservation free regional trains, you can save quite a bit of money, with limited extra travel time.

    Tip: there’s an extra non-high speed connection coming from Brussels to Paris from December 15, unfortunately not included in the pass. But prices should be quite affordable. A full fare ticket shoudn’t cost much more, or probably will be cheaper, than just the cost of a reservation of a Brussels-Paris Eurostar… No further information about this so far, but will be available in the coming days/weeks. Ask us again half december :)

    If you are very adventurous, you can even take reservation free French regional trains (TER) all the way, but this will take much longer, doesn’t have the best connections.

    Anyway, whatever option you feel like, feel free to ask us when planning this, it’s easy to get lost in all the options :)
     
  4. All covered. The pass validity is per company, not per line or specific train. If a company is participating, you can take all of their trains, from the most important IC-lines, to some obscure regional lines. You can find the list here: https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/trains-europe/useful-train-information/participating-railway-companies . I’lld say about 95% of all European trains are covered, with some exceptions for some private operators, the parisian Suburban railways and some touristic railways .
     
  5. You can take the Bernina express route without the need for reservations with ordinary regional trains and some extra changes. The front three carriages (non-panoramic) of the Bernina Express are reservation free as well. Use www.sbb.ch/en to plan this.
    Don’t be afraid of short transfers in Switzerland, 3 minute connections are made to work. On these regional trains you can open the windows fully and take some wonderful pictures.

  1. Giethoorn doesn't have a railway station. You can get a bus from Steenwijk.

Thank you for letting me know about station on Giethoorn.

 

I checked the trains from Amsterdam to Brussels and if I filter pass trains only, it give most of trains as reservations required, is this the case? I only see couple of them take longer a bit doesn’t need reservations.

 

Also I see for buses from EU rail to places like Giethoorn, do we need to take a bus pass or just one ticket works? Can i take tickets inside the bus and pay via my card where ever I am taking local transport and where I need bus from station to go? Same applies in all countries where I may need to take local bus from station to reach there?

 

I also see sale is on for global pass at 25% until 17 December, is it anytime I can buy before this date or is it subject to availability? 

 

 


There is an hourly reservation-free train from Amsterdam Zuid to Brussels. You can use metro or tram to get to Amsterdam-Zuid, or use a train from Amsterdam Centraal and change at Schiphol.

You can pay in the bus with a contactless card. You have to tap in AND out. For just 1 return, it's not worth buying a pass. Check timetables on 9292.nl. That website has all public transport in the Netherlands. You can also enter an address to travel from or to. All public transport in the Netherlands can be used in this way with a contactless card. In other countries, it depends. There is no general answer.

The passes in the current sales don't have limited availability. You can wait until the last day to buy your pass if you want.


Thanks everyone for helping me out.

  1. As mentioned about Black Friday sale - when this is coming out? and is it FCFS basis?
  2. My routes on EU Rail planner website shows no reservations for Frankfurt to Netherlands, Netherlands to Brussels and Bern to Salzburg. 
  3. Only reservations are showing for Brussels to Paris and Paris to Bern as you guys mentioned this is one of expensive route and I can take alternatives but they are longer, I will look into it once I have purchased the pass.
  4.  To confirm - EU rail pass covers all Inter City trains in Netherlands (Zaandam, Giethoorn, Amsterdam etc), Belgium (Bruges, Ghent), Switzerland (Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Brienz, Zermatt etc ), Austria (Salzburg, Innsbruck, Hallstat etc) as I can see these routes are coming on EU planner website under EU rail pass and I assume all these trains are covered under EU rail pass
  5. Also any suggestions if Bernina express is best one to cover as I see its only closest to Bern I am staying and I can cover it from Zweisimmen to Montreux and come back via intercity from Montreux to Bern. I see this is fully covered under EU rail pass except I need to book reservation with small fee?

Anuj, The Blackfriday sale is until Dec 17th and It is not First Come First Serve Basis. You can buy the pass and use it within a year or check the Black friday sale Terms and Conditions about the usage of the pass.


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