Hi everyone,
I have many questions before I purchase a Eurail pass. I am 21 years old and will be backpacking Europe for 3 months, starting June 29 and ending September 25. I will be traveling to Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Below I have detailed my itinerary, and I was hoping you could answer my questions after reviewing my travel plans.
My Itinerary:
- Fly to Greece on June 29
- Greece: Athens>Milos>Athens>Crete
- Fly to Catania, Italy
- Italy: Catania>Calabria>Bari>Rome>Florence>La Spezia>Bologna>Venice>Milan
- Take overnight train to Barcelona, Spain
- Spain: Barcelona>Valencia>Granada>Seville>Madrid
- Take train to Porto, Portugal
- Portugal: Porto>Sintra>Lisbon
- I will fly back to the US from Lisbon on September 25
My concerns:
- I learned that reservations are needed on most train routes in all of these countries.
- The ferries are an additional cost and not included in the rail pass.
- I will be traveling in the summer, the busiest time, and I fear that seat reservations will book up far in advance and I will not be able to get a train the next day (I am a very spontaneous traveler).
- I worry that all the seat reservations will add up and that I will not have saved money if I would have just bought the train tickets from local train websites.
My questions:
- How much would I end up spending on seat reservations between each of these locations I listed above?
- Should I get the Greek Island pass if I am only traveling to two Islands, Milos and Crete?
- Is the 3-month continuous pass worth it? Should I just book from the train companies directly to save money?
- Are there any trains that don’t require reservations in these countries? If so, how can I find them?
- If I value flexibility but also cost savings, what should I do?
Thank you very much!