I am terribly confused by the eurail website. I expected to be able to put in a start location and a destination and it would show me all options of how to get to my destination including stops. Instead it just shows a map with a straight line which is not part of the rail routes. I expected it to be like google maps which shows exact route or even better, like San Francisco CA MUNI which shows you every form of transportation including length of time to get to your destination. Can someone please tell me if this feature exists and if so, where do I find it on the Eurail website? Or if you can recommend a better way to try to plan a 10 trip in France and Spain next summer. Thanks so much for any help!
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Trip Planner
Best answer by ralderton
The trip planner isn’t like that at all, I’m afraid. In fact it’s not very good for planning end to end trips. There is no real end to end journey planner, as such. You need to add a bit of human input.
The best place to start with European rail in general is the Seat61 website, www.seat61.com which has a lot of detailed information on how to get from A to B. It’s run by a guy who really knows his stuff, and he uses his own knowledge, rather than a database, to suggest journeys.
You can also use the German Railways website, www.bahn.com for timetable information. But don’t search for next summer - timetables won’t be there yet! Search for next week to give you an idea. And don’t expect it to pick the perfect route if that route involves 8 trains and 48 hours - it’s better on smaller chunks of journey.
You might also find this railway map useful: https://www.seat61.com/reference/interrail-and-eurail-map.pdf
+6The trip planner isn’t like that at all, I’m afraid. In fact it’s not very good for planning end to end trips. There is no real end to end journey planner, as such. You need to add a bit of human input.
The best place to start with European rail in general is the Seat61 website, www.seat61.com which has a lot of detailed information on how to get from A to B. It’s run by a guy who really knows his stuff, and he uses his own knowledge, rather than a database, to suggest journeys.
You can also use the German Railways website, www.bahn.com for timetable information. But don’t search for next summer - timetables won’t be there yet! Search for next week to give you an idea. And don’t expect it to pick the perfect route if that route involves 8 trains and 48 hours - it’s better on smaller chunks of journey.
You might also find this railway map useful: https://www.seat61.com/reference/interrail-and-eurail-map.pdf
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THANKS. I was going nuts trying to plan nice day trips during our stay. I appreciate your help.
+6Seat61 also has a good page on the Eurail pass in general, including how to decide whether it makes sense for your trip, or whether you should consider a different pass, or just buy tickets.
In France and Spain there are reservation fees for most trains you will want to take, so that makes Eurail not so great in those two countries.
1 person likes this
+6Nancy Lauck wrote:
THANKS. I was going nuts trying to plan nice day trips during our stay. I appreciate your help.
No problem.
Unfortunately, rail in Europe is nowhere near as simple as booking a flight. You need a bit of legwork and knowledge. But there are lots of knowledgeable people on this forum who will point you in the right direction, and the Seat61 website is an absolute goldmine.
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