That's not what I said. There are parts of Europe like UK and some former Yugoslavian countries and Turkey which are not part of Schengen. So you can spend an indefinite amount of time in Europe by spending only 90 days total in Schengen region, and the remainder in non-schengen areas. By going back and forth, you can extend the clock. It's legal and does not violate any laws.
Thank you very much. France’s TGV also have limits on pass holders too I believe.
I still have this question. I am planning to take the Eurostar in less than 6 months, but I am wondering if I need to actually buy the pass first, and once I do, I certainly don’t want to activate it months in advance, just to make a reservation.
There are thousands of cities you can visit in EU using your pass - probably 1,000 alone in France or Italy. And UK and some of the former Yugoslavian new countries are not in Schengen but you can still travel to them - in fact, there is an advantage if you are an American - because days in those counties do not count toward your 90 day limit of staying in the shengen region. I met some Australian backpackers in Slovenia who had been traveling 5 months in Europe by using this trick to pop in and out of Schengen.
Ok thanks. So the app essentially down loads the entire database to your phone - and that’s why it works without internet. How often is app updated?
The rail pass does not work on rail replacement? I thought so but even if not it would be helpful to show how to get to Ebensee or wherever
On the Eurail app : Vienna to Hallstatt : “Sorry we can’t find any trains that match your search”OBB app (same day and time) : trains at 10:15 am 10:25, 10:55, 11:15, 11:55, 12:15, 12;55, etc et
Actually the Eurail app sees Hallstatt - but does not see any trains. But the OBB app sees probably a dozen. I chose the same day and time for both
Thanks. I went to their site, and I can see the same bookings as on the Eurail app. Where can I find the dates with complete time table for the construction work. Will it be done by early October?
More generally, a one month, two month, or three month pass will expire on the same calendar date in the appropriate month? They are not 30,60, and 90 day passes? So you might get as many as 9 extra days on a 3 month pass if the months had 31 days?
I am in France and am aware of pre and post Covid tests and locator form to enter the UK. It seems there is a lot of confusion and ad hoc decision making by local officials. France announced on Thursday that all but essential travel would end the next day without making it very clear. All the trains on the last day today were full. We’ll see what happens.
I just experienced a period of about 2 weeks where there was no way out of Spain into France through Barcelona - part of it was track closures - which compounded the problem of all the pass-compatible seats being scooped up. There was track working being done between Perpignan and Montclair that cancelled all trains for a few days.- but the closures on different parts of the tracks were not on the same days (e.g. 3 days for one section then 3 days for the next section with some overlap, etc.) None of this was listed on the Eurail Planning app nor Oui.SCNF. There were announcements in French on a train 12 hours before that essentially it was the last train out, and some poster in the station in French. So you might see if you can take a train to some mid-city along the route then bus around a track closure if thats the problem. The bus is actually quite cheap, but the bus terminus is not always the same as the train station. And we got hit by a tram strike the one day we needed to do t
Yes that’s correct. The planning app was correct. Although today planning app said there as a train at 12:59, and no such train was on the monitor. I asked at SBB office and the train actually was scheduled 12 minutes earlier at 12:47 with same arrival time. Lucky I came to station early and lucky they had a short line for info. If this would have happened in France I would have missed the train waiting in line. 😱😱😱😱 Which connection was this where SBB's app said another departure time? 😱😱😱😱 Which connection was this where SBB's app said another departure time? Geneva to Luzern was listed at 12:59 pm (and there were other trains at 11:59, 13:59, etc) Monday Nov 22, 2021. No such train appeared on the announcement boards in Geneva station. I went to into line of SBB in the station, and the lady pulled out her phone and found the 12:47 train. Both trains arrived in Zurich at 16:01. It was about 12:38 at that time, so I still h
I didn’t have to pay the 2x2=4chf but it wasted an hour of time and it was stressful being “caught” in front of other passengers and then not sure how it would turn out in the office. In other situations there are heavy fines for riding without tickets. Even, last night on a Czech train the conductor kept asking for a physical ticket and seemed unfamiliar with the pass too, and finally tried scanning the QR code to see if it might work. you know what would help is for Eurail to have a document which explains these policies in each local language that we can carry with us so we can “train” these employees about their own company’s policies. In theory they should know all this, but they didn’t get the memo or forgot or whatever. Having some document to show them in their language would help.
Even in the office they did not seem to be familiar with how the pass works.
Yes that’s correct. The planning app was correct. Although today planning app said there as a train at 12:59, and no such train was on the monitor. I asked at SBB office and the train actually was scheduled 12 minutes earlier at 12:47 with same arrival time. Lucky I came to station early and lucky they had a short line for info. If this would have happened in France I would have missed the train waiting in line.
Took the train without incident …. Swiss train
This looks like a French TER train but perhaps dual-labeled? 9:44 am : TrainTER L2 23419Direction Genève
Here is the UK Linkhttps://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19
I have gone from France to Switzerland without incident. I did get a Swiss COVID QR code online but no one ever checked it. I showed my US CDC documentation at hotel and restaurants. I have the French QR code and it was accepted in Italy and Spain. The British government has a website with email alerts for their ever-changing rules. Recently they have been opening up more and more. However, my most recent understanding is that even fully vaccinated passengers need to take a covid test 2 days after arriving in UK (and this needs to be planned before you come to UK). I am not sure if they still require a covid test before coming for vaccinated people too - which is what they were doing a month or two ago. I believe you can get info here :https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
I checked SBB.ch, and you are right. They show the French TER trains and they seem to agree with the planning app.
I checked tomorrow and Monday. Normally the planner is pretty decent. I had a little problem with it going from Avignon to Aix-en-Provence where it was completely unaware there is a bus from Aix TGV to Aix, so it does not list that at all. The other issue is rail work which cancelled a lot of trains in Southern France and it just shows noting in the search but no reasons given
Thanks for your reply. In case others have this same problem, I can make a request of tech support via the link to deactivate it, but there might be some hours of delays, and I might have to pay out of pocket for a ticket while waiting for response. There is no phone number to contact them to coordinate this. Out of curiosity, why don’t you have a web-based system like Apple iCloud or Google Drive where someone could log into there Eurail account to show their pass - possibly using the phone of a spouse or iPad or whatever, instead of making the pass locked into a single device which might get damaged, lost, run out of power, or have internet problems like mine? It would seem to save a lot of trouble on both sides? Many of the conductor and ticket offices ask for passports to verify the name and passport number correspond to the pass number, so there is little chance of illicit use of a pass. Also, instead of emailing PDFs of reservations, could you mail e-tickets that can be put in
To memorialize my experience Nov 2021 trying to get a night train from Zurich to Prague. Train is actually Czech, but they affiliate with Austrian Night jet system, and Swiss rail. Non-night train tickets work much easier. Calling :OBB (Austria) - a complete waste of time, and will cost tens of dollars just listening to an endless loop of GermanCD.CZ (Czech) - Great phone service - in English. However they don’t recognize Eurail pass. $186SBB (Swiss) - Good phone service - in English. At first they gave me full fare, then only when pressed did they find that Eurail price. This turned out to be the solution. Online :Eurail - works but requires a paper ticket mailed to. you while you are traveling - fatal flaw $140 for 2OBB - Ticket not available for night trainCD - Ticket not available for night train - but would have been e-ticket if it workedSBB - Ticket available at $320
I finally resolved this - after trying to reserve via Eurail, OBB, CD.CZ, and SBB websites, and calling OBB, CD, and SBB. The solution is to call SBB, and wait a few seconds until you hear English (after they cycle through German, French, and Italian). You can’t book the train but you can reserve it, and then pick up the paper tickets in their train office before the train leaves.
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