I will be travelling in Europe for the first time since 2007. It is thus challenging but also exciting prospect since so much has changed since then.
I hope you will indulge in all my concerns and questions.
I will travel Europe and the UK in October extensively with a month long Global Eurail first class pass.
I will probably create different numbered trips to keep things from getting out of hand.
I am much looking forward to your advice and tips.
Have a great one!
Best answer by ralderton
I tend to create 1 ‘Trip’ which I use for the whole duration of my pass (even if it’s a three month pass, which might be used for several shorter trips). You can do as you say and have separate Trips, but you’ll have to remove the pass from one Trip and connect it to the new one.
I tend to create 1 ‘Trip’ which I use for the whole duration of my pass (even if it’s a three month pass, which might be used for several shorter trips). You can do as you say and have separate Trips, but you’ll have to remove the pass from one Trip and connect it to the new one.
Thank you very much for the advice. Makes perfect sense. I also meant creating a new thread here for any concerns or other info I may need.
My first trip will be return trip from Lisbon to Porto on 3rd October. I will only activate my pass that morning.
I thought of buying my ticket via the CP website. Am I right in saying that Eurail pass will not be valid for this trip?
My first real challenge is Saturday 4 October from Lisbon to Madrid. I’ve checked train times for Saturdays over a few months and they sometimes seem to run at different times. I will hopefully get more clarity on train times August from around August. For this trip I plan Lisbon to Entroncamento then to Badajo onwards to Merida and then onwards to Madrid. Would to prefer to arrive 20:00 instead of 22:00. But more on that trip later :-)
Eurail is valid. You need a seat reservation, costing €5, for Lisbon to Porto. Unfortunately you can’t make it online, but it’s not a problem to get it from the ticket office - even on the day.
For Lisbon - Madrid, you’ll have to wait until much closer to the time but you can assume the current train times aren’t that far off. Again, Seat61 has a good guide to the trip. I don’t know if you’ve found that page yet: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/madrid-to-lisbon-by-train.htm
You can reserve from Badajoz - Madrid online. Wait until you’re in Portugal to reserve the Lisbon to Entroncanmento train, and the middle train doesn’t need reservations.
Spanish trains often have weird timetables and on some weekdays, trains are not running or have an altered route.
Spain and France are in general the two worst countries in Europe for train travel (apart from the mainlines) and Eurail in particular. Infrequent trains, strange timetables and mandatory seat reservations on almost all trains whereas in many other countries, you can literally turn up at the station and decide, on which train you want to travel with your pass.
Fortunately, you can find a very useful planner on bahn.com (German railways) and you are able to book seats in Spain online now.
I’d like to revisit this trip from Lisbon to Madrid on Saturday 4 Oct 2025.
I plan the following route and it is the most important part of my month long trip so I cannot have anything messed up here….
Lisbon to Entroncamento 08:00 to 08:57 (IC 121)
Entroncamento to Badajoz 09:06 to 12:54 (RE 481)
Badajoz to Merida 14:22 to 15:08 (RE 18777)
Merida to Madrid 15:21 to 20:03 (or 20:23) (TRN17907)(Media Distancia)
Questions:
Tickets are now available on the CP website but costs 27 Euro for first class ticket for Lisbon to Entroncamento (reservations required) and 13.50 Euro for first class Entroncamaneto to Badajoz (no reservations required). Still worried about availability of tickets if bought in Portugal once I arrive there. Can get them at the train station for 5 Euro each? is the Entroncamento - Badajoz train usually quite empty?
Is the 9 min transfer time at Entroncamento a gamble?
For the Badajoz - Merida leg Rail Europe indicates no reservations needed and Eurail indicates reservations required? Which is correct?
In your experience what is the correct arrival time in Madrid? 20:03 or 20:23?
Rail Europe indicates that I need to book st a station for the Merida to Madrid leg (based on date 24 Aug - no results yet for 4 Oct). Should I book this in Portugal too?
How to add this entire journey to my trip? Should I add the individual legs and then toggle to activate/deactivate the different legs?
Apologies for the long post. Your insights are always valued!
Lisbon to Entoncamento will be €5. Entroncamento to Badajoz doesn't have reservations and in October I'd expect it to be relatively quiet.
9 minutes should be OK.
Reservations are mandatory. Rail Europe is not a good planner and is only useful for trains for which it can sell something. In other cases, it can give unexpected/unreliable/incorrect results.
Arrival in Madrid Atocha is 20:03. This train can't be booked yet. Renfe say it's fully booked, but that cant be correct. More likely reservations are not open yet. I don't see an arrival at 20:23. You can also continue on RE 18777 to Puertollano and then an Avant to Madrid, which arrives there 20:27.
Rail Europe still can't book MD trains, and then they always say "go to the station”. Happyrail can normally book MD trains but adds a booking fee.
Whether you add the entire journey in one go or add the individual trains separately is your choice.
The IR 17907 15:21 to 20:03 from Merida to Madrid on 4 October was available to book at Renfe last week. In the meantime it has completely vanished from many booking sites. Are we confident it will return?
Thanks!
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