Rail passes – to buy or not to buy?

Should I buy a Eurail pass? Or perhaps my travel itinerary will work better with a different kind of rail pass (InterRail pass, Swiss pass, French rail pass, Balkan Flexi pass, etc.) from a variety of train passes offered for traveling by train in European countries? Is there a chance to purchase a set of point-to-point train tickets, which at the end might turn out to be cheaper than the rail pass' price? Is Eurail pass actually makes sense and worth it? How cheap point-to-point rail tickets can be? Every day questions like this are being asked by many potential travelers planning their rail vacations or just a few train trips in Europe. Often it can be a really difficult choice to make, but the right decision might actually save you a fortune on your rail journeys in Europe. That is the reason why it makes sense to spend a bit of extra time and take into consideration all the pros & cons of train passes. EuropeTrainsGuide.com team wants to help you with all this, so below we list a few important arguments for & against buying a train passes:

Why not to buy a train pass:

Why to buy a train pass:

Supplements & Seat Reservations for Pass holders:

 

Austria (OeBB):

in Austria:

International:

 

Belgium (SNCB):

in Belgium:

International:

 

Bosnia and Herzegowina (ZFBH/ZRS)  :

in BiH:


Bulgaria (BDZ) :

in Bulgaria:

International:   

 

Croatia (HZ):

in Croatia

International:          

 

Czech Republic (CD):

in Czech Republic

International:          

 

Denmark (DSB):

International:     

 

Finland (VR):

in Finland

International:

 

France (SNCF):

in France:

International:

 

Germany (DB):

in Germany

International:

 

Greece (OSE):

in Greece:

International:  

 

Hungary (MAV):

in Hungary:

International:

 

Ireland (IE):

 

Italy (FS):

in Italy:

International:

 

FYR Macedonia (MZ):

in Macedonia:

International:

 

Montenegro (ZCG):

International:

 

Netherlands (NS):

in Netherlands:

International:

 

Norway (NSB):

in Norway:

International:


Poland (PKP):

in Poland:

International:

 

Portugal (CP):

in Portugal:

International:


Romania (CFR):

in Romania:

International:

 

Serbia (ZS):

in Serbia:

International


Slovakia (ZSSK):

in Slovakia:

International:

 

Slovenia (SZ):

in Slovenia:

International:

 

Spain (Renfe):

in Spain:

International:

 

Sweden (SJ):

in Sweden:

International:

 

Switzerland (SBB):

in Switzerland:

International:

On some minor private railways pass holders are entitled only to 50% discount (e.g. Interrail Youth Passs on Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn), others like Jungfraujoch Bahn do not participate in the agrement at all, so make sure you check with the private railway website before planning your rail trip.

 

Turkey (TCDD):

in Turkey:

International:

Print