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| Picture courtesy of Eurail website |
If you're planning to travel around Europe, you've probably heard of the
Eurail (or
Interrail for EU citizens). If not, you probably want to check that out. You can either opt for buying a
pass which gives you more flexibility (maybe) in choosing your journeys or buying it separately for every journey you take. Train tickets are not exactly cheap here but it is one of the best way to travel as the train stations are usually near to the centre of the cities. It
can be cheap if you buy it earlier online though, so the best thing to do is research and plan long before your actual travel dates!
Now, the real question is, is an Eurail pass worth it?
IMHO, I think it would be a good choice for
- travelers below 25 years old because they have a cheaper price for youths.
- travelers with no definite itinerary. You like to plan as you go. This pass gives you flexibility so you can hop onto any train at any time to whever.
- Your travel is not revolving to/from France, Italy, and Spain.
I am going to travel with my mother and my 26-year-old lover, therefore we all have to take the 1st class pass as there is no option for 2nd class for Adults (25 years old & above). So, for us, it's not really a cheaper alternative and also I like to set and plan everything before I go somewhere and we have a tight schedule since we only have 27 days to travel around.
Some points that I would like to highlight for non-Youth travellers/family traveling together.
Why the passes are not a good choice (in my case, for family travelling together)?
- Doesn't really save money because
- Adult passes has only 1st class pass option.
- When travelling to/from some countries (France, Spain, Italy), it is compulsory to make reservation and pay extra money. For more info about reservation fees (like 3 euro to whooping 89 euro), please check this page.
- of course, when taking night trains, you need to reserve a place and pay extra too.
- if you buy p2p (point to point) tickets online, it's cheaper but only if you buy them earlier (like 1-3 months if you are travelling during Summer)
- Not really convenient because
- The need for reservation
- in some train company, you cannot make reservation online. For example, I used almost 3 hours to figure out how to make reservation for Eurail ticket holder on SCNF France train. They only have the options for Interrail ticket holder online. Not sure if it is the same as Eurail pass, but I don't want to take a risk. So, it's either I make a phone call to ask them about Interrail/Eurail or just make reservation with the call OR be physically there (a train station) for that.
- Most French trains have quota of how many pass holder can board the train!!
- Therefore, making your life miserable if you don't reserve as early as possible especially during peak hour.
- An extra thing to worry since
- your pass is the only ticket you'll need
- if you lose your pass, you'll
die perish suffer in agony
- it would be better to buy the theft & loss insurance but you have to go through some procedures to continue your journey with a replacement ticket or so.
Therefore, for the cost-conscious, the best advice that I can give you is to plan carefully and note down all the information that you find and compare your choices before buying anything.
Truth to be told, I was very tempted to buy the Global Rail Pass from Eurail when I saw the page. BUT of course, I didn't know then about the compulsory reservation & fee, extra cost for night trains, and also the quota for French trains. So, don't be blinded by only the goods, be sure to find out all the relevant information.
Other useful sites that I used!
Some other things that I did during my planning. Very important websites that will help making your life easier if you are planning to travel a lot
seat61 - The best guide you can have to know how to get around with trains (not only in Europe!)
The guy behind seat61 has also written down very comprehensive details about anything and everything about how to travel about and save money!
Pinterest - I love Pinterest! I use it for arts & crafts and recipes. Right now, I'm using it for my travel too! I mostly find "things to do" or "things to eat" for a specific city. Very illustrative, love it. Makes me more excited for the trip!
Wikitravel - A wikipedia for travellers! A lot of words to read but very useful. You can choose the cities you are interested and you will find information about how to get there, what kind of transportation they have, place of interest, list of places/church/restaurants and a whole lot of information in one place.
Some websites that I use to book my accommodations.
Booking.com
I use this one a lot because they have really good deals, it's easy to use, you can collect all your booking and view it in one place AND they have a really great web interface. Very well orientated. Plus most of the hostels I found
do not charge me anything for booking and I can cancel my booking whenever I want (well, not whenever, it depends on the hotel policy. But usually 1 day before arrival) without any fees!
Plus I was travelling with my mum and boyfriend, I was mostly searching for private rooms with private bathrooms (because I know my mum likes to be clean and hygienic). We were travelling in groups of 3, so you know, it's not really easy to find accommodation for an odd number group.
HostelWorld
Best for solo travellers & backpackers! I think almost every backpacker use this. It wasn't really cheaper for me because I was booking for 3 person and again, the need for private bathrooms which is not provided in hostels and shared dorms. Mostly the dorms are big (like 4-16 ppl in a dorm). I found better deal on Booking.com.
AirBnB
Many do recommend AirBnB when I posted about my Rome trip and also shared my experience about
my first AND last couchsurfing experience. I find that the places are not cheap, but of course very homely. Perfect for families and a group of friends I guess. I also didn't like that I need to wait for the owners to give consent when I want to rent the place. Very time consuming. I'm not a very patient person you see. So far, I've only used it to book a place in Amsterdam.
Couchsurfing??
Yes, couchsurfing is the best way to go if you are finding for a
free place to stay but it's too much of a hassle. After my experience with my first host, I've completely thrown this idea of using CS out of the goddamn window.
First of all, there's too many weird guys on CS currently and you have to ask like A LOT of people to get a confirmation of a place to stay for a night or two.
Secondly, the really good host are always high on demand so they don't really bother to reply anyone that they deemed unworthy.
Thirdly, you're taking a risk because you might be kicked out for some "emergency situation".
Fourth, since you're living in somebody's place, you can't really do anything you want.
And hey, there is no such thing as a
free night stay in this world. Somehow, you'll have to
give something back. Be it your time, your knowledge,
your virginity or honor.... you get my point. If you have many friends around the globe, why not ask them instead of a total stranger who you didn't know anything about? Anyway, I know I sound discouraging but I'm just putting my two cents in.
I don't care if you are a female or a male, you're still prone to attacks! I've heard stories about old mans making advance of young guys travelling alone too.
You have been warned!
If you need
real discouragement, please read this
13 Creeped Out Travelers Explain The One Couchsurfing Host That Left Them Crawling In Their Skin. I personally love #8 :X
Hope all these infos prove useful to someone out there! Have fun travelling AND planning. :)
