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What is Eurail?

By Kathleen Crislip, About.com

Question: What is Eurail?
Answer: "Eurail" is the Eurail Group, a consortium of 30 European railways and companies and a few shipping lines. Eurail, which has been around since 1959, sells Eurail passes for European train (and some boat) travel; passes run the gamut from the gargantuan Eurail Global Pass (allows travel to all countries within the Eurail network) to Eurail single country passes (which generally allow travel between just two-three countries).

Eurail passes are bought for a specific length of time, like one month, and a specific number of Eurail travel days therein, like three days in one month. Eurail does not sell point-to-point European train tickets (single trip tickets between two destinations).

Though folks (like us) tend to call European trains "Eurail," there's actually no such animal as a Eurail train: any trains within the Eurail umbrella are being run by one of the railway companies in the many countries which affiliate with Eurail.

More About Eurail

Learn more about Eurail, passes and European train travel:

How to Buy Eurail Passes

Learn about buying Eurail passes:

    "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."
    -- Oscar Wilde

Return to Eurail Passes | Return to Backpacking Europe

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