Question: What is a Eurail Pass?
Answer: A Eurail pass is a comprehensive European train ticket. There as many varieties of Eurail pass as you can shake a backpack at, from a Eurail pass covering two countries up to the big daddy Global Eurail pass covering 22 countries. The concept of a Eurail pass was created by the Eurail Group, a 51-year-old consortium of 30 European railways and companies and a few shipping lines, to facilitate easy train travel between different European countries. Initially, the Eurail pass eliminated the need for buying separate train tickets in various currencies in each country; for several decades, American travelers have been able to buy and receive a Eurail pass in the USA, using American dollars, making buying a Eurail pass an indispensable part of any European backpacking trip planning.
What You Need to Know About Using a Eurail Pass
Using a Eurail pass is a snap these days (the European Union, or EU, is largely covered by a Eurail pass), but you do need to know how a Eurail pass works (helps avoid figuring it out in the middle of the night at a train station in a country where you don't speak the language -- a situation which has its own charms, mainly in the retelling, but there's generally plenty of that kind of "adventure" in travel as it is). Get the whole story on how to use a Eurail pass: Start Here----> How a Eurail Pass Works- How (and Why) to Validate a Eurail Pass
- How Do "Days" on a Eurail Pass Work?
- How Do European Night Trains Work?
What You Need to Know About Buying a Eurail Pass
A Eurail pass can be anything from the gigranous Global Pass (allows travel to all countries within the group's network) to single country passes (which generally allow travel between two-three countries, despite the name).Learn about buying a Eurail pass:
- Buying a Multi-country Eurail Pass
- Buying a Single-country Eurail Pass
- Current Eurail Pass Specials
- How to Buy European Night Train Tickets On a Eurail Pass
- How to Make Reservations on European Night Trains With a Eurail Pass
Eurail does not sell point-to-point European train tickets (single trip tickets between two destinations), but you can do that before you leave the USA or at a European train station (try to avoid that middle-of-the-night thing for at least your first week or so in Europe, though...).
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."
-- Oscar Wilde
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