Europe Travel Tips: To Buy A Railpass, Or Not To Buy A Railpass…

May 7th, 2007 by Pia Taylor

European Rail Travel

When travelling in Europe, a number of budget transport options await you.

You could cruise around with other backpackers on one or more of Busabout’s Travel Loops, or try out their more flexible Flexipass.

Flying on low cost airlines is also an option, though the airports used by budget airlines tend to be in rather less central locations than bus depots and train stations and getting into town can often work out more expensive than the ticket itself.

Or, as many backpackers end up doing, you could buy yourself a European railpass and country-hop by train. But unless you’re doing a fair whack of travelling, and covering a whole lot of ground, buying a pass isn’t always going to work out to be the best (ie cheapest) option.

One of my favourite websites for train travel information is Seat61, a fantastic resource for the confused traveller, or anyone who needs good information on how best to get from place to place.

It’s there that you’ll find sound advice on whether to buy a railpass or stick to point-to-point tickets (ie which will work out cheaper).

Another great guide I’ve recently discovered (and downloaded) is Rick Steve’s free rail guide in easy-to-use pdf format. It’s a big document, but the pdf format means you can print out only the bits that you’ll find most useful.

It’ll take a bit of planning, but if you have some idea of where you plan to go, or even would like to go, you can work out which options are going to save you the most money.

RailEurope

Related entries:
Backpackers Bookmarks: Alternative Airlines Web Portal
Europe’s Low Cost Airlines: Put To The Test

Travel resources backpackers might find useful:
Hostels in Europe – find and book cheap hostels online

Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers
Travel newsletter – sign up for our free monthly travel newsletter ‘From The Road’

(Photo: Christopher Hylarides/Flickr)

Posted in Destinations, General Travel, Transport, Travel Tips & Planning, Travel Tools