Rail travel in Europe

[summervaca]

My husband and I were lucky enough to book air and hotel to Germany using Marriott Reward points for a two week stay in June 2009. We would like to visit various areas of Germany and take a trip to France to tour Normandy and other WWII sites. The last time we were there, we were young college student types and traveled the usual way. My question is, is there a rail pass that is more appropriate for 42 year old parents vs. college students? I do not need fancy, but more comfort than I would have needed at 20. Also, any idea how long it would be to travel by rail from Berlin to Paris? How about Normandy?

Thanks in advance!!

[Talent312]

Unless you plan to hit the rails almost every day, you may find that point to point tickets are far cheaper than one of those tourist rail passess. Check out the Germain Rail website... http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
They say that Berlin to Paris is ~ 8:15 to 9:15 hours.

[jimbosee]

summervaca,***** Hi,******** jimbosee from,Melbourne,Australia.My wife,(Pat)and I,in the 90's,on three occasions,1994,Eurorail,(3 months),1996,Europass,(28 days in 2 months),and 1999,Eurorail,(3 months),used this mode of travel.We were in our late 50's--early 60's,and we both agreed that for us, it was the best way to travel Europe.The Rail network throughout Europe is vast,and depending on what you want to do and where you want to go,rail is wonderful.You can use your pass daily,locally,or to visit nearby Cities or to travel from country to country,no traffic,no parking,no worries.If you visit the Eurorail site,www.eurail.com you can see the different types of passes,and judge whether this is the way for you to go,however you must buy your Eurorail/Europass before you leave America.If you use a rail pass to it's fullest,then you will see that it makes travel,much less expensive,and then, just sit back and watch the world go by.As a bonus,Western European trains especially are clean,fast,and always on time.Enjoy,Regards.Jim Seedsman ***************************** jimbosee

[Edmund]

Hi, Europe is a wonderful place, and travelling by train there is always an awesome experience, thanks for the nice information.

[Mimi39]

Check Rick Steves website and books for lots of good information on rail travel and Europe in general: www.ricksteves.com

[Carolinian]

Rail travel is great in Europe, but in most cases the railpasses are a bad deal. One exception was the Europe East Rail Pass, but I am not sure if it even exists or at the good price it used to have, and even then it only saved you money if most of your travel was in Austria. I always buy point to point tickets, usually at the station after I arrive. Most US outlets overprice point to point tickets, sometimes by huge amounts.

[MULTIZ321]

The European East Rail Pass is still available

More info on European East Pass

How do I use a Rail Pass?

Eurail Global Pass and others too

Getting to Normandy by Train from Paris

Richard

[Ireland'sCall]

http://www.seat61.com/

G

[summervaca]

Thank you all for the great information. I will be having fun sifting through it the next couple of days!

[Eilsia]

Trains are a convenient mode of short, medium and long distance travel across Europe. Western and central Europe has a dense and widely used railway network spanning the entire continent.

[Carolinian]

One thing to remember on German trains is that there are often connections that are very short - 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, etc. From my experience, the regional trains usually make those tight connections okay, but it is the premium ICE trains that you are more likely to have run 10 or 15 minutes late and blow the connection. Germans almost never hold trains for connecting passengers from a slightly late train. If you have an ICE train in your itinerary, it is wise to see when the next train from your connecting point, after the one you might miss, runs. It may be in 30 minutes or and hour, or in some cases 2 hours, or you may have the last train of the day which would be a huge problem to miss. Also it might not only leave later but also take a different route which can make you even later to your destination.