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Museums, castles, and eurorail
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Buying passes in advanced?
d Posts: 3
Hello everyone,
I'm going to be leaving for Europe in less than a month! On my 19th birthday to be exact, and I have a a couple of questions.
Has anyone bought Museum passes in advanced? Is it worth it and what exactly does it help get you in to?
Also, I have been researching Eurorail passes, and I plan to go to almost every country in Europe, but I noticed there are different passes and there isn't just one that covers every country. Can anyone give me some recommendations on the passes I should get (perferably the cheapest way!)
Thanks guys I appreciate any advice!
Reply to this
I'm going to be leaving for Europe in less than a month! On my 19th birthday to be exact, and I have a a couple of questions.
Has anyone bought Museum passes in advanced? Is it worth it and what exactly does it help get you in to?
Also, I have been researching Eurorail passes, and I plan to go to almost every country in Europe, but I noticed there are different passes and there isn't just one that covers every country. Can anyone give me some recommendations on the passes I should get (perferably the cheapest way!)
Thanks guys I appreciate any advice!
Reply to this
B Posts: 553
How long do you plan to be in Europe? It's easy to say you want to visit every country, but depending on how much time you have, what you really want to see and do, and how much money you have to do it all on can really change things.
As you are 19, you can save money getting the Eurail Youth pass which allows for unlimited 2nd class travel for a certain time period. Again, it depends how long you are going to be there, which also determines how much time you wish to spend in each location... there are a number of different passes, knowing your schedule helps plan it out a little better.
I bought a 15 day pass for a 3 week trip, and had I not lost it (and not bought the insurance) it would have more than paid for itself. As it stood, when I lost it was almost broke even on what I would have spent, and what the pass cost. Keep in mind though, I was over 26, had to buy the 1st class ticket, and traveled as such.
Some countries are a lot cheaper to travel in that others. Italy is pretty cheap when compared to France and Germany. Eastern Europe is even cheaper. Taking sleepers (couchettes) have extra cost involved. Traveling on an Eurail pass into Eastern Europe will only get you to the border of that country, you must then pay a supplement from the border to your destination. (you can purchase this from your departure city with no trouble, but keep that in mind).
Eurail passes in the UK will not help you. British Rail is costly. Keep that in mind. I believe you can get a discount with the Eurail pass going from Paris to London though. But from there, you'll be on your own.
Consider Ryan Air or other value airlines. I went from Paris to Bologna, Italy via Air Lingus for less than the cost of a train ticket. (That was when I lost my pass).
If you have a railpass, and believe you should be able to travel the local railroads/undergrounds for free, or discounted, take your pass to a major window, or a railpass office. I had so much trouble trying to use mine in Paris, I thought I had been mistaken that I could travel the RER for free... I thus gave up, and spent a ton of money shuttling around from one place to the other wondering if I should have bought a day pass or something instead.
Give a little more info, hopefully someone else can chime in with some extra stuff for ya. Reply to this
As you are 19, you can save money getting the Eurail Youth pass which allows for unlimited 2nd class travel for a certain time period. Again, it depends how long you are going to be there, which also determines how much time you wish to spend in each location... there are a number of different passes, knowing your schedule helps plan it out a little better.
I bought a 15 day pass for a 3 week trip, and had I not lost it (and not bought the insurance) it would have more than paid for itself. As it stood, when I lost it was almost broke even on what I would have spent, and what the pass cost. Keep in mind though, I was over 26, had to buy the 1st class ticket, and traveled as such.
Some countries are a lot cheaper to travel in that others. Italy is pretty cheap when compared to France and Germany. Eastern Europe is even cheaper. Taking sleepers (couchettes) have extra cost involved. Traveling on an Eurail pass into Eastern Europe will only get you to the border of that country, you must then pay a supplement from the border to your destination. (you can purchase this from your departure city with no trouble, but keep that in mind).
Eurail passes in the UK will not help you. British Rail is costly. Keep that in mind. I believe you can get a discount with the Eurail pass going from Paris to London though. But from there, you'll be on your own.
Consider Ryan Air or other value airlines. I went from Paris to Bologna, Italy via Air Lingus for less than the cost of a train ticket. (That was when I lost my pass).
If you have a railpass, and believe you should be able to travel the local railroads/undergrounds for free, or discounted, take your pass to a major window, or a railpass office. I had so much trouble trying to use mine in Paris, I thought I had been mistaken that I could travel the RER for free... I thus gave up, and spent a ton of money shuttling around from one place to the other wondering if I should have bought a day pass or something instead.
Give a little more info, hopefully someone else can chime in with some extra stuff for ya. Reply to this
B Posts: 23
You need to narrow down what countries you're going to before you worry about what Euro pass to buy. Then we can help you pick out the best one (ones) to have.
For a lot of the major cities, you can get passes that let you use the public transportation system of that city for a certain amount of time, and it'll also give you discounts on local attractions and museums. Check into the Munich Welcome Card and The Vienna Card. I know there's also one for Prague. Reply to this
For a lot of the major cities, you can get passes that let you use the public transportation system of that city for a certain amount of time, and it'll also give you discounts on local attractions and museums. Check into the Munich Welcome Card and The Vienna Card. I know there's also one for Prague. Reply to this
B Posts: 553
I know there's also one for Prague.
Maybe I didn't get around Prague as much as I should/could have. But I took the train from the main terminal to my hostel, and that was it. The only time I took a train again was back to the terminal to catch a train out of there. For gods sake, don't miss your train out of Prague... ugh...
My Hostel wasn't in the Old Town Square, but fairly close... about a 5-10 minute walk. From there I walked everywhere. Jewish Quarter, Prague Castle, St.Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, Fred & Ginger building... etc
Can't remember what the supplement is/was from the border to Prague, but it wasn't much. Reply to this
d Posts: 13
Train tickets in the Czech Republic are pretty cheap.
If you want to get a feel for where you can go and what you want to see, you should explore Europe beforehand with the Google Earth program. Go to exploreglobe.net to get locations of castles, cities, sights, etc. and there are also links to train schedules, etc. From there it is simple to plan where you will fly in, decide on destinations you want to visit and link them up with train times and places marked on the map for sleeping, etc. It's kind of like taking a vacation on your computer and although cheaper than the real thing, it is NO comparison. It will get you ready tho and thinking in the EUROtraveler mode.
Reply to this
If you want to get a feel for where you can go and what you want to see, you should explore Europe beforehand with the Google Earth program. Go to exploreglobe.net to get locations of castles, cities, sights, etc. and there are also links to train schedules, etc. From there it is simple to plan where you will fly in, decide on destinations you want to visit and link them up with train times and places marked on the map for sleeping, etc. It's kind of like taking a vacation on your computer and although cheaper than the real thing, it is NO comparison. It will get you ready tho and thinking in the EUROtraveler mode.
Reply to this