Hello,
I plan on studying abroad in the Hague for 2 weeks and Zurich for 2 weeks.... the cheapest flight I can find is to Zurich or Brussels... Id like to see Paris as well....
my general plan is Brussels/Zurich (pending where I fly in to) - Paris on one day ... Paris-- Hague anohter day... and Hague-- Paris yet another .. then Paris to Zurich for the last... (all via train.. hopefully)
is it worth it to get the 5 day 3 country pass for about 300 (i am a youth), which seems like a good deal until I see I have to pay the reservation fees... would this work out in the long run??
From my understanding, my time in Netherlands and Switz im better off travelling the local trains?
Any advice or anything would be greatly appreciated
Reply to this > is it worth it to get the 5 day 3 country pass for about 300 (i am a youth), which seems like a good deal until I see I have to pay the reservation fees... would this work out in the long run?
There are hefty surcharges for rail pass holders if you use the Thalys Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam.
http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/fares/pass-and-interrail/Paris/Bruxelles
http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/fares/pass-and-interrail/Paris/Amsterdam
Between Brussels and Amsterdam you have however the alternative to use the slower hourly IC Beneluxtrein.
Also the TGVs between Paris and Zürich require compulsory reservation. Plus the number of seats for rail pass holders is limited.
> my general plan is Brussels/Zurich (pending where I fly in to) - Paris
The question if this is really cheaper than to fly into Paris. And it will cost you half a day. Don't know how much time you have allocated for Paris.
Or into Frankfurt which is at least between Amsterdam and Zürich. Would you allow a route Frankfurt - the Hague - Paris - Zürich - Frankfurt.
> From my understanding, my time in Netherlands and Switz im better off travelling the local trains?
Not sure about the Netherlands, but in Switzerland there is no fare difference between local and far distance trains. This is rather typical for larger countries like France or Germany.
Swiss Travel System
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
SBB (Swiss Rail)
http://www.sbb.ch
SNCF (French Railways)
http://www.sncf-voyages.com
SNCB (Belgian Railways)
http://www.b-rail.be
NS (Dutch Railways)
http://www.ns.nl
DB timetable (German Rail)
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
Reply to this I don't know if you have left already but here's my answer anyway. I used the Eurailpass three times in 1968, 1974, and 1980. I could just get on any train without reservations or surcharges. Last summer I bought a Eurailpass for my son who was studying the summer and fall semesters in Rome, and had most of August to travel. He used the pass to go to Switzerland, but when he tried to catch the train from Bern to Geneva and Geneva to Nice, they told him that all the Eurailpass seats were taken from Geneva to Nice, and were going to charge him the full price (over 200 Swiss Francs). He took the train back to Rome instead. So unless you reserve well in advance and are prepared for paying reservation fees and surcharges for high speed rail, then I wouldn't advise going the Eurail route. Go to raileurope.com to get the ticket prices for each of the legs of your journey to see if Eurailpass with surcharges is cheaper.
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