Eurail vs. point-to-point tickets...and so much more. HELP!

My boyfriend and I will be travelling throughout Europe for a month in July. We\'re thinking of June 27th ish through July 24th ish. I was originally going to buy a round trip ticket in and out of Paris and buy a 3 week eurail pass. However, the more I read into things, I wonder if all the \"supplements\" you have to worry about with the eurail pass would make it worth it still?

We\'re landing in Paris like I said (but open to suggestions there as well). I would love to hear from anyone that has done this before when the best time to go is, if the majority of the month of July is a good time, what are the things we should definitely see in each of the following places I\'ll list, am I leaving out any amazing country that we\'ll be sorry we didn\'t see, and what\'s the best way to do the train travel...eurail or point-to-point, especially considering a few overnight trains we\'ll take and all the supplements? I don\'t want to book ahead, so if we did the point to point it would be upon arrival in each place. Here\'s our preliminary itinerary, that is definitely subject to change once we get there:

Depart Denver Saturday, June 27
Paris, France
Arrive Monday, June 29
Stay 6/29, 6/30
Leave for Brussels 7/1
Brussels, Belgium
Stay 7/1
Leave for Amsterdam 7/2
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Stay 7/2
Leave for Berlin 7/3 OVERNIGHT train
Berlin, Germany
Get here 7/4 am
Stay 7/4
Leave for Prague 7/5 am
Prague, Czech Republic
Stay 7/5, 7/6
Leave for Munich 7/7
Munich, Germany
Stay 7/7
Leave 7/8 OVERNIGHT train
Venice, Italy
Arrive 7/9
Stay 7/9, 7/10
Leave for Florence 7/11 am
Florence, Italy
Stay 7/11, 7/12
Leave for Rome 7/13 am
Rome, Italy
Stay in Rome 7/13, 7/14
Leave back up the coast 7/15
Traveling back up the coast to Nice
Stay along the way 7/15, 7/16, 7/17
Nice, France
Arrive in Nice 7/18
Stay 7/18
Leave for Barcelona 7/19 OVERNIGHT train
Barcelona, Spain
Arrive 7/20
Stay 7/20, 7/21?
Leave for Paris 7/21 or 7/22? OVERNIGHT train
Paris, France
Leave Paris for home on 7/23
Denver, USA
Arrive 7/24 am

Also, I have budgeted about $10,000 for 2 people-- to include roundtrip flights, train tickets (based on the $760 first class global eurail pass), food and lodging ($25 per person each day for food and $50 a night for lodging for the entire month), and spending money to include souvenires and admission prices for attractions. Does this sound reasonable? I\'m hoping I\'m overbudeting, because the last thing I want is to get over there and not be able to afford something.

Any help, comments, suggestions, words of encouragement on any of this would be great!!! Thanks so much for your help! Reply to this

Looks like you planned this out well! My brother and I are planning to do the same thing during July, most likely from July 1 to the 31st. I was looking into the rail passes as well and thinking about getting the travel for one month option. It seems to be the cheapest to do something along those lines. I don't think I have a grasp on the travel time between locations though. It looks like you're on the right track Reply to this

Thanks guys! I've actually been researching hard core lately. I really really didn't want to have to book stuff in advance because I wanted to come and go as we pleased, but it's looking more like we're going to have to since we're going at a busy time. I've found www.raileurope.com to be SUPER helpful. As far as the passes, I think I'm going with that option; however, BCRose, you should be aware that reservation fees are almost always required I'm learning and those can range anywhere from $11 - $40ish on top of the pass. It's still definitely cheaper than buying all point-to-point tickets though. raileurope.com also has train schedules and such so that you can figure out how long it takes to get from point a to point b. And thanks martybix on the budget. I've upped that to $50 per person each day for food and $100 each night for lodging. I guess I thought I could find hostels and talk cheap hotels down to sometimes even $20. that's what I had heard from people that had done this before. Reply to this

Yep. sucks huh? I had no idea until just last week. Like I said, if you visit the Raileurope.com, there is a link there under the passes that says "reservations for pass holders." that will let you type in point a and point b and will give you what the fee will be, depending on if you want a fast train, sleeper, etc. I think there is maybe one trip in all of ours that doesn't require a fee. You don't HAVE to book these "reservations" until right before you get on the train, but I've also heard since we're going at peak seasons that booking ahead of time is a good idea because trains fill up and you might not get the ones for the times you want. But then, that takes the flexibility out of the trip. Reply to this