Which Eurail pass can I buy?

Is it better to buy a Eurail pass or individual tickets (itinerary is provided in question)?

• Hi! I'm planning a European trip this summer, and will hopefully be going for a little over 3 weeks. Here is the itinerary: Paris to Amsterdam. Amsterdam to Munich, preferably on the overnight direct train. Munich to Bern (I know this train does not have a direct route, though I've assumed the second connection is a sleeper because it is an 8 hour trip) Bern to Rome, and I'm unsure how this trip is going to be time-wise or connection wise. I would love this trip to be overnight as well; combining travel and sleep so I get more hours to spend in the cities would be awesome. I'm just generally confused because: a) I'm not sure how the Eurail system works in practice. b) I'm not sure how much the overnight trains will add to my Eurail pass c) I'm not sure which Eurail pass to purchase Also, I'm not sure if I can handle a 6 person couchette sleeper on the train, I may go with the 4 person (which is more expensive, I know). I don't know how small these 'rooms' really are - if anyone has any feedback or more information on that I'd be grateful! =)

• Answer:

  This website will tell you how to determine whether a pass is worth it to you or not: http://www.seat61.com/ . There are links to the various national train sites where you can check schedules and prices. You need to know that even with a rail pass, you still need reservations for some fast, international and night trains and there is an additional fee. See: http://www.eurail.com/planning/train-seat-reservations/domestic-fees , http://www.eurail.com/planning/train-seat-reservations/international-fees , http://www.eurail.com/planning/train-seat-reservations/overnight-fees . Some trains have a quota for the number of rail passes that can be used. If they sell out the quota before you buy a ticket, you need to take another train or pay for an individual ticket on that train. If you book early enough, there is an individual ticket on the Amsterdam - Munich for 69 euro in a 4 berth cuchette night train (59 euro for a 6 berth cuchette). If you have a fixed schedule rather than traveling spontaneously, there are often such discounts on the trains. It takes effort to book the tickets remotely. If you have a Eurail pass, the supplement is 35 euro for the 4 berth compartment; 25 for the 6 berth compartment) http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e?dbkanal_003=L01_S01_D001_KAF0001_affilinet-2894-Reiseauskunft-UK-277984_LZ03 I take the night trains here often. Neither the 4 or 6 berth compartment bothers me particularly, but I have friends who prefer fewer berths. The size is the same - in some cases, the 4 berth may have 6 beds, but they only sell four of them. Bern to Rome takes approximately 7 hours if you take one of the options with one or two changes. If you want to take a night train, the trip will be about 13 hours with almost two hours in Milan between trains. You leave Bern at 6:34 pm and Milan at 11:20 pm arriving in Rome at 7:27 the next morning. For the train from Bern to Milan, you would have to pay 10 euro for the pass. The normal fare for a 2nd class individual ticket is 64.90 euro, but there are several levels of discount. The cheapest is the "smart fare" for 19 euro. From Milan to Rome, the supplement with a eurail pass is 30.50 euro for a 4 berth compartment (there are none with 6 berths). The individual ticket would cost you 63 euro for the berth. You need to pick your specific options and add up the costs for individual tickets using the various national train websites and add up the cost of the pass plus all the supplements for the pass to determine whether there is an advantage to the pass. Given the available discounts, it's likely that you could do better with individual tickets especially if you buy them in advance. Obviously, that requires more effort. If you do buy a pass, you would need one that covers France the Benelux countries, Germany, Switzerland and Italy