The Ultimate Guide to the Interrail/Eurail Pass
If you’re travelling through Europe, one of the most popular modes of travel is by train using the Interrail/Eurail pass to use on trains throughout Europe
Ed and I had one for 3 weeks and travelled on trains for 10 days throughout the 3 weeks. It allows you to travel anywhere in Europe at any time, and you can hop on any train you fancy or plan your trip to a T with reservations and itineraries.
We were quite confused about how the passes worked before we started using them and were really apprehensive when first using it too and getting it stamped! But it is so easy!
There are multiple steps you have to take to be able to use your Eurail pass. Obviously buying the correct one for you, but getting it stamped and what it includes.
What’s the Difference Between Eurail and Interrail?
The only difference is, if you’re travelling from within the EU. Ed and I, therefore, had an Interrail pass since we're from the UK and we were apart of the EU at the time. However since Brexit, it is still currently Interrail if you’re from the UK
But if you're from outside the EU, such as the USA or Canada, then you will need a Eurail pass. Unfortunately for those outside the EU, those passes are slightly more expensive.
There is discussion with Eurail to whether the UK will now be considered Eurail or Interrail after leaving the EU. But more information about this will be on their website as the situation develops
Different Passes and What They Mean
When you’re looking at what passes to buy it can be pretty confusing. There are multiple options for the Eurail pass depending on how you're wanting to use it.
Global vs Country Passes
Global pass: The global pass includes the opportunity to travel to every country in Europe. You can travel to multiple cities in multiple countries.
One country pass: You can travel within one country only. Good for countries like Italy to travel to Milan, Venice, Verona, Lake Garda, Rome and Naples but cannot travel to another country on this pass.
Pass Options
5 days within 1 month: means you can travel from 12-23:59 on 5 days within 1 month
4 days within 1 month: you can travel from 12-23:59 on 4 days within 1 month
7 days within 1 month: You can travel from 12-23:59 on 7 days within 1 month
10 days within 2 months: You can travel from 12-23:59 on 10 days within 2 consecutive months
15 days within 2 months: You can travel from 12-23:59 on 15 days within 2 consecutive months
15 days: You can travel on any day, as many times as you like, across 15 days
22 days: You can travel on any day, as many times as you like, across 22 days
1 month: You can travel on any day, as many times as you like, across a 1 month period
2 months: same as above, but across 2 consecutive months
3 months: as above, but across 3 consecutive months
If you wanted longer than 1 month, you used to have to buy multiple passes. They now do a much larger range of passes compared to when I bought mine including up to 3 months of unlimited travel
Booking Reservations with Eurail
What and Why May You Need a Reservation?
Reservations are needed for night trains, usually fast trains, and can be optional on other trains. They are reservations for your seat or couchette at a small extra cost.
It is a personal preference for what reservations you get or if you get any at all. If you're having a more spontaneous trip then you won't book reservations before you go. But if you're trying to get onto a train that requires a reservation, the Eurail app will tell you and you can buy your reservation at the train station.
I booked more reservations than we needed. Ed and I both experience anxiety at times and the thought of not being able to get onto a train was too much.
However, when we used our pass, due to being September it wasn't as busy. We wasted money on reservations which weren't required due to a quiet train. Yes, it may have been a £12 here or there for my seat, but it was money that didn't have to be spent.
Travelling in the summer can be completely different. Using fast trains you usually need a reservation. But popular routes you might also need one.
Unfortunately, you're not really going to know this, and you have to use your own intuition. If it's a train in the morning, which is faster than smaller connections, in the summer, you're more likely to need a reservation. But the choice is up to you.
if you also don’t really mind not getting a seat to save on the money then even better!
Booking a Reservation and Whether You Need One
When you’ve chosen your pass, and received everything in the post, you can then have access to the reservation portal on their website. This allows you to import any potential journeys and see whether a reservation is required.
For some of the larger quicker trains such as night trains, Eurostar, or Warsaw to Krakow you may need a reservation. It will state no reservation required, reservation optional, and reservation required.
Some routes are totally up to you. On the image below, it shows a train from Vienna to Budapest which has an 'optional' reservation status, it then tells you on the side if you were to get a reservation how much it would approximately cost.
I found the estimations pretty accurate. We got reservations for all the trains that required one and ones which were optional. I didn’t know what to expect but travelling in September but it wasn’t too busy.
If travelling in summer months I would definitely get reservations for the optional fast trains as you don’t want to spend a 4-hour journey standing or on the floor.
One train we had reservations for, our seats weren’t even there because it was quiet, so they took a carriage off. Other trains were also really quiet
Using the Reservation Portal
By using the reservation portal, you can request reservations by importing all of your trains and adding them to the basket. They usually respond within a few days whether there are seats available which you can then pay for.
Before requesting your reservation, they give you an estimated price of a seat however this can vary. Especially for night trains where you can get a 6 bedded cabin to a single bedded cabin, and obviously one costs a lot more than the other
You can then pay for all of your reservations at once and either receive your reservation tickets in the post or be sent them by email. One problem with this is that all trains aren’t on the reservation portal such as most of the Italian ones and some night trains.
The website gives good instructions on how to book reservations for Italian trains. But if you're unsure you can always email the interrail/Eurail team and they’re pretty prompt with their replies and really helpful.
If you're not planning your trip so much before you go, you can also buy reservations at the train station however can be more expensive.
Getting Your Pass Stamped
When you want to start your trip, you need to get your pass stamped at your first station. Your ticket includes one outbound journey and one inbound journey in your country.
So if you’re from Manchester, your ticket includes a trip from Manchester to London and then out to the continent and the same coming back. But in the first station, to use your ticket you need someone at a kiosk to stamp it to verify it is now in use.
I went to a kiosk and simply explained it had to be stamped to be verified and that was fine, the women stamped it and I was good to go!
When and How to Fill Out Your Pass
How to Use It
When you receive your pass. It includes your ticket, as well as a folded bit of paper and a long page of boxes to fill in during your trip, including the start destination, to the final destination, and time of the train. If you’re getting connecting trains you must write them all on separately too.
I would suggest doing this for each train before you board the train, but don’t write them all in before you trip as things change.
You also need to fill in the 2 dates when your pass starts and ends. Once you’ve written them in, the conductor stamps your pass, a reservation ticket (if required), and often your passport. I never needed to show my passport but I know on other trains people have had to show them.
Write It Carefully
Write out your Eurail pass carefully! For 3 weeks, I think I had 2 rows left on my sheet. You can get extra sheets but easier if you do it neatly.
The small boxes for the start and finish dates of your pass also need to be accurate. If not, you can be asked to leave the train, or if you have a different train wrote on your sheet.
You also don’t want to write the wrong date on your train and lose a travel day just by making a little mistake
Using the Eurail Pass for Night Trains
So night trains are a little different. If your night train departs AFTER 7 pm and arrives in the morning AFTER 4 am you only need to put the day of arrival on your pass. Therefore saving you a day’s travel on your pass! Which can be very confusing
Night trains are a whole different experience and a way of using your pass. I wrote a whole post on this, check it out here
Travelling Days
If you need to travel on another train to get to the station your night train is departing from, then you need to use 2 days of travelling for the night train.
For instance, if you're travelling from Budapest to Venice and the night train departs directly from Budapest and arrived in Venice in the morning after 4 am, you will only use 1 day of travel.
However, Krakow to Budapest may require a train to Vienna first. So you must use 1-day travel for the train from Krakow to Vienna, and then the night train departed to Budapest and arrived after 4am in the morning, therefore using 2 days of travel
Border Control
When you’re on a night train, you have to hand in your pass, your reservation, and your passport to the conductor when boarding the train.
Although I read about this a lot before travelling, and people said not to worry – I still worried. Handing over my main mode of transport and my passport was unnerving. However, it allows the train to cross the border without waking you up for border control.
Each carriage of a night train has its own conductor, and each conductor looks after your pass and your passport. This is then returned to you in the morning. Course we were still worried! But we got used to it and had no problems across all the trains we went on.
The Interrail/Eurail pass can be very convenient. It is so easy to hop onto any train in Europe and travel until your heart's content or book every single train inadvance.
There is a range of passes to fit everyone’s budget and time frame. You can plan your itinerary to a T or be as spontaneous as you like.
We bought the Interrail/The Eurail pass because it is so easy and convenient and we couldn't have imagined travelling any other way.
The Interrail/Eurail pass allows the spontaneity and you dont have to book. However it doesn’t necessarily mean its the cheapest way of travelling
Using the website Omio compares all modes of travel including plane, bus, and train. We loved our pass for the organisation and the convenience of it, we also didn’t have too much time to complete our trip so wanted to use the fastest mode of travel
If you have more time when travelling, the website Omio could also be a choice when looking on how to travel through Europe
