Which train pass is best?

[sejvirgo]

I am looking at the various rail passes and am thinking that the Eurail Select Pass is the best option for my trip. It will allow me to travel in 3 connecting countries for 5 days total over 2 months and costs $243 american. The counties I have chosen are Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), France and Italy. I will also be travelling to Greece, and am wondering what the best option is for getting from Italy to Greece and then around Greece. Should I buy a single country pass for Greece or are there better option? Buying a pass for Greece is about $200 - this seems expensive?? Thanks for the help!!!!

[Kim]

I wouldn't suggest buying a pass at all for Greece-the rail system is limited and many places that people tend to go to (the Islands etc.) are only reached by ferries or hydrofoils.

If you are planning on using the trains in Greece, you will probably be better off just buying point-to-point tickets.

How long is your trip going to be? It's just that 5 days in a 2 month period isn't that much.

Kim

[sejvirgo]

I will be travelling for 2-3 months, but will be spending the majority of my time in Italy and Greece. I will probably end up buying an 8 day pass instead of a 5 day pass. Do you think that 8 days of travelling will be sufficient? I'll do some more research on travelling around the Greek Islands and see what I come up with. Any suggestions? The Greek rail pass also includes 2 air passes, which seem like a waste since I will not be pressed for time. Thanks for your help!!

[nitsansh]

If you travel in 2003, please note that 4-countries selectpass will be available, and it cost just about 40$ more than 3-countries pass. If your pass includes Greece, that allows you to travel by ferry between Italy and Greece. I think this benefit alone worth the extra 40$.
You should have more detailed plan to determine how many travel days you need. Some journies may be too cheap to merit the use of travel day, and you better buy P2P tickets for them.
This site should be helpful, but I don't think it has 2003 passes yet.
www.railsaver.com/railsaver.asp

BTW: If your trip begins in the first half of 2003, you can buy a pass till the end of 2002 at a lower price. Passes can be validated within 6 months of issue, which means a pass issued on December 27 2002 could be validated until June 27 2003.

[Kim]

For me personally, an 8 day pass wouldn't be enough. You have to think that 2-3 months equals 60-90 days so you would be travelling every 7.5 to 11 days. That's a lot of time in one place. Doesn't sound like it now but it really is.

Kim

[me]

do hi's still have that 3 night rule? if so, 8 - 11 day stays would rule out staying in hi-hostels.

[sejvirgo]

this might be a dumb question, but what is a hi-hostel?

[nitsansh]

Here are the Youth Selectpass 2003 prices:

Second Class Youth Selectpass 3 countries 4 countries 5 countries
5 days in 2 months
$249
$279
$307

6 days in 2 months
$276
$306
$334

8 days in 2 months
$329
$359
$387

10 days in 2 months
$379
$409
$437

15 days in 2 months
n/a
n/a
$556

The cost of additional country is actually only 30$, which sound a good deal...

Kim is right... even 10 travel days in 2 months mean one in 6 days... but the next step is 15 days, which is about 150$ more, so I doubt it would worth it...
Please note: A 4-countries 10-days pass cost 41$ per day... even if you travel more than 10 days, presumably some of them will cost less than 40$... In Italy, 2-hours trips like Roma to Firenze or Napoli cost only about 20$ (without Eurostar supplement, which is not covered by the pass)... In Greece, I don't think any rail journey cost 40$, except if you take the Athens to Istanbul train...
The best strategy is to use the rail pass for the longer journeys and buy point-to-point tickets for the short journeys... but this require careful planning and take away much of the freedom that is the advantage of rail passes...

Although you might save a few $ if you buy the pass in 2002, I wouldn't suggest that... A) Only 3-countries selectpass is available this year, and you would probably like to take advantage of the new 4- or 5-countries passes... B) You might change your plans in the next 6 months... it would be silly to make a commitment so early for a 10$ saving...

[nitsansh]

sejvirgo said:

this might be a dumb question, but what is a hi-hostel?

HI is acronym for Hostelling International, which is an organization of hostels worldwide. These "organized" hostels tend to have more restrictive rules than non-HI hostels.
As far as I know, each national organization is allowed to make its own policy, so you can't expect uniform rules in HI hostels throughout Europe. Some countries nowadays allow mixed-sex rooms, which a decade ago while I travelled was unheard of in HI hostels...
So you should check locally if a limit of the lengh of stay exist... but even if such rule is in place, it doesn't mean you have to move on to another destination... you could move to another hostel in the same city... the big cities where you're likely to stay longer than 3 days have dozens of hostels to choose from, so it shouldn't be a problem...
As far as I can recall, there were only 2 occasions that I stayed 4 consecutive nights at one hostel... one of these was HI hostel in Amsterdam, and that wasn't a problem... the other was non-HI in Copenhagen... I also stayed longer period in Paris and London, but in these cities I was lucky to be staying at homes of relatives and friends... it saved me quite a bit... Also, in Prague and Istanbul I stayed longer than 3 days, but split my stay between 2 hostels... they weren't HI hostels anyway... and in Madrid I stayed 5 nights at the same HI hostel, but split my visit to 2 periods... (I don't recall if that was because they had a limit of 3 days... it might be the reason...)