Rail pass or individual tickets?

[mcfish123]

First of all, I love this site!

Second, I'm going to Germany (Munich & Berlin), Italy (Venice & Rome) and France (Bordeaux & Paris). Would it just be easier and cheaper to buy individual tickets? Or should I get a rail pass? Or should I fly for long destinations? (It will be used over a period of 3 weeks.)

Thanks for everything!

[madamtrashheap]

Hi again mcfish123, glad you like Kim's little "baby" - we kinda like it too!

Your idea to fly for some sections of your trip might be your best bet in terms of saving time, if you can find flights that fit into your budget. Looking at some of your other posts, I see that your itinterary (for the moment) is Germany (Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), France (Paris and Bordeaux) and Italy (Venice, Rome and Florence. Not sure if you've altered as per this post, and don't know the exact direction, but I'd suggest flying between say Rome and Paris, or Berlin and Paris and perhaps look at getting a rail pass for a specific country, such as Germany, where individual tickets are quite expensive. In Italy, tickets on IC (InterCity) trains aren't too expensive at all, in fact even a seat on the Eurostar Italy train that travels between Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan (and the other fast one from Rome to Venice) is only around Euro30.

If you could give a rough idea of the direction you're travelling, it will be easier to work out the best solution for you.

[herrbert]

I agree with the madam, it depends on the route you are taking, for these places, i would go:

Berlin - Munich (cheap flight with Germanwings)
Munich - Venice (cheapflight with HLX.com)
Venice - Rome (train),
Rome - Paris (cheapflight)
Paris to Bordeaux by train (I can't see a cheapflight Rome - Bordeaux). This could mean you have to get back to Paris for the flight home.

[me]

if you just want to compare train options, pass vs point-to-point, www.railsaver.com/railsaver.asp is a website that claims to do this.

but longer trips are prolly cheaper with flights. and don't get into the "couldn't find a ryanair flight," or "couldn't find an easyjet flight."

there's a plethora of low cost airlines in Europe. it isn't like America, which went for decades with just Southwest, which was hobbled at it's home airport.

[btw, Ryanair has 1 hour flights from Venice Treviso to Rome Ciampino from €26.27 total. but, with transport from S.Lucia to Treviso, early check-in required, and transport from Ciampino to Termini, you're not saving that much cash *or* time. you'd also miss some beautiful views, and the train experience. ]


also, Bordeaux - Paris paris is a long ride: 10 - 12 hours on the train!

[me]

might i suggest a variation on Herrbert's good advice?

instead of a flight from Munich to Venice, fly from Munich to Rome instead.

after a visit there, you could train from Rome to Venice, or fly Ryanair to Treviso, reversing what i said before. from Venice Marco Polo, there's a cheap a.m. flight listed on My Air to Bordeaux.

Bordeaux to Paris would still take a long, 10 - 12 hour, train ride.