What's a railpass?

[ghady]

What's a railpass? Does it immediately imply that i've got a place booked on the train?

Do i have to use one, or can i use a combination many to get from place to place?

If the ones i get are only for inter-country travel, do i need to buy new train tickets IN the country?

What are the cheapest ones? I'm 20 yrs old and my budget is 2000 USD (or a bit more) for a 3 week trip across western europe.

thanks,
ghady

[me]

a rail pass pays the price of the fare on covered trains. usually, this means national train companies. but can include private trains, too.

a rail pass may, or may not, be worth it. it depends on where you're going, how much you'll be riding, etc.

the best thing is to make a plan, go to www.railsaver.com and plug your planned itinerary into the matrix there. it will suggest the best combo of point-2-point rail tix, pass or passes to you.

but, i see elsewhere that your plan includes some far-flung countries. depending where you go, it might be better to fly. at least some of it. there are some cheap flights available out there. but, they require advanced purchase.