Travelling Europe eurolines advice

highlandseoghan

Hi,
Myself and my wife are planning on travelling around europe setting off on middle of december for 3 - 4 weeks. We were thinking of getting the eurolines pass and going from city to city. Has anyone done this before or got any advise. We want to go to rome, florence and france and everything else after that is a bonus. Any suggestions / advise greatly appreciated.

Thanks

KCAccidental

would you think about an inter rail pass for the few weeks?

would be a bit more comfortable than the bus! not sure it would cost that much more than the bus (unless you find some discount operators.)

http://www.interrail.eu/

highlandseoghan

Hi,
I will look into the interrail and have a look thanks. Have you travelled through europe using interrail pass?

Bogger77

check raildude website, and seat61, for more information. I find TripAdvisor good too, for information on specific trains.

I've traveled :
from Amsterdam to Oslo, via Stockholm and Copenhagen,
from Amsterdam to Prague, via Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow and Prague,
from Brussels to Paris, via Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg and Zurich,
from Zurich to Paris, via St. Moritz, Zermatt and Geneva
from Venice to Verona by train, car to Pisa, then Pisa to Genoa to Nice by train
From Paris to Paris, via Toulouse and Lourdes
from Dublin to Lyon, via Rosslare, London and Eurostar to Paris
and
from Frankfurt to Dublin, via Munich, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Berlin, Paris, Calais, Dover, London and Holyhead.
But I haven't used a rail pass, as it's worked out cheaper to prebook trips before hand, if you want flexibility then a pass is best, as you can decide on the day where to go, if doing this, pay the small reservation fee to ensure a seat!

I use DBahn's timetable planner to work out routes, and purchase where possible trains to/from Germany.

for France, I use SNCF, for Switzerland, I use SBB/CFF, for Austria, OBB, and for Italy, Trenitalia is good. For Belgium, SNCB has an easy to use site. But you can buy from SNCF for journys to France, DBahn to Germany.

I never use the ticket agencies, as most charge way too much commission. When travelling from Country A to B, you can usually buy from Country A's operator online, always check country B's, as sometimes, they maybe cheaper. With DBahn, they will post tickets for journeys that start outside of Germany

try use night trains where possible, esp if trip is 6 hrs or longer. Spend the extra for 1st class on day trains, and for a cabin rather than couchette on train trains. For example, it can cost only 10e more for first class on German trains if you book in advance. You can book 3 months in advance for most trains on mainland Europe.

keithclancy

highlandseoghan wrote: »

Hi,
Myself and my wife are planning on travelling around europe setting off on middle of december for 3 - 4 weeks. We were thinking of getting the eurolines pass and going from city to city. Has anyone done this before or got any advise. We want to go to rome, florence and france and everything else after that is a bonus. Any suggestions / advise greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Travel Europe by Bus ... Jesus ...

Get the Interrail pass, it is MILES more comfortable and you can be a lot more flexible.

The bus is a pain in the arse with your luggage as its not really secure and its slow, really really slow.

If your destinations are fixed on the same lines then it can make sense to just buy the tickets individually as a lot of them are valid for 30 days in one direction (mainly the ones that start in one country and finish in another)
You need to do a bit of research but you can complete the journey along a fixed corridor.

highlandseoghan

Thank you to all for your advise. We are sitting down over the weekend and going thru everything. Thank you much appreciated.