Cathleen Miller

You can save hundreds of dollars on a trip to Europe by purchasing a Eurail pass before you leave the U.S. Some Internet sites will even let you buy passes after you’ve left home, providing you are not a citizen of Europe. (This can come in handy if you spontaneously decide to extend your stay.)
The most important thing with choosing which pass to buy is deciding exactly what you will do on your trip, or at the very least, considering what type of traveler you are. If you’re the go-which-way-the-wind-blows type, waiting until you get up tomorrow to decide if you’ll go to Spain or Norway, then the unlimited 17 country pass is for you. However, the price you pay for this freedom is in a dollar amount.

If you like to stay in one place for a longer period and will not be doing the 17-country tour in two months, then you can reach any point in Western Europe (excluding the U.K.) with a cheaper Eurail pass. The price drops from $1,338 to $694 if you only travel ten days during the allotted two-months.

Cheaper still is the one-country pass. If your journey will be limited to Italy, you can buy a pass for $383 that gives you unlimited travel in this country for a fraction of the big kahuna ten-day pass. Other discounts are available for traveling with friends, by getting the Saver fare.

There are some areas in life where it pays to read the fine print and Eurail passes definitely fall into this category. While passing the time on the train I learned that I could get a 25 per cent discount off Swiss funicular tickets and the Jungfraujoch, an excursion line that heads through the Alps to the top of Europe. Considering the exorbitant price of this fare, this discount saved me $31. I also took a boat trip around lovely Lake Lucerne for free.

Some travel agents will issue Eurail passes on the spot. Some companies sell passes by mail, and offer scheduling and reservation information. (See the Resources sidebar.) You can even buy a simple point-to-point ticket from Budapest to Szekesfehervar, make a seat reservation, and have it mailed to your home before departure—and not have to worry if your Hungarian is a little bit rusty.