Traveling by Train

Europe has widely used railways which span across the entire continent. Whether you're traveling short or long distances, European trains are frequent, fast, and most importantly, reliable. Most of the railway networks offer high-speed trains which allow you to reach your destination quickly.

European railways are extremely user friendly. Train stations can be found in even the smallest towns across Europe, so no matter where you may be heading, there's a train that'll take you there.

Traveling by train also allows you to see more of the countries you are visiting. A window seat on a European train provides you with an incredible view of countryside, big cities, small villages, and much more.

The only con I found about traveling by train was the cost of tickets. If you book in advance, you are usually able to purchase a cheaper ticket, otherwise, tickets can be extremely expensive. In order to travel by train without having to pay for expensive tickets, I bought a Eurail pass. 

Tip # 5

Buy a Eurail Pass

Eurail.com is a subsidiary of the Eurail Group, a cooperation of 30 European Railway companies and shipping lines. Eurail offers train passes to travelers all over the world that help to cut the cost of train tickets. 

Eurail offers 4 types of passes:

The Global Pass

The Select Pass

The Regional Pass

The One Country Pass

Although the Global Pass is the most expensive, I chose it because it's actually cheaper in the long run. The Global pass allows you to select how many times you'd like to use the pass within a certain amount of time, or an endless amount of uses within a certain amount of time. The Global Pass also allows you to use the pass in 23 countries, whereas the other passes only work in certain countries. 

After I had mapped out my entire backpacking plan, I decided to go with the 15 day pass use in the course of 2 months; this pass costed $725. The amount I paid for the pass may seem like a lot, however, I made sure to get the most out of my money. 

After I purchased my pass, I started utilizing the railway when I reached Germany. Germany is Europe's most central country, and its railway system offers high-speed trains to almost every country. By using Germany as a central location, I was able to travel to all the surrounding countries during that 2 months. Since the train rides from Germany are so fast, I would sometimes only spend the day in expensive countries so I could take the train back to Germany and sleep there for a lot less money (Switzerland and Austria). 

At the end of my first backpacking trip I was leaving Germany and heading to Brussels, Belgium. I had one use left on my Eurail pass which I used for the train. As I was waiting to board, I was standing by the ticket counter and overhead a man purchasing a ticket on the same train I was about to take; his ticket was 300 euro, which was over $400 at the time I was traveling! 

Instead of paying $400 for one ticket, I bought a Eurail pass which got me 15 tickets for $725. It might seem like a lot of money to pay up front, but you're definitely going to save a ton of money with a Eurail pass.