First timers Guide to the EURAIL Pass.

This might be a great decision for you if you are travelling a lot and taking quite a few trains around multiple countries in Europe.

For us, we had definitely made our moneys worth, and it was nice knowing we didn't have to worry about train tickets.

We bought a First Class, continuous, 1 month pass which we used during our 4 weeks around Europe. We made a few mistakes, which hopefully we can help you avoid.

A few things you should know....

1. REMEMBER TO ACTIVATE YOUR PASS! Unfortunately we forgot to activate out pass prior to our first train trip. We had to pay a penalty fee for the train staff to validate our passes during our ride.

2. This pass will allow you to visit up to 40,000 destinations, over 33 different countries.

3. 1st class passes will allow you to sit in both 1st class and 2nd class carriages, 2nd class passes – only 2nd class carriages.

4. Seat reservations are NOT included in your Eurail pass, they are charged by the European Railway companies.

5. Seat reservation isn't necessary on most standard trips but if it's a popular time/route it's likely to fill up, meaning you will be stuck standing awkwardly in an aisle for the duration - this did happen to us a few times.

6. High-speed and all-nighter trains may be the exception and require seat reservation.

7. Don’t forget to pack a blue or black PEN! It cannot be erased.

How to Purchase a Eurail Pass?

It’s super easy to buy a pass. We had just done it online at www.eurail.com. You will just need to select the call you would like (1st Class or 2nd Class) and they will post it in the mail to you address.

What next?

Well like I mentioned earlier - Activate your pass! Learn from our mistake. This is free and is required to be done prior to your fist train trip in one of the 33 approved countries. If you do know the destination and date of your first country you can now activate online when you buy the ticket, otherwise you can do it at a larger European station.

You will need your pass and ID (preferably you passport) then they will fill in the start date and stamp you pass. We can’t stress this enough – it’s FREE! So don’t cop the fee for not doing it like we did.

The passes are super flexible, you can catch a train, boat or bus if it’s a part of the network. No pre booking, on the day you need it, 24 hours of unlimited travel. Just remember prior to getting on the train you will be required to fill out your ravel diary. The information required is date, time of departure and your destinations, both from and to.

Our Advice and Experiences

Try to have this filled out correctly and ideally prior to getting on the train. In our experiences the train staff can get quite rude, possibly due to language barriers.

So again if you just have your travel diary filled out before they come and check your pass it can make for a smooth ride.

Of course, reserved seats have priority. A lot of the time, the reserved names and boarding station will be displayed as a tag above the seats - have a look and you might be lucky enough to remain seated for your whole journey although some train staff may move you along sooner.

Happy travelling, and let us know about your experiences.

Hope this has provided some useful information on the Eurail Pass.

Mandy and Michael xo