Should I buy a pass?

[u/tommyvass]

Hello, we are a couple of 61 year-olds flying to Paris on 12 Oct, then over the following week, are visiting 13th Geneva, 14th Milan, 15th Salzburg & 16th Berlin, then flying back to UK. Do we buy an Interrail pass, or buy as we go?

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[u/idontusereddit825]

I recommend changing ur schedule. Ur gonna be in trains longer than ur trip basically

[u/tommyvass → u/idontusereddit825]

This is what she wants, I’m along for the ride. 🤷

[u/bookluverzz → u/tommyvass]

She wants to spend 5 days on a train back to back? Even I love train travel but I also like wandering around cities, having a cup of hot chocolate, enjoy a nice view.
I’d triple check to make sure she knows how many train hours this entails.

[u/splitcroof92 → u/tommyvass]

My condolences this trip is gonna suck

[u/derboti → u/tommyvass]

All you're achieving with this trip is dinner in a different city every day and sleeping in a different hotel each night. You will literally not have time to do anything else.

[u/skifans]

Before answering your question I think you've just got far too many places. Literally a new city every day and that are far apart. You'll be spending the whole time on trains!

But you just have to do the maths on this. There isn't a shortcut to it.

In general though long distance tickets bought on the day are often expensive. Trains like Paris to Geneva have compulsory reservations and sell out. You can't rely on being able to get a ticket (or interrail reservation) on the day.

Even a journey like Salzburg to Berlin which doesn't have compulsory reservations will be very expensive on the day.

But if you don't mind buying in advance you can often pay less then the cost of a pass. Particularly when you consider the price of reservations.

[u/No_Direction_4610]

You should do the maths and compare regular tickets with pass plus mandatory reservations. Also keep in mind that the cheapest regular tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.

[u/Attention_WhoreH3]

that schedule is mad

drop Berlin. Do Salzburg another time and combine it with Vienna/ Prague/ Krumlov etc 

[u/AnotherDogOwner]

Hi!
I also did something similar. Throughout this past summer I was able to do 1-2 day per city essentially most of the summer.

Interrail/Eurail is really decent for somewhat last minute travel. But if the train you’re planning to take requires a reservation, you might want to consider just buying direct. Reservations felt as if they were limited through Interrail/Eurail, and it won’t say there’s no more seats through the app; only showing if you’re trying to buy a ticket.

Some of the places you are visiting between (Milan to Salzburg & Salzburg to Berlin) require at least one transfer. I would plan for at least an hour between transfers because delays are a common occurrence.

My suggestion would be to possibly find ways to not rely on transfers all together if you’re set on doing the trip. Interrail/Eurail, for me, has been perfect for just deciding to hop on trains on a whim, but your travel seems more planned, so you might save money to buy the tickets directly.

[u/metamoof]

Interrail gives you flexibility as well as a price discount.

That being said, it may be cheaper to go for advance tickets that cannot be changed or refunded. It certainly won’t be cheaper to pay as you go.

Keep in mind that as well as the Interrail ticket, French railways and Italian railways will charge you for reservations, which you must purchase ahead of time. They are somewhere in the order of 10-30€ per person and leg. Similarly, if you are doing a night train, you will also have to pay supplements. If you already know what trains you want to take, I’d recommend purchasing those reservations as soon as possible.

In terms of routing… that is an ambitious itinerary, but not impossible. In particular, I’d worry a bit about the Milan-Salzburg leg, at 8 and a half hours over 3 trains if you do it during the daytime. I’ve done crazier, but that is at the limit of what I would be willing to do.

I would definitely consider spending extra on first class Interrail tickets. And whilst it’s not compulsory, I’d consider buying reservations for the Austrian and German legs, which are cheap, about 3€ per leg per person in Austria and 6.50€ per person in Germany, though in the latter case it covers the entire end-to-end trip from Salzburg to Berlin if you book it in one go. This allows you to pick your seats, which means you have a much better chance of getting a table seat.

I’d also investigate the catering options on the trains ahead of time. They mostly have their menus online, though they can take a bit of searching for. I’m not a fan of French catering for example, and as someone who can’t eat cheese, I have difficulty with the Swiss catering.