As you may know, Eurail has been one of my sponsors throughout my now completed Europe trip. I’ll be honest in telling you that in the past I had been a little bit sceptical about rail passes in Europe and how much one can actually save. Thus, having this pass finally gave me the chance to work out how one can use the Eurail, and how much one can actually save.
I will say, I definitely got value out of my pass by doing some fairly long journeys. However, if I really wanted to, I’m sure I could have extended my distances much more and the savings gathered would have been even greater.
After calculating, I’m actually pretty amazed by how much was saved with the Eurail. I calculated the price of the ticket as the price a week before purchase which I assumed would be the average time one would buy their train tickets without a pass.
How Much Did I Save?
If I didn’t have a Eurail pass, I would have booked a ticket one week ahead. Therefore, I took the prices down a week before my trip would have been:
1. Calais to Paris – Without the Eurail =48 Euros
2. Paris to Bern – Without the Eurail = 120 Euros
3. Bern to Rome – Without the Eurail = 169 Euros
4. Rome to Nice – Without the Eurail = 114 Euros
5. Nice to Barcelona – Without the Eurail = 104 Euros
6. Barcelona to Madrid – Without the Eurail = 87 Euros
7. Madrid to Lisbon – Without the Eurail = 67 Euros
8. Lisbon to Porto – Without the Eurail = 35 Euros
9. Lisbon to Seville – Without the Eurail = 130 Euros
10. Seville to Algercias – Without the Eurail = 43 Euros
The Results?
- The total price of a 2nd Class Global Pass is 422 Euros
- The total cost of my trip would have cost 917 Euros
- My total savings were 495 Euros!
The Verdict?
You would have to be clinically insane not to buy a Eurail pass if you were planning on travelling Europe by train. I mean seriously, the amount of money saved could buy you a second rail pass! Or, if you’re like me, that 495 Euros will buy you lots of overpriced beers. If you were looking for the answer to “How Much Does a Eurail Pass Save You?” well, let’s just say that it’s a lot.
Travelling by train in Euro is an amazing way to see the countryside, it’s comfortable, it’s efficient, and there are very few hassles. After travelling this way for a little over a month, I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way. A massive thanks to Eurail for giving me the chance to have this experience.