Guide to Eurailpass Travel

There is an interesting article about travelling with a Eurailpass on a site called www.maphappy.org.
It is written by a young woman who travelled the continent with a three-month pass, so she had a lot of experiences, mostly good ones.

A Eurailpass lets you travel throughout a number of different countries in Europe for one fixed price. It can be a good way to see a lot in a relatively short amount of time, and in my view train travel is far superior to flying as a way to experience Europe. It may also be more expensive, but use of train passes such as the Eurailpass can reduce the cost.

I've used Eurailpasses several times, but not in recent years. Now many long distance trains require seat reservations in addition to the pass, so that can be a hassle. You may not be kicked off the train without a reservation, but could find yourself standing in the corridor outside the washroom. One time when this happened to me I enjoyed talking with an older man in the same predicament, a German who had emigrated to Peru after World War II.

The article presumes that you are travelling with a smartphone and can use the Eurail app, which handles a lot of sitations. How one does this economically is another article in itself. Eurailpasses generally are sold only to residents of countries outside the European Union.

In any case, the article is worth a look if you are considering rail travel in Europe. Map Happy has a number of other useful stories on reducing the cost and wear of travel, including one on how to haggle for lower prices on www.airbnb.com.