RailEurope vs EURail: The Euro Rail Pass Showdown - Which Is Best? (2024)

The Big Question: Which Is Cheaper and Better?

Buying a European rail pass is an excellent way to explore Europe – it may not be the cheapest option but it certainly is the handiest and the most comfortable way to do it.

For most people, the prices are not actually that outrageous and there is good value for money to be had if you are planning a 2 or 3 month trip and want to move around a lot and travel some decent distances.

There are two main websites when it comes to booking these passes, RailEurope.com and EURail.com.

So which one is cheaper and better? How much do these passes ACTUALLY cost? I thought I would do some of the heavy lifting research for you, that way you’re educated and ready to go for that next Eurotrip without having to fiddle around comparing all your rail pass options.

RailEurope vs EURail: Useful Info & Comparison Tables

Let’s cover off some basic questions first…

What countries are covered and can be used to travel around with a European rail pass?

I investigated passes offered by both sites, and both are for the same 23 countries as tabbed below:

Are you a European citizen? Uh oh!

RailEurope states: “Residents of Europe, the Russian Federation or Turkey are not eligible to purchase or use this rail pass.”

EURail states: “Only non-European residents can use a Eurail pass.” (Note from me: I checked their T&C’s and this ALSO applies to Russia & Turkey – sorry guys!).

Winner: Draw

For European Residents there are InterRail passes available – we won’t be looking into those today in this post. RailEurope and EURail are both designed for NON-EU citizens.

Let’s Review The Ultimate In European Rail: The Global Pass

We will do this all in USD to keep things easy.

What is a global rail pass? – It allows you to travel as much as you want for the duration of the pass. The same passes are offered by both websites, so who has the better deal? Let’s begin the price showdown.

Please note these prices are correct as of October, 2012.

Global Rail Pass Comparison

Global rail passes come in two forms, one for “Youth” and one for the “Adult”. I’ve compiled them both into separate tables below for a comprehensive table comparison.

Youth passes are available for those under the age of 26.

Those aged 26 and over need to book an adult pass.

Winner: RailEurope

Select Rail Pass Comparison

Let’s take a look at some of the Select Pass options from both websites and see who offers the better deal. All of these passes need to be used within a 2 month period (pretty standard for the Select passes) and have a set amount of travel days. You can also only use them between bordering countries (eg Germany/Austria/Italy or Italy/France/Spain).

What is a travel day? A travel day lasts 24 hours, in which you can take as many trains as you wish (from midnight to midnight).

Winner: RailEurope

EuroRail Global or Select Passes: Which is Best?

Let’s do this as a Q&A conversation, shall we?

Do you want total freedom?

If the answer to this question is yes, then there is only one pass for you: the global pass.

This allows you to travel as much as you like, for as many days as you like for the period of the pass. If you plan to do a lot of travelling this can be a huge savings in transport costs. However, if you only catch the train 5 or 6 times, then this is not going to give you enough value for money.

Global passes are relatively expensive (see tables above), but the advantage is… total freedom to explore Europe with the extensive and awesome train system!

Are you on a bit of a tight budget?

If you have a solid idea of where you’re going and how many days you want to catch the train, the select pass can be the perfect solution for both convenience and budget.

Remember it only applies to bordering countries and you have a set amount of travel days. Still, with one travel day lasting literally the whole day – you can get the train anywhere, Europe is not is THAT big! 😀

The choice is yours…

It all depends on how you like to travel and how many countries you plan on visiting. It’s possible to do a mix of a select pass, buses & planes as well but this means a bit more research and on-the-fly travel (booking bus tickets at locations, that sort of thing). A global pass means your transport is completely taken care of for the whole trip.

Winner: No-one, I just added this information in to help you choose a rail pass 😉

Further reading: 5 Reasons To Travel By Train In Europe

Website Ease of Use

When it comes to the websites, I much prefer the structure and layout of the EURail site. It’s way more user friendly when you’re researching prices and has a cleaner, more modern look and appeal.

However I do prefer the “Help” section on the RailEurope site, it’s quite comprehensive and explains things clearly.

Winner: EURail takes the prize for the better website. The way they display the pricing for tickets is superb and makes for easy comparisons between your options.

Discounts & Shipping

Both websites offer 15% discount for booking 2 or more passes at the same time. So if you’re going with a friend or two, make sure you book your passes together!

Shipping actually raises a few interesting points as both sites do it a little differently.

RailEurope offers free shipping based on the cost of the pass that you’re going to buy;

• Over $499 – free shipping
• Under $499 – $18 USD shipping

EURail always offers free economy shipping (but via registered mail, just will take a bit longer to arrive) or a standard track and trace shipping for $9 USD.

Coupons

Depending on what time of year it is and what’s on offer, both sites will often have coupon codes available. Whether it’s free shipping for RailEurope or literally cash or a percentage off the total – it’s worth looking! The coupons are not evergreen so I won’t list any here and there are not always some available, but a quick Google search will give you a few to try and see if you can shave some dollars off.

Conclusion: Do We Have A Winner?

Interestingly enough, the overall winner actually depends on which type of pass you’re going to purchase.

In terms of pricing, RailEurope always beats EURail even if it’s only for a few dollars. The best budget choice is actually determined by their difference in shipping structure.

Winners?

Please note that the below link for RailEurope is my affiliate link. If you decide to use it I get a small commission of any sale at no cost to yourself. As always, for anyone who uses the link I really appreciate your support!

For those buying a global pass worth over $499, it’s cheaper to go with RailEurope.

For those purchasing a select pass under the value of $499, it’s better to go with EURail.

So there we have it, this post took me way longer then I thought it would – hope you found it useful! Overland travel for the win!

If you’re planning an upcoming backpacking adventure, you might like to check out my super guide on the matter.

34 Responses to “RailEurope vs EURail: The Euro Rail Pass Showdown – Which Is Best?”

1. Hogga says:

   See Also

   Omio vs Trainline vs Rail Europe: How to Buy Train Tickets in EuropeWhich Consistently Gets the Best Deals on Train Tickets – Minimalist.TravelBest Euro exchange rate - WiseCurrency Converter | Foreign Exchange Rates | Wise

   October 18, 2012 at 4:58 pm

   FIGHT! Yeah… it seems like they’re pretty close to being the same in most respects… but I would’ve wasted a lot of time if you hadn’t done this. And I don’t like doing that… intentionally lol. Thank you!

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     October 18, 2012 at 11:15 pm

     My pleasure! Hope it helps.

     Reply

2. Stephen Schreck says:

   October 19, 2012 at 6:57 pm

   Last time I bought a pass I only bought it for two countries and regretted that I didn’t buy the Global Pass. I think the real winner is anyone who decides to explore Europe.

   Reply

3. Cam @ Traveling Canucks says:

   November 8, 2012 at 6:19 pm

   Interesting comparison… I’m glad you did the heavy lifting and simplified things!

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     November 8, 2012 at 6:39 pm

     Thanks Cam 🙂

     Reply

4. sankar says:

   December 14, 2012 at 5:51 pm

   Planning to visit europe with my wife and daughter, covering italy, swiss, paris and amsterdam. we are pure veg. Can we try hostels listed out in your links or should we opt for package tours (which are bit expensive).

   Reply

5. Shay says:

   February 3, 2013 at 9:33 am

   Thanks so much for doing the hard work! This and your budget post have been very helpful in helping me get ideas for my Europe trip!!

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     February 3, 2013 at 11:05 am

     Excellent Shay! That’s so awesome to hear 🙂

     Reply

6. Kristen says:

   March 7, 2013 at 2:13 pm

   is for continuous travel over 2 months and is it second class?. Cause the passes that cover 10 days over 2 months is about $600 and 15 days is about $800. Second class of course 🙂

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     March 8, 2013 at 6:04 am

     Hey Kristen, not sure I completely understand the question but global pass is continuous travel within the period of the pass (1 month or 2/3), and select pass gives you “24 hour travel days” to use within a period. So 5 days within one month, for example. Does that help?

     Reply

7. Pinay Flying High says:

   March 23, 2013 at 8:05 pm

   This article is fantastic! I am trying to research for a railpass in Europe for my upcoming trip to France and this gave me a good insight about rail tickets. I wonder when they’re going electronic so no need to worry about losing the ticket. 🙂

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     March 27, 2013 at 3:05 am

     Nice! I’m super stoked to hear that this article helped out with the rail ticket research. Hehe, electronic only rail passes would be neat! Thanks for the comment.

     Reply

8. rinakins says:

   May 4, 2013 at 1:36 am

   hi Tom, this is neat, i’ve been searching high and low for train tickets for our european trip this Jun/Jul (which can be very confusing), so you comments just confirms my findings. Do you give advice if I send you my itinerary? (so that I know I’m doing the right thing ;o))
   thanks again Tom.

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     May 6, 2013 at 12:28 pm

     Hi Rina! Sure I can let you know what I think of your itinerary, I do encourage coming up with one yourself though as choosing where to go is such a personal thing as it depends a lot on personal taste and what people want out of a trip. Let me just assure you there is no wrong way to travel Europe…do whatever you want – it’s your trip 😀

     Reply

9. Vagabond says:

   June 6, 2013 at 5:00 am

   I have duel citizenship for England and the U.S. Does this mean I can’t get a eurail pass?

   Reply

   • Tom says:

     June 6, 2013 at 2:06 pm

     Hi Vagabond – yep, because you can apply for the EURail pass using your US passport.

     Reply

10. Georgia says:

    June 19, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    Very confused as I thought I was looking at eurail and discovered it was raileurope, AND thus there are two companies/passes. It seems on raileurope you can buy point to point tickets, but cannot book one trip on eurail. My question is do they offer the same trains and trips /times between destinations?? Confused but my understanding is eurail AND raileurope passes use various (not all) train lines operating in each country. Therefore do they offer the same trips or is one better? Or better to just go directly to the company in the country you’re departing from and buy the ticket?? Any help appreciated

    Reply

    • Tom says:

      July 4, 2013 at 2:21 pm

      Hi Georgia. You CAN book point to point with RailEurope etc, but the only reason to really use RailEurope/EURail is to get one of the global or select passes (not to book point to point trips). If you want to book ahead and know exactly the route you want to book, best to do it via the train companies website. A couple of common ones that you may want to look into booking ahead are the EuroStar (connects London to Paris/Belgium). Thalys (runs Amsterdam to Paris route) – it’s a high speed train but cheap tickets can be had if booking ahead. Hope this helps!

      Reply

11. Dennis Weckenman says:

    January 3, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    Looking at 2015 prices, Eurail charging 1560 Euros.
    At todays rate (1.20), that is about $1872.00. Rail Europe is charging $2012.00. That is $140.00 more expensive than Eurail.. Pretty significant.

    Reply

    • s says:

      July 10, 2016 at 1:43 pm

      thank u sooo much im an iranian girl and im so confuose and it help me so much to find my answer .

      Reply

12. Beth says:

    September 19, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    Hey me and one other friend plan on backpacking Europe for two months next summer (july-sept). We want to buy a global pass because of all the countries it includes plus we aren’t on a tight timeline therefore we want to feel free. Do you think it would be more beneficial for us to use EURails or RailEurope ?

    Reply

13. Pagota Handa says:

    September 26, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    Excellent very good research. I am glad you did this Tom. Much appreciated.

    Reply

14. Ruthie says:

    October 25, 2017 at 11:24 pm

    My friends and I are trying to plan a couple weeks of traveling in Europe, and consequently I’ve been doing a lot of research. A lot of reviews I’ve seen though say that Rail Europe is a rip-off that takes people’s money. I really just need a real person to tell me what the truth is.

    Reply

    • Tom says:

      November 11, 2017 at 11:02 pm

      It’s expensive and not required to enjoy backpacking Europe. But it is not a ‘rip-off’ – it is what it is, a pass that allows you to utilise the European train lines. Train travel is a fantastic way to go about your trip and a very enjoyable way to see Europe, but if you want budget the answer is buses.

      Reply

15. Paige says:

    December 11, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    Does the select pass have to be used on consecutive days? Do you need the flexi pass if you want non-consecutive days? I couldn’t find one for 4 countries.

    Reply

16. JSA says:

    February 5, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    Thanks, Cam.

    If I have to go from 1. Paris to Interlaken on April 7 2. Interlaken to Jungfrau and Titlis on April 8 and return 3. Interlaken to Lucern and return on April 9 4. Interlaken to Lugano on April 10 5. Lugano to Venice on April 11 6. Venice to Florence on April 12 7. Florence to Pisa and Return on April 13th 8. Florence to Rome on April 14th.

    Should I but 3 countries (France, Switzerland, Italy) Euro select pass for 6 days or 8 days or should I book my tickets separate? can you please suggest? Thanks

    Reply

17. RSW says:

    March 24, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Stupid question…are the trains the same for both Rail Europe and Eurotrain? If not, is one better than the other?

    Reply

18. Indra Ghosh says:

    April 10, 2018 at 12:56 am

    Hi Tom,

    We are going to Zurich, Lucerne Interlaken and Joghfrajoch and Vinnea Linz Salzburg and Munich we are family of 4. We are going on 14th of May/2018 for 2 weeks what should we do for booking, should we by point to point ticket or rail pass. Please help.We are confused.

    Reply

19. Meghal says:

    April 21, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    Hi,

    Planning for 18 days trip from Paris to Swiss ( 8 Days) & thn Swiss to Italy – Venice- Florence- Rome- Napels ( 10 Days).. Planning to buy 15 days Eurail global pass. Is it worth it ?

    Wanna know one more thing, can i use global pass in Swiss locally ?

    Regards,

    Meghal

    Reply

20. Melissa says:

    May 16, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    Please note, 28 countries participate in the Global Rail Pass as of 5/2018. Thank you, happy travels!

    Reply

21. Elke says:

    June 15, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    Much easier to make train reservations on the Eurail site. Also, if you purchase on the Rail Europe site, I was having trouble entering my travel information into the Eurail site. The Rail Europe site’s ability to make reservations was not functional.

    Reply

22. Jenna says:

    July 1, 2019 at 3:39 pm

    So, I just checked the pricing today, and for my purposes, I am a United States Citizen going to 4 countries in two weeks (Only need 3 rail tickets to get between them). EuRail seemed to have a better price point than RailEurope. EuRail considered me a youth (ages 12-27) https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/find-the-best-pass

    And RailEurope considers me an adult.

    Between the two, is one more reliable, safer, etc. or are they pretty much the same thing?

    Reply

23. Jenna says:

    July 1, 2019 at 3:41 pm

    https://www.raileurope.com/pass/eurail-global-pass-5880 Actually, Raileurope also considers (12-17) as youths, so I guess raileurope is a little cheaper.

    Reply

24. Richard Bloodgood says:

    September 1, 2019 at 5:18 pm

    WE plan a trip in Oct. 2020 to Ireland ( dublin,galway,dingle bay, cork, waterford). London. Paris Each locAtion in ireland we would spend a nite or two Do You have any suggestions Thank You

    Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.