The Ultimate Eurail Pass Guide for First Timers 2022: All Your Questions Answered!

With gorgeous scenery, breath-taking art, culture, cuisine, dreamy castles and exceptional music, there’s nowhere quite as exhilarating as Europe! 

Are you wondering how to get around the beautiful cities of Europe? Lucky for you, you can always count on the Eurail Pass to see you through! 

Time to dust off your backpacks and hop aboard the express rail. The Eurail Global Pass will take you across the borders and straight to your fave European cities with just one pass!

Curious? Here’s everything you need to know about this bang-for-your-buck travel essential: 

First things first, what is a Eurail Global Pass? 

Remember the days when you’d have to line up and buy a single journey train ticket to Paris from Rome and back? Well, scrap that out, because the Eurail Pass offers a more convenient, hassle-free travel across Europe. 

For starters, a Eurail Global Pass is a single document that allows you to travel by train multiple times and across 33 countries in Europe. With this, you can take as many train trips as you want within a set time period that ranges from 4 days to 2 months—all without breaking the bank!

How do Eurail Passes work? 

Because Eurail Passes work as a global ticket, they’re easy to use in 3 simple steps: 

The first step is to choose your pass. Travellers can pick between a flexible pass, which can be used for a certain amount of times within the set period, or a consecutive pass, which lets you ride the train anytime within the validity period. 

Confused? You can think of it this way: 

Each travel day covers as many trains as you’d like to take between the 24-hour time window from 12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on the same calendar day. Though, keep in mind to plan ahead if you’re taking the night train. 

If you’ve booked a train that leaves Monday evening and arrives at the destination the following morning, it’s immediately counted as two travel days. So, be careful! 

Taking the trains, you’ll also need to check up on whether you’ll need to pre-book your seats or not. Night trains, international high-speed trains, and scenic trains, like the Bernina Express in Switzerland, as well as popular countries such as France, Spain, and Italy, require you to book your seats in advance. 

Though for the most part, you can hop on almost any train in Germany and Central Europe! 

To get started on your first EU vacay spot, you’ll have to download and install the Eurail App to activate your pass, OR if you prefer to do it the long way, just head out to a ticketing office of any large station in one of the participating Eurail countries and have a railway official activate your pass. 

The great thing about the Eurail Pass is that it doesn’t have any set start date, so you can use it instantly or save it for later! Eurail Passes are valid up to 11 months max after the purchase date. 

All set? Now time to climb aboard! 

Where can the Eurail Pass take me?

The pass covers a total of 33 countries in Europe: 

Need a guide? Check out the official Eurail Pass map below and start planning!

Does the pass cover city subways? 

No. The Eurail Pass covers only regional and intercity train lines—not local trains, such as subways or trams. 

Based on the age group, global passes will start from: 

Good news: if you’re travelling with the kids, they’re free! Children ages 11 and under don’t need a Eurail Pass. Instead, they have their own pass. The Eurail Child Pass is free of charge with your Eurail Adult Pass. You get two child passes with 1 adult pass, making family time in Europe cheaper and faster! 

You can get your hands on these wallet-saving passes via the official Eurail website, or buy them from Klook to enjoy hassle-free booking and exclusive discounts, including a 10% off plus free admissions to popular attractions! 

It depends. If you’re only touring Europe for a short while—say, Rome to Paris—then it’s cheaper to book a normal train ticket. On the other hand, the Eurail Pass is perfect for the cowboy type of travellers who are planning to stay longer and don’t have any fixed plans. 

The Eurail Passes is all about flexibility as you can hop on and off the trains whenever you want during your month-long trip in grand old Europe! 

Also, let’s not forget these passes also include cool perks such as a 50% discount on ferries in Greece, Italy, Germany, and many more! See the full list of ferries, trains, and other public transport accepting Eurail Passes on board here.  

All Eurail Pass holders can also enjoy free AND discounted admissions to over 700+ attractions across 33 countries.

So, is the Eurail Pass worth buying? Definitely, especially if you’re dreaming of exploring Europe at your own pace!