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Our first rail pass trip was a month across France, Switzerland, Austria and northern Italy. We came home happy, broke and with a list. Here are the mistakes, in the order we made them, and what we do differently now.
The route we planned, and the one we took
| Leg | Planned | What actually happened |
|---|---|---|
| Paris to Lyon | Day 1, high-speed | Fine, but needed a paid reservation we had not budgeted |
| Lyon to Geneva | Day 3 | Took a later train after missing a connection |
| Geneva to Interlaken to Lucerne | Days 6 to 8 | Scenic and slow, mostly no reservations needed |
| Lucerne to Zurich, then Innsbruck | Days 11 to 12 | Spent a whole pass day on the one-hour hop alone |
| Innsbruck to Verona | Day 14 | Seat reservations sold out, stood for an hour |
| Verona to Venice and back | Day 17 | A day trip that cost a whole pass day |
| Night train home | Day 28 | Couchette supplement nearly as much as a budget flight |
The seven mistakes
1. Assuming the pass covered everything. It covers the ride. Many high-speed and almost all night trains also need a reservation, paid separately. On some routes the reservation fee was a third of what a cheap advance ticket would have cost outright.
2. Not counting travel days properly. A flexible pass gives you a set number of travel days. We spent one on a short regional hop that a cheap single ticket would have covered, and one on a day trip.
3. Booking reservations late in summer. Some popular trains have a small quota of seats for pass holders. By the time we tried, the quota was gone even when the train was not full.
4. Tight connections. We planned 12-minute changes across big stations. One delay knocked out the rest of the day.
5. Too much luggage. Two bags each, one of them wheeled. Stairs, narrow aisles and racks taught us otherwise within a week.
6. No slack days. Moving every two or three days meant we spent more time packing than looking.
7. Ignoring the cheap point-to-point ticket. On two legs, an advance ticket bought weeks ahead was cheaper than the pass day plus reservation.
What it cost, and what it should have
Rounded, for one person.
| Item | What we paid | What we would pay now |
|---|---|---|
| Rail pass, flexible days | 420 euros | 340 euros, fewer days |
| Reservations and supplements | 190 euros | 110 euros, booked early |
| Point-to-point tickets | 0 | 60 euros for short hops |
| Missed connection costs (food, a hotel night) | 95 euros | Ideally zero |
| Total transport | about 705 euros | about 510 euros |
What we do now
- Plan around fewer bases, three or four in a month, not nine.
- Leave at least 40 minutes for changes at large stations.
- Use pass days only for long or expensive legs.
- Book reservations the day the window opens.
- Carry one bag each, under ten kilos.
Was it still worth it?
Absolutely. The best day of the trip was the slow train through the Swiss lakes, which no flight could replace. We just paid for it twice.