Eurrail vs. car vs. individual trains for 2 weeks in Europe

planes, trains, & automobiles

Hi y'all, my new husband and I are planning a Europe trip and neither of us have been back over that way in 8 years. Last time I went, I used the Eurrail pass for a month and it was great to get to a bunch of smaller towns off the beaten path and take day trips without spending a fortune. however, looking at the website now, it looks like the pass only goes to major cities and I'm seeing more folks say it is cheaper to just buy individual train passes.

I started to look into it, and I do think that a eurrail pass would be overkill for our purposes (we're going to Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria), but looking at doing individual rail passes, I'm not 100% sure if it would be more cost effective for us to potentially rent a car...? Has anyone done a multi-country trip in Europe in the past year or so? If so, what are your thoughts? Additionally, I'm seeing a lot of cities are now only showing bussing as an option rather than trains, has anyone else noticed/ experienced this? We're trying to balance not totally blowing our budget, with also having the freedom to do day trips.

Additionally, any other cost saving tips are appreciated!

in Shoestringby katiewinkeltoes26

81%

26d

smug_masshole

26d

Austria has day tickets that cover 2 adults and include local transit as well as regional trains. You could mix those with regular transit passes to cover day trips out of town as well as days you spend exploring the city. I think they also brought back night trains, so you can check if that makes sense/saves you money over a hotel for the night.

I can't speak to Slovenia, but I highly recommend Istria in the far NW of Croatia, where I would also recommend renting a small car for the freedom to go anywhere on a whim. I'd also just return the car at the end and get a bus or train to your next "home base". The hassle of multi-national car rental isn't worth it.

katiewinkeltoes26

26d

Ohh good call on day tickets as well, I haven't looked into that yet!

Really appreciate the recommendation for Istria as well-- never heard of it but adding it to my list of places to check out! I've seen pictures of Pula but never heard of anyone who has been there, so much appreciated!

kenlin

26d

The advice from seat61.com is that buying individual train tickets can be cheaper that passes, assuming you know where you want to go and when, and can buy the tickets ahead of time. I've also heard of huge fees for taking rental cars across borders, so check into that

vannnguy

26d

I've travelled by rental car through multiple countries in europe including france, italy, spain, portugal, belgium, netherlands, switzerland, and austria, including in the past year. It is very cost effective if you can find a decent deal on a car - I always get the smallest one I can (those little fiat 500s are great vacation cars, and fit a decent amount of stuff if your group is 3 or less people). Keep european rental companies in mind or costco, or anywhere you can find a discount.

Small car = easier driving in narrow streets and central city areas, less gas, and much easier parking. This allows you to see a lot of off the beaten path places, and stay in some of them (which is so often less expensive than the city). For example, we sometimes will tour a city and leave late in the day, picking up our bags from the hotel the previous night before heading out to a less expensive and often nicer and more peaceful town en route to the next destination. Keep in mind gas and toll highway costs, but I've always found it cheaper than train tickets (except when I was a backpacker 25 years ago on a 2 month student eurail). Have a great trip!

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