Europe Travel Websites

[dnagirl]

I was wondering if anyone knows of some helpful websites regarding European travel (rail system, hotels, flights, etc.)

TIA!:)

Eurail...do you recommend getting 1st or 2nd class tickets? Do they even sell just one-way tickets or everything a "pass" (multiple days/trips)?

[tlew12778]

The Deutsche Bahn website is pretty good for timetables and fares.

Whether or not you get a eurail ticket depends on where you want to go and how long you will be travelling. If you are sticking to one or 2 countries, I would not get a eurail ticket. You can get regular one-way tickets.

There is not a huge difference btwn 1st and 2nd class. 2nd class is normal. 1st class is generally empty. If you are travelling in eastern Europe, you might want to spring for 1st just bc it is so cheap, but in western Europe you pay a high premium for the upgrade and it's not really worth it IMO.

For hotels, I like venere.com.

For cheap flights I like skyscanner.net.

[jnettie]

If you're over 25, you can't get 2nd class Eurail passes. Eurail is really only good for multiple days of travel. You can get either a set number of non-consecutive days of travel OR unlimited travel for a set number of days in a row. Sometimes, you can get a better deal if you buy a pass for only certain countries. Like, we knew we'd be in France, Italy, and Austria, so we bought a pass that was only good for these countries. However, this is only if you plan to keep to those countries only.

Eurail doesn't cover all of Europe. For example, we also went to the Czech Republic, and that is not a Eurail country. Neither is Great Britain. You can get Britrail for GB, but sometimes it's better just to get round trip or one way tickets in the cities when you're there.

Here's a website that I found to be very helpful:
RailEurope.com (http://www.raileurope.com/us/index.htm)