Eurail
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Eurail Group G.I.E. is a Netherlands-based company, registered in Luxembourg, that sells passes and tickets for European railroads to non-Europeans. It is owned by a group of European rail carriers and shipping companies.
Its principal products include Eurail Passes, with which a passenger has largely unlimited ability to travel on nearly all European railroads and some shipping lines at a fixed price per day of travel. Eurail sells a variety of passes, including those specific to two to five bordering countries, discounted passes for groups of up to five people travelling together, or for those under 26, passes which provide unlimited travel in a fixed period, and passes which provide a fixed number of days of travel in a longer period.
The traditional Eurail pass covers 18 countries [1], as of 2006: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Other passes, such as the Eurail Selectpass, allow one to select a series of bordering countries. For fare calculation purposes, some regions count as one country: Benelux, Slovenia-Croatia, and Serbia-Montenegro-Bulgaria.
Eurail passes can only be purchased by non-European residents. Residents of Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States are also ineligible to buy them. It is possible for non-Europeans to obtain passes in Europe, although they are cheaper and easier to procure outside.
[edit] See also
- Eurail on Wikitravel
- Transportation in Europe
- ScanRail [2]
- Inter Rail
- Indrail Pass - a similar railway ticket for travel on Indian Railways
