Trying to do the math for a Eurail pass

Please help! My wife and I are planning a several week trip to Europe and we're trying to decide whether to buy a Eurail pass for our entire journey or buy individual passes for the following schedule.

Sunday, Sept 20 -- Amsterdam to Brussels (roundtrip) (IC)
Monday, September 21 -- Amsterdam to Cologne (ICE)
Monday, September 21 -- Cologne to Prague (CNL)
Thursday, September 24 -- Prague to Vienna (U,EC or SC,EC)
Saturday, September 26 -- Vienna to Salzburg (OEC or RJ)
Monday, September 28 -- Salzburg to Munich (roundtrip) (EC or RB)
Tuesday, September 29 -- Salzburg to Hallstat (roundtrip) (OIC,REX)
Wednesday, September 30 -- Salzburg to Lauterbrunnen (OEC,EC,IC,R)
Saturday, October 3 -- Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne (R,IC)
Monday, October 5 -- Lucerne to Zurich (IR)

I was trying to crunch the numbers, but I was having a hard time finding the prices for the individual tickets. Does anyone know of any good sites that have fares for these types of routes?

Thanks!
Kevin

• Die Bahn gives price quotes for all connections you mention that involve Germany
• Hispeed gives price quotes for all connections involving Amsterdam
• OEBB gives price quotes for all journeys within and from Austria. They can also give a price quote for the journey Vienna - Prague, which is more or less representative for the reverse journey as well
• SBB gives price quotes for all journeys within and from Switzerland

All these websites also give excellent information on saving programmes etc. I admit it's a lot of work to make the calculations, but it's really all there - in English even.

Monday, September 21 -- Cologne to Prague (CNL)

Watch out for the special offers.

Note that if you get the Eurail pass that allows you to travel 1st class it would be a good idea to book a deluxe sleeper cabin. It would be a 60 EUR (per person) surcharge for a double, but since the 2nd class couchette is already a 30 EUR surcharge (no shower, no washing basin and crammed in with 4 strangers)you might as well shell out for a private compartment with a shower and 2 real beds.

Thursday, September 24 -- Prague to Vienna (U,EC or SC,EC)

Around 40 EUR per person with the EC train. Tickets can be bought at the train station in Prague right before departure. But you can also try to get a 19 EUR special from www.oebb.at, but note that this special is tied to a certain train.

Alternatively there is a bus that goes this route, fare should be around 15 EUR per person.

http://czech-transport.com/index.php?id=344

Saturday, September 26 -- Vienna to Salzburg (OEC or RJ)

I would recommend using the IC or EC train again. Expect to pay around 40 EUR per person. See www.oebb.at.

If you book in advance online special offers are available, so-called "Sparschiene"-Tickets for 29 EUR.

Alternatively you can use the "Einfach Raus"-Ticket. This ticket costs 28 EUR and it valid for 2-5 people (so it is 14 EUR per person for you), but the downside is that you'd be limited to local transport. To see the connections that can be used with this ticket go to oebb.at, enter Vienna-Salzburg, click on "change query" and select "Products: Einfach-Raus-Ticket". Be warned that travelling by this method is very slow. A 3 1/2-hour, non-stop journey becomes a 6 hour journey with 2 changes.

Monday, September 28 -- Salzburg to Munich (roundtrip) (EC or RB)

Cheapest way to do that is by buying the Bayern-Ticket. Leave after 9 am on a local train (RB or RE). Buy at the Deutsche Bahn ticket vending machine at Salzburg train station. Cost is 28 EUR (30 at the counter) and it is valid for 2-5 people (so it is 14 EUR per person for you,, including the return fare.). Normal one-way fare with EC train is something like 25 EUR per person, but since the EC train is only 20 min faster it is not worth it. (Come on, 28 EUR with RE vs 100 EUR with EC? Just to save 20 min each way travelling time?)

Tuesday, September 29 -- Salzburg to Hallstat (roundtrip) (OIC,REX)

Use the 1-PLUS-Freizeit-Ticket. I think with this ticket it will cost approx. 10-20 EUR return for both of you. I cannot tell you exactly as they give special discounts when you are travelling together with other people.

Hope this was helpful!

[ Edit: Edited on 20-May-2009, at 01:58 by t_maia ]

Awesome! That information is just what I was looking for! Thanks so much.

For Amsterdam - Brussels, checkout "Thalys". Sometimes they are more expensive and other times they have really good offers on.
They run an international service from Amsterdam - Paris - Amsterdam several times a day. It only calls at about 6 stops en-route.
I've done it may times and paid many different prices. It won't be cheap if you just turn up on the day and buy a ticket.
It's got a lovely inexpensive restaurant on board - and is of similar design to The Eurostar.