How to Use a Eurail Pass

Travel to over 40,000 destinations

Your Eurail Pass lets you hop on and off most trains as you please instead of buying individual tickets.

Breeze through ticket inspection

Your Eurail Pass is your ticket. Activate it before you go, then fill in all your details before you board each train.

Enjoy unlimited travel

Take as many trains as you like from midnight to midnight on each of your travel days, whichever Pass you choose.

From big cities to tiny villages

A Eurail Global Pass lets you see all of Europe up close, at your own pace. From fall landscapes to winter wonderlands, save 10% when you travel on select dates in 2019.

Explore up to 31 countries

See which countries are included →

Activate your Pass before you set off

Before you board your first train, you need to activate your Pass. If you know your start date, we can do this for you when you buy your Eurail Pass.

If not, you can also do this for free at a larger European train station before you board your first train – they'll fill in your details and stamp your Pass. 

More about activating your Pass →

Use your travel days however you like

A travel day is any day you use your Eurail Pass to travel. When you buy your Pass, you're choosing how many travel days you get for your trip.

24 hours of unlimited travel

On each of your travel days, you can take as many trains, boats or buses in our network as you like, from midnight to midnight. You can use a few in a row or spread them out – you choose when and how you use your travel days.

More about travel days →

Write each journey in your travel diary

Before you board the train, write the departure time, the station you’re travelling from and the station you’re travelling to for each leg of your journey. This makes your Pass valid for the ticket inspector.

Pack a pen, we're old-school

We’re working hard on going paperless, but for now you need to carry your Pass and fill in your travel diary as you go. It’s a little old-school, but it’s all part of the adventure.

More about filling in your travel diary →

Get a free gift after your trip

You can use your Pass up until 11:59pm on your last travel day. After that, it'll simply no longer be valid for travel – you don't need to do anything else.

After your trip, send us your travel diary and we'll send you a free gift to remember your Eurail adventure. Postage is free, and we can even send your travel diary back to you if you want to keep it as a souvenir.

Get extra benefits and discounts

Save as you travel with discounts on everything from top attractions to ferry trips and hostel stays with our 100+ partners in Europe.

More about extra benefits →

Book your seat reservations

Some international and high-speed routes ask you to buy an extra seat reservation along with your Pass. We can help you book those before you go.

More about seat reservations →

Keep your Pass safe

Travel safe with our Pass Protection. If your Pass gets lost or stolen on your trip, we can cover the cost of replacement tickets. Just add Pass Protection at checkout.

More about Pass Protection →