European East Rail Pass - Rail Plus Australia

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1. "TGV (France) - Eurail"

Anthea
(QLD)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

My fiance and I were in Hungary in March, beautiful but covered in snow and very cold. Some of the smaller local trains have either no heating, or too much! We wanted to go to Eger, the town of known for the famous 'Bulls Blood' wine of Hungary. We rushed onto the train to get out of the cold, a Soveit era version of a train, slow and steaming hot but it would get us there. After a few hours the ticket inspector started coming through to check our tickets, and started gesticulating wildly and talking very fast in Hungarian. We had no clue what he was going on about, as we were certain we had hopped on the wrong train. No-one else spoke English around us so the poor man took out his pen and a peice of paper, and drew a picture representing two train carriages that separated. We finally understood thanks to my now husbands pictionary skills that our train had evidently split in two, with one half heading for Eger, the other half for Slovenia. Of course, we were on the half heading north towards the Slovenian border! With neither parties able to communicate via words we decided to jump off at the next stop, some tiny town in the middle of far north Hungary! We wandered around for hours waiting for the next train, in this small snowed in village, then huddled together in the open, freezing train station with no heating. Eventually our return train arrived and we could make our way to Eger! Upon arrival in the famous village, we were starting to freeze after walking kilometres looking for come cellar doors to have our fix of Bulls Blood. Two drinks and several snowy hills later we decided to call the adventure a day and head back to Budapest, whereon return I was busted by the Hungarian police for not holding tickets for the local metro and fined AUD$40! Lesson learned, trains apparently like to go to two destinations in Eastern Europe, make sure you get on the correct carriage!

2. "Eurail - Point to point"

Emma
(SA)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

Picture the trains in foreign movies, the booth style carriages with cabins where you sit in close confinement and stare at the people opposite you who you may or may not know... That was our train. There were 3 of us travelling together and we found an empty cabin so made ourselves comfy. Being tourists, we'd obviously missed out on train ettiquite 101 and six hours into the trip (when it was no longer exciting to sneak ciggies out the windows or try and peer into other carriages without being spotted) my boyfriend and I obviously weren't sitting close enough together as in a whirlwind of BO, the door to our carriage was wrenched open and a newcomer plonked himself right in between the of the two of us! It was definitely a far different train experience to the ones I'm used to in Aus!

3. "eurrail - sector fare"

amanda
(QLD)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

It started whilst travelling throughout Eastern Europe just as those countries became members of the EU, and being an Australian, I no longer needed tourist visas. After the use of guide books and charades, we finally purchased a ticket to our destination. The train is approaching and all of a sudden the people start storming the platform wanting to be the first on the train... so I thought.... it was more because the train does not stay long at each station, and being late in the evening there was no way I was getting left behind. So against all my morals, I pushed and prodded my way, using my day pack as a shield through the crowd and onto the train, eventually making it into a carriage. Relief number 1. Night falls, and after the 150th game of cards, we succumbed to the sandman, only to be abruptly woken by immigration. With no Hungarian to literally speak of, I nervously handed over my passport and prayed for it's safe return, and hoped that they would not leave a poor defenceless aussie on the side of the rail track because the rumours were not true, and in fact Hungary was not part of the EU, and therefore I needed a visa... of course this I did not. After an anxiety attack that left me feeling like calling my mum.. my passport was handed back to me with a forced smile.. relief number 2! I woke up the next morning, beautiful sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, and was joined by 3 university students. My partner and I being only of english speaking, kept to ourselves playing another marathon of cards, when one of them asked what we were playing. This of course started the most interesting conversation and we learnt so much about each others lives. Here we were sitting on the train with 2 people from Slovenia, 1 person from Hungary, and 2 English speakers.. all conversing and having a great time. We were left felling very uneducated and vowed that we would go home and learn another language having been inspired. Train travel is an awesome way to get around. It's very relaxing, allows you to view the scenery, have a drink and arrive into your next destination ready to take on all the amazing things it brings.

4. "Not Deja Vous - European East Railpass"

Tom
(QLD)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

This is a tale of two very different journeys on the same train 2 years apart. The first time was using a first class European East railpass with confirmed seat reservations purchased through Railplus and what a delightful experience it was. Sitting up there, watching the magnificent scenery from our comfortable seats and then enjoying lunch in the dining car. The second time we purchased the second class tickets without a reservation over the counter as we were travelling part of the way with our 35 year old son who was on a budget. We got on the train which originates in Zurich to see that there were hardly any seats and those that weren't occupied had reservations on future sectors. I found a seat for my wife and stood in the passageway with a "gentleman" who had befriended us on the station. As the seat my wife was sitting in was reserved for a future sector I I wandered towards the back of the long train to find that there were in fact some vacant seats there. This meant we had to get off at an intermediate stop and run with our baggage to the rear of the train and get back on before it left without us. Surely this has to be a lesson for any would be European rail travellers who want to do it on the cheap on their own!

5. "Overnight Journey - Point to Point ticket"

Elizabeth
(VIC)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 3/5
Ease of use: 3/5
Suitability: 5/5

When you book an overnight train you are generally trying to save time and save on accommodation ! I am not sure that we should hope for a comfortable berth or a good nights sleep. My Husband and I took this journey a few years ago and experienced a very interesting night. We boarded this train in Warsaw , we were greeted by a Train Conductor who didnt speak more than 2 words of English but somehow managed to make us understand that he would wake us in the morning and provide us with Breakfast and a cup of Tea, we settled ourselves into the small 2 berth cabin. With great excitement we watched our departure from Warsaw and headed off into the night with the gentle rocking of the train helping us to nod off.........Didnt seem much later when jolting and then the stopping of the train woke us, running on the platform and then loud voices on the train, Border guards who burst open the door and Yelled 'Americano's' at us, No, we replied, Australians, so after demanding passports and making small talk amongst themselves they moved on.......Train heads off again and we were hoping to nod back off.....oh no, of course we have crossed over the border now so the next border guards come on and again seemed to want us to be Americans !!!! We had to again produce our papers and satisfy them that twe werent. Next morning we arrived in Prague, as we pulled into the station a very dishelved Train Conductor three us a couple of breakfast trays, but no sign of any tea.....Moral of the story, dont wer your pyjamas on an overnight train and dont expect Tea !

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