Cheapest way to travel Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Brussels) by train?
I am going to be traveling to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, and Brussels (in that order) this June and was wondering what the best/cheapest way would be to get to each of those cities (air or train)? I have seen that there are passes you can get for an allotted amount of travel days in a month but they seem on the expensive side. Would it be cheaper to by a ticket at the train station for each trip or would getting a pass be a better idea? Should I even bother looking into flying?
Paris, Bruxelles (Brussels) and Amsterdam are all serviced by the Thalys, a high speed express train operated by the French, Belgian, Dutch and German national railways. Booked in advance, a Thalys ticket is not too terribly expensive, and is certainly a lower cost than air travel, even on Europe’s budget airways.
However, if you are not a European citizen, you can travel by Eurailpass. A Eurail Selectpass, valid in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, is a good travel investment, and is often even cheaper than booking point-to-point tickets in advance. To get an idea of actual ticket costs to compare with a Eurailpass, visit the rail service Web site of each country (Netherlands: www.ns.nl; Germany: www.bahn.de; France: www.sncf.com; and Belgium: www.b-rail.be) and price advance purchase prices.
Travel at off-peak times (usually after 9 a.m., before 5 p.m.) or on weekends for better pricing. To save your vacation daytimes for exploring, you may wish to make the longer trips (Amsterdam-Berlin and Berlin-Paris) as overnighters. There is a fee to reserve a couchette (second-class berth), sleeper or hotel train compartment in addition to the ticket cost.
Have a wonderful trip. I love travel by Eurail! I envy you!