Eurorail Pass? Train travel in Europe? Help!?

I am going to be flying into Madrid June 22 and out of Amsterdam on July 4. We want to make our way from Madrid to Paris via Train. Do we get a pass or just go destination to destination? We're not in college. And while I just finished grad school and my fiance is about to begin Law School I can't depend on both of us having student IDS. Anyway, someone just explain it to me? How does it work? Just a general help - or more like HELP! ;)Eurorail Pass? Train travel in Europe? Help!?
For Madrid-Amsterdam you will need a 3 country Eurail pass, if they have it, Spain-France-Benelux, Benelux being the three countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but for the Eurail pass they count as one.



A good site with a lot of information on trains in Europe, including rail passes, is:

http://www.seat61.com/Railpass.htm



If you had booked your rail journey 3 months in advance you would have been cheaper off buying point to point tickets, but as you have left is rather late already, you might be better off buying a rail pass.



I have followed some of the links and it send me to this page:

http://www.raileurope.com/us/shopping/pa鈥?/a>

Which will find you a selection of rail passes.



An other very valuable site will be that of the French railways, as your travels will get you to and from France, maybe you also need that for Spain or the Netherlands or Belgium.

If you go to the site of the man in seat sixty-one you will find a list of countries in the left hand side of the screen, just click on the name of the country and in the top part of the new page you will find a link to its travel planner and ticket sellers.Eurorail Pass? Train travel in Europe? Help!?
The value of a rail pass entirely depends on the number of rail trips you wish to be taking, and in which countries.



If you only want to take one trip via train from Madrid to Paris, a rail pass is not a good option as rail passes usually start with a minimum of four days of travel, whereas you will only be using one day of travel on the pass. Even if it is a night train, it would only count as one day of travel as any overnight rail trip that starts after 7 pm can just be considered as using one travel day.



If, however, you plan on making a number of trips while you are travelling between Madrid and Paris and these two cities are merely the begin and end locations for a number of days travelling the rails, then a pass may be a good idea for you. There are several different types of passes, including the "Eurail Pass", which specifically covers rail travel in about 22 countries in Europe. Alternatively, you can purchase a pass for rail travel in a single country, or a two-country pass that lets you travel unlimited within two neighbouring countries.



There is a two-country France-Spain pass that you could use. The pass would involve you pre-purchasing a set number of travel days (between 4 and 10) that you can use anytime you choose within a two-month period.



As for not necessarily having student ID, you might get some youth fares on some trains with an ISIC card, but usually not. Rail passes have a youth option, but the only proof you need is to be under 26 years of age to get the youth pass - no ISIC card required.



Anyways, more details on rail passes is at http://www.raileurope.com - you can even book some point-to-point tickets on that website, although they do charge a small markup compared to purchasing the same tickets in Europe. If you are going to take a night-train, be sure that you have reservations for that train at least a couple of weeks in advance to ensure you get a spot on it... especially if you are travelling during the peak season of July/August.



Have a great trip!

raw food recipes

chinese take out