France is now included again in the Eurail Select 4-country Pass.
For few long dark months, France had disincluded itself from the Eurail Select Pass offering (selection of countries and number of days). This was because most people seemed to include France in a pass because it’s big and between where you’re going, so they were getting a larger portion of travelers than other countries, but only getting the same share of revenue as the others. They sought to remedy this by making folks get a France single country pass, but as you can guess, this probably didn’t go as well as they’d hoped. So, France is once again available in the countries which can be selected for a Eurail Select Pass. Also, announced at the same time, is the elimination of the 3-counrty and 5-country pass options, with only a 4-country pass available, narrowing the options, to probably try to increase overall revenue for the select pass and balance the scales.
For the unfamiliar – the Eurail Select Pass, available in North America (and Australia) through Rail Europe, has been one of the most cost effective of the rail passes, providing the option to choose rail travel on the national rail networks in the amount of days and areas you need. Choose 4 adjoining countries connected by train or ship. You can select neighboring countries from the following list: Austria, Benelux, Bulgaria, Croatia/Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro/Serbia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. You can choose from 5, 6, 8 or 10 days of rail travel to be taken within a two-month period, whether those travel days are consecutive or non-consecutive. The Eurail Select Pass also offers additional bonuses: from select hotel discounts to museum entries, to cruise and ferry discounts.
Eurail Select Pass Conditions: Unlimited travel on the national rail networks of 4 bordering countries connected by train or ship for 5, 6, 8 or 10 days of travel within 2 months. The pass must be activated within 6 months of purchase. Pass needs to be validated by a railway official (conductor or ticket window) on first day of travel. The day of travel most be written in the appropriate box on the pass before boarding the train. The pass days begins when a railway official notes your passport number on the pass. Travelers must either carry a passport or U.S. Military I.D.
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