Eurail Selectpass Drive Details
- 3 days unlimited train travel and 2 days by hire car in 3,4 or 5 countries.
- Price from $468* to $613* depending on choice of car.
- $72* to $104* per additional car day.
- First class travel
- Open to non-European citizens only. For European citizens, see Inter Rail Pass
*Prices subject to change. Check with the vendor for current price.
Is the Eurail Selectpass Drive Good Value?
By combining train and travel costs, it is difficult to work out how much you are paying for what. However, broadly speaking you can say you are paying $70 (52€) for each day of travel.Renting a small car in Spain is about 50€-60€ per day, though the prices go down the more days you hire for. A long journey in Spain (for example from Granada to Barcelona or Valencia to Santiago de Compostela) will cost about 50€-90€ ($65-$118).
In other parts of Europe, car hire is 10€ or so more expensive. As an example of prices in other countries, a ticket from Nice to Paris in France costs 133€ ($175) and from Hamburg to Munich in Germany costs 115€ ($150).
You need to reserve your seat on Spanish trains, which adds to your travel costs. Reservations in other countries aren't always necessary but they are often advisable.
Using the Eurail Selectpass Drive will save you some money, especially if you plan on renting the car on non-consecutive days and plan on traveling long distances by train. However, if you plan on traveling short distances and/or using all of your car days in a row, it might not be worth the money. Train travel is considerably cheaper in Spain than in other countries, so if you are going to spend a lot of time in Spain you might want to reconsider this pass. The more time you spend in other countries, the better value this ticket will be.
Note that not all routes will have direct trains and sometimes the bus will be quicker (and will almost always be cheaper). Occasionally the bus is about the same price as the train reservation! Read more on Advantages and Disadvantages of Train Travel in Spain.
To work out exactly how much your train tickets in Spain would cost if you bought them separately, see the Renfe Web site and check the Movelia Web site to see if your journey might be better by bus. Bus journeys in Spain are almost always cheaper than the bus and are occasionally quicker too.
See also: What Your Eurail Pass Doesn't Cover
