What is the most economical ticket combination for Eurail / Carte Orange/ Carnet for my Itinerary?

Question

Hi! Can someone please help me? We will be arriving in Paris at CDG airport and will be staying at Montmartre from May 7 to May 18. I'm not sure which Eurail Pass / Carte Orange or Carnet / Point to point ticket would be the best option for us. My family will be using Paris as our base. We will take the following day trips:

1. Paris - Belgium

2. Paris - Amsterdam

3. Paris - Luxembourg

4. Paris - Fontainebleau

5. Paris - Loire Valley

6. Paris - Versailles

7. Paris - zone 1

8. Paris - zone 1

9. Paris - zone 1

10. Paris - zone 1

I understand that Benelux is considered as one country. However, every morning we will be departing from France. Would it be cheaper to get a one country pass (Benelux) and use carte orange to travel within France since we are only going to Fontainebleau and Loire valley. We are planning to buy carte orange zone 5 so we could use it from CDG airport to Paris and from Paris to Versailles return.

Can you pls help arrange my itinerary? Thank you so much!

Answer 1

This is a very ambitious itinerary, and you might like to look at distances and travel time before thinking about passes.

Paris to Amsterdam is a minimum of 4 hours - each way.  So a little tiring for a day trip and you may not see much.

Paris to Belgium or Lux will be much easier.

Paris to Loire Valley.  You'll get to a city eg Blois, Chartres, Orleans, all of which are beautiful and have much to offer.  But you won't have a chance to see much of the countryside.

Regarding tickets:  A two country Eurail pass eg France and Benelux would make more sense.  A Benelux pass is only for travel within those countries.  You still have to get from Paris to the border and for this you will need the French Eurail Pass or full price tickets.

The Carte Orange is for Paris public transport only.  So will not help you get from Paris to the Belgian border for instance, nor can you use it for Fontainebleau or the Loire Valley.  

Before buying a Eurail Pass check point-to-point prices on at SNCF (http://www.voyages-sncf.com) as you can get some really good online specials if you book early.  But really sure you will want to travel that day as the cheap tickets are non-refundable.

Answer 2

Ok, let's begin.

Day 1 is 7th May i guess.

Day 1-Day 2 Eurail

I suggest you stay in Belgium at the end of day 1 because France-Belgium is 1h30 and Belgium-Amsterdam is 1h30. Total of 6 hours of trains if you stay in Belgium. If you come back to Paris, you will do 9 hours of train. In addition, Brussels is fun in the evening if you want to eat some Moules-Frites (Mussels+Fries).  But it's a suggestion, it also depends of the price of accomodation in Brussels.

Day 3 OK Eurail or stay in Amsterdam or Brussels.

Day 4 Buy special daily tickets : Mobilis Zones1-6 (also valid in Paris for the rest of the day)

Day 5 OK Eurail But the problem will be to go to the castels, you will need a car to really enjoy the different places.

Day 6-7-8-9-10

If Day 6 is Monday 12th, buy a weekly pass (carte orange hebdomadaire), Zones 1-4. You will need a photo for each person. You will be able to visit Versailles with this pass.

It's useless to buy Zones 1-5 because they are not valid for the airports. Moreover, traveling with your Benelux-France Eurail, the train (RER) between CDG Airport and Paris is free : http://www.eurail.com/1_pass_benefits_fr...

You will need a few tickets in Paris to go to the train station for days 1-2-3-5. For that, buy carnet of tickets (-20% if you buy 10 tickets).

Concerning your hesitation between Benelux Pass and Benelux-France Pass, let's make an estimation.

You can't travel for free with a Benelux Pass between Paris and Belgium. Same thing between Paris and Luxemburg.

Paris-Loire Valley about 30+30 Euros (return)

Paris-Belgium about 30+30 Euros (return)

Paris-Lux about 30+30 Euros (return)

So, no hesitation, buy a France-Benelux Eurail.

Hope this helps and enjoy the speed of the trains in Europe... except Luxemburg !

@Rilifan : i agree, going to Luxemburg is a loss of time. Amsterdam is more interesting.

Answer 3

I don't mean to be offensive but that is perhaps the silliest itinerary I have ever seen.

The idea of making Amsterdam. Luxembourg and Belgium  individual day trips from Paris is simply absurd. (Especially since Luxembourg is one of the dullest places on Earth).

You make a mistake by tryng to cram in way too much territory in far too short a time.