Conditions of Use

Validation of your Eurail Pass

You should always have your Pass validated at a train station prior to your first train trip. After arrival in Europe, a railway official at a ticket window or a Eurail Aid Office has to validate your Pass.

The official will fill in the first and last date of validity on your Pass. Furthermore the box 'Validating Stamp'  needs to be stamped. It is not possible to validate the Pass yourself!

Eurail Pass validation example
click for bigger example

A Eurail Pass is strictly personal and non-transferable

  • Eurail Passes are issued on identity and cannot to be used by any other person.
  • Your name, country of residence and Passport number should be filled in on the Pass.

Train tipWarning: do not laminate your Pass!
We can imagine that you want to protect your valuable Eurail Pass. However laminating is not allowed because then your Pass can't be validated by train staff. We advise you to store your Pass in a plastic wallet instead.

Travel days

  • A travel day lasts 24 hours, from midnight to midnight (from 00:00 to 24:00 hours).
  • Exception: if you board a direct, overnight train after 7pm on a certain day, then only the following day (the day of arrival of the night train) is counted as a travel day. On your Eurail Pass, you would write the day of arrival on the pass prior to boarding the overnight train. You effectively will receive 5 hours of travel for free! Please note: travel cannot begin before 00h01 on the first day of the overall validity period of the Pass. If your first travel day is for example Wednesday 6 August, you cannot use the '7 pm rule' on Tuesday the 5th yet.

Travel days need to be filled in correctly

Extra Pass Benefits

There are extra Pass benefits that entitle you to reductions. If you use a free bonus on a certain day, you will have to fill in a travel day on your Pass. This does not apply when you use a reduction bonus only. You can use the reduction bonus anytime within the validity period of your Pass.

Traveling in a group

Groups of two or more people traveling together can buy a Saver Pass, which gives you 15% discount per person.  

Pay attention: the names of all the persons that travel together will be on just one Saver Pass. This means that all persons should travel together. If only one person of the group travels a day with the Saver Pass and the other people don't, it will still cost a travel day for all everyone.

Maximum 5 people can travel together on one Saver Pass. It might be wise in some situations to buy two Saver Passes for five people if you intend to split up during your travels. Then you could for instance buy one Saver Pass for 2 people and one for 3 people.

Age Limits

Anyone can buy a Eurail Pass. However, there are several price levels depending upon your age and the preferred class:

  • Customers aged 26 and older on the first day of validity of their Pass can buy an 'Adult' Pass in 1st or 2nd class
  • Customers aged 12 up to and including 25 years old can buy a Youth Pass, which is in most cases only valid for 2nd class train travel
  • Customers aged 4 up to 12 years old (age limits can vary for specific One Country Passes) get a discount of 50% on the fare of an 'Adult' Pass, 1st or 2nd class
  • Children aged 0 up to and including 3 travel for free

Country of Residence

You can buy a Eurail Pass if you are a resident of a non-European country. You are considered to be a resident of a country if you have been living in this country for longer than 6 months on the first day of validity of your Pass.

Residents from these countries are not entitled to buy a Eurail Pass:
Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroer, Finland, FYR Macedonia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican.

Train staff will check your residency in your travel document, so make sure that you bring the right documents.

Free Gifts

Free Gifts for Eurail Travelers

Every Eurail traveler receives a free timetable booklet, a map of Europe and a traveler's guide to help you to plan your trip. You also receive a free souvenir when you return a survey after your trip! Read more.

Eurail video: Validating your Pass