How to Use a Eurail Train Pass

You must activate (validate) your Eurail Pass before your first train journey. This can be done at a European train station, or online by using our Eurail.com activation service at checkout. Activation is required within 11 months* of the issuing date.

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.

*Please note that by months we are referring to calendar months. This means that if, for example, you purchase your Pass on May 31, the latest day you can activate your Pass is April 30.

Read more on how to activate your Eurail Pass

A travel day lasts 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. On each travel day, you can take as many trains as you want and go wherever your Eurail Pass is valid. You're free to choose the days when you want to travel. Fill in each travel date on your Eurail Pass before you board the train.

Find out more about travel days

Take advantage of extra benefits available with your Eurail Pass. A range of discounts and special offers are available in the European countries where your Pass is valid.

Learn more about Eurail Pass benefits

Your Eurail Pass consists of a Pass and a Pass Cover. Before boarding each train, bus, or boat, you'll need to record your trip in the "travel diary" on the Pass Cover (in blue or black ink). If you forget, you could be fined and pay for a full fare ticket. When you get home from your trip, make sure you send us your travel diary, so we can send you a FREE Eurail gift to help remember your Eurail journey. We can send your travel diary back to you if you wish to keep it as a souvenir!

Read more about the travel diary

In some countries a seat reservation is mandatory for specific trains. The rules and conditions for making these reservations vary between rail companies and countries. Therefore we advise you to make sure you know in which country a reservation might be needed before you travel, so there are no surprises.

Read more about train reservations