How do I use my Pass?
You'll need to take a few things into account when you start using your Pass. First of all, you always need to activate your Eurail Pass. If you did not select a particular starting date for your Pass, you'll need to activate it at a European train station by getting it stamped at a ticket desk.
You need to register every leg of each journey in your Travel Diary. This is the section of your Pass Cover where you need to enter your personal details and ticket details, as well as your journey details: the travel date, departure time of your train, starting point, end point, and the type of transport (some ferries and buses can be used with the Pass and appear as options). Failure to fill in your Travel Diary can result in fines from ticket inspectors.
If you have a Flexi Pass, you'll also need to fill in the Travel Calendar on the Pass itself. This is is the rectangular box with spaces for each of your travel days. You need to fill in the date in the travel calendar on your Pass before boarding the first train, bus, or ferry of each day. Once a travel day has been entered in the Travel Calendar, it cannot be changed later, so fill carefully!
You must keep the Pass Cover and Pass together at all times, ready to present to train staff at their request. Fill in the personal details and ticket details sections before you start traveling with your Eurail Pass. Make sure to use blue or black ink, not pencil, to fill out all of the previously mentioned fields of your Pass and Pass cover.
If you run out of space in your travel diary you can download and print out additional lines. Fill them out in just the same way you did on your original travel diary and be ready to show them to the train inspector.
Which Eurail Pass should I choose?