Europe -- Riding The Rails With A Eurail Pass

Thinking of going to Europe and traveling by train?

I traveled for three weeks in Europe by train on a Eurail pass. Here's how it works - and worked for me:

The Eurail system covers 17 countries. You can ride its trains (and some ferries) from Greece in the east and Portugal in the west, and all the way north into Norway. It doesn't cover Britain, which has a similar BritRail system, or much of Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union.

Train and boat schedules are published in "Through Europe by Train," a 168-page pocket-size guide that also lists the availability of sleeping and dining arrangements. It comes with your pass, via your travel agent, or you can write for a free copy to Eurail, P.O. Box 325, Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870.

If you planned it right, you could ride the trains with no travel cost beyond the price of the pass.

However, you'd probably be more comfortable with reservations, which ensure you a window seat or a non-smoking car, for example. Reservations are required for some trains and for sleeping cars.

Reservations cost a little, and there's a charge for sleeping arrangements.

For the trip from Paris to Calais, for example, a reservation cost 16 francs, a little more than $3; for the boat from Turku, Finland, to Stockholm, Sweden, 40 finmarks, a little more than $10, and for a single cabin for that overnight trip, 99 finmarks, almost $26.

The Eurail pass is bought before your trip, and it's convenient to buy it through your travel agent.

There are several versions, and prices vary. The Eurail pass I used cost almost $500 and allowed me to travel first-class anywhere on the system daily for almost three weeks. It is available in units from 15 days to three months. (Please see the story on page J 7 for more details on Eurail prices and passes.)

To use the pass, you have it validated at a station on the date when you plan to begin using it.

If you don't make a seat reservation, the pass acts like a ticket. You hand it to the conductor when he asks to see a ticket and he returns it.

The beauty of the Eurail system is that you can travel when you want, as long as you want. So you don't want too many advance reservations unless you're locked into a schedule.

If you need reservations, you may have your travel agent make them ahead of time or make them at the station.

Making reservations at the stations was convenient; although it meant standing in lines they usually moved along quickly. If you want first-class space, it is wise to reserve at least a day or two ahead for busy trains.

I always was able to travel on the day I wanted to go, but occasionally I was bumped to second class, which wasn't bad at all, or to a car or compartment where smoking was allowed.

The Eurail guides suggest packing light. There are porters at train stations, and you can check your luggage through on trains to many destinations. But it was more convenient to pack everything in two bags that I could carry and keep with me.

Traveling light also makes it easier to get from one station to another. Since the larger cities have more than one station, you need to know which one your train departs from.

I had heard warnings about thieves and pickpockets on the trains and in the stations - even of thieves pumping sleeping gas into compartments and carrying off all of a passenger's belongings.

I took elementary precautions - I bought two small locks for the bag in which I kept my valuables, did not let my luggage out of sight unless someone I could trust was nearby, and didn't flash a lot of money around.

I had no problems and didn't hear of any among passengers who shared my compartments.

Once at the station you may face a bewildering array of information.

TV terminals and notice boards show departures and arrivals, but you need to sort out local from national or international trains.

Your reservation card will help. It may tell which track your train will be on, and will give the train number and the number of your car. The track can be changed, though, so you should check at the station.

Each car bears a sign saying where it is going; Eurail guides warn that it isn't enough just to get on the right train. Since the cars may be switched down the line somewhere, you want to be on a car that's going where you want to go.

Once on the train, you find your seat by the reservation number. Without a reservation, you need to check notices posted in the windows of individual compartments to see whether seats are reserved. You can take any unreserved seat.

If you want water, carry it with you or buy it on the train. Water in the sinks is not drinkable. Most trains have a dining car or bar car, but it may disappear without warning just when you want it.

Food in the dining cars was good though expensive. Service varied.

I reminded one harried and rushing waitress in a crowded dining car, as she placed my plate on the table, that I had ordered a beer with my meal.

"I only have two hands!" she snapped.

Carrying pictures in my mind from the movies, I had half-expected border crossings to be accompanied by officials wanting passports and looking through the luggage.

Even though I passed through parts of eight countries in Europe, I was asked for a passport only a couple of times; the train ticket was checked more often. In Europe, the luggage was never searched.

My train trips ranged in length from a couple of hours in Finland - from Helsinki to Turku - to the overnight run from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Munich, Germany.

All but one of the trains was on time - and some were early by a few minutes.