Eurail Pass

Before I came to Germany, I had purchased a Eurail Pass that allows me to travel on almost any train in the EU except for reservation fees, where applicable. It has allowed me to travel all over Europe, but more importantly, its allowed me to be flexible. Because I haven't purchased any set train tickets, I am able to just hop on any train that's convenient for me.

This has helped me enjoy my experience here a heck of a lot more because well... Things and opportunities pop up, like in the Netherlands, Paris, and even Hannover. And even in the case where you're terrible at navigating train stations and miss your train, you can just grab the next one, which has happened to me on way too many occasions.

It's maybe not so great for traveling say.. Over spring break when you're trying to see as many long distance places as possible because it limits you to traveling by train and that takes quite a bit of time. For example, 22 hours on the train could easily be covered in 3 hours or less on a plane, and usually for less money.

I'd say it's a perfect deal for a specific region that you're going to be traveling around but for any long distance travel, stick to flights. One big con about the Eurail Pass is that they have lowered the amount of time it is valid for. It used to be 3 months from your first day or travel, but now it's 2, which is bad, but in my case has worked out pretty well. Ive gotten full use out of my pass and even had a few "free" train rides (sometimes conductors don't check) and now that the end of the semester is here and I have no time to travel, my pass is expired. Perfect timing, I'd say.

Attached is a picture of one of the coolest train stations I've ever seen - Liege-Guillemins.