European Rail Travel - Eurail pass for 5 year old?




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parigeet
Feb 22, 11, 9:33 pm
I have a few question on whether to buy a child (5 years old) eurail pass or not. Would appreciate if some knowledgeable experts can help me. I have only couple weeks before we start our travel, so we can't really get the special advance fares so pass works well for us.

I am planning to buy the Eurail Select Adult Saver pass for 4 countries (Benelux, Germany, Switzerland & France)

The following are my planned train trips for which I will use the pass
Amsterdam (Schipol) --> Brussels (Not planning to use Thallys)
Brussels --> Munich (via Frankfurt) using ICE DB trains
Munich --> Geneva (via Zurich)
Some Internal trips within Switzerland
Geneva --> Paris ( Using TGV)

I have 2 children,(age3 & 5) travelling with me. I understand that for the 3 year old, there is no need to buy a pass. Now, for the 5 year old, I am planning *not* to buy a pass.

Question1: I am thinking that in Germany & Switzerland (under 6) kids are free, so he can just travel without a pass/ticket in those 2 countries. Is that true?

Question 2: I’m a little concerned about how will he travel from Amsterdam  Brussels; Can I just buy him a point to point ticket and we use our passes? How much will his ticket be?

Question3: For Brussels --> Munich; will there be a problem if I don’t buy him a ticket on the ICE train ( since the train originates in Belgium, and I believe only 4 and under travel free there)

Question4: From Geneva --> Paris, I understand that I will have to buy him a separate ticket on the TGV. Can I do that easily from Amsterdam, where we plan to reserve our seats too? Again my wife and I will have eurail pass, but my 5yr old & 3yr old will not?

Thanks in advance


JoostvD
Feb 24, 11, 9:20 am
I don't know anything about Eurail, but here is how the European rail companies charge costs for children:

1. Netherlands: children from 4-11 pay €2,50 for a ticket
2. Belgium: children from the same age ride for free
3. Germany: children 5 and younger ride free, children up to 14 years also ride free if they ride with an adult. Children between 6-14 who travel alone (without an adult), pay half of the normal charge.

In all countries, the children must ride with an adult (see Germany above). The special international trains (Thalys, Eurostar, ICE, etc.) may have special fares besides since they pass through several countries.

parigeet
Feb 24, 11, 10:40 am
Thanks JoostvD for your info.




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