How to buy cheaper European train tickets

Timing is everything if you want to get cheap Eurostar trips. And there are lots of good deals on European train tickets too for onwards travel, if you know a few insider tricks.

For example, an Interrail pass can include two days of UK travel and the Eurostar. The cheapest Interrail pass starts at just £250, so it can make a European train trip cheaper than buying separate tickets. 

Did you know that you can add on a journey to any Belgian station with your Eurostar ticket for just £12? Similarly, while Eurostar only allows you to book to Rotterdam or Amsterdam, the Dutch rail site lets you book trains from London to other Dutch destinations, often for only a few Euro extra.  

Considering a sleeper train? Our research found that Europe’s new night services could work out cheaper than flying for groups and families.

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When to book cheap Eurostar tickets

Eurostar tickets are available up to 11 months in advance. We analysed data from Trainline and found that fares remain largely static until three months before departure, when they start to rise sharply. 

You can compare prices week to week using the 'Find lowest fares' tool on its website. Return fares are cheaper than two single fares.

 Sign up for the Eurostar newsletter or download the app to be the first to know about deals, which are usually for off-peak travel periods. When we have tracked Eurostar deals previously we have found the promotions offer the lowest fare, if you are flexible on when you travel.  If you need to change the date or time of your Eurostar ticket, there’s no fee up to seven days before departure – you just pay the difference in fare. 

If you’re buying a non-refundable Eurostar ticket and planning an onward journey, book both at the same time so you don’t get caught out by engineering works. Most European countries release their train timetable three or four months in advance. 

For travel in Belgium, you can buy Eurostar’s ‘Brussels + any Belgian station’ ticket. It allows you to continue your journey for an extra £12. You can take any local service without needing a reservation (as long as it’s within 24 hours of arriving in Brussels). 

You can also book train tickets to any Dutch rail station through the Netherlands national rail operator. This is cheaper than buying a Eurostar ticket to Rotterdam or Amsterdam and onward ticket to further destinations separately.

Why the CIV train ticket could save you money

If you live outside London, the little-known London International CIV ticket is your best bet. You’ll be covered by the International Conditions of Carriage, so if your train is delayed and you miss your Eurostar, you’ll be put on the next available service. 

You can book an advance or flexible ‘Euro’ fare from most UK railway stations to ‘London International CIV’ (or at trainsplit.com, if you deselect ‘use split tickets’ and type ‘LNE’ as your destination). CIV fares can even work out cheaper because it’s valid on the London Underground to get to St Pancras  - with few restrictions during peak times. 

If your Eurostar is delayed and you miss an onward connection, you can catch the next high-speed service for free. This arrangement is known as Hop On The Next Available Train (HOTNAT) and also applies to western Europe’s main operators, including Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SNCF (France), SNCB (Belgium) and NS International (Netherlands). 

Get cheaper Italian and French train tickets by going slower

Save a bundle by hopping on slow regional services instead of high-speed trains. For example, it costs €50 for a flexible fare from Rome to Florence on Italy’s speedy Frecce trains (1 hour 30 mins). The stopping train takes more than two hours longer, but is only €24, and you can break the journey in the pretty Umbrian towns of Orvieto and Castiglione del Lago. 

When we checked, the cheapest fare from Paris to Dijon was £66 on a high-speed TGV for travel the following day. However, the fare for the low-cost OUIGO Train Classique was almost half that (£34), and takes 1 hour 10 minutes longer.

To find regional train routes, check Deutsche Bahn’s Europe-wide online timetable and tick ‘local transport only’. Regional and local train fares are fixed, so there’s no need to book in advance. 

Families can save on European train tickets by choosing a sleeper train

Night trains are enjoying a renaissance in Europe. A dozen new routes have launched in recent years, and they sometimes cost less than a budget hotel. The biggest operator, Nightjet, links with Eurostar in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Its trains have four and six-berth couchettes from €48 (£42) including a women-only compartment, and one, two or three-bed sleeping cars from €68 (£59) per person. 

When we compared the cost of air travel vs Eurostar plus sleeper service for three European routes, we found that groups and families could save money by taking a sleeper train instead of flying. Two of the three services were cheaper for groups of four or six if you factor in the cost of baggage and an extra night’s accommodation.

While our spot-check research found that Eurostar seats and a private sleeping compartment would cost two adults more than flying, couples and solo travellers can save money by sharing a couchette or sleeper cabin with other travellers. 

Find out about new sleeper train services across Europe

Compare train fares in Europe

For train journeys in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria or Switzerland, you can book tickets from Trainline or RailEurope.com. Prices can differ, so compare fares on both alongside the local train operator’s site. Most have an English version.

RailEurope.com charges a £6.45 flat fee (for journeys over £15) while Trainline adds a small percentage – so will probably be cheaper for one ticket. 

If you book directly with the local operator you won’t pay a booking fee, but their websites can sometimes be tricky to navigate and occasionally reject overseas payment cards.

Is a German, Spanish, Italian or Belgian rail pass worth it?

Germany offers a €49 monthly pass (£41) with unlimited regional train, bus and tram travel. It’s valid from the first day of each calendar month. You have to set up a monthly subscription that you’ll need to cancel by the 10th of the current month to avoid being charged again. Buy it from int.bahn.de or the DB Navigator app. 

Belgium also has a great-value rail pass. You can buy a 10-journey ticket for €102 (£86), which is valid for any route for a year. Buy it from belgiantrain.be, the SNCB app, ticket machines or any staffed station.

Spain’s rail pass is a lot pricier but it’s valid on long and medium-distance trains. You can buy a four (€195 for standard class/£164), six (€275/£232), eight (€350/£295) or 10-journey (€410/£345) pass, which allows you to take that number of journeys within a month (one train ride = one journey). Buy it from renfe.com or UK-based internationalrail.com, which charges a £10 booking fee. Unlike with Interrail passes, you don’t have to pay extra for seat reservations.

In Italy, you can buy a Trenitalia pass for three (€139/£117 for standard class), four (€169/£142), seven (€269/£226) or 10 journeys (€354/£298) - with discounts for seniors - to use on high-speed and intercity but not regional trains. Seat reservations are free but still required.

France launched a similar pass in June - which offers unlimited rail travel throughout the country for €49 a month - but it's only available for those aged 16-27. It excludes the fastest, long-distance TGV trains.

Europe’s best scenic railway journeys - as rated by travellers

Will an Interrail pass save you money on European trains?

If you’re planning to do a few long-distance journeys and want flexibility, consider an Interrail pass. The cheapest pass starts at €283 (£238) for four days of travel, so may actually be cheaper than booking point-to-point travel between the UK and Europe. This can include two days in the UK, so the first day of your trip could be travelling from your home to London, then on to Amsterdam, Paris or Brussels on the Eurostar. The most popular option is for seven days in a month and costs €381 (£321 – equivalent to £46 a day), with a discount for those under 28 or over 60. 

On long-distance services, you usually have to pay extra for compulsory seat reservations, so factor in that cost: around €10 (£9) on intercity services in France, Spain, Portugal and Italy, and around €30 (£26) on the Eurostar.