How to buy cheaper European train tickets

You could save hundreds on rail holidays by booking at the right time, taking advantage of sales, booking direct with train operators and choosing the right pass.

We've looked into exactly when to buy your Eurostar tickets, whether it's worth buying an Interrail Pass and how the little-known "London International" ticket could save you if you miss your train.

The savings could even make it cheaper to take the train than fly. While flights can be very cheap out of season, cabin bag fees can quadruple the cost of the cheapest tickets. With train travel there's no restriction on how much luggage you can take for free.

For more independent travel advice and recommendations, subscribe to Which? Travel.

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 'Get cheapest tickets' 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. Some tickets were as low as £39.  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 used to be able to buy Eurostar’s ‘Brussels + any Belgian station’ ticket - to add on trips to Bruges, Antwerp or other destinations for just £12 more. Unfortunately this has been scrapped as of June 2025.

You can 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 could be 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). When we checked CIV tickets could even be a bit cheaper on some routes - there was a £2 saving on a July 2025 ticket from High Wycombe to London St Pancras, compared with booking the same train with the operator. On most routes we looked at, however, there wasn't a saving.

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 at least €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 in June 2025, the cheapest fare on raileurope from Paris to Dijon was £69 on a high-speed TGV for travel the following day. However, the fare for the slow train is almost half that (£34), and takes 1 hour 30 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. 

Rail expert the Man In Seat 61 website has a detailed guide to how to travel Europe by train.

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

Night trains are enjoying a renaissance in Europe. More than 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.

When we compared the cost of air travel vs Eurostar plus sleeper service for three European routes in 2023, 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

Book direct with European train operators

For train journeys in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria or Switzerland, you can book tickets from Trainline or RailEurope.com. They both have slick, easy-to-use websites - but they're unlikely to have the best deals.

They also both have booking fees. Raileurope has a booking fee of £2.99 to £6.45. Thetrainline's booking fee is up to £2.79.

In May 2024 we compared the cost of buying tickets with thetrainline and raileurope, versus SNCF (France), Trenitalia (Italy), RENFE (Spain) and Deutschebahn (Germany). Raileurope was usually - but not always - cheaper than thetrainline - but booking direct was always cheaper than both.

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

Germany offers a €58 monthly pass (£49) 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 (€220 for standard class/£188), six (€310/£261), eight (€390/£328) or 10-journey (€455/£383) 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 £241 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 £324, 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 £27 on the Eurostar.