Think RailEurope or Eurail as it is popularly known and you will probably conjure up images of backpackers buying a one or two-month pass and freewheeling across the continent. Think again. For the travel-by-rail-at-night-to-scrounge-on-accommodation-and-sightsee-by-day bandwagon has switched tracks. The rail option has become very popular with the free individual traveller (FIT) segment today. The result is that travel agencies aren’t just offering Eurail passes alone but designing rail-based packages around them.

It’s easy to understand why the rail option is so attractive. After all the RailEurope network extends over 240,000km across 18 countries from the Scandinavian nations to the Benelux trio (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg) to France and Germany to Hungary and Austria. (Great Britain is not part of the Eurail Network but British Rail passes can be bought separately.) What’s more, with its large number of trains, the network offers flexibility of travel.

Says Sanjay Subraidu, senior vice-president, FIT and domestic, SOTC, a division of Kuoni India, “European holidays by rail are popular with the FIT segment, who want flexibility when travelling. Eurail not only offers that flexibility in scheduling but the scenic beauty seen on the network is also unmatched ? and Europe is all about scenic beauty.”

No wonder, travel agencies like SOTC, TCI and Thomas Cook India have put together special Eurail-based packages this summer. Apart from customised Eurail-based trips, TCI, for instance, has a seven-day package to Switzerland, a nine-day one to Switzerland and Paris, and a 15-day one to France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. These are available till October 31 (bookings by October 15). All the TCI packages exclude airfare, visa costs and transfers from railway stations to hotels. India-Europe airfares are about Rs 30,000 - Rs35,000 including taxes.

Take TCI’s seven-day Switzerland package, which costs Rs 28,599 a head (twin-sharing) with three-star accommodation. The journey begins at Geneva and includes Lausanne, Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich. The cost includes an eight-day second-class Swiss Saver Pass, three nights’ stay in Interlaken, and two nights in Lausanne and one at Lucerne. The package also includes some sightseeing such as a free excursion to the 9744-ft Schilthorn peak in the Alps.

In comparison, a second-class eight-day Swiss Flexi Saver Pass alone ? this is valid for two or more people travelling together at all times within one month ? costs $330 (Rs 15,000). Reservations on Eurail passes, however, cost extra and range between Euro 9 to Euro 26. Reservations are compulsory on certain segments such as on scenic trains like the Golden Pass and Glacier Express, on high-speed trains and for overnight journeys.

TCI’s nine-day Switzerland and Paris package covers two nights each at Lucerne, Interlaken and Paris and a night each at Montreaux and Geneva. This costs Rs 42,499 (twin-sharing), and includes an eight-day second-class Swiss Saver Pass, the TGV train journey from Geneva to Paris, three-star accommodation with breakfast, and sightseeing like an excursion to Mt Pilatus.

The 13-night France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria TCI package, which costs Rs 58,299 per person (twin-sharing), goes to Paris, Nice, Rome, Venice, Salzburg, Interlaken and back to Paris.

By comparison, a 10-day Eurail Select Saver Pass for three adjoining countries, valid for two or more people travelling together at all times, costs Euro 394 (Rs 22,000 @ Rs 56 to a Euro). A 15-day five-country Eurail Select Saver Pass costs Euro 578 (Rs 32,000).

SOTC also has about 30 do-it-yourself Eurail-based holiday packages. In particular, though, it is pushing five Eurail-based packages, which include the India-Europe airfare with a companion fly free offer, and overseas medical insurance. These packages are valid till September 30.

Take the five-night, six-day Best of Switzerland SOTC package. This includes airfare, inter-city rail travel, three-star accommodation with breakfast for three nights in Interlaken and two at Lucerne, and excursion trips to First (a peak that’s accessed by a cable car from Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps) and Mt Pilatus. From Mumbai and Delhi, the package costs Rs 29,900 (this is the airfare component for the first passenger, the second flies free) plus Euro 1160 (Rs 94,950) for a couple or less than Rs 50,000 a head. Ex-Calcutta, the cost is Rs 104,950 a couple or Rs 39,990 plus Euro 1,160 ? Calcutta passengers have to fly to Mumbai to take the Alitalia flight from there.

Besides this, SOTC has a six-night Glimpse of Europe package (Switzerland and France) for Rs 114,918 for a couple, ex-Calcutta. Its eight-night, nine-day Jewels of Europe package (ex-Calcutta) covers Paris, Amsterdam and London, for Rs 129,926 for two.

Then, there is SOTC’s nine-night Treasures of Europe package to Austria, Switzerland and Italy. This includes first class rail travel, including reservation costs on high-speed trains from Rome to Venice and Venice to Innsbruck. Ex-Calcutta, it costs Rs 149,974 for a couple.

Besides, SOTC has an 11-night European Delight package that covers Italy, Switzerland, France and Britain. Ex-Calcutta, this costs Rs 169,910 for two. All the SOTC packages include airfare, accommodation, rail travel, medical insurance, and sightseeing.

Thomas Cook too has a range of Eurail-based packages from a six-day Fascinating France package to an 18-day Discover Europe package. These are valid till October 31 and exclude airfare, visa costs, meals (except breakfast), transport and surcharges. Take the Fascinating France package, which costs around Rs 33,200 (twin-sharing). This includes three-star accommodation with breakfast, a hop-on-hop-off tour of Paris, tickets to the Lido show as well as a day’s excursion to Monte Carlo and Eze from Nice. Or there’s the Da Vinci Decoder package to Paris and London for Rs 35,400. Thomas Cook even has an East European Explorer package to Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia that costs around Rs 46,425 with three-star accommodation.

Clearly then, the options are aplenty. And if you wish to explore Europe at your own pace this summer, you can enjoy both the flexibility of a large rail network along with the comfort of having a travel agency organise the details for you.

Photographs courtesy: SOTC

My favourite holiday

Kishore Bhimani,
cricket commentator and author

My favourite destination in the world is without doubt, South Africa. I’ve been there several times ? to do commentary for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, to attend the World Cup in 2003 and to release my book, Portraits of the Game, and even on a pure pleasure trip.

Cape Town, I feel is the most beautiful city in the world. And one of the reasons is that it has the magical Table Mountain there. This flat mountain rises out of the sea and you can take a cable car to the very top for a truly divine sight ? the blue waters of the Atlantic on one side and the pale green waters of the Indian Ocean on the other.

Another great attraction for me is South Africa’s wildlife. I’ve seen everything from herds of wildebeest and zebras to cheetahs and leopards. What is so amazing is that one minute you can be watching a lion feasting on its kill, and an hour later, you can be playing blackjack in a swanky casino sitting next to a beautiful woman.

Indeed the casino at Sun City’s Palace Hotel is absolutely fantastic as is the hotel itself. This is the place, which hosts the Million Dollar Golf Tournament and the Miss World Pageant. We even attended the pageant in fact, and sat at a table alongside Arthur Hailey and Sylvester Stallone’s former wife, Bridgette Nielson.

Route map

It’s hot, but so are the bargains that await you in hotels around the north. Trident Hilton Hotels are rolling out some sops for you and your family to live it up this summer. Here’s what you can look forward to at the group’s properties in Agra, Jaipur (on the Golden Triangle) and Udaipur: a 2 nights and 3 days stay for two comes at Rs 5,500 at Trident Hilton Agra, while the same package costs Rs 7,500 at the Trident hotel in Jaipur. Trident Hilton Udaipur meanwhile offers the package at Rs 8,000. The price includes breakfast and a discount of 20 per cent on other meals. And those travelling with children can get an additional room for two kids below 16 years at a 50 per cent discount. It doesn’t end there. Special rates are also up for grabs at Hilton Towers in Mumbai and Trident hotels in Gurgaon (just off Delhi), Chennai, Cochin and Bhubaneswar. The packages are on till September 30. For more call: 1 800 11 2122 or write to reservations@trident-hilton.com.