By this point we were the only ones left on the platform, except the conductor, who was just getting ready to blow his whistle to signal that the train, now empty, could take off again. Without thinking, I jumped back onto the train to retrieve the pouch, the conductor shouting at me loudly in German as I did so.

The train was starting to move, so after a quick glance around what turned out to not be our compartment, I jumped off the train again… without my beloved pouch. I was a bit sad, I quite liked it after all, but it had only cost a dollar and I had another, quite similar one, somewhere in the bottom of my bag. At least it hadn’t been something valuable or irreplaceable.

However, people do leave things on trains all the time. You hop off, do a quick check to see if you’ve got everything, and realise that you’ve left one of your bags on board. This doesn’t tend to happen if you follow the one-bag rule, but it’s true that you spread out while on a train, especially if you have the compartment to yourself. Maybe your small bag got left on a seat while you were grappling the larger one down from the overhead rack, or got kicked under the seat while you were taking a nap.

At least if it’s the last station on the line you have a bit of time to get back your things, but if you’re getting off at a mid-point station, it can be almost impossible to work out where your bag is, let alone get it back.

If this happens to you, the first thing to do is talk to station staff and see if there’s a process for getting your bag back. You’ll probably have to fill in forms and jump through a few hoops, but you might be lucky and be reunited with your bag. If not, it’s time to call the insurance company and make a claim. If you don’t have travel insurance yet, consider travel insurance from comparethemarket.com

However, prevention is always better than cure. Travel with just one bag, with a smaller, compressible one inside for daytrips. You can use this one while on the train for snacks and entertainment, but don’t put anything valuable in it — like tickets for your London flights — and pack it away ten minutes before you’re due to get off the train. When it’s time to leave, do a final check of the compartment: the seats, under the seats, and the overhead rack — even if you’re sure you’ve got everything. And if you do leave something behind, don’t jump back on the train as it’s leaving … it’ll cause more problems than it’s worth!

We went from Geneva to a small town where we met some friends. After that it was on to Bern. And after Bern, Thun.

After divesting ourselves of our bags, we went back to Bern and spent the evening floating down the river and downing some beers with friends. Then it was back to Thun for a good night’s sleep. And all the transport was hassle-free thanks to our Eurail Pass. It also helps when you’re not counting every journey you do, but enjoying as much travel as you want to on one of your “on” days.

Here are our thoughts and highlights from the lakeside city:

Firstly, every time we’ve used Eurail Passes, we’ve found them to be amazing value. This time, we’re actually trying to track what we would have spent if we were buying point-to-point tickets. We’ll let you know how it ends up.

The reason a Eurail Pass might cost more than point-to-point tickets is if you are travelling in cheap countries! Italy is much cheaper than Switzerland; Spain is much cheaper than Sweden.

Before you organize your Eurail Pass, you should have a rough idea of where you’re going to travel and when. Use this to your advantage by checking those prices online before you buy. It’s not the most accurate, but Jizdenka does a very good job of accessing international train costs. You can supplement this information with information from the national sites.

Whatever you choose, enjoy your time in Europe

Here’s our experience of complementary nuts and cookies as we travelled from Bern to Berlin, reaching speeds of around 250km/hour, on an ICE train.

Reservations on Bern-Berlin are recommended but not compulsory if you take this route during the day (I’m not sure about at night). We choose a time we thought wouldn’t be busy and had no problems finding seats. In fact, we had a whole six-seater cabin to ourselves for 90% of the train trip.

The ride was smooth and beautiful, plus we were met by a friend in Bern and had a great time exploring the local towns, floating down the river towards the parliament buildings, and hanging out with new-found friends at a few parties.

This is the big unboxing of our Eurail map, Eurail Traveller’s Guide, Eurail Timetable and — of course — Eurail Pass tickets.

From Geneva we’re heading east … check back tomorrow to see where we end up!

The name confusion is based around a branding change made to simplify and shorten the name from “Euro Pass”. Even now, years after the change, people still refer to the Eurail Pass as Euro Pass or Euro Rail Pass.

Travel on the Eurail Pass

The Eurail Pass gives you hop-on, hop-off access to most of Europe’s train network. Bookings are more and more necessary in Spain and Italy, which comes with extra costs.

The traditional Eurail pass covers 21 countries, as of 2009: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. Other passes, such as the Eurail Selectpass, allow one to select a series of bordering countries. For fare calculation purposes, some regions count as one country: Benelux, Slovenia-Croatia, and Serbia-Montenegro-Bulgaria. The United Kingdom is notably absent, but provides a separate set of passes. Source: Wikipedia

Where can I buy a Eurail Pass?

Eurail Passes are generally only available to people from outside Europe (and some other States). Although you can buy a Eurail pass inside Europe, it’s both easier and cheaper to buy them outside. If you’re already in Europe, consider having them sent to family or friends, then posted to you by courier. In some cases this case save you a chunk of cash!

What about the InterRail pass?

The InterRail pass is a different ticket again. It is only available to residents of Europe.

Eurail or EuroRail

Whether you call it the Eurail, the Euro Train or the EuroRail Pass, you’re sure to have a lot of fun travelling around Europe. Check out more Eurail Stories or information on Euro train passes for inspiration, tips and advice for European train travel.

Tip 10: Seasonal sales

Look for special deals. Although the Eurail organisation closely controls ticket prices, they do offer occasional discounts.

You can get reduced price passes by keeping an eye out for seasonal sales. Check Rail Europe now for current specials.

Tip 9: Plan a little

The Eurail Pass gives you the ability to jump on and off any train which can lead to spontanious decisions with divine results. But if it doesn’t work out, you might get stranded in a town for a few hours more than you bargained for. Or you might arrive in a seedy station late at night. You don’t want to spend your European vacation admiring the train stations’ architecture. Or then again, you might. I don’t know.

The best site to help you plan your trip is probably the German rail site: bahn.de. It has comprehensive coverage of routes and timetables for all of Europe.