Eurail Passes...Are they worth it?

[lemurecellist]

My friend and I are music students at Duquesne University in PA. We're going to an international music festival in Germany and thinking of doing lots of travel to Munich, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Prague, etc. These are all two or three hours away from where we're staying. I don't know what the normal rates for trains are in Germany. Does anyone know if the rail passes are actually cheaper than buying individual tickets or deals within Germany? I've been to The Netherlands and remember trains being very cheap, but am unsure if it's the same in Germany. PS: Are they expensive in London?

[Dee05]

your trip sounds amazing...i wish i was taking it! you'll save a crapload of money if you get a whole pass. alot of the spots you're visiting is covered by a pass and if it isn't, once you have a pass, you only sometimes need to pay reservation fees. when i travelled last year i was so happy i got one.....you should check out sites to find out which pass you should get, cause i got confused at certain places. but the easiest one was [link] because you can type in exactly where you want to go and it figures out the pass for you. i looked there and i actually finally bought my pass at [link] because they had the best prices overall. be careful though not to get a pass that covers MORE than you actually need....you'll waste money that way.

[memphiscreek]

Eurail passes are totally worth it. I just studied abroad in Germany (Esslingen... near Stuttgart) and saved a TON of money by buying one. The German ICE trains are the nicest in Europe -- but they aren't cheap! The one-hour ride from Stuttgart to Frankfurt is 50 Euros! But it's 100% covered with a Eurail pass. You'll have to pay extra to get to Prague though, cuz it's not on the Eurail map (I think it's under 20 Euros though).