When traveling with a rail pass, you will have a specific number of days you can travel by train. On these travel days you can use the train as often as you like from midnight to midnight, allowing you to keep a flexible schedule, as you can hop on and hop off trains as you wish.
To count the number of travel days you require for your rail pass, first look at your itinerary and check:
a) How many travel days &
b) If you are moving from place to place almost daily or if you have more time between each destination.
This will help you determine if a Consecutive Pass or a Flexi Pass is more suitable for you. For example we can compare the BritRail Pass which has a Consecutive Pass validity of 3 travel days, where you would be traveling by train every day for the duration of the pass, or a Flexi Pass validity of 3 travel days within 2 months, where you can choose the specific days you want to travel within the longer period given.
Please note that each rail pass has its own corresponding selection of validities so please browse our complete list of rail passes to see which one is right for you!
One offer is 8 days 1 month. Is this within a calender month or within 4 weeks of first travel?
Hi KeithN,
Using the flexible pass you describe in your example, you have 30 days to use your 8 days or rail travel.
If you board a sleeper train in Inverness on one day, and then arrive in London the next morning, does that count as two travel days? I’ll be boarding a sleeper on the 8th day of an 8 day pass and am wondering if this is possible or if I’d need to upgrade for just that extra day.
Hello,
The day you enter the train will be the day your pass is used. When you exit the train doesn’t have any effect on the pass. So if you take a sleeper train, it will only use 1 day of your rail pass.
Please let us know if you have any other questions. Have a nice trip!