Everything you need to know before contemplating a trans-Europe adventure by train, including saving money on the most appropriate passes.

Here a few things you should know when planning a family train tour of Europe, a great way to travel if you have limited amounts of luggage. We want to thank Rick Steves, author of "Rick Steves' Guide to European Railpasses" and many other travel guides, Travel Weekly and DER Travel Services for their helpful tips as well.

Understanding Rail Passes

Visit Rail Europe for detailed information on a variety of passes and plans depending on your itinerary and the length of your trip.

Rail schedules are free with your rail pass at many European train stations. Schedules can also be obtained at most newsstands.

Master the 24-hour clock used in European train timetables. Conversions to the 12-hour clock involve subtracting 12 from the 24-hour time and adding p.m. to all times after noon (for example 17:00 is 5:00 pm).

Differences between the Eurailpass and the Europass: The Eurailpass can be bought as a consecutive pass or flexipass, and covers 25 countries. The Europass covers only the five most central and popular countries and is only available as a flexipass. The newer Eurail Selectpass provides unlimited train travel in any three to five adjoining Eurail countries by rail or ship.

Differences between the consecutive and flexipass: The consecutive pass is valid for a set number of days in a row (for example a 21-day pass is valid July 1-21 and then expires). A flexipass allows the purchaser a number of rail days to be used within a certain time frame (depending on the pass, the time frame can consist of a number of days or 1-2 months).

Europass and Eurail Saverpasses: The Eurail Saverpass and Eurail Saver Flexipass are valid for 2-5 people, provided they travel together at all times. The Europass Saverpass, also valid for 2-5 passengers traveling together at all times, provides a 15% group discount plus the flexibility to add two more countries to your itinerary.

Purchasing "associated" countries to your rail pass does not afford you additional days of rail travel, only additional countries that your rail pass allows travel through.

Free Britrail Family Pass: Parents receive one free pass for an accompanying child (ages 5-15) with the purchase of one adult or senior pass. Any additional children purchase the appropriate pass at half the price of an adult. All children under 5 travel for free.

Understanding Train Travel Customs

To break through language barriers, confirm your plans in writing at the train station's information desk (for example Milano-Verona 9:10-10:32).

Double-check which station your train is set to depart from, many European cities have more than one train station.

Make sure that the city on your train car's nameplate is your specific destination (the nameplate lists the final stop and some, not all, of the stops in between). Each single car is labeled separately because cars are usually added and dropped throughout the trip.

Consider making a seat reservation on Friday and Sunday afternoons and evenings, peak travel periods for Europeans. Seat reservations are required for all long distance trains in Spain, Romania and most in Norway and Sweden. Many in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium do not offer them. Seat reservations cannot be placed from the USA for Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Yugoslavia and FYROM.

Seat reservations are required for all specialty trains, most high-speed trains and some EuroCity, ICE and InterCity trains. Reservations can be booked in Europe at train stations, by DER and other services before you depart for Europe or by the concierge at your hotel.

Children younger than 4 travel free but are not guaranteed a seat when trains are crowded. Children ages 4-11 pay half the adult fare for most European rail passes. Youth fares vary for passengers ages 12-25 (age at the time of validation of the railpass); the majority of youth fares are second-class and the majority of child fares are first-class.

First-class travel offers more space, quiet, storage room for luggage, and fewer seats per compartment or car since most Europeans opt for second-class train travel.

Make a thief's work that much harder: clip your baggage to the metal overhead rack.

Your rail pass does not cover sleepers and other advance reservations. To safely catch a few winks on overnight trains reserve a couchette -- a bunk in a sleeping compartment monitored by an attendant. To ensure your reservation, obtain one in advance from a local travel agency or any train station, or simply ask the conductor on the train for late notice.

The Eurostar (800/EUROSTAR or 800/782-2424) is likely Europe's most popular point-to-point train service, connecting London and Paris (or Brussels) in three hours. Eurostar's best deal is the second class Leisure Ticket; rail pass holders also receive discounts on Eurostar tickets. Children 11 years old and younger can obtain special child fares, which vary according to the time of year.

Participating Eurail Pass & Europass Countries

The 21 countries participating with the Eurailpass are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The 5 countries participating with the Europass are Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain. Travelers can choose up to two associated countries to add to their Europass at an extra fee, from a list that expands as the EU does.