A Eurail Pass used to make a lot of sense if you were a college student spending the summer traveling around Europe staying in youth hostels. The passes excel at providing travel flexibility between countries.  However, the average tourist must plan ahead to be certain to have hotel reservations at a reasonable price, particularly during the peak season. Having hotel reservations determines when you need to travel. Flexibility is not very useful at this point.  If you know the origin, destination, and date of travel it is usually cheaper to book each train trip in advance rather than rely on a Eurail Pass.