You are in London. In a fit of madness you decide that you want to go to Edinburgh to see what Scotsmen wear under their kilts. Eurail passes are not valid in Britain, so you go to the station and find out that a one-way ticket from London to Edinburgh costs £80. How much do you think a round-trip ticket costs?
Why, £81 pounds of course. Eighty pounds to get to Edinburgh, and one pound to get back.
I think I speak for most travelers when I say “What the hell is this company thinking?” I don’t know, but that’s how it works. A round trip is only one pound more than a one-way, if and only if you buy a round-trip ticket. If you go to Edinburgh on a one-way, a single ticket back to London will cost you no less than £80.
Here’s another test.

You decide to go to Devon for the weekend, and turn up at Paddington Station in London on Friday night to buy a round-trip ticket. How much does it cost? Over £120. What you don’t know is that if you’d caught a train earlier in the day it would have cost half that amount, and if you’d booked far enough in advance you could have got a ticket for a bargain Both these situations are good examples of planning ahead, and knowing as much as you can before you actually go to Europe. I’m sure thousands of non-Britons have not known about these ticketing idiosyncrasies, and paid for that lack of knowledge. As always, plan and call ahead and aiways ask if there is a better price.

(For the record, the best thing to do in Britain is contact National Rail -®08457/484 950, ©www.nationalrail.co.uk - well before you want to travel, and they should be able to advise you on the best fare.)
The first few pages of the Eurail timetable contain some useful information, including a train user’s dictionary in five languages. These few pages are well worth reading. At the back of the timetable there is a list of the standard pictorial symbols used for services in train stations, such as left-luggage, lockers, etc. Once again, remember that not all trains are listed in your Eurail timetable, and that’s especially true for trains which stay inside single countries. The best and most current information is available at the station.