Bus Travel

Bus passes are often paired with museum access or discounts.  Depending on your plans and needs, check if the museum pass makes financial sense for you.

I have had multiple tourist information booth attendants only accept cash, so be prepared with cash should you encounter this problem, too.

Paris
- I made the mistake of buying the pass in advance and having it shipped to me in the US at great expense.  I should have bought it on arrival.
- Since my departing flight was very early in the morning, I had decided to take a shuttle to and from the airport.  In retrospect, I could have saved money by taking public transit after my afternoon arrival flight.

Germany
- Berlin: the Berlin card is a great deal because the entire entry fare to many museums is included, and others are discounted.  Plan your itinerary accordingly to take advantage of the days for which the card is active.
       - You can choose which zone(s) you need.  If you plan to visit the castles in    
   Potsdam (Schloss Sans Souci), you will need to include the outer zone.  I bought this
   extra zone and had to make sure my itinerary included Potsdam while the card was    active.  Otherwise, you can skip the outer zone and save money.
       - The card is available at the airport during certain hours, and they only take
   cash.
- Leipzig- there was a lot of construction around the public transit lines which did not even go to my points of interest anyways.  Thus I walked the relatively small tourist section of the city and skipped buying the transit/museum pass.

Switzerland
When you stay in a hotel in a certain city, such as Basel, Lausanne, or Geneve, you are entitled to a free transport card that covers local transportation for the duration of your hotel stay.  Check with your hotel front desk staff.
- The Geneva transport card issued by the hotel is good for train travel second class in Geneva, which means you can go to the airport for free if you leave the day you check out.  When coming from the airport, you can get a limited duration ticket for free travel to the city.
- In Basel, the two museums I visited shared one shared entry fee such that it did not make financial sense to buy the Basel card with half off museum prices.  Instead, I bought just the transport card for 9 CHF per person.  If you are staying at a Basel hotel, you could choose to buy the Basel card just with museum discounts since your hotel will provide a free transit card.

Austria

- Vienna- Transit on the S-bahn is free with a Eurail pass, but you would have to use one of your travel days.  I did not want to use one of my days for this, so I bought a travel card which included museum discounts for just under 14 Euro a person.  The booth is at the airport during certain hours and only takes cash.

- Salzburg- Transit is not included with the Eurail pass.  I bought the Salzburg card from my hotel front desk.  It includes free entrance to many museums.  Of note, it does not include the rooms in the fortress unless you visit early in the morning.  This was the most high tech card I encountered since it was barcoded and activated by the vendor.  One scans the card at each point of interest. It allows you to skip the lines for the funicular to the fortress.

Italy

- Naples- transit day pass is available from the attendant in the booth at the train station

- Venice- I had trouble using my credit card that day in the machines and even at the booth with the attendant.  I was told the communication lines with the credit card company must have been down.  Thus I had to pay cash for the vaporetto day pass.

- Milan- transit day pass was available for purchase from my hotel front desk

- Rome- transit day pass available from booths at the train station

Canada

- Montreal- the Opus card with weekly pass is available from one specific machine at the airport.  When you are inside the airport facing out towards the exit doors, the machine is on the left of the Opus/metro information attended booths.  The other machines do not sell weekly passes for people who do not yet have an Opus card.  This machine on the left will sell you an Opus card to which you can add a weekly pass, which will start on Monday.  If you are coming on the weekend, you should consider adding a weekend pass, too, if you plan to sightsee a lot before Monday.  The fare from the airport to the city covers public transit travel for 24 hours, so consider your time of departure from the airport and whether you still need the weekend pass.

- Ottawa- the day pass is available from the bus driver.  I took a bus from the train station to the city and back for a day trip.