Hi,
If we buy a eurail pass in the US before our trip, how do we know how much the reservation fees would be on the fast, long-distance trains? They wouldn't be the full train fare for that leg, correct?
I'm confused about going the eurail pass route or buying tickets in train stations.
And how to navigate the system??
It all depends on where you are going. Share your itinerary and we can see. Normally, I am not a fan of Eurail passes, but it depends.
The Eurail pass usually works out to be more expensive than buying deeply discounted train tickets in advance. The seat reservation requirement took away the freedom Eurail passes used to bring because you have to reserve a seat before boarding a train. The passes no longer allow spontaneity with travelers able to jump on any train they want to at the spur of the moment. And each seat reservation costs on average between €10- €15.
And since that’s the case— you may as well buy individual train tickets which often include the seat reservation fee at no cost.
In France, Italy, Spain, Germany and other countries— high-speed train tix can often be bought online 2-6 months in advance for as little as €10- €25 on many routes. These are usually non-cancellable and nonrefundable, but when you’re saving up to 80% off the standard train fares— it can easily add up to hundreds of euros.
In my experience, the Eurail passes only save you money if you change locations every few days and log thousands of miles of train travel during a trip. Some have told me it even changed the nature of their trip into a high-pressure marathon where they felt pressure to keep moving in order to make the Pass pay off.
We're on the continent for three months, and possess first class unlimited Eurail passes. Seat reservations have typically cost us on the order of 3 to 6 euros per trip, where required. Eurostar was substantially more, about 40 euros each. These passes have saved us a lot of money. Others would find a different result.
Bottom line: you really need to figure out how many train travel legs you're likely to make and do the math by hand. RailEurope is a valuable tool for this calculation as regards costing out individual tickets.
One last remark: many posters here claim second class train travel in Europe is all one needs. But it wouldn't suit me; always first class if available. I suspect those who are like me are more likely to save money with the Eurail pass.
Eurail’s website states that, seat reservations run between €10-€15 on average.
For French TGVs, plan on about 15€ per reservation, but space is very limited and for popular routes, you may have difficulty finding any reservation.
On the TGV I had no problems finding a seat reservation when buying the ticket basically last minute ie the day before or literally one or two hours prior to the dep. time. This is in the summer, in 2nd class.
Choice of the route no doubt affects your chances of getting the mandatory seat reservation. My TGV routes were, Paris to Metz r/t same day, Paris to Arras, r/t, Paris to Grenoble and back and couple of other routes on the TGV from Paris.
Keep in mind with a first class pass you do have a choice of seat reservations, 1st or 2nd class, an added option.
Thank you all for your comments.
Our itinerary is to fly to Paris, when leaving there, take train from Gare Bercy to Vezelay, local trains. Then take TGV Lyria to Zurich, then a local train to Chur. Taking the Bernina Express, already booked, to Tirano, Italy. From there to Genoa. Genoa to Assisi. Assisi to Rome. Rome to Milan. Fly out of Malpensa airport.
Does the Eurail pass work on the local trains, or just the long-distance ones?
Appreciate the benefit of your experience.
Eurail’s website states that, seat reservations run between €10-€15 on average.
There's a saying about how many functional mammaries the average human has.
Seat reservations for us, I'll reiterate, have mostly cost us between 3 and 6 euros apiece. That includes high speed trains in Poland, Czechia, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Italy. We paid no reservation fees at all in Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark or Germany. I understand seat reservations are more costly in France and Spain, but then again their trains are a lot faster.
As to the OP's recent query, the Eurail pass can be used on local trains as well as high-speed regional trains. The passes have been especially useful in Belgium and the Netherlands in negotiating the many scenic towns from our headquarters in Ghent and Utrecht. Shorter day trips to secondary attractions are made so much easier with the pass.
If you know your itinerary, why not just purchase the tickets you need and not worry about the reservations or their availability. Tickets for local trains are not expensive at all, and trains requiring reservations will have the reservation as part of the ticket purchase. You´ll probably save money and will not need to mess with reservations.
Price out your dates and journeys on the French, Swiss and Italian Railways websites
Paris to Vezelay for instance is 38 Euro fixed fare.
A walk up fare from Veze!ay to Zurich is 181 Euro, a journey which takes all day due to needing to cross Paris from Bercy to Gare de Lyon, and construction work until December restricting the Lyria service.
That will be quite a bit cheaper booked ahead but it is a huge overstatement to say it will be 10 to 25 Euro.
Likewise you are being told theory over practice about both the cost of reservations and their availability. Trust someone travelling currently over theory.
Do you want flexibility or are you willing to commit to specific trains?
I would like to teach you to fish, but if you still have issues pricing out then come back and someone will feed you a meal of fish with the pricing for your dates. in Scottish parlance that is a fish supper!!
Are you at all open to renting a car for the Burgundy section of your trip? Vézelay station is 10 miles from Vézelay itself (a shuttle exists but seems very infrequent), there is plenty more to see around Vézelay, and Vézelay to Zurich makes you backtrack to Paris.
You could rent a car in Paris, or in Auxerre, and return it in Dijon, or in Mulhouse, for onward travel to Switzerland.
