We recently purchased our Eurail Passes from Rail Europe via Rick Steves. Instead of making my train reservations through Rail Europe, can I make them online or by phone with SBB, DB or a similar site? If I can, I thought it might be cheaper going through them. And I might be able to go ahead and make reservations for my overnight trains.
Posted by
Houston, Texas, USA
158 posts
i've never needed a reservation for trains in switzerland. i think i've only once been on a train that was more than 3/4 full. i can't speak to other countries.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19237 posts
You should be able to make reservation by phone to the Bahn for any train in Europe. You can also make reservation (although it is probably not necessary) online from the Bahn for any connection entirely inside Germany. I see very few reservable connections on the German Rail website for trains between Germany and other countries. For night trains, you can probably reserve accommodations on CNL trains with one end outside Germany. I just found reservations available for the night train between Amsterdam and Munich. If you can't get reservations online, you can get them through Euraide for the same price as the counter price at a station in Europe. You can't get anything from them online; you have to call them. Euraide charges a once per order fee of $50 for printing the tickets in Germany and sending them her.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9109 posts
Reservations aren't possible for regular domestic inter-city trains in Switzerland. All seats are first come, first serve.
Posted by
OP
LA VERGNE, Tennessee, USA
26 posts
The tickets that I would like to make reservations for early are for 2 overnight trains. 1. Zurich to Vienna 2. Vienna to Venice If I could makes these early at the cost (or near the cost) of getting the reservations while in Europe, it would give us a piece of mind knowing we have our spots.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19237 posts
There is a night train (EN 463) starting in Munich just before midnight, arriving in Vienna about 6 AM. You can get reservations-only on it, from Munich to Vienna, by booking online from the Bahn. You would still have to find your way, using an extra rail pass day, from Zurich to Munich. You might be able to find something from Vienna to Venice on the Austrian Rail website, but I suspect you won't find passholder reservations. You might get discounted Sparshiene tickets, but they won't use your railpass. This is the dirty little secret of rail passes that no one tells you before you buy one (or you probably wouldn't). It is very difficult to get passholder reservations or night train reservations, and if you can, they are expensive.