Need advice to book trains and accomodation??

I am sorry I cannot write you a guide book. Go to you local book store, library and check out guide books for the area of Europe you are most interested in visiting. Also travel DVDs are useful. My pattern of booking is flights first so I know where when I am going. We tend to use open jaw (multi-city) flights. Generally cheaper and more convenient than back tracking to your starting point. Then we arrange hotels/B&Bs, etc., and finally trains. Train reservation are not very critical since trains rarely if ever sell out.

Paris to Geneva by French TGV train. http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/
Geneva to Zermatt by Swiss local train
Zermatt to St Moritz by Glacier Express. http://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/Pages/default.aspx
St Moritz to Luzern by Swiss local train.
Luzern to Zurich by Swiss local train.
Zurich to Munich by German DB Intercity train. http://www.bahn.com/i/view/overseas/en/

Or vice versa.

Firstly decide how long you wish to travel for, then book your flights.
Then book trains (not local ones) followed by your accommodation.

johhny.. where are you flying in from( you could be from Australia, Canada.. States)

You are flying into Paris first. You can get into the city by RER or Taxi. RER is 10 euros. Taxi will vary by time of day etc.. ( different rates) and traffic, and where exactly in Paris you are staying. Count on it being between 55 -65 euros.. give or take.
Rer is fast suburban train into city.. best if you only have amount of luggage you can easily handle as many stations have stairs and long passage ways.
For a first timer who may be exhausted after a long flight.. I am on the side of taking taxi.. money well invested in door to door service when you are tired and stressed.

I book my flights first.. that gives me my start point /date and end date .

I then look up trains.

Note. just noticed you are only going for a week . I would never visit that many places that far from each other in a week .. so I give up offering advice.. some others here are better at advising for whirlwind trips.

Hi Pat, thnx for ur reply we are travelling from London to Paris by Eurostar and thn continue our trip from there. We will be in Europe for abt a month.

Sounds like you got the first part figured out, fly to London and home from Munich. Rick actually did a pretty good video outlining the planning segment with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUHLCobRgaE
It is detailed in depth in the "Europe Through the Back Door" book. London-Paris-Luzern-Zermatt-St Moritz-Munich sounds quite doable in 30 days with plenty of time for side trips. Most big European airports are connected to the center city by subways and trains, and London Heathrow and Munich are no exception. Taxis are usually a luxury indulgence. These cities are all connected by frequent trains, many of the high speed variety. Advance booking with nonrefundable tickets are money savers and not a problem once your lodgings are secured. So jump into the planning now and get going.

Book flights first, such as into Paris and home from Munich on a "multi-city" ticket. Next, I'd book the Paris and Munich hotels, then work toward Switzerland "from either end." It does not much matter whether you book trains first or hotels first, since there are plenty of both. Before booking, it helps to plan out your time on a calendar. Each of your train rides will take a large chunk of a day. You can see actual train schedules online.

Booking ahead could get you a discount fare for a longer train ride, such as Paris-Geneve, which is available starting about 3 months out, but with no deadline to buy tickets. Your Swiss trains don't need reservations, except for the "official" departures along the Glacier Express route, again with no deadline. A Swiss Travel Pass could cover you for 3 or 4 train travel days in Switzerland, or for a period of 4 or 8 consecutive days.

From Gare du Nord to hotel, take a taxi. There are signs in station directing you to correct exit for taxi stand. Only take taxi from taxi stand, ignore drivers who approach you as you exit station. Taxi should run between 10-25 euros , but that of course depends on where your hotel iis iin Paris. Note, there is a legal off meter fee of one euro per suitcase in trunk, and 3 euros for 3 and subsequent passengers.

You could also take metro but with luggage and perhaps being a bit turned around iits just easier to taxi it!

Thnx Pat, I ll keep it in my mind. Cheers

Hi guys, I am trying to book a train from Interlakenhoheweg to Lugano and from Lugano to Munich, but eurailways website doesn't show me anything regards to this and I tried on TGV (SNCF) as well but again nothing comes up.
Could you please help me out to book a trains from these destinations, it was be much appreciated.
Thanks

johny,

"but eurailways website doesn't show me anything"

First of all, DON'T use "eurailways" to search or book anything. You can check routes and timing most places in Europe by using the BAHN.DE website (German railway).

I wasn't able to find information on "Interlakenhoheweg". I assume you're referring to Interlaken West? The shortest trips on that route from Interlaken West are departures at 09:05, 10:05, 11:05, among others (time 4H:43M, 2 changes in Bern and Lucerne/Zürich). I'd suggest buying your tickets for your outgoing journey when you arrive in Interlaken.

The trip from Lugano to Munich is going to be a full travel day. One of the easiest trips will be a departure at 07:43, arriving at 16:26 (time 8H:43M, 2 changes at Milano Centrale and Verona Porta Nuova). On that route, I'd suggest buying your ticket from Lugano to Milano Centrale at the station in Lugano. For the next two segments, you should be able to buy both tickets from www.capitainetrain.com (their website requires registration, but is very easy to do and the prices are the same as if buying from the rail network). Note that on the Milan > Verona > Munich segments, reservations are compulsory and these are specific to train, date and departure time so can only be used on the ONE train specified on the ticket. Reservations will be provided with the tickets. The segment from Lugano to Milan is a Regionale so don't forget to validate your ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines!

All of the above information assumes you decide to use the route that I described.

Thanks for ur reply Ken,
I tried to book on this website but still I can't find a fade from Interlaken west or (any station in Interlaken) to Lugano and also I need to know the fares in Australian dollars but there isn't any option to change the currency. M trying on capita inertial.com.

The official site to book tickets is www.sbb.ch. The prices will always be in Swiss Francs (chf), the currency of Switzerland. If you buy online with a credit card, the bank will make the conversion to AUD automatically, so it will show on you statement that way. Since Swiss trains are all unreserved and generally have a single standard price, you can wait and buy tickets at the station. For your info, you can check the schedules at the website above and get the prices and then make the currency conversion yourself based on today's rate. Right now, the ticket is 102 chf, which comes to about 144 AUD.
If you can commit to a nonrefundable ticket for a specific time, you can buy it up to 30 days away with a Supersaver Ticket for half price. You must travel on that exact train or the ticket is worthless.

Thank you Sam, just wondering will I be able to get a direct train from Lugano to Munich and also is there any facility at the station to put our luggage for few hours after check out bcz it ll be hard to take luggage everywhere bcz I dnt know how much time I have to wait at the station to Catch a train and that's why I was thinking If I can secure my luggage somewhere.

Always best (and free) to leave luggage at your (centrally located) hotel then return to collect en route to station.

Djp, I mean once we chk out from the hotel after tht u never know how long u have to wait at the station for next train and instead of waiting at the station u can go n see around but with luggage its final be hard thts y I asked if there's any facility at the station or not ??

Larger stations offer luggage store - sometimes a manned baggage room, sometimes lockers.
Find out what time your train leaves, many need seat reservations on regardless, and make efficient use of your time.

There are not any direct trains from Lugano to Munich. There are a couple of trains that require only one connection in Zurich. One at 10:11 am, and one at 2:11 PM. Again. look at the schedule at www.sbb.ch.
Trains to Zurich leave at 11 past the hour, so you could leave anytime, but more connections are needed and perhaps a bus.

"Confused about what to book first"

Start with checking the train schedules. You don't need to book your trains first but know how to fit everything together, book your lodging first because those are more likely to be booked up early (especially if you have your heart set on specific hotels). The trains will be there and they won't be sold out, if at all, until much closer to your travel date.

Hi guys, I was looking for a flight from Amsterdam to Bern because my next stop will be Interlaken but there isn't any airport at Interlaken. That's why I was looking from Amsterdam to Bern but it's not showing me any flights, is there any international airport at Bern? There should be one... Or what are the options to get to Interlaken from Amsterdam, by train it's about 9 hrs. Is there any alternative??
Thank you

Switzerland has 2 international gateway airports, Zurich and Geneva. For long haul intercontinental flights Zurich is most likely your only option.

On a flight search site like www.skyscanner.com, if you don't have a strong airport preference, you can do a wider search such as from Amsterdam to Switzerland (the whole country), and then see if the cheapest flights get you close enough to your final destination.

Hi guys, I need some advice for booking my trains from Interlaken to Munich.
I am searching in Raileurope.com website, I saw few fares but they seems quite expensive starting from $250 Australian dollars, and than I searched in Google for cheap trains and It showed me one website which is
Thetrainline.com and it's showing the same time for the train which is from €50 which is around $75 Australian dollars.

Could you please tell me if this the safe website to book a train tickets?
Or is there any bus service which I can book in cheaper price?? If yes than which website please.
Your help in this matter will be much appreciated.
Thank you

As was said upthread and I will now repeat - stay away from third parties - especially RailEurope. I don't know how to say that any clearer.

Book from the train company who are providing the tickets - the country you will board in.

If you want a fare from Switzerland book in Switzerland. www.sbb.ch, switch language to English by clicking on the "EN" and untick the box for the 50% discount card which you won't have.

It is up to you find what a price in CHF or Euro means in your currency.

Since you are speaking in text language instead of English can I assume that you have a smartphone of some sort? If so, say which one and we can refer to an app which will help you convert. Many of the train companies do a good app too, including the DB, SBB, and Italian ones.