Train travel need reservations?

Source of fundamental train knowledge: www.seat61.com

Department of second thinking: Why not research these key questions before buying rail passes?

The answers: Diverse. Some major trains require reservations which are built in to the point-to-point tickets; getting reservations with passes on these trains costs more and takes more effort. Other trains do not require reservations. Seat 61 may not solve your problems but it will head you in the right direction.

One absolute answer: Do it now. Some trains may have a quota on the number of reservations available to pass-holders.

Some trains may have a quota on the number of reservations available
to pass-holders.

Not in Germany. In fact, Germany does not require reservations (actually a surcharge) for pass holders, and seat reservations are not limited for pass holders like they are in France. I think it might be similar for Switzerland. So as long as you avoid long distance travel on French trains you shouldn't have a problem. (For instance, go from St. Goar across Germany to Karlsruhe to Appenweirer or Offenburg, then across the Rhein on the regional shuttle to Strasbourg.)

Reservations are compulsory for travel on the TGV high speed trains in France and I believe also on the Thalys (which you may use on the trip from Amsterdam to St. Goar). Note that there's a quota for passholder reservations in France, so once the quota is sold out for a particular train, you wouldn't be able to buy reservations even if there were seats available. In that case, you would have two choices.....

1. Take a different train that had passholder reservations available.
2. Buy a ticket and forget about using the rail pass.

To answer your questions.....

• Yes, you do need to make reservations on trains where they are compulsory. You may be subject to hefty fines if you're caught without them.
• You should first determine which trains you want to take, using the Bahn.de website, and then buy reservations as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more chance that they will sell out. If you wait too long, you may not be able to get seating together. When checking the website, look for the words "Subject to compulsory reservation" as that will tell you whether reservations are needed for a particular train.
• You should be able to buy reservations either on the respective rail operator websites, or possibly at www.trainline.eu. It's been a long time since I've used a rail pass so my memory is a bit foggy on that. You could also try the spontaneous approach by going to the local station and buying there, but that could be a gamble.
• Yes, reservations cost extra. The amount varies, but it's often about €8-10 PP.

One other point to mention is that reservations are specific to train, date and departure time so can only be used in the one train listed on the reservation. You can't buy a reservation and then board any train.

As someone else mentioned, it would have been prudent to have researched this matter before buying rail passes. Advance purchase P-P tickets may have been cheaper in some cases, and these come with reservations where required.

Lee is right - in Germany and Switzerland there is neither a compusory seat reservation nor a limit for pass holders. There are no Thalys trains between Amsterdam and Cologne (- St Goar). Between Strasbourg (France) and Basel (Switzerland) there are hourly regional trains (TER), which don't require reservation either. So the only thing you have to do is to avoid the TGV between Strasbourg and Basel.

Look up your train connections at www.bahn.com. If reservation on a certain train is obligatory that's shown by a grey "R" at the end of the line which indicates duration of travel and train types.

For Germany, I am not aware of any trains that would require compulsory seat reservations except for sleepers. You may simply buy tickets for any train and just hop on. At busy times, that may mean you get to stand, so it certainly is advisable to get seat reservations.

Last time I checked, reservations were at €4,50 per person per train, but I haven't made any reservations in a while, so I may not be up to date.

Another detail that may be important for anyone traveling by train in Germany: You need to claim your reserved seats within 15 minutes of leaving the station. The reservation signs above the seats will actually be turned off after then, and anyone may sit in your seat, and you may encounter some unpleasantness if you try to get them out of the seat which is actually no longer rightfully yours even though you do have reservations.

So, always check beforehand which wagon number and seat number your reservation is for. And while you are waiting for the train on the platform, find the table telling you which zone of the platform your wagon is approximately going to stop in (letters A, B, C, ... for the zones) and go there before the train even arrives. Trying to get from one end of a crowded train to the other in the narrow aisles, with lots of luggage, can easily take more than 15 minutes.