I'm planning a trip to Europe,1st flying into Frankfurt, Germany for 1 night. Then travel by train to Salzburg, Austria, by train to Verona, Italy, Avignon, France by train, then end my trip into Spain by train. Do I need anything else for these countries besides my passport? I'm reading for Italy that they require a declaration of presence form from the police 8 days before entry. The more I read, the more it gets confusing. Any help out there?
Also, I would like to add, any info for booking the high speed trains? I have read that I would have to do this for the trip from Italy to France and then from France to Madrid. Any info on how far in advance I would have to do this?
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
From where is your passport issued?
Posted by
Green Bay
20103 posts
What nationality are you?
If you have a Schengen visa, which USA passport holders get automatically on entry (90 days max in any 180 day period), you are fine. Anyway, if they let you in at Frankfurt, there will not be anybody checking your passport until you fly out from Spain.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
so sorry, we're from the USA.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
also, we will be leaving Spain on a cruise ship back to the states
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
Stop reading now. All you need is your passport - no declarations. Once you land and go through immigration you can travel between Schengen countries with no problems.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
I am totally grateful for all your input--------------it really helps. What a great web site!
Posted by
OP
14 posts
ok, so now with great info for travel, I have heard that I need to book for high speed trains from Verona, Italy to Avignon, France and then book from there to Madrid. Does anyone know how far in advance I should book?
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
You can book 90 days in advance - the farther out the better the price. You can book both here
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
It would also be worth booking in advance for the Frankfurt-Salzburg and Salzburg-Verona legs. The best place for Frankfurt-Salzburg would be www.bahn.com, don't know about Salzburg-Verona. When you book, make sure you select Frankfurt Am Main, and not the completely different location of Frankfurt An Der Oder (the suffixes refer to nearby rivers).
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
To find train schedules, use the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules
This website will only have prices for trains that start or end in Germany. For other tickets, here's a great list of where to book them, from The Man In Seat 61: http://tinyurl.com/bo8x6o6
The Man In Seat 61 is also a great resource for all kinds of other train information.
Some of the long distance trains can sell out, but the main reason to book ahead is to save money. If you can work with tickets that can't be exchanged or refunded (or have significant limits on these actions), you can save a fortune. To find out how much you're saving, look at tickets for tomorrow, then for your travel dates.
If you're booking trains within Spain, don't even bother with trying your credit card - just use PayPal. And you'll probably need this tutorial from TripAdvisor (I sure did): http://tinyurl.com/cu48wk5
If some of your train trips look long, you may want to investigate flying. For this, use Skyscanner: http://www.skyscanner.com/. But don't forget to account for the time it takes to get to and from airports (much farther from the center of town than train stations) and how much earlier you have to be at the airport (1-2 hours) compared with trains (5-10 minutes).
Posted by
OP
14 posts
What great info-I hope from my travels that I will be able to give future travelers excellent info like I'm getting from all of you!