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When best to buy train tickets?

Posted by on

I will be in Europe the month of March, visiting four cities in western Europe and then four more in Central Europe.

City to city, there is one trip I will take by air and have already purchased my ticket for that. All the rest, I will go by train.

My question: Should I go ahead and purchase my train tickets as well? In Europe trips of years past, I bought my train tickets way early, but that created some hassle when I needed to change plans. OTOH I don’t want to risk being unable to get a reservation for having waited too long.

Thank you.

PS Thanks to you early responders. And to be clear, the cities are: starting in Amsterdam, then Lieges, Lyon, Barcelona; (have booked flight to) Prague, then Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, back to Amsterdam.

Posted by
1443 posts

It would help to know which cities. My recent experience in Poland and Hungary was that 1 - 2 weeks in advance was fine. In these cases I was able to look at seats available, which made it easier to assess demand.

Posted by
3710 posts

Should I go ahead and purchase my train tickets as well?

Yes.

Posted by
22002 posts

Really doesnt matter which cities. You would have to know way to many details about each city, dates, averages, what ever ..... to begin to discuss risk. There will always be more seat selection choices earlier than later. Some train may sell out, never seen that happen but then i dont travel on a train every day and go back and check the ticket availabilty every day, but not going to say it doesnt happen. Prices can go up later as sometimes there is a limit on the number of discount tickets. THat I have seen happen.

Personally, just because I like to get all of the unknowns and variable settled in advance I would buy the tickets when they become available just to get it done. If plans change, well, I am out 25euro. I wont die over that.

Posted by
2907 posts

Amsterdam - Liege: Easiest route is Amsterdam - Maastricht - Liege. Just buy your ticket at the station or on www.nsinternational.com. There are no reservations and advance purchase discounts on that route. Its commuter trains all the way basically.

Liege - Lyon: Book in advance on www.b-europe.com
There are not many trains here, and they do occasionally sell out.
Lyon - Barcelona: There is currently only on daily direct train, operated by RENFE. There are also other trains with a change operated by SNCF. That is a route that is actively being sabotaged by SNCF, so book early, as there not enough trains on that route by an order of magnitude. I would book this in Trainline. RENFE is probably the best option.

For the rest of the trip: If you want to remain flexible you may consider an Eurail Pass, as those countries are pass friendly.

Posted by
22002 posts

WengenK, I dont know anything about EuroRail pass. Dont you still need to buy a seat assignment? If so, what if there are no seats or the ones available split up the couple or group?

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