What do I do with Eurail "print-at-home" tickets?

The answer is probably somewhere on the website you used to purchase the reservations.

When we used a Eurail Pass - maybe 5 years ago - we had to show the pass and any applicable reservations to the conductor on the train. Remember to have the pass validated at the station before you board your first train. Also remember to write down your travel dates on the pass. I usually did this as soon as we sat down on the first train of the day - you don't want to do that in advance in case your plans change, then you've wasted a day.

Yes, the conductor scans the barcode.

Very helpful. Great tip on waiting to write in the dates until our first travel day. I did validate the Eurail pass on the website about a month ago. Do I need to validate it again at the station of the first place we're going to use it?

If you bought it pre-validated, with a 2-month travel window printed on it, then there's no need to stop in the station. Just write in the travel date before boarding the train and show both the pass and seat reservation to the conductor who comes through the train after it's underway.

Just reviewed my emails from Eurail and it looks like I do have to have the pass validated at the first train station!

For other readers checking out this topic, please note that a Eurail pass rarely makes sense for travel within Italy. You'll want to do point-to-point tickets, either through trenitalia.com or italotreno.it, depending on which of those two train lines you want to use.

We now return you to the topic.

Also remember to make (and pay for) seat reservations on any high speed trains.

...on any high speed train (10 € pp, per leg) and on any long distance train (3 €). Either on-line or at the same counter that sells the cheaper point-to-point tickets.

Above for Italian trains. French TGV and IC trains have different rules and prices, but require purchased seat reservations. You don't need reservations for Italian Regionali, or French TER's.

I was advised by a RS agent that our travel would be cheaper with the 4-day Eurail pass as opposed to buying individual tickets. I then had another RS employee tell me the opposite. We are traveling between France and Italy. The reservations through the Eurail website have not been cheap, averaging about $15 per person per trip after all the fees. 2 of the trips are not high speed trains (Florence to Vernazza and Vernazza to Rome). Are those trips that I could reserve at the station and save a little money by doing so?

Curious to know your train trips. Would you mind sharing?

Of course, Emily.

Paris to Arles (TVG),
Driving from Arles to Marseilles airport,
Marseilles to Venice (flying)
Venice to Florence (Trenitalia, high speed),
Florence to Vernazza Cinque Terre (Trenitalia),
Vernazza to Rome (Trenitalia).

Spur-of-the-moment prices (for tomorrow), including seat-reservation fees:

Paris to Arles: €51 (non-refundable; available on 11:41 AM TGV) to €115 (flexible)
Venice to Florence: €53 (non-stop Freccia)
Florence to Vernazza: €15 - €31 (higher price includes a Freccia segment)
Vernazza to Rome: €30 - €59 (higher price includes a Freccia segment)

Buying non-refundable tickets well in advance would reduce the top-end prices listed above by quite a bit, probably at least 40% to 50%.

All trips can be reserved at the last minute in Italy.

The Vernazza-Rome route using only local trains (those you can freely board with a pass) would take 6 hours and 20 minutes with 2 changes. Using high speed trains you can do the same journey in less than 5 hours, changing only one time at La Spezia.

if you buy tickets in advance on the official site you can travel on high speed trains and pay "only" 20,90 € pp, from Vernazza to Rome via La Spezia. Unfortunately these discounted tickets are capacity controlled.

Hi Dario. I was wondering what the reason was for the difference in travel time for trains between Vernazza and Rome. The train that only has one stop is not available for a reservation on the Eurail site. I was wondering if for some reason, it was too soon to book that one?

It is possible that you are trying to make the reservation too early. What's the date you're planning to travel, and the departure time?

Use the site of the company that runs the trains and forget about re-sellers like Eurail.

An high speed train arrives earlier than a local for the same reason an F15 jet arrives earlier than a 747: it's 3 times faster (and makes less stops).

Incidentally, since you have already paid for the pass and trains do not sell out... you can forget about seat resevations up to the last minute and get them at the counter.

So, if you had purchased the tickets directly from the national rail carriers, you would have only spent 149 Euro (or likely less) for these tickets AND reservations. I am guessing you paid a lot more for your pass.

Another example of a Eurail pass not making sense at all. Maybe you want to return your pass and just buy your tickets directly.

Finally, never use Eurail for schedule or fare information. They are a travel agency and do not operate any trains.