When my wife and I go to Europe next April, we are going to need to take an overnight train from Basel to Florence, thus a reservation will be required.
Does anyone know if I can purchase tickets months ahead of time, and also make sure i get a private room just for my wife and i to sleep in? i can sleep sitting up, but my wife will prefer the privacy and comfort if possible.
I appreciate your help, and so will my wife!!!
Your best option is probably going to be the City Night Line train between Munich and Florence that Steve posted. You can travel from Basel and pick it up in Innsbruck around 23:00 (11 pm).
You can book a private 2-person compartment.
Purchase tickets ahead of time on www.bahn.de
To book tickets online at bahn.de, either your departure point or your arrival point must be in Germany. So even though the CNL train you would take originates in Munich, since you will board in Innsbruck you can't book your ticket on the DB site.
You can, however, book it by phoning the DB call center.
Better yet, phone the Austrian Rail call center up to 180 days in advance to get a SparSchiene fare for Innsbruck-Florence of 99 EUR/person for beds in a two-person sleeper. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 43 (Austria country code) + (0)5-1717. Omit the initial zero in parentheses. It's only used for calls originating in Austria.
Matt, be aware that there are two train stations in Basel--Basel SBB, the Swiss station, and Basel Badischer Bahnhof (or Basel Bad on many schedules), the German station. Just want to make sure you get to the correct one.
Happy travels.
