Train reservation question

If you get railpasses, buy your seat reservations from EurAide. For one processing fee EurAide will sell you all the reservations you need for all the trains you wish at in-Europe prices. If you book NOW, you can get discount fares on point-to-point tickets. Paris-Munich: Book on bahn.de to get a discount fare as low as €39.00. Munich-Salzburg: If you depart after 09:00 on a weekday (anytime on weekends) and take a regional train, one €29.00 Bayern-Ticket will cover all four of you. Buy it in Munich. Salzburg-Halstatt: No discount. The standard 2nd class fare is €22.50. Buy tickets in Salzburg. Hallstatt-Venice: Yes, connections are necessary. However, if you book tickets on the Austrian Rail site you can get a discount fare of €29.00 for a daytime route and €71.40 for a route that includes a bunk in a 4-person couchette on a night train. Venice-Vernazza: If you book now on the Trenitalia site, you can get a Mini fare for a high-speed train from Venice to Milan. Fares are as low as €9.00, but there is a quota for each price level so you'll likely pay €29.00 or €39.00. You will take regional trains from Milan to Vernazza. Buy those in Venice. Vernazza-Rome: You can take a regional train to La Spezia and an IC train from there to Rome. Mini fares for that train start at €9.00, but you'll likely pay more. New European train timetables will go into effect on 10 June. Trenitalia is always the last national rail company to upload theirs to their Web site. You can book high-speed trains beyond 9 June, but not IC trains yet.

What convenience do you gain with a rail pass if you still have to buy reservations? In the old days, a pass allowed you to jump on any train and go. But not today. Still have to spend time getting a reservation which is exactly the same time you would spend buying a ticket. You cannot make reservations only on bahn. Do it in person after you arrive.

Actually, from Venice to Vernazza, if they go the Milan route, they can take an IC train from there to Monterosso, and pick up the regional train there. Trenitalia is showing mini fares of 9 euro for that train in early June.

For travel in the German network, reservations are not normally required. You can do Munich to Salzburg with a Bayern-Ticket (an all day pass of up to five people on regional trains for €29, total). Regional trains do not require (or have) reservations. Munich to Salzburg takes only ½ hr longer by regional trains than by express. If you want seat reservations on an express train in Germany, it's €4 (except a few ICE Sprinters), online or at a counter, with or without a ticket. German Rail won't sell reservation only for most trip segments outside of Germany (such as Paris to Strasbourg or Karlsruhe). However, since a seat reservation is required between Paris and Strasbourg, one is included with an online, point-point ticket from Paris to Munich. If you purchase online, sufficiently in advance, you can get point-point "Europa-Spezial" tickets from Paris to Munich for €39. Reservations for the Paris-Strasbourg segment would be included; reservations for the German segments would be optional and €4. For Salzburg to Hallstatt, there are only regional trains from Attnang-Puchheim to Hallstatt. Attnang-Puchheim is on the main line between Salzburg and Vienna, so there are express trains on that line, and they are quicker from Salzburg then regional trains. Reservations, however, are not required with express trains on that route. If you are willing to spend a little more time for regional trains from Salzburg to Attnang-Puchheim, four or you can do the entire trip to Hallstatt for €28 with an Einfach-Raus-Ticket (all day regional pass). Day train routes from Austria to Venice often include a bus from Villach to Venice. It's a modern, over-the-road coach run by Austrian Rail. I think reservations are mandatory. You should be able to book anywhere in Austria to Venice (with reservations) online.

I'm glad Lee mentioned the Einfach-Raus-Ticket. I had forgotten about it. Like the Bayern-Ticket, it's good after 09:00 on weekdays and anytime on weekends. Buy it in Salzburg.

Unlike the Bayern-Ticket, there is not a lower priced version of the Einfach-Raus ticket for a single traveler. In fact, the Einfach-Raus ticket is only valid for 2 to 5 travelers. If you are by yourself, you're out of luck. The other route from Austria to Venice would include Innsbruck and over Brenner Pass. The quickest route that way is usually back to Salzburg via Attnang-Puchheim, then across Germany via Rosenheim to Kufstein, Austria, and up the Inn to Innsbruck. There are five EuroCity (EC) trains/day from Munich to Verona. One goes on to Venice. With the four others you have to take an Italian train from Verona to Venice. From German Rail you can book a Europa-Spezial ticket using regional train from Freilassing, just across the Salzach river from Salzburg, to Rosenheim and the EC from Verona or Venice starting at €39. Reservations are extra but can be booked online. Salzburg to Freilassing takes about 8 min and costs a little over €2. You can take a single regional train from Salzburg to Rosenheim (using the local ticket to Freilassing and the Europa-Spezial ticket from there). If you book the right EC, you can go all the way to Venice; otherwise you must buy Verona to Venice extra. Alternately, you could book the EC from Innsbruck to Venice from Austrian Rail and go from Hallstatt to Innsbruck via Stainach-Irdning, but that take longer than back through Salzburg. (I did Hallstatt to Innsbruck by that route in 2009.) I can't find a discounted Sparschiene fare from Hallstatt all the way to Verona/Venice, but you could book the Innsburck to Verona/Venice segment online for as low as €29 and use the Einfach-Raus-Ticket from Hallstatt to Innsbruck via Steinach. Seat reservations are not required on the EC, but are probably desirable. You can book seat reservations online with a ticket.

Thanks for all the great replies...should I still be able to do 1st class tickets as well on these train bookings? Thanks again!