Okay, my girlfriend and I are touring Europe in march '08 and I was wondering the following;
When we leave Paris for Amsterdam,could we stop in Brussels for the day and then board the same train later for our arrival in Amsterdam? And the same goes for our trip from Munich to Rome...could we stop in Austria for the day and then board the night train into Rome? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks.
Thanks,I thought the question seemed pretty straight forward and could be answered by either a "yes" or "no".
I have the super saver select...we go from one country to another on it...while travelling from france to the netherlands,brussels is one of the stops...the question is simple but no one can seem to answer it...can I stop in a country that's on my route for the day and then board the same train later to actually end up in the country of destination? It's not like I'm trying to go off route,I just want to stop along the route and then get back on later that day.
Anyone with some good advice?
Thank you Kent...just the answer I was looking for.
Here's the deal, or at least part of it. PAR to AMS through Brussel (same day); If you use Thalys (high speed), you will need seperate reservations for both legs. A more general thought is you are not bound by route when using a pass, only by countries selected. Most if not all of the high speed trains(Thalys, TGV, etc) require reservation, but regional and local do not. For example, once in Brussels, you could hop on to a local train to Bruges or anywhere else you choose. As far as taking a night train, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, it uses the next day on your pass. So if you are trying to save a day on your pass...sorry. If you think you might run out of days on you pass, run out in Itally. Point to point tickets in Italy (2nd class) are cheaper than using a railpass day.
Since you will be travelling on a "high-speed" Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam, you are required to have seat reservations for your trip. I believe you will have to have seat reservations from Paris to Brussels and then from Brussels to Amsterdam separately in order to spend some time in Brussels. You can store your luggage in the lockers at the Brussels train station while you go sightseeing. It really just takes a few hours (including lunch) to see the main sights in Brussels. You will find much more to see in Amsterdam!
Have a great trip.
From Brussels to Amsterdam it would be easier to take the regular inter-city trains instead of the Thalys. The IC trains operate at 15 minute intervals and don't require any kind of reservations.
Do I make reservations a day or two before we plan on travelling? will these be considered only one day on the pass ( PAR to AMS)?
Thanks for the replies all,they really do help.
As long as your traveling on the same day, you can make all the reservations you want. In March you can probably make your seat reservations in Europe without getting shut out. Rail Europe lists 1st and 2nd class reservations at $39 and $23 respectively. Though it might be a little cheaper to buy them in Europe, you could save even more money by taking the IC train( no reservations needed, just hop on ) from Brusssels to Ams as Another "Poster" sugested. I think the Innercity trains run every hour at 15min past and are only a few munites slower than the Tallys.
