English-speaking phone number for Bahn.de

If you are looking at the night train from Venice to Munich, it is a City Night Line train, CNL. CNL is a subsidiary of German Rail. Their number in Germany is (49) 1805 14 15 14. They deal with a lot of non-German-speaking people in English. If you ask for English, the person might have to put you on hold for a few minutes to get an English speaker on the phone, but you should get English.

I've called German Rail twice. I speak some German, but I am better, particularly on the phone, in English. The first time, I asked the woman, in German, if she spoke English. I didn't necessarily need an English-speaker, I just wanted her to speak English if she could. She said "Moment" and put me on hold for an English speaker. The second time, not wanting to be put on hold, I just started out in German, figuring if she spoke English she would recognize my American accent and switch to English. She didn't, so I figured she didn't speak English.

So, the two people who answered the phone didn't speak English. So much for the myth that everyone in Europe speaks English.

Thanks. I am assuming I have to dial 011 before the 49.

Whatever your phone service provider requires. '49' is the country code for Germany. In most cases you need '011' first for international calls, but I use a different number.

Doreen...according to the Bahn.de site, the 39 Euro tickets for you and your husband (and cheaper rate for your son) are already fully booked...no surprise since it's a Sunday. That's why the regular fare of 242 for the three of you shows up. Saturday is also filled, but the Monday has an offer of 117 Euro for all three of you.

I am really amazed. I've seen compartments and couchettes sell out this early, but there are usually seats still available on the night trains. This must be a really popular time.

And to answer your questions about a "day couch". It is my understanding that it is a 6 seat compartment with reclining seats. They have taken those old side aisle compartment cars and put them on for the night trains so you can sit in a compartment with only five other snoring passengers, instead of a whole car full with the airplane style seating.

Actually, the 39 euro tickets are available if you input each name individually, not as a group all at once. If you do the latter the other fare shows up.

Maestre is only a few minutes from Santa Lucia, across the causeway that connects Venice to the mainland. There are plenty of shuttle trains.

Good news: The Trenitalia site shows reclining seat Smart fare tickets for 29€ as still available for the 20 July night train. You can also get a Smart fare of 49€ for a bunk in a six-person couchette and 59€ for a bunk in a three-person couchette.

Bad news: Registering at www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html can be a real challenge. Try registering first. If you succeed, then go ahead and book your tickets.

Finally got through via phone to Bahn.de. Yeah, saw that fare on Trenitalia. Of course, registration impossible. Booked for the three of us 187 euros via phone with Bahn.de and was told by an agent elsewhere that it seemed a good rate. Only problem is she booked us into Maestre, not Santa Lucia. Will it be a problem switching it to Santa Lucia?