I can thoroughly recommend EurAide if you are booking tickets and reservations on European trains. I recently used them to book a party of six persons traveling through Amsterdam, Brugge, Paris, Bern, Lucerne, Genoa, Nice Avignon, and Barcelona. Their representative was most helpful. She advised us on cheaper passes, appropriate schedules, alternative routes, and group tickets where appropriate. She ensured that reservations were made in a timely manner, particularly where reservations were limited for pass holders. The tickets and passes were delivered to us by the requested dates. All the tickets were accompanied by a schedule of the train times, transfer stations, and even platform numbers. As the tickets and reservations are issued by DB Bahn they are printed in German and charged in Euros but I had no problem with reconciling the costs with the charges to my credit card.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Yes, if you're having trouble booking direct through European web sites, or booking reservations with a railpass, then Karen at EurAide's Boston office can be a good resource to get it done for a small fee. You can print the same great timetables yourself from the DB web site; platform numbers are often included in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, but not often in other countries.
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
Just be sure to confirm your platform numbers upon arrival at the train station - they can be changed for a variety of reasons. We've had as many as three platforms for the same train while waiting for it to arrive.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
EurAide's website is at www.euraide.com. Be sure to read "A few words about EurAide".
EurAide has some pretty high consulting and shipping fees, but the price for tickets is the same as you would pay in Europe at a ticket counter. For a couple of day train reservations, you'd be better off paying RailEurope's markup than paying EurAide's fee, but for a large order, you'd pay less from EurAide. However, in my opinion, if you can deal with the national rail companies in Europe, that's where you will get your best prices.
One of the dirty little secrets of rail passes is that it is often difficult, if not impossible, to get rail pass reservations for night trains. Of course, you can always try to get them at the station in Europe, but that's not recommended because popular night trains often sell out weeks in advance. EurAide can get these reservations for you before you go. In the case of CityNightLine (CNL), a German Rail subsidiary, you can get just reservations online from the Bahn website. After going to "Check Availability", click on "Book only extra charge".