Help with Eurorail train schedules, routes and reservations

The high speed trains in Italy are the Italian EuroStar (ES*) and point-point tickets for a EuroStar train come with a seat reservation. Eurail pass holders can't just hop on the train. They must purchase the "reservation", usually about $15-$20, which is also a surcharge for riding a premium train. Usually you can get these reservations at the station the day of travel, or at the first station in Italy when you arrive.

I won't touch Switzerland or France, but from Paris to Amsterdam, you will probably be traveling on Thalys, which also requires a surcharge/reservation. Passholder reservations for Thalys are limited and, at popular travel time, can sell out even though there are full price tickets available for that train. Advance reservations are advisable.

The dirty little secret of rail passes is that reservations are often required but difficult to find. Many national rail websites offer tickets but not reservations. You can get reservations at RailEurope, but they are marked up significantly over European prices. Or, you can get reservations at European prices from Euraide, but they charge an additional $50 for handling the order.

You really should make sure that a rail pass is really the most cost effective way. Compare the point-point fares from the rail websites (www.trenitalia.com, www.sbb.ch, www.sncf.ft, and www.thalys.com) with the cost of the rail pass plus all of the reservation charges. You might find that point-point is the better way.

I think that the cost map, particularly for Germany, is highly inaccurate. When tickets are actually priced in Euro and the map gives costs in US$, it has to depend on the exchange rate, which varies too much. Also, it fails to take into account the discounted tickets and regional offers. Therefore, it tends to estimate the cost of point-point tickets too high.

There is no substitute for getting ticket prices from the national rail websites. It's more work that way, but much more accurate.

I'll add some details to Lee and Steve's comments. If you can commit to specific departure dates and times, booking well in advance on rail company sites will be much cheaper than a pass because of the discount fares you should be able to get. Exception: The Trenitalia site doesn't accept US credit cards for online booking, but you can easily buy your Rome-Cinque Terre tickets when you get to Italy.

If you book Cinque Terre-Interlaken on the Swiss Rail site up to 90 days in advance, you can get a discount fare as low as 77 CHF (€53).

Buy a standard fare ticket in Interlaken for Interlaken-Bern for 26 CHF (€18) and book Bern-Paris up to 90 days in advance on the Swiss Rail site to get a discount fare as low as 64 CHF (€48).

Book a Paris-Amsterdam ticket up to 90 days in advance at www.thalys.com to get a Smoove fare as low as €35.

Excellent comments above, but I'll suggest that if you are spending several days in the Interlaken area and planning onriding trains, lifts, and boats, you might do well with some kind of Swiss pass, particularly if you are a family with kids under 16. Eurail passes do not work very well for Switzerland, apart from a quick traverse of the country.

Trenitalia is frustrating because it won't accept US credit cards. What we are planning to do for our trip this summer is book our within-Italy reservations when we arrive. There are discounts available for tickets bought more than a week in advance. but you may not be in Italy long enough to take advantage of that.

As noted above, you can buy your ticket Bern--Paris in advance on the SBB website (www.rail.ch). Sometimes there are special fares for advance purchase between large cities, originating in a Swiss city (like Bern) and traveling to another city.