I thought that the train planning and etc. would be more simpler, but I am kind of confused, Do I need to make reservations from Rome to Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre to Salzburg, Salzburg to Vienna, Vienna to Prague and so forth? I am planning on making reservations from Paris to Rome doing the night train, these other train plans do I need to make reservations? Also I know you can make reservations on euroaide.com, where else can you make reservatins? Thanks so much! This train travel will be in May, with a month eurorail global pass, by the way.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you have a railpass, you can jump on and off regional trains at will. No reservations are possible. You will have to buy seat reservations for any trains that require them (like TGVs in France and EuroStar Italia and IC trains in Italy) and sleeping accommodation supplements for night trains. Since night trains on popular routes (like Paris-Rome) can sell out weeks in advance, you should buy your sleeping accommodation supplement ASAP. Buy a single reservation/supplement from Rail Europe. If you want to buy several all at once, then buying them from euraide.de may be cheaper. You will have to pay a $50 processing fee, but the price for each reservation will be the in-Europe price, not the higher price charged by Rail Europe. If you want flexibility in your travel dates and times, buy the night train supplement now and all other reservations as you go in Europe.
However, buying point-to-point tickets may be cheaper than a railpass, particularly if you book in advance on each country's national rail site and can get discount fares. For Italy a railpass is almost never cost effective. p2p tickets are relatively inexpensive. While the seat reservation fee for TGVs in France and IC trains in Italy is 3-4 euro, it's 15-20 euro on fast EuroStar Italia trains.
If you book the Paris-Rome night train NOW at www.tgv-europe.com, you may be able to get a Depart fare of €55 for a bunk in a six-person couchette or €85 for a bunk in a four-person couchette. There are some secrets to getting these discount fares. If you want to know more, just ask.
What countries will you be visiting? If you haven't already bought your global pass, you may want to do the math and see if a 3-5 country select pass (excluding Italy) would be a better deal.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19110 posts
Lindsay, that is Euraide.com (or .de).