We are traveling 3 weeks in Europe in September. We will stay 4 days in Paris, 5 days in Rome and a couple of days in several other towns in between. We want a train from Paris-Mannheim-Munich-Venice-Livorno between Sept. 9-16. I was told it's cheaper to get train reservations in Europe rather than making them in the U.S. over the internet. My question is can we expect to get a seat on the trains we want if we wait to reserve them when we are there? If so how many days in advance do we need to reserve them while we are over there? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Torrance, CA
79 posts
I can't say whether it is smarter to book here or in Europe, I'm dealing with the same question. However, if you choose to get them over there, I'd get them all on your first day there, as long as you know when you want to travel exactly. This will be especially important if any are sleepers and you want to go 2nd class. While I was there last time, on a railpass, we didn't make reservations early enough for a sleeper and we got stuck going on 1st class. It was great, but the reservations cost a lot more and I think we may have had to pay for an upgrade since we were traveling on 2nd class railpasses.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Which, if any, of your routes will be via night trains? As Becca says, it's good to reserve those well in advance. Reservations for some of the night trains that start or end in Germany can be booked online at http://buchung.nachtzugreise.de. Click on the British flag to view the site in English. From the drop-down menu choose "Accommodation surcharge only, ticket exists."
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
389 posts
September is a great time to travel and easier by far to get train seats than in July or August; having said that, I will second the previous post. We just returned and missed taking 2 nights trains we wanted, one because it was full and the other because it didn't run on Saturday night. I think if you are in Paris for 4 days before you want to leave you should be fine. Also, if each of these stops you've listed are destinations you plan to stay in, your longest hop, Munich to Venice has an overnight train if that is the way you want to go but you will be way ahead making your reservations for that one. I think you'll be fine.
Posted by
OP
Caldwell
12 posts
Thank you all for your help!
To clarify more, we will be in Paris 4 nights in September, then go on to Mannheim where we will spend 3 days with friends, then go on to Munich for 2 days and do the Neuschwanstein tour. The night of the the tour to Neuschwantstein we are planning on taking an overnight train from Munich to Venice, the train leaves at 11:40 p.m. I was concerned about not being able to get reservations for this overnight couchette and also for seats on the other day connections if we purchased them in Europe to save money rather than in the U.S. Again thank you!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
You can book accommodations for the Munich-Venice night train at http://buchung.nachtzugreise.de. See the instructions in my previous post.
Posted by
burlington
427 posts
book them all over there.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
Sue, it's far easier to book reservations in Europe, and probably less expensive also. You can either book reservations for your outgoing trip when you arrive in a particular city - it makes sense to do it while you're still at the station. You can also go to the station a few days prior to departure and book them. Of course this is a bit more risky as if there's a big Euro holiday or something happening at that time, you could find all the seats already taken.
Happy travels!!!