Hey guys, for those of you who have done trips to europe, is it better to make train reservations before you leave or when you arrive? I read it was better to make them when you arrive in europe, cheaper or something or that trains might change so it's better to do it over there.
Thanks!
Steve; a lot of the trains I am taking require reservations. Would you say still to wait until I am in europe? Is there a possibly that they won't have any trains available by the time I try to make a reservation (at least a week before, for all of them, some of them a month before if I can)? Also, have you bought reservations through raileurope.com before? Because I'm confused about the whole "shipping" thing.
Steve, I shouldn't need to buy any point-to-point tickets, as I am using railpasses. I was just wondering about train reservations. You still wouldn't recommend reservations for long train rides? (ie, amsterdam to milan, barcelona to brussels, and TGV trains in france)
For the TGV trains you need to reserve, whether it's a 40 min ride or a ride over 2 hrs. Buy the TGV reservations when you're in France. The same applies to taking Thalys trains...you have to reserve in order to get on, even with your Pass. I avoid taking Thalys trains, even if it costs me an extra 2-3 hrs.
Most definitely, do not buy your reservations through raileurope.com.
Ashley, when you arrive in Europe and you know the dates that you are traveling; I owuld recommend making reservations. We just returned from a 30 day vacation in Europe. On 1 date, we could not board thte desired train because we did not have reservations. We had to wait 2.5 hours for the next train with space (traveling Brussels to Germany). The 2nd time we wanted a night train from Munich to Venice; because we had not made resevations soon enough...we had to wait 12 hours to catch the next most desirable train. After these 2 incidents, we made reservations for our remaining train travel and then the trains were not full (example Florence to Rome). However, we were glad that we did because we had 1st class seats and in air condiditoned rooms that seat 6 people. We ran into some trains without air in the 2nd class seating (temps were in the 90's).
All reservations are not the same. There are seat reservation, for which national rail companies charge a few Euro (German Rail charges €4,50 for a second class seat, at the counter, about half online with a ticket purchase). For many trains, a seat reservation is mandatory, others just recommended.
What is referred to as a "reservation" for a night train is really a surcharge for the accommodations (cochette or sleeper), which is reserved for you. People without rail passes purchase a global ticket which includes use of the rails plus accommodations. Rail pass holders pay less for just accommodations, but passholder reservations are sometimes limited.
Many premium trains, such as Thalys, add a surcharge, called a "pass holder reservation", because they are more expensive to ride than the normal trains. All tickets come with a seat reservation, because all seats are reserved.
You absolutely should get a reservation for night trains, ASAP. I've seen night trains where everything except seats were sold out a month in advance. Often the most desirable accommodations are sold out several month in advance. Reserve these whenever you can commit. Some national rail companies (the Bahn) sell pass holder reservations online for trains in their country. Pass holder reservation for some country's trains are difficult to find, and you might end up going to RailEurope and overpaying.
Pass holder reservations for premium trains are limited. In busy times you want to reserve days in advance.
For regional trains, there are no reservations, required or made.
For the rest of the trains, reservations are probably not necessary, but are probably a good idea for longer trains. If you had to stand from Amsterdam to Milan, you would probably regret not spending €5 for a seat reservation. You should be able to get these reservations just before train time, certainly the day before. The only SRO train I was ever on had plenty of unreserved seats.
Thanks all for the advice. I'm glad I didn't go ahead and buy my train reservations through raileurope because it seemed to be very expensive to do that. (And they charge almost $60 for making reservations on night trains) I'll make all my reservations while I'm there. I just have one more question - could I make a train reservation (let's say berlin to krakow) in france or something like that? Thanks!
Ashley....for the popular overnight trains (eg. out of Barcelona) you will definitely find they book up quickly. Even if you are sitting up, you should get reservation ahead of time...since there's usually only one or 2 trains on these overnight runs, you usually don't have an option if you arrive at the train station even a couple of weeks before you want to leave.
Technically, it's true that "most" trains in Europe don't require, or even allow, reservations or supplements. But that's only if you include all regional and local commuter trains, which few tourist ride....and on many of those trains, it's not cost effective to use a day of your pass. Most of the high speed and overnight trains used by tourist require either a reservation or supplement, and national rail companies put limits on how many of these spots they will set aside for railpass holders.
If you have firm travel dates, have you considered checking out the national rail websites for point to point ticekt costs? Many of us have found that, with the web specials available, a rail pass is far more expensive.
Norm; Thanks for the info, but actually I already purchased my rail passes awhile ago and they're non-refundable so, all I can do now is make reservations. :/ I'm leaving for europe in 3 days so there's not much I can do about that now, I've spent close to $900 on both rail passes (I'm going to europe for 3 months, actually traveling for about 2, staying with a friend in bulgaria for the remainder of the trip). But next time I go to europe I'll know that buying point-to-point tickets is cheaper. So yeah the only information I'm interested in is just making reservations, since I shouldn't be purchasing ANY train tickets over there.
BTW, I'm not sure why everyone is so down on RailEurope? I actually got a better deal there than the other reseller that our Rick Steves travel consultant recommended (EurAide - a nightmare to deal with in the US, maybe good if you're in Germany). Of course, they did have a promotion for $25 off (ended 7/31) and also offered free shipping on orders over a certain amount...so no fees, and the exchange rate seemed current when comparing to the Spanish rail site in Euros.
"BTW, I'm not sure why everyone is so down on RailEurope."
Because their reservation fees are a lot higher than what you'd pay in Europe, or thru a national rail website like Deutsche Bahn. The same goes for their point to point ticket prices.
Ashley, your not the only one confused. When I started planning I also was planning on the Eurail pass. I am having trouble with availability of routes.(Venice to Zermatt.) When I check the same route with SBB I have lots of options, but with Raileurope only one But when I try to book with SBB, they only search one month in advance. Very confusing. What is your advice? Eurail pass or point to point?
This is our first trip to Europe, so I was anxious to nail down train schedules, and when necessary, make reservations. Our trip begins in a 6 weeks and is nearly 30 days. I found conflict in schedules between the Bonjour la France, Bahn and RailEurope websites, ie., timetables showing more trains than RailEurope showed available. After many inquiries I found the reason. Sixty days seems to be the tickler. If you are quering the system for a date 60 days in advance, the SNCF may not have released the schedule of their trains to RailEurope.
As for purchasing the tickets in the US before departure, we did purchase ours involving the Thalys trains, that require reservations... call it peace of mind.
Wes....RailEurope is owned, in the majority, by SNCF. RailEurope simply does not list all the trains that are run by European railways. Deutsche Bahn is the most complete website for train schedules.....Bonjour la France should not be trusted as a source.
Joanne....your best bet is to compare point to point ticket prices with the rail pass cost....most find point to point are cheaper. Don't use RailEurope for point to point tickets....too expensive.
Ashley,
To answer your question as to whether train reservstions should be made here through Rail Europe or when you arrive in France, make them over there, most definitely! Rail Europe is a rip. Luckily, I never made a reservstion through them before checking with Deutsche Bahn or SNCF. The non-TGV trains in France don't require reservations, just hop on. If you're going from Paris-Strasbourg or Paris-Tours, or Paris-Munich, you'll have to reserve...mandatory.
