So there are two of us traveling to Europe this summer, and we have bought a Select Pass that gives us 15 days of travel within a two month period in 5 different countries. After buying the passes I found that you get charged extra in Italy for seat reservations. Is this true only in Italy or in other countries as well? Also, what is the best way to make reservations? Should we make them all online months in advance? Or is it better to wait until a day or 2 before we actually need the train? We will be in Europe for 2 months, and we have a fairly open itinerary because once we are over there we want to go with the flow. But IF booking ahead is necessary we will work towards a set itinerary!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
You pass is only good for trains that do not require a seat reservations otherwise you need to pay a reservation fee. Now, all high speed premium trains, regardless of country, charges a reservation fee which must be done prior to board the train or else it is a huge fine. Will spoil your day. In the past IC trains were a mix of reserved and non-reserved seat but now most IC require seat reservation. Only the regional trains are total non-reserved. This is one of the big reasons that rail passes are not the good deal they once were. You should make you reservations a couple of days ahead of time. Normally you should not have trouble getting a reservation. Could have a small problem at high travel times because the reserved seats for pass holders is limited.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
9 posts
Reservations are becoming more typical in other countries as well, note that it is getting even easier to get them. In Italy for example, there are kiosks that can do the seat reservations right then and there. My wife and I typically got our reservations for the next leg as we arrived into a city to make it easy.