Train reservation costs

For the Munich to Venice train, are you talking about night train accommodations or day train reservations? Don't use RailEurope. Use the German Rail website.

Now you are finding out why rail pass are not recommended for a lot of travel.

I am facing the same issue. I am travelling on a 15 day global pass and wanted to take three night trains, but it would end up costing us about $300 per night train. Not something we can afford to do.

Ditto Frank.

Beth and Lee, You may find it helpful to have a look at the Reservation List on This Page. Scroll down to the "Train Reservations" section and then click on the link to download the free PDF file. That should provide a reasonably accurate list of your reservation charges. Be sure to check the applicable rail websites (ie: Trenitalia in Italy) to determine which trains will require reservations). I'm assuming you'll use the S-Bahn from the airport to Munich Hbf, and then connect with other trains ( Lee or one of the others can confirm that). You could easily purchase your reservations at the station, rather than pre-purchase through Rail Europe (depending on your connection times and other circumstances). One option would be the EurAide office in the Munich Hbf. They have English-speaking agents, and I've always found them to be very helpful! Happy travels!

We are taking a day train from Munich to Venice (sleeping doesn't work so well for us on trains :-). Interesting about pass v.s. point to point tickets. I tried really hard to make sure I was doing the "best" thing as far a $$ was concerned, and convenience as well. As far as I could tell, the cost of point to points ended up being a "push" from the $ value, so the pass seemed to add the convenience that would be nice. I also consulted with one of the Rick Steves travel dudes for that 1/2 hr and they recommended it as well. What can you do? Anyway, I've got the pass so there you go. I'll check out the recommendations from all of your comments. Thanks so much. A bit of a bummer actually. (and Beth is the one doing the work here :-)

Oh, and when I go to the Bahn site it doesn't give me prices...and says "unknown tariff abroad"...nor am I able to find where I can use my Eurorail Save Pass, but only the Bahncard (which I don't have)?? Also, the times listed on this site for the travel day (May 3) are 10+ hrs, while on the RailEurope site quotes 6 hrs +/- I do see one train from the RailEurope site that doesn't require reservations (a TRN Autres) This train has a connection in Villach Austria...but with only 13 minutes to do it...would that be enough time? Heavens...I hate to sound like such a cheap skate...but I'd so much rather spend my money on the sights, fine foods & wine!! Thanks again for your help!

Oh my, my bad. I just saw, in looking at the Raileurope site that to use my pass I would have to have Austria as one of the countries...but I didn't purchase Austria...my bad. I purchased Germany, Italy, France and Benelux (for Belgium & the Netherlands) Geeze...what a big goof up (meaning costly) Too bad learning late is such a tough one. ouch

"Also, the times listed on this site for the travel day (May 3) are 10+ hrs, while on the RailEurope site quotes 6 hrs +/-" Change the departure times in your query. The fastest connection available between the two cities leaves at 11:31 in the morning, and arrives about 6.5 hours later. DB can't calculate some of the online fairs that involve connections with other rail companies. The fastest connection I mentioned earlier shows a standard fare of €80, with a discount to €39 for advanced purchase. This is most likely the only direct service DB runs between Munich and Venice. Part of Europe Through the Back Door's business is to sell rail passes. Should it really be surprising if they try to convince people that rail passes are the best option? And for a future lesson, NEVER even consider buying a 3rd party rail pass for the Netherlands or Belgium. Rail tickets in these countries are cheap by western European standards and the national rail companies sell their own passes that are an absolute bargain. Lee (Rocky Mountain High, not the name in the begining of the thread), with all the buyers remorse we're seeing lately on rail passes, would now not be a good time to resurrect your thread on this subject?

Beth and Lee, Regarding the comments in your most recent posts.... To begin with, it's NOT a good idea to use Rail Europe as a source of information on rail travel times. The German rail site (bahn.de) and other sites in each country are much better! The fact that your Pass doesn't include Austria is not a huge problem. When you purchase tickets in Munich, simply buy a ticket that covers the Austria portion of your journey. Again, This Agency may be able to help. The bahn.de website doesn't always list fares, especially for trip which originate in one country and end in another. Since you'll be travelling with a Railpass, the cost of the fare isn't a concern - you'll only need reservations (except for the Austria portion). Could you provide a bit more detail on your trip. When are you arriving in Munich? Are you arriving by air from the U.S. and then going directly to Venice? As you probably noted, the travel times will vary depending on which train you choose. The shortest trip I could find was a train departing Munich at 11:31, arriving Venezia S.L. at 18:10 (time 6H:39M, direct/no changes). Other trains on that route have 1-3 changes. That particular trip is a good one to do in the daytime, as the trip through the Brenner Pass is very scenic. I'm sure the others will have some further suggestions as well. Cheers!

You guys are just the best! I did find the 11:31 train from Munich earlier but couldn't (operator error I'm sure) find the cost...I did just find that however. So I feel better about the "costly mistake" now. Thanks so much. It does frost me that I've worked so hard to make the best decisions and still mucked it up :-( Details of our trip...arriving Frankfurt and going to Bacharach for 2 nights, then Rothenburg for 2, then to Munich but only for a night before traveling to Venice (we meet friends there). From Venice (2 nights) to Florence & Siena, then Rome (3 nights), Cinque Terre(3 nights) then a long ride to Nice for one night & on the next day to Beaune for 3 days before going to Paris for 3 nights. We leave our friends in Paris and are going to Brugge (3 nights) where we will meet a friend from the Netherlands who will wisk us away for the remaining week. We have 5 days with her in the Netherlands. So, there it is! Sounds wonderful to me. A bit over a month. Ambitious but doable I think!