I am planning a trip in 2 weeks with my little sister, I am wondering if the following legs of the journey I need reservations and if so, should I book them online or at the station? I noticed online there was a shipping fee as well as them having to actually mail you a paper reservation? Madrid-Barcelona Berlin-Amsterdam Amsterdam-Brussels Brussels-Bruges
Brussels-Paris We are using the Youth 4 Country Select Pass. Any help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks!
Since you have the pass there is little point in purchasing the reservations ahead of time. Purchasing a day or two before or the day of will be fine.
Madrid-Barcelona: Reservations are required on AVE trains. Berlin-Amsterdam: Reservations are recommended on some legs but not required. Amsterdam-Brussels: No reservations are possible on IC trains. If you take a Thalys train, you will have to pay a passholder fare that is more expensive than a simple seat reservation. Brussels-Bruges: No reservations are possible. Brussels-Paris: If you take a Thalys train, you will need to pay a passholder fare. You could take a TGV to CDG and only pay for a seat reservation, but then you would have to buy a ticket to get from the airport to Paris on the RER.