Train Reservations SOS!!!

The passholder reservations I've made for N/T have been very expensive; coming very close to what an advance-purchase ticket would have been. It's very difficult to make passholder reservations from North America; only a few train companies are set up to do so...when they actually work correctly. You'll probably need to bite the bullet and go through Rail Europe; your particular train may only have the quad sleepers left...not knowing your exact dates it's hard to know for sure what's going on. It's a very popular route.

I thought of another possible option for you - look at Euro Railways and see what they say about a reservation. Look at the far left of the page to where it says "Tickets and Reservations" (about 1/2 way down the page) and 'hover' over that. You can choose 'Seat reservations' or 'Night Trains' and go from there...(or, smack dab in the center of the page it says (under "Booking") 'Seat/Sleeper Reservations' - same place). Note it says Free Shipping; if you click on that, it also tells you they charge $18 for orders under $399 :-( Good luck!

Anna, You can also make reservations very easily when in Europe. One method that I often use is the make reservations for the outgoing journey when I arrive in each city, since I'm at the station anyway. You'll need to stop at a station when you arrive in Europe anyway, to have your Railpass validated. For the trip from Paris to Barcelona, you should be able to obtain a reservation by stopping by any SNCF Boutique in Paris. There are a number of offices in different parts of the city. I wouldn't suggest using Rail Europe to obtain reservations, as the cost will probably be higher. You may find it helpful to have a look at The Railpass section on this website. In the section on "Using Your Railpass", there's a description of reservations and a handy PDF Guide with the usual reservation fees listed on it. You could also download the free PDF Rail Guide (right hand side of the page). Happy travels!

Thank you so much for answering! I don't know if I will reserve through rail Europe because it seems that the routes I want to reserve the most don't list the options I want, and the prices are very high. I may try and call them and ask them some questions though. The Euro Railways seems interesting but I have to send a request form which is kind of weird...and they charge 12$ for each booking. If I reserve seats in Europe then I can only book from the city I am leaving from though, right? So for more complicated train ride with multiple changes, I can't book the other parts of my journey?
For example, if I am going from madrid to valladolid campo grande and then from there to Hendaye and then from Hendaye to Poitiers, then I can only reserve the first train ride from Madrid to valladolid campo grande? And I am worried about reserving overnight trains when I am already there because I don't want to miss out, but Rick Steves says it's only especially worrisome during very busy times...is the end of May very busy? Any experience there? Thanks Thanks Thanks!!

Well, the single and double compartments of your N/T are already sold out...(the info I found on your train shows these should be available)... I don't know anything about Spanish trains and routes - which require seat reservations, etc. - so someone else will have to answer that. You're GOING to pay for a passholder reservation for your N/T, and $12 for peace-of-mind is well worth it for many people. Typically, N/T aren't cars and cars of sleeping compartments; rather, there are 1-3 cars of bunks, and several more with regular seats in them...not all of which are going where the sleeping cars will end up. So, there aren't that many bunks in the first place to pick from...:-( And FWIW - those prices of $70 and $109 are what Rick says in his rail pass guide: http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/pdfs/reservations.pdf. Note his strategy at saving some $$$; this may not be for you, though. If it's an international train, you can book the entire trip at once, even if you have to make connections (in MY experience). If it's a major international route, then after crossing the border you want to take local trains, then in that case perhaps you have to make the reservations there - if you need to make any reservations at all. EDIT: Euro Railways might be the company that won't sell you a seat/berth reservation IF you didn't purchase your rail pass from them...I'd go with Rail Europe, anyway...OR, divide your trip into 2 days (if you have 2 'rail days' available).

Anna, Herei s another possiblity which can be done (day)...from Paris to Perpignan is (depending on departure time) a direct TGV, ca. 5 hrs, after which you can spend the night or continue to Barcelona, which could involve 2 transfers, but all this on one Pass day. Buy a point to point if you choose to continue the trip on the 2nd day, no use wasting a Pass day, since the connections from Perpignan-Barcelona is by local trains.

Popular night trians can sell out weeks in advance. You definltely should buy your reservations for them before you leave for Europe. For one $50 US fee you can buy all the reservations you want for all the trains you want at in-Europe prices from Euraide.