Train Travel-Do I need to buy tickets or make reservations in advance?

Generally, the least expensive place to buy full fare tickets is at the station or on the website of that national railroad. In addition, some of the national rail websites offer discount ticket prices for advance purchase online from them (example: PREMS tickets from French Rail). You won't save money by buying in advance from stateside resellers.

Cheryl,

With only four rail trips, P-P tickets is definitely the best idea. I'd suggest buying your tickets in Europe at the rail stations, as mentioned in the previous post. I normally stop by the station a few days before my outgoing journey and buy my tickets then. You may be able to purchase all your tickets (and reservations if required) at the station in Zurich, but I'm not absolutely sure on that point.

Some of your trips will require reservations, but this will depend on which trains you select for each route. The only exception will be the trip from Milan to Varenna, which as I recall is 2nd class only (no reservations required). One point to mention is that the "official" designation for Varenna is Varenna-Esino. Be sure to disembark promptly in Varenna, as the train only stops for about a minute!

I'd suggest checking the bahn.de web site to get some idea on the departure times and travel times of the trains you'll be using, and whether reservations are required.

Happy travels!

I agree with Ken. Buy your p2p tickets at the RR station where you can talk with an agent and get a computer print of your itinerary to take with you.

When you travel by rail in an area you are not familiar with you may be confused by train changes, platform numbers and departure times. Having those printed for you will make it easier.

Ask the RR clerks about any reservations on each leg which may be required.

For Paris to Amboise, you can save quite a bit by booking PREMs tickets 90 days in advance....from 27 Euro regular second class fare, to as low as 10 Euro o/w. These tickets are non refundable though, so you must be sure of your travel dates. Go to tgv-europe.com, set your residence as "Great Britain" on the second screen, and you will be able to print out or retrieve at any French railway station your PREMs tickets. It will also take care of the reservation/supplement you need for that run. Within Italy, you can purchase Amica tickets, giving you 20% off, until midnight before the day of travel...if there are any left, since they are limited in number.

The Austrian Rail site doesn't show fares for Kandersteg-Milano (with a connection in Brig), but the Italian Rail site shows discount fares for the Brig-Milano leg of that route. If you want to try to get a discount fare, you could book your tickets by phoning the Austrian Rail call center. At the same time you could get information on the fare for Zuerich-Engelberg.

For Paris-Amboise the standard 2nd class fare is €27. Booked well in advance (up to 90 days allowed), you can get a PREM'S fare of €10. Be aware that this ticket is non-exchangeable and non-refundable so don't buy it if you need flexibility in your schedule. Unless you can handle the French on the SNCF site, book at www.tgv-europe.com. To keep the booking pages in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as both your country of residence and the country in which you will retrieve your tickets. Don't worry. If you get a PREM's fare, you print the tickets yourself. If you get a standard fare, you can pick up your tickets at any SNCF station in France by prsenting the credit card you used when booking and the confirmation number you'll be sent by e-mail.

Hey, Norm! Since we think alike, does that mean we have great minds?

FYI, the service for Milano-Varenna is on regional trains which don't offer Amica fares. The fare is very cheap (around €5).

Thanks everyone for all your help!!