I am traveling from Nice to Florence on an overnight train in May. I've heard that this will book up fast, and so I should go ahead and reserve my bunk now. Question is, where is the best place to reserve these? RailEurope seems extremely expensive, listing $72 as the cheapest fare. I had heard that this should cost around 25 euros, definitely cheaper that $72. Where else can I buy it?
Thanks!
You can try French Rail, SNCF, or Italian Rail, Trenitalia. But make sure with Trenitalia that you can print the reservation on your home printer. Sometimes they have to be picked up at a ticket machine in Italy, kind of difficult if that is your destination. In that case, reserve it from the first stop in Italy, Ventimiglia, I think, and take the earlier train to Ventimiglia and collect your ticket reservation there.
If you need more than one reservation, it might be worth it to reserve them through Euraide. They charge you the European prices (they buy them over there) and add $50 for the service.
It sounds like you already have a rail pass. If that's the case, you can't make just reservations through the national rail websites of France or Italy, so your only option is Rail Europe or Euraide. Without a pass, you can get the same ticket, a T-3 sleeping compartment in second class, through the French national rail website for $88....so your pass, once all the processing and delivery fees are taken into account, is actually costing you more. If you have more days you want to use your pass, maybe opt to purchase this ticket via SNCF, and not use a day of your pass.
IF you already have a pass, you could try booking the reservation by calling the SNCF English-speaking phone number. Dial 011 (US international access code) + 33 (country code for France) + (0)8 92 35 35 39. Omit the inital zero in parentheses which is only used for calls originating in France.
