mandalay

We are a family of 4 travelling in December and January. I have just purchased a global pass for us as we are travelling to Germany, , Italy, France and spain.

Our itinerary is organised as I have booked accommodation in all of the cities we are staying at. Does anyone recommend that we pre-book the seats on the train for the days that we want to leave. I have been told that the seats need to be pre-booked well before departure.
Is it better to do this before we leave for our trip that way we don't have to worry about getting to the station too early to guarantee seats all together.

I have priced a pre-booked seat from Turin to Paris is $140.00AUD per person. Other destinations the price is about $20.00AUD per person.

Suggestions please.
Thanks in advance!

ribeirasacra

You have to prebook seats on most Spanish trains.
http://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.h..._www.renfe.com
How you go about this with your pass I have no idea.

ribeirasacra

Here I have now found it.
http://www.interrail.eu/trains-europ...n#reservations

PalenQ

Forget about booking anything for Germany - I assume you have a first-class pass and you can be sure of finding ample empty seats IME in first class and you can easily - every easily book many German train seat reservation once there - for a few euros if you want.

In the other three countries such booking is compulsory of most long-distance trains for sure including the ones you will probably be taking and IME these reservations in Italy and Spain can easily be done even a day or so before the train and you can do them all in one fell swoop from any station in that country - ditto for Germany.

France is the only country where making rail pass holder reservations is problematic on some key lines - what French trains are you taking and which specific trains in other countries are you taking?

French TGVs Paris to Avignon and Nice and south of France can be hard to book once there as there is a quota of how many railpass seats will be sold on each train - there may be full fare tickets available but no pass holder reservations! But not nearly on all lines or trains.

For lots of good stuff on European trains check these superb sites that may yield more insight into your dilemma - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - if you want to talk to some rail expert call Byron at the last sight - IME of dealing with him for years he will answer your questions even though you have already bought a pass elsewhere and will give you great advice.

PalenQ

I have priced a pre-booked seat from Turin to Paris is $140.00AUD per person. Other destinations the price is about $20.00AUD per person.>

Where did you see $140 Aussie bucks for Turin to Paris? No such train and even a regular seat may cost less just by buying once there.

But if you are talking about the overnight Thello train then that train does not honor railpasses at all - so that may be a regular price for that night train, including some kind of sleeping berth. But in daytime you just pay I believe the 3 or 4 euro French TGV reservation fee for passholders.

mandalay

Yes the 140.00AUD is for the pre booked seats.

Should I pre book this trip for all for of us? We do have first class tickets.

It will be quite expensive to pre book all our seats for our travels, but I don't want to have to worry about getting to a train station prior to our departure date to book seats.

Our itinerary is quite fixed:

Berlin to Dusseldorf (train)
Dusseldorf to Munich (train)
Munich to Florence (train)
Florence to Rome (Train)
Rome to Turin (Train)
Turin to Paris (train)
Paris to Malaga (Flight booked)
Malaga to Seville (train)
Seville to Barcelona (train)

We are travelling over the Christmas period in Germany and the new year in Italy and Spain.

Thanks for all your great advice so far.

PalenQ

IME you will have no trouble booking any German train in first class - and only for a few euros - do them all at any station in Berlin (folks say it can be done at www.bahn.de/en just doing reservations only if you have a pass but I do not know about that - never tried.

You can book Munich to Florence in Berlin too I think.

Florence to Rome there are so so many trains - I've never had trouble with a first-class pass getting reservations in Italy but again you can book them all in Florence for 10 euros each - the price of pass holder reservations/supplements in Italy (5 euros for IC trains and no reservations possible for regional trains

in the worst case scenario you could always hop the much slower regional trains and IME have a whole compartment to yourselves.

Turin to Paris - a day train should be easy to book and if it is run by Italian or French railways should cost just a few euros (not positive but never heard of $140 A$ - usually it is a normal French TGV fee I believe - 3 euros I think per seat.

I've never had trouble booking 1st class in Spain either but it does cost maybe $15 or so and I think you get, like in Italy, some free snacks and beverages - again you should always be able to book all of a country's trains from any station in that country (but it seems not if out of that country).

Christmas period and Christmas Day in Germany sees I believe a pretty normal Sunday schedule and travel is usually slack as folks are not working - especially 1st class travelers are often business types. New Years should also be slack in travel but lots of trains - but do check www.bahn.de/en for schedules a few months in advance to be sure about trains on Christmas Day and New Years - I have traveled in those countries those periods and everything seemed normal (not like the UK where nearly no trains run Christmas Day and Boxing Day following!)

You will save a lot of money booking once in Europe over going thru RailEurope Down Under - I believe RailEurope has a lock on European train reservations in that market but not sure.

Try to reserve German trains thru bahn.de/en but in Germany I think there should be little problem even getting on first class without a reservation but if you want four seats together book ahead - I think in Germany the booking fee is per a group of seats not per seat but not sure - about 5 euros I think.

Now about that Turin-Paris train where did you see the $140 seat booking fee? You could contact RailEurope Oz to check on that! an alternative would be taking a train from Turin to Lyon and changing to a French TGV train there.

PalenQ

Seville to Barcelona (train)>

A fairly long train ride even with new high-speed Madrid to Barcelona line open - there is an overnight hotel train with all kinds of compartments - some even with douche and WC I believe - so-called Grand Classe that I believe includes an evening dinner in the dining car and breakfast - or of course cheap couchettes with 4 or 6 berths in one compartment.

Save time - and the scenery on that route is rather boring - lots of sand - and save money on a night in a hotel.

kybourbon

Your post is confusing (especially Turin/Paris), but for all fast trains in Italy, seat reservations are mandatory. When you purchase point-to-point tickets on Trenitalia, the price includes your seat. With a pass, you must pay 10€ each time (bookable on Trenitalia). You can book on Trenitalia 120 days in advance. Select your cities/dates (use the Italian spelling for cities), select the train. On this screen, below your fare choices, click View Other Offers and click continue. Under service (use drop down arrow), click the class you want and under offers, use the drop down arrow and scroll down to Global Pass. You will need your pass # also. The default below these choices is auto seat assignment. If you want to select where to sit, be sure to click Select The Seat. WARNING If you hit the back arrows or browser at any point to got back a screen, your dates may change!

>>>But if you are talking about the overnight Thello train then that train does not honor railpasses at all - so that may be a regular price for that night train, including some kind of sleeping berth.<<<

This is not accurate. While Thello doesn't honor the pass with just a supplement like many trains do, it does offer passholders a discount (25% off full fare). It's a bit cheaper to buy discounted advance purchase point-to-point tickets though, but you need to do the math. Whether this counts as use against your pass is unclear. Perhaps there is more info about that on one of the websites that sells the passes.

PalenQ

but you need to do the math. Whether this counts as use against your pass is unclear.>

did not know pass holders got 25% off - but if it is a discount and not 100% covered fare then the rule with Eurailpasses at least is that you do not use one of your unlimited travel days - so a discount is a perk that does not use up one of a flexipass travel days.

kybourbon

Just because Thello is giving the discount, it doesn't mean it's a discount listed on the actual pass. That would have to be checked on one of the pass sites.

***InterRail and Eurail Pass holders

As from 1st April, 2014, passengers holding a Eurail or InterRail Pass valid for Italy or France will be eligible for the “Special” discounted fare on Thello trains: 25% off the Flexi Adult rate, on sale until train departure, available both in sleepers and couchettes.

Eurail and InterRail are popular rail passes, offering the freedom to travel flexibly around Europe and giving the pass holder the possibility to choose from a wide selection of European countries.***

https://www.thello.com/infos-service...les/index.html

traveller1959

In Germany, the price for the reservation is € 18.00 for a party of four. You can reserve seats via www.bahn.de. You can open a display and pick the seats you want.

Is it necessary or not? Usually, you find empty seats in First Class, but it will be hard to find empty seats together. The general rule is that the trains in the morning and in the afternoon are most congested, because these are prime times for business travellers.

For a group of four, it might be nice to sit around a table. These places are the first to be reserved. It's up to you whether € 4.50 pp are worth the confidence to have nice seats together. (Or maybe you prefer a little rest from your spouse by sitting in another car?)

Another option would be sitting together at a table in the restaurant car.

PalenQ

As from 1st April, 2014, passengers holding a Eurail or InterRail Pass valid for Italy or France will be eligible for the “Special” discounted fare on Thello trains: 25% off the Flexi Adult rate, on sale until train departure, available both in sleepers and couchettes.>

thanks for the update - I missed that. But it seems discounted tickets in advance would be cheaper perhaps than 25% off.