My wife and I will be traveling from Paris to Luzern to Venice and then on to Firenze and Roma. <BR>What is the best way to purchase tickets? <BR>In the USA or Wait until we arrive in Europe. <BR>Best place to buy tickets? <BR>Which type should we buy? <BR>Most of our train trips will be going from one city to another except for two side trips to Siena and Pompeii. What is the fastest possible way and assurance to meet our schdule from one city to the next. <BR>We will be carrying our luggage on the train. Meals on the train How do you take care of your luggage and go to lunch etc. <BR>Would like to have no smoking section would first class be better? Do I need make reservations in advance to be sure to reach each of our destinations? <BR>Thanks <BR>Garry <BR>

A lot of questions packed tightly into one terse message. Hope I can answer them all. You don't give a time frame, but in general, I think that point-to-point tickets, purchased in Europe will save you money over any "pass", and it is definitely cheaper to buy then at the train station than from www.raileurope.com (they'll charge you 20 to 50% more). A pass starts to save money if you will travel - - in general - - 250 to 300 miles on average - - EVERY day. So it would be economical if your Paris-to-Rome is less than 8 to 9 days (which I hope that it is not). <BR> <BR>If you want to avoid uncertainty (and know for sure what schedule you want to follow), buy your tickets to LEAVE a city when you ARRIVE in that city - - Paris included; you can buy your Paris-Lucerne tickets right at the airport the day you arrive. There is no real distinction between the A-to-B tickets you need to buy and the "side trip" tickets you want for Siena and Pompeii; generally "roundtrip tickets are simply two times the cost of a one-way ticket. <BR> <BR>Everyone carries his or her own luggage on to and off of a train. If you leave your seats to eat on the train, there is no one simplest/best solution as to what to do with your luggage. Many people make friends with some other English-speaking travelers quickly enough, so that they can watch your bags, and you theirs if you want to go together to the dining car. On the Eurostar (in Italy - - Venice to Florence to Rome), the dining car for first class travelers is actually roomy enough that you could take modest (rollaboard-style/size) luggage right with you and stand it up at the end of the table. I saw one person do this on a recent trip. <BR> <BR>As often as not, you might opt to simply eat at your seat. There are box lunch type items you can buy on the trains, and many people bring their own picnic-type choices. It is plenty roomy enough to eat at your seats. <BR> <BR>Non-smoking cars exist in both first and second class, and are reasonably enforced; and I found that periods of sitting with my smoking inlaws were very nearly smoke-free - - partly because it is very roomy (no one is packed closely together) - - but perhaps also because it was at the very end of that car. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps you. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Rex <BR> <BR>Do I understand your post correctly? Is it possible to buy train tickets at CDG? We arrive there in October, and a few days later we'll take the train to Milan. It would be very convenient to go ahead and buy the train tickets while we're at the airport so we wouldn't have to use valuable time in Paris to scout out a place to buy them. Can you tell me where to purchase train tickets at CDG?

topper

You can board the train (SNCF) at CDG, and buy any and all tickets you want to use for (almost?) any train you plan to use in (Western) Europe (I am much less sure about Eastern Europe - - and there are SOME specialty trains - - cog railways and such in Switzerland, Scandinavia, perhaps other places - - that you can't buy at a regular SNCF offfice). <BR> <BR>The ticket office is at the SNCF station - - I would have to consult a map of CDG (readily available on the internet, and various references here on this forum, I feel sure) to tell you precisely where. <BR> <BR>Follow the signs that lead you to "navettes" (shuttles) to the Gare (station) SNCF at the airport. <BR> <BR>This isn't necessarily the best way to get to Paris; but for anyone landing at Roissy (the name more French people use for CDG), and planning to take the train directly to Provence (for example, Avignon) or Bordeaux, or numerous other destinations, it makes much more sense to depart from CDG than to go into Paris just to catch a train. <BR>

Garry: <BR> <BR>I've only purchased tickets for travel within Italy when I'm there, so can't speak to location for purchasing tickets for your Venezia-Firenze-Roma segment of your trip. However do suggest that you "scope" out schedule in advance by consulting with website: <BR> www.fs-on-line.com

The original poster might want to cost out a Eurail Select Pass (for 3 countries). The website is <BR> <BR>http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/pa...selectpass.htm <BR> <BR>You could buy the pass allowing 5 days of journeys within 1 month to 3 adjacent countries (France, Switzerland & Italy). If you were planning several long journeys, this might be the way to go. <BR> <BR>I have bought rail passes in the past for the convenience of just hopping on and off the trains, but I always buy exactly what I need. Please remember, having the pass will not guarantee you a seat. You need to make seat reservations too. I usually have friends in Europe do it for me because raileurope.com charges a surcharge for them. <BR> <BR>By the way, I plan to get a Select Pass for my August trip, but my countries are Germany, Benelux & France. <BR> <BR>Have fun!

Thanks for the information. I was concerned about resevations. When do you reserve a seat. I assume you will need to in June and July. <BR>The cost of the ticket from point to point seems to be the best price for this trip. <BR>Thanks for the responders, responses!

My only experience has been reserving a seat the same time I purchased the ticket, whether it was 24 hours in advance (the most I have ever bought a ticket in advance), or 20 minutes before departure. <BR> <BR>I am pretty sure you can do it in two steps, although that means standing in line twice. The trains virtually never sell out, but seat reservations do. This is a concept that seems weird to Americans because we are not used to using trains. You can ride (most of) the trains without a reserved seat, and in some cases, that means you will never have a seat - - either standing the whole way, or jumping from one unoccupied seat to another - - getting up when someone gets on, showing you that you are in their seat. <BR> <BR>The disadvantage of getting your seat reservation too far in advance, is that you are paying for that seat at that time, and if you can't go then, you have lost that money. But the price of the ticket is good for any train at any time. It makes sense - - the cost of the ticket is the cost of the transportation; the cost of the reservation, (the much smaller price) is for the peace of mind that a seat has been held for you. It just runs contrary to how airlines sell tickets, and as such, takes some mental adjustment for many Americans. <BR>

If you are reserving a bed on a night train during the summer, you had better do that well in advance or you won't get one. <BR> <BR>I haven't purchased my train pass yet for next summer, but I just had a friend reserve me a couchette on the Berlin to Paris train in August. I intend to--at least try to--get some sleep.

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