We just got back from a month in France and Spain and had a terrific trip with 2 exceptions which I wanted to warn everyone about. We rented a car from Hertz, which was a nightmare, and we were advised beforehand that we didn't need to make train reservations prior to departure and we very sorry we didn't. Hope this helps.<BR>Paula

It would be helpful if you can tell us what it means by car rental nightmare and exactly what section of the train trip on which day you were sorry you didn't make reservation before the trip.

We are going to France and Barcelona with Eurail rail & drive passes in Mid-May and early June. Could you be more specific? I am planning to reserve the train when we arrive Paris, we won't get on the train until 5 days after arrival. Do you think it will be a problem make a reservation a week or 2 weeks before the departure dates? Thank you for your help.

Sorry I was so vague, but it's rather long and complicated. First the train. We had a Eurailpass we purchased here. We tried to make reservations from Spain about a week in advance and could not get ANYTHING on the train on Easter from Servilla to Madrid and had to change our hotel reservations because of it. When we took the train from Madrid to Barcelona, we were unable to make a reservation or get a clear answer on the time and ended up waiting by the track for 4 hours before the train finally arrived. The biggest nightmare of all, however, was going from Barcelona to Cannes. We tried to make a reservation from Spain, but were told we couldn't because it was international. Also, we were going to take an overnight train so were could arrive by noon in Cannes, but that apparently no longer exists. Despite the fact our Eurail passes were first class, there were no first class trains, which was fine from Barcelona to Montpellier--where we had to change trains to Cannes--but the train from Montpellier to Nice was something like out of a Kafka novel--standing room only--until these very nice Canadian students who speak a lot more French than I do, got some information that there were seats in the back of the train. So my husband and I had to carry our luggage (and we were gone for 1 month, so despite trying to pack light, had quite a bit) through at least 15 packed (and I mean packed--I've been to India and this was like being in Calcutta again!) cars. He had to make 2 trips to get it all. OK, on to the car. So, because the overnight train from Barcelona to Nice was cancelled, we could not arrive in Cannes by the time Hertz closed. However, on their contract, they claim they will stay open late to accommate such cases. After much conflict with them on the phone over this (at first they just totally refused), we agreed to get the car from the Cannes airport rather than the trainstation. Well, upon arrival in Cannes (after the trainride from hell), 4 people told us there was no airport in Cannes--that we had to go to Nice. Well, we went to Nice and they added a $40 fee to the rental because we didn't pick it up where we were supposed to, when it was their fault we weren't able to. Ok, I hope this answers your questiosn. We put the car on AMEX, so should be able to resolve it, but still it was a hassle we didn't need and bad faith on the part of Hertz. But what can you expect from a company that hires someone like...well...you probably know who I mean...<BR>Well, despite these incidents, we had a great trip, but I'd like to see others not go through unnecessary problems.<BR>Good luck,<BR>Paula

I just don't understand why everyone thinks they have to reserve seats on Euorpean trains. I have been traveling there for years and exclusively by train, always paying for the ticket the day I'm traveling, never reserving seats in advance. Usually I travel within Germany and France. Also it is cheaper to buy point to point tickets rather than any sort of passes you can buy here in the States. But you must speak the local language fairly well so as not to miss the special rates some cities offer usually in combination with their local pulic transportation system like the subways and buses.

I think it is great when people like Ron have great luck, but I have made reservations on numerous trains that I thought might be busy, and indeed they were. I remember vividly the dozen or more people being refused to board a TGV from Bern to Paris because all seats were reserved. One couple stood there screaming at the conductor trying to tell him (yes he spoke perfect English) that they had tried to make reservations, but were told it was fully booked -- but they had a plane to catch in Paris. I remember seeing them standing on the platform as the packed train pulled away and wondered how long it was before they found another train and another flight home. I have been on numerous trains that were totally booked, and have tried to make reservations a day or two in advance, but been told that there were no seats available so had to choose another train. I have hopped onto trains without reservations using a first class rail pass and had to find room in second class, and have even stood in the back hallway of filled trains when there were simply no seats available.

Did other people miss that Paula said "Easter?" Here lie the limitation with unqualified general recommendations. It is "usually" ok not to reserve way ahead, but around Easter? it is crazy not to reserve the trains. I presume whoever Paula got recommendation from did not qualify the recommendation to say there are several key holidays where you must reserve well in advance. So here is the time element of the recommendation.<BR><BR>There is also a location. I found that French trains were more packed than Swiss or UK trains even the first class. So on long distance (where I do want a seat), I would tend to reserve French trains more than on Swiss trains (Swiss trains really don't have long trips, I know). Within France, there are variations also.

Well, to clarify things further...<BR>I purchased my Eurail Pass from Rick Steves and called his office prior to the trip and told them I was planning to travel on Easter and the person I spoke to said "no problem." (And it wasn't just on Easter that we had problems getting reservations!) While generally I found the information Rick has, along with his classes, which I attended since I live near Seattle, topnotch, the train information was really lacking. By the way, I have lived in Europe and visited several times since and never had problems with trains before, so many this is a recent phenomenon, or perhaps it's just France and Spain, but we I did want to let people know about this so that they might be able to avoid similiar situations.

We are also planning to purchase Eurail pass with car for France, Spain & Belgium (a 40% discount thru 5/1/02). We want to travel back from Barcelona to Brussels via Montpellier on May 31, 2002. Is any holiday around that time? Should I make reservations on these segments with the Rail Europe when we purchase the passes? The reservation for 2 people only for these segments is $44, I was told that it's much cheaper to reserve it over there and we shouldn't have problem on this given date. We will arrive in Paris on 5/17/2002. I am afraid the situation happened to Paula will occur. Please advise, thank you for your help.

May 30 is Corpus Christi this year, a Catholic Holiday observed in Austria, and maybe in other countries. That means the last weekend in May might have some "long weekend" travelers, and make the trains fuller in some areas.

Hi Ling Ying -<BR><BR>We just got back from an extensive rail trip through Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. We had Eurail SaverPass and to reserve seats was only $3.00 each per trip... so don't know where that $44.00 is coming from?<BR><BR>We got a Thomas Cooke timetable book with our pass and using that we reserved seats on the main inter-city legs (Zurich to Salzburg... Salzburg to Budapest, etc.) when we got to Zurich. Being forewarned about lack of english speakers at some ticket counters we wrote out each leg and handed it to them. We reserved window seats in non-smoking cars and by doing that we were alone in each compartment (yep, just the two of us) on every single inter-city leg of the trip!<BR><BR>Now, we were there the middle two weeks in March so I wouldn't want to promise you summertime travelers the same luck ;&gt<BR><BR>Barry

Berry & Liz, Thank you for your replies. The reservation fee for TGV train is $11.00 per leg. Since we have to change train in Montpellier from Barcelona to Brussels, I was told it would be 2 legs, that's how it comes out $44 for 2 people just for this trip. Do you think that it will be cheaper to have my friend in Belguim to make the TGV reservation for us? <BR>