keroppi

My friend and I will be traveling from Frankfurt to Switzerland (six days) and than on to Nice (two days) and than on to Venice (four days) and back to Frankfurt. All this will be via Eurail. Care you share your recent experience with the Eurail and using the Eurail Pass? We are going to travel on an overnight train on the Nice-Venice and Venice-Frankfurt legs, but was told that we can not make resevation for sleeper cars in advance. Any informaiton you can share with the whole Eurail expereice will be greatly appreciated.

rv224

I travelled by Eurail in 2001. However I didn't do all the cities you were doing. I did do an overnight from Bruges to Switzerland. You may not be able to reserve overnight trains now. HOwever, especially with overnight trains, check when you are in Europe at the train station at least a day before you leave for the next city. I know for the swiss one you have to make a reservation.

GeoffHamer

You certainly should book sleeping berths in advance - they can be fully booked on busy nights. In most countries, reservations open two months in advance.

Intrepid1

Geoff is correct: you can, and SHOULD make sleeping care reservations in advance and you can do it through the agency from which you purchased your pass..or though any agency for that matter. With exception of some trains such as the TrenHotels you usually cannot make the reservations more than 60 days/nights in advance..but by all means DO SO.

Are you aware that if your night train leaves after 7PM that you enter the NEXT day's date on the pass rather than the "current one" unless you have already traveled THAT day on the pass? Assuming here that you have a pass that allows only a certain number of days within a one or two-month period.

ira

Hi ker,

Eurail is a marketing agency. It doesn't have any trains.

Before buying a railpass, enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com, click "only if it saves me money".

Try booking Nice/Venezia at www.sncf.com

Try booking Venezia/Frankfurt at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Surfergirl

We get the "saverpass" all the time (that's for 2 or more people traveling together, and it does save money). There's usually 3 or 4 of us going at a time, and I've done the math on railsaver, and, frankly, it almost always comes out cheaper with the pass, as well as gives us the flexibility of train hopping for the sake of being spontaneous.

Yes, you can make reservations -- 2 months in advance, and calendar that, especially if you are going in summer, when sleepers book up quickly. The double rooms are best, and you do get a discount having a Eurail Pass. We prefer the rooms without toilet/shower, because they take up space. You get a sink in the room anyway (don't drink the water). The room will have two small bottles of water and washing up stuff (small towels, washcloth, often toothbrushes and paste in a little container. Still, bring food and drink with you and have a picnic in your cabin.

Lots of fun -- enjoy!

keroppi

Thank you every one for the replies and tips. I tried to go on the two web sites provided by ira, but it only allows purchase of rail tickets. I have a Eurail SelectPass, so I don't need to purchase rail tickets, I just want to make reservsations for a sleeper for the Nice-Venice and Venice to Frankfurt legs in advance (while I'm still in the States). Some one told me that I can not reservations until I get into Italy. Does any one know if this is true? Does any one know where (online) that i can make reservations for the sleepers? thanks.

Surfergirl

No you don't need to get to Italy to make reservations and purchase the sleeper. The company from which you bought the rail pass can (should) make them for you. If they won't, there's a problem with the company you selected to get the passes. We usually use europebytrain.com because they have knowledgeable agents and give free stuff with their passes. They're located in southern California. They've always made the overnight and seat reservations for us, and are honest.

Another website from which you can get passes and overnight reservations that comes highly recommended on this board is euraide.com It's an outfit based in Munich, but cater to overseas travelers.

ira

Go to www.euraide.com to find their phone number in FL.

GeoffHamer

The European railways' reservation systems are linked, so you should be able to book Italian sleepers in Germany (or vice versa).

metlc

keroppi,

The Eurailpass (in your case, a five-day Flexipass) will work out to something like $60/day equivalent in train tickets. Since most of your trips will be long ones, the pass will likely save you money.

The "7 PM Rule" mentioned above simply means that you need allocate only one Pass day (the following date) for overnight train travel, which also covers any additional training on that following day.

You will still have to pay a surcharge for the sleeper cabin, and you DEFINITELY want to reserve it as soon as possible (often there will only be ONE sleeper car).