eurail pass
 

If we get a eurail pass for Italy ans Switzerland, do we need to make reservations to get from place to place.? If so , how much in advance?

You should make reservations anytime you use a Eurail pass. It's best to confirm a reservation as soon as you know what your travel dates are. You can make reservations online if you already have your passes at http://www.raileurope.com. If you don't know what your dates are, I find that going to the train station one or two days before your desired travel date is best and they can make reservations for you then.

Hopewfully, you will check out www.railsaver.com and see how a "rail pass" can cost you 50-100% more than just buying the ordinary ("point-to-point") tickets you need.

Best wishes,

Rex

Any questions like this you can get answered by phone if you call BETS, whose European rail info hotline offers a free service that will answer any and all such European rail questions. They also have a great European Rail & Planning guide that they'll send you free - it will answer such questions. But I've often called them and they just answer your questions - their staff has all traveled Europe by rail for years. (800-441-9413). I've traveled around Europe by train many years now but i still find their guide to help me - it's really an incredible resource for novice Eurailers.

I think you need to check the train schedules to see what type of train you will be on. I believe Eurostar trains and night trains require reservations.

I don't recall needing reservations for the trains in Switzerland, and I think most trains there do not allow reservations, even if you wanted one.

In Italy, however, we needed reservations for all the Eurostar trains. I would make the reservation at least a couple of days in advance, to be safe. When we travelled from Rome to Florence on the Eurostar, we were catching a train around 9 a.m. Fortunately, we already had reservations, because a woman who attemped to buy a ticket that morning was told there were no seats available until 4 p.m. that day. This was in October.

As a side note, a Eurail pass doesn't cover travel in Switzerland to the Jungfrau, Grindlewald, or Lauterbrunnen area, although it may give you a discount (25%? - I forget). Also, it doesn't cover travel to the Zermatt area after a certain point (Brig? - again, I forget).

Again, check the train schedules to see if you need a reservation (usually marked with an "R" inside a box), or to see if the train is privately owned (in Switzerland).

Train reservations are advised in Italy and required on the highspeed Eurostar Italia trains - usually can make with a railpass for a few euros right up until the time of the train but as lines can be long make all your reservations at once for your whole Italian trip - if you don't use one you'll only be out a few bucks. InterCity trains in Italy don't require them. But you may want to make anyway. You can't even make reservations on Swiss domestic trains with a very few exceptions and there always seems to be lots of empty seats in first class.