Hello, I'll be taking a train from Vienna to Munich, spending the night there, then I'm taking a train from Munich to Stuttgart.

Question: I'm using a Eurail pass for those trips. I've listed down the trains I'd like to catch (based on the schedules on raileurope.com <http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/results.htm?rows=&itemId=-1&fn=fsRequest&cobrand=public&c=USD&from1=&to1=&ro undtrip=0&from0=munich&to0=stuttgart&deptDate0=09% 2F18%2F2009&time0=anytime&time1=anytime&nA=0&nY=4& youthAge0=20&youthAge1=20&youthAge2=20&youthAge3=2 0&nC=0&nS=0> - I CAN use my Eurail pass for these trips, right?) and ideally I want to get the 3:23 train.

When can is the earliest I can make my reservation? Can I make it now, online, or do I have to wait 'til I'm at a German train station? I won't have to pay the $320 listed here if I use a day off my Eurail pass, so I'm saving money, right?

1. You don't need to reserve ahead. There are trains twice every hour all day long from Munich to Stuttgart. You could simply walk up, get on the train and take any open/unreserved seat.

2. Use the Austrian rail website http://oebb.at/ or German www.bahn.de to plan your travels, not the raileurope site.

3. I don't think you'll save money with a Eurail pass for just going from Vienna to Munich to Stuggart. If you plan ahead you can buy tickets on the Austrian or German rail websites. I see fares as low as 39 Euro from Vienna to Munich, and 29 Euro from Munich to Stuttgart. I wouldn't necessarily buy a pass unless I was travelling a lot in a short period.

If you already have a Eurail pass then it's a moot point. Money already spent. Not sure what kind of pass you have as I typically travel just 1-2 legs on a trip and buy point to point tickets. Reservations aren't mandatory for most trains in Austria & Germany, so as I stated above you can simply hop on a train and take a seat. If you want to guarantee yourself a seat then buy a 3Euro seat reservation a day or so ahead at any train station.

Be aware that high speed in trains in Italy are a different story. ES trains have a mandatory seat reservation. If you're using a Eurail pass it'll cost you about 15 Euro extra to reserve the seat. You cannot simply hop on those trains as you can in Germany.

>When can is the earliest I can make my reservation?

Technically, 3 months in advance. But why?

>Can I make it now, online, or do I have to wait 'til I'm at a German train station?

Austrian train station would do as well ;-) or online at www.oebb.at

>I won't have to pay the $320 listed here if I use a day off my Eurail pass, so I'm saving money, right?

What 320$?? Which $ are you talking about? Even full price ticket from Munich to Vienna without any discount costs €79,40 (2nd class).

paolo is being quoted by raileurope a total of $320 for 4 adults (20yr olds) from Munich to Stuttgart. The full fare price on bahn.de is about 180 Euro or $260 US. This is for travel next week. If I look on bahn.de I can get 4 tickets for that same train for a discounted price of 129 Euro or $186.

Or if you just take regional trains (takes about an hour longer) you can do the trip for 49 €, for all 4 together.
(Quer-durchs-Land ticket)

Thanks everyone