if you have questions on how many seats are available I would go to the station and ask them in person. Typical rates you cannot base on trips from one city to the next, but they are usually reasonable if you are just getting around one city.

Thanks again. Train travel is so confusing to us Midwestern Americans. Sadly we only have vehicles & planes!

It is good to know that if we wait, the fare will be reasonably close to the 82 euros & not hundreds of dollars more like the airlines charge! But, WillTravel, I agree with you regarding the price difference. So, we will watch the dates & when allowed to reserve May 1, we'll see if we can grab the cheap fare. If not, we'll just buy at the station.

Now, regarding the seats. I noticed on the website, there is an option 'not' to request seat assignments. Is that what you folks do? Whether you request seat assignment or not, has the result been that your travel party gets seats together?

How are the 2nd class & 1st class seats arranged? 3+aisle+2? Seats facing other seats?

I didn't think to price the 1st class seats. May look at that since it is a 4 hour ride. We always ride 1st class in Italy when the trip is that long. Since we order in advance online, the price is not that much higher. The extra seat space is more comfortable, & the extra luggage space above the seats is more convenient.

hsv, thanks for the info & the link. I will check that out.

Happy Christmas Eve to those of you who observe & Happy Holiday Eve to everyone else!

Julie

2nd class schould be fine. They are probably slightly further apart than in air planes.
Seat arrangements is 2-aisle-2 on normal German express trains. In the middle of the car there are normally some seats with a desk in between them, so that you have a 2-face-2 configuration on each side of the aisle.

Merry Christmas

3 seats in the space of 4 seats - that is the basic difference between classes - plus there are typically more empty seats in first class - i always it seems have room for my luggage on an empty adjoining seat - and yes often a table in between - also isolated seats - aisle and window both

but in Austria 2nd class is pretty good too - but there is a big difference and that's why they charge so much more

That's the point 2/1 in first class, but in any case, a car is much better and far more spacious than first class on any train! I'll be installing a fridge between drivers and passenger seat soon, so I can drink ice cold coke while driving.