I am going to purchase the Eurail Pass (1st Class, Select Pass 3 countries - Germany, Switzerland, Italy - 6 days within two months) from a travel agent here in Bangkok.

I will use the pass for the following routes:

Berlin - Prague
Zurich - Lucerne
Lucerne - Milan - Venice (with a few hours stop-over in Milan)
Venice - Florence
Florence - Siena
Siena - Rome

The agent asked if I want to prebook the seats too. From your experience:

1. is it necessary to prebook all the seats now or can I perhaps prebook the seats on a few routes and wait a few days before my travelling dates to book the other routes? The agent told me that "the seat reservation ticket is not changeable and not-refundable. I am more concern about the "not changeable" clause. This is my first time to Europe and I might change my mind about my departure date/time from a few cities, so....

2. If I purchase the 1st class Eurail Select pass, is that mean I HAVE to book the 1st class seat ticket/reservation too?

Please help.

No, it is not necessary to pre-book any seat reservations. For the routes where they are required (in Italy only, I believe), you can get them any time up until right before your board the train.

But, are you sure a pass is the right idea? It may be much cheaper if you just buy point to point tickets. How much does the 6d in 2mo pass cost? For high speed trains in Italy you need to pay a 10 euro per seat reservation fee if you are a pass holder. The seat reservation is included in the point to point ticket price.

For example, on www.bahn.de (the German RR website) I see Berlin to Prague tickets for as little as 59 euros for 1st class, or 39 euros for 2nd class.

For travel in Italy you can look at www.trenitalia.com. If you buy in advance there are discounted "mini" fares for substantial savings. Schedules and fares for dates after mid June may not be posted yet on trenitalia.com.

I don't understand the question #2. If you are buying a 1st class pass then you can sit in 2nd class if you wish. In my experience 2nd class seats on these routes is perfectly fine. There are some who advise that 1st class is the only way to go, but there's no absolute right answer. It's all a matter of personal preference. Generally speaking I find that 2nd class seats are more comfortable than airline coach seats, and you can get up and walk around any time you wish.

BTW, Florence to Siena and Siena to Rome are better served by bus, not train, so the pass would be an expensive bookmark for those travel days. Bus fares are about 10 euro per person for those 2 routes.

Hi sky,

Very good advice from J62.

Before you buy a railpass (Do you really need to go 1 cl?) look up the prices for your routes:

Berlin - Prague...... www.bahn.de
Zurich - Lucerne..... http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
Lucerne - Milan ........... ditto
Milan - Venice...... www.trenitalia.com
Venice - Florence......... ditto
Florence - Siena ...... take the SITA bus from via Caterina da Siena in Florence to the central square in Siena.
Siena - Rome....... take the Sena bus --- http://www.sena.it/

I think that you will save very much money.

Enjoy your visit.

"2. If I purchase the 1st class Eurail Select pass, is that mean I HAVE to book the 1st class seat ticket/reservation too?"
Yes, in Italy even with a 1st Class pass, you must also book a seat reservation in order to ride any type of train except the slowest Regionale (R).

I agree that bus is the better travel option for Florence-Siena and Siena-Rome.

For some of your routes I really doubt a railpass will be cheaper. Florence to Siena it easiest done by bus and Zurich to Lucerne is only 23 chf.

In general, we found out that a railpass in Italy didn't necessarly save money. We came out even on our Italy trains when we had a railpass, but ended up saving money only on the Germany portion of our trip.

I would seriously reconsider buying a pass. As others have noted, you are probably going to pay a lot more money for it than you would if you just bought tickets point to point without the help of a travel agent.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

I thought it would be cheaper and less headache if I book the pass. But then again if it is better to take busses for some routes (Florence-Siena, Siena-Rome) then it does look like a bit of a waste for me to purchase the pass.

If I purchase the point-to-point tickets through their related company's websites:

1. will I get e-tickets via email or will they be paper-tickets?

2. can I reserve the seats through the same website I purchased the tickets from? or is the seat reservation is already included in all these point-to-point ticket?

J62, this Eurail pass will cost me around 405 euros.

For the Italian system, you purchase at Trenitalia.com and receive an email confirmation with the code you need to bring with you -- paperless. All Trenitalia tickets will include the seat reservation (except for R trains, which don't have reserved seats and you don't need to purchase ahead anyway).

Thanks ellenem! It is better then....I won't have to worry of having the paper-tickets to be sent to me all the way to Bangkok with limited time that I now have. I am leaving for this trip by 31st May but won't be taking the train trips until the second week of June (I will travel by plane to a few other cities beforehand).

Does anyone know about the ticekts for the for Berlin-Prague, prague-Vienna, Zurich-Lucerne and Lucerne-Milan?

For trains originating Germany you can book online at www.bahn.de, and print out your ticket at home.

Check the respective national RR website for the other countries. I believe you can do the same in Switzerland and Czech republic.

www.sbb.ch
www.cd.cz/en/default.htm

Noted. Thanks J62! Will try to book them today

Oh and another questions:

My flight from Viena to Zurich is scheduled to arrive in the morning (approx. 8.15am). Before I take the train from Zurich to Interlaken on that day, I am thinking of spending say - 4 or 5 hours in the city. any suggestions of interesting place(s) to visit which I can do within this time frame? (park/garden, landmark/architectural sights, religious building, etc..) and also a nice-not-expensive place for lunch?

I will spend 3 nights in Interlaken.

>>>>I am thinking of spending say - 4 or 5 hours in the city. any suggestions of interesting place(s) to visit which I can do within this time frame? (park/garden, landmark/architectural sights<<<<

What do you intend to do with your luggage during this time?

The Sita bus Florence/Siena is about 6-7€.
http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze-Siena06.pdf

The Sena bus Rome/Siena is 10-20€ (depending on whether you can get the cheaper sale price).

kyborn, hmmm good question. actually i was hopping to be able to store my luggage at the airport or at the main train station. i read that it is only 10minutes from the airport to the main train station?

thanks for your info on the Florence/Siena/Rome busses. Appreciate it.

oopps..sorry, typo-error. i meant to type kybourbon

i just realize that i wrote "Interlaken" but I meant to say "Lucerne" (don't know what's wrong with me today..lol). So...instead of Interlaken, I will be staying in Lucerne for 3 nights.