jackietam

my attempt in reserving night trains online has been unsuccessful a lot of online travels advised me to just make reservations once i`m in Europe.

I was wondering, if I make reservations (for Zurich to Rome and Venice to Vienna) in London or Paris, will I still be able to get 4 couchettes? I heard that these trains are pretty popular. I`ll be taking them on friday nights in August.

THANKS A BUNCH!!

jetsetj

I have taken the overnight train 2 times.
Amsterdam to Venice via Frankfurt in 2005
and Amsterdam to Venice via Paris 2007.
Each time I bought my ticket when I landed in Amsterdam. There were no problems.

jackietam

i`m traveling in a group of 4. we all have eurail passes so i know we`ll get discounts for the 4 couchettes. However, if we were to buy the two extra beds as well, would we have to pay the full couchette price or the discounted price?
thanks!!!

GeoffHamer

When you join an overnight train, the attendant will check tickets. Any berths unclaimed can be resold. If you book six berths for four people, the attendant will check in four people and might resell the two empty berths.
Night trains are likely to be busy on a Friday night. You should try to book in advance and have alternative plans in case the train you want in full.

spaarne

I suggest you look at a T-4 instead of a T-6. Bunks/beds are sold separate from tickets/passes. Discount?

Are your passes 1st class or 2nd?

Dukey

You say you have been unsuccessful...on which site have you tried to book the spaces? Are you trying to do so too far in advance? Some night trains can be booked as far as 90 nights ahead; some 60

Palenque

In London you would have only one place that could book these trains - RailEurope's one office and then pay fees much like RE in the U.S.

In Paris i doubt you could make reservations for trains not involving France - one place you might try is at the Gare Saint-Lazare's International ticket window that is the only one in Paris that might handle this type of thing - doubt other stations will.

If worried bite the bullet and pay whoever sold you your pass to make the reservations or go to www.raileurope.com and prepare to pay $18 mailing fees and higher prices than in Europe
Or as some folks have told me that if you call the Germany Railway's English info number (011/49/1805.141514) they may make the reservations for you if you tell them you already have a pass - worth a try and others have said it has worked.

altamiro

>In London you would have only one place that could book these trains - RailEurope's one office and then pay fees much like RE in the U.S.

I am not sure of this at all. You can buy tickets for British trains in Germany and Switzerland from the ticket counter. I would expect the reverse to be true as well.

GeoffHamer

No, British stations do not sell international tickets. I don't think even Eurostar sell tickets for journeys in other European countries. I live in London and know how difficult it is to book foreign train tickets without going on-line.
Even if German and Swiss stations can sell tickets for British trains, I don't think it's a good idea to buy tickets that way. Ticket sellers will not know all the complexities of fares or routings in another country.
To judge the best way to book train tickets, we need to know which countries the original poster will be visiting and how much time they will have before the overnight journeys.

Palenque

British stations - at least some key ones - once did sell international tickets but that went the way of privitization.

Raileurope i believe is the only possibility in the U.K. to buy Continental tickets/reservations.

Britain is not in the Eurail Tariff group unlike nearly all other European countries - one reason i think it has its own BritRail Passes and not in on the Eurailpass scheme.

again the OP will have a pass so just wants to make a reservation not buy a ticket

Again the Bahn or German railway English info line some say has done just reservations for railpass holders even involving trains not in Germany.