hello all! i am currently in the uk and my friend and i are about to embark on a 5 week eurail excursion. there are many trains that require reservations but we are having difficulty figuring out the correct telephone numbers for each individual rail station.

for example, does anyone know the number to the italian rail stations?

also, does anyone know if each station has an english speaker?

thank you so much. we are leaving tomorrow and freaking out!

If you are going to large stations, you should easily find an English speaking employee. Look for an American or British flag to be hung in their immediate area. It is possible to make many (but not always all) of your reservations at one time. You could try to make the reservations you need while on "language friendly" soil.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never contacted a train station by phone in order to secure a reservation. I've always done them face to face if I were in Europe or I did make some with my travel agent before leaving home and they were mailed to her.

Don't forget to get your pass validated at the first train station. You will need to remember to bring your passport along.

Have a terrific trip!

http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm

Thinking how to overcome the language barrier if you are in a small town...

Use the above link (just one of many for rail schedules in Europe) to find the train and possibly a back up you would like to reserve. Print that and have your hotel help you with key phrases like "I would like to make a reservation on this train. I have my Eurail pass already." You get the idea...

Hi julia,

Why not wait until the last minute?

You can secure your reservations from ticket agents at train stations.

When you arrive in a city, make all of your reservations for trains in that country and for trains going to the next country.

It would help if you had a printed list of the reservations you want.

If you are winging it, make reservations for your next leg the night before you are planning to leave.

Only high-speed trains, THALYS, TGV, ES*, etc, require reservations.

If you tell us where you are going, we can give you websites for the national rail lines.

thank you for your responses...it helps a lot. i was able to contact a station in paris and make reservations for tomorrow. and thank goodness i did with all the flights being cancelled in the uk.

for the rest of them i think i will book at the stations...was just worried about trains being full and getting stuck in countries. but i guess that's half the fun, right?

another question to those of you that are travel savvy...our trip lasts 35 days and we are thinking of spending 2-3 days per city and then moving on. does anyone think that quantity over quality is alright or would we be better suited to do away with some countries and spend more time per city???

In years of European rail travel i have nearly never not been able to get any required reservation with my pass once i arrive in the departure city. Do it when you arrive for your train out and at least inside a country you can reserve trains at any station.
In London, Raileurope, on Piccadilly just west of the Circus makes Continental reservations i think - always has but don't know currently.

Me, I prefer to spend more than 2 or 3 days in a new city. I would be inclined to spend a longer amount of time for most cities. There have been some cities in which two or three days was sufficient for me.

I'm pleased to hear that you were able to secure a reservation for your first leg. The television reports make airports look like a madhouse today.

Unlike what others have said, I've actually had trouble securing reservations for the TGV in France. We wanted to go from Paris to Nice but no trains were available during a four day time period in the early part of July 2001 or 2002. As a result, I prefer to make my train and hotel reservations before leaving home. The control freak in me can't help it!!!

Hi J,

>our trip lasts 35 days and we are thinking of spending 2-3 days per city and then moving on. ...<

OH GOD!!

1. Each time you move you lose at least 1/2 day.

Traveling between 12-17 cities means you will lose about 1 week (20% of your visit) to transportation.

2. Moving around that much is exhausting. By the end of the third week, you will be a zombie.

Trust me. I did it when I was in my mid-twenties.

3. You will be able to stick pins in a map, but you will have almost no memories of where you were.

I strongly suggest 5 cities in 5 weeks. This includes daytrips.

PS,

Did I mention packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking, packing and unpacking....