My husband and I will be in Europe in September, traveling by train from Paris to Bruges, then to Amsterdam, then back to Paris. I've been looking at eurail.com and thalys.com, and it seems that some of these train trips can be reserved/purchased in advance. Is this a smart/necessary thing to do? When I was in Italy a few years ago, I just bought tickets as I went, but our time is limited and I don't want to get stuck anywhere. Anyone have any advice? Do you usually purchase train tickets ahead of time, from home? If you don't, how do you purchase them in Europe--on the day of travel? A few days before?

For my September trip I just purchased Eurostar tickets ahead because I am travelling with a toddler and have a limited window to travel around her naptimes and checkin times at the destination.

That said, if I were doing this with an older child or just ourselves, we would never buy tickets ahead of time. We have always purchased them once we're in the country, anywhere from a few days to a week in advance. Even in Italy, we found that if we waited until 1-2 days before the travel date, though, our desired time might be taken. And this was when they had smoking trains... but at least Eurostar is now non-smoking so maybe the Thalys is, too?

If you want to travel in first class and have a specific time you know you must be on the train, then sure... book it. The nice thing when you buy there is you have the exact timetable, and you're not paying a marked up fee.

Hi,

If you know when you want to travel, I suggest that you book ahead. Sometimes you can get reduced fares by booking up to 60 days in advance.

For Paris/Bruges and Amsterdam Paris you can book through the French National Railroad
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic

For Bruges to Amsterdam try the Dutch National Railroad
http://www.ns.nl/international/index.cgi

Thanks for the links and advice! I think I'm going to try booking ahead, just because it's one less thing to do while we're there--why make an extra trip to the train station when we don't need to?

I've found the ticket agents at the train station windows very helpful all over Europe. During my earliest travel years, I used to always purchase tickets or railpasses in the USA prior to departure. Nowadays, I just buy the tickets a day or two in advance while in Europe, and I trust the people behind the glass to decide if I need a seat reservation on any particular route.
I find this method to be significantly less expensive and actually more fun.
But keep in mind most of my travelling is off-season (Oct-March). I don't know if this if the optimal way to do things in Jul-Aug.

We took a train from Prague to Vienna on 6/27/04. The raileurope web site reservation wanted $79 per ticket. We bought ticket from the station for $60.

I have never been an advocate on booking ahead but the trains are taking cues from airlines and dropping the price with advance and round trip purchases. I am thinking of going to Amsterdam from Brussels on a day trip; the walk up price is 80E while an advance purchase is 32E. In my case, it makes sense to book ahead.

Do follow ira's suggestion! You really need to buy these in advance due to availability and price structure. I think you can only book 30-60 days in advance for the train tix. It makes a big difference in the price. In March, with the guidance of this BB- my very first posting here- everyone helped me figure out how to buy tix online. I bought a round-trip 2nd class from Paris to Bruxelles, and it was 49 euros, at 14 days in advance. One note, the price changes at noon American/EST, which is 6 pm in France, the end of the business day. Without the sale price, it would have been at least 49eu each way. And no guarantee you will get a ticket.

In April, with the guidance of this Board I bought a roundtrip from Paris to Bruxelles, and it was 49 euros, at 14 days in advance. One note, the price changes at noon American/EST, which is 6 pm in France, the end of the business day. Without the sale price, it would have been at least 49eu each way. And no guarantee you will get a ticket. I bought tickets for the shorter trips to Giverny, and Bruxelles to Brugge as I went but was very glad I got this one in advance.

It seems that in some cases, it is much more expensive to purchase ahead while in others, it is cheaper. How can one know when to purchase ahead for good prices?

topping for Selinalei...ok, I'd like to know the answer, too.