George

I'm flying into Frankfurt and I am worried/confused about the train system. Some say you should reserve tickets before you go due to long lines and availability. If I don't have reservations am I in trouble? Oh.. and I don't speak German. Yikes!

jaime

I traveled throughout Germany And Austria last fall with no train reservations, just bought my tickets along the way. Summertime may be different (?) but you didn't say when you are going. <BR> <BR>Visit the Deutsch Bahn site, and type in your dates and destinations, and it will give you all the train schedules. Print these out and take them with you. Present them at the train ticket window and just point to the fare you want. No German necessary! Take along a little pocket phrase book so you can decipher words at the train station (and elsewhere) like "departure" and "arrival." It will help. I did all this and never had any trouble with the trains, and I don't speak German either.

Gail

We took the train from Lyon through Switzerland and into Milan in late June. Our family of 4 never had a reservation. I did print out the schedule ahead of time, but found out the times were often off by a few minutes. I found that the ticket sellers spoke English in France and Switzerland, and really did not have any problems.

Ben Haines

Fodors <BR> <BR>I agree with replies you've had so far. Even in high summer you have no problems. <BR> <BR>There's a good railway station under Frankfurt Airport, where they speak English and take credit cards. They can book you seats anywhere in western and central Europe, though not in the Balkans or Baltic States. On Friday afternoons day trains become rather full, but if you can't book on one you can always book on the next, an hour or two later. But most;ly you need not pre book at sall. <BR> <BR>For couchettes and sleepers in summer you ought to book a week or two ahead, but in fact there'soften a spare bed somewhere, especially if you'll agree to take a different routeor a different train, with a change. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>

gpotvin

All of the above information is generally correct. We just finished our 5th train trip in Europe and have always doen train passes and purchased short ride tickets. If you are going to ride on a fast train - TGV, Talgo etc - you almost always need a seat reservation unless you don't mind sitting on the floor or a jump seat between cars. We have done this and it works for the short term. In some train stations - Barcellona for one - you have to queue twice, once for information and once for tickets, other places do it all at one spot. <BR> <BR>Also be aware that there are different spots for international travel, regional and national travel, but these are all usually marked fairly well. We speak very little of any foreign language but we have always made out okay, so relax, look around and make your move.

Hans

With normal trains, there's never a problem with the availability of tickets but only with the availability of seats. Normal tickets are valid for a month for a given route, not a specific train ride. Reservations guarantee you a seat but you can always enter a train if you are willing to stand. At peak hours and at places like Frankfurt, the possibility exists that the train is really full. But under normal circumstances I don't bother to make a reservation. <BR> <BR>If I was you, I wouldn't restrict myself to the extend that you fix in advance every train ride you want to take. Between destinations like Frankfurt and Munich, trains go every hour and it wouldn't make much sense to decide now whether you want to go in the morning or in the afternoon. In case that you want to take a long train ride or want to sleep, buy the tickets and the reservations a few days in advance. You can do this at any station and at times when you don't encounter any lines. <BR> <BR>It is possible to buy tickets on the train but since this year you have to pay a few marks for that service. At many stations there are also vending machines. You can pay with credit cards but I would advise you to go to the ticket counters as long as you don't understand the system well. <BR>There are departure plans which show the destinations of the trains. If you know which train you have to take, you can use the express counters. They don't provide any informations but just sell the tickets, i.e. fast moving lines. <BR> <BR>As far as I know, most of the employees in larger railway stations in Germany speak at least some English. You shouldn't encounter too many problem. <BR> <BR>Basically, nine out of ten times you won't encounter any inconvenience and if you do, it's having to wait twenty minutes in a line or finding no seat for the first hour of the train ride. As a last tip, many trains have restaurants and even if the train is full, you might find a seat there. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>