>Do I need to make a reservation for my trip from Stutt.Airport to Strasbourg?

No, you don't.
You can only reserve a seat on long-distance trains (ICE, IC, EC) and even then it is only optional.

You will have no problem at all. The stations are clearly marked everywhere and changing trains is very simple.

You should reserve and buy your tickets from Strasbourg to Paris off the www.voyages-sncf.com site in order to save up to 80% off the full fare. You can reserve 90 days ahead of time, which some people take to mean that you have to be up at midnight with a stopwatch in hand, but actually most of the discounted tickets are still available two weeks before the departure date if it is not high season or the weekend of a school holiday. Naturally, times like a departure on Friday evening are a lot less likely to have discounts than other times.

kerouac, using the site www.voyages-sncf.com, where is the option to book if you already have a Eurail pass?

What I am seeing here is all "full fares"....I thought if you had a pass you only had to pay a reservation fee?

thanks Tony

Sorry, I didn't know you were using a Eurail pass. I have no idea how to book trains when you already have the pass. I suppose it would be indicated on their website.

The Eurail website tells you a bit more about making reservations. It seems from that that you can only do them online for German and Swedish trains.

Have a look at this:

http://www.railplus.com.au/europe-by...-reservations/

It seems to suggest that you can reserve a seat for the train you want - less than $20 Aus per person - but we have never done this in advance so cannot advise it either way.

Maybe someone who has booked from abroad can comment?

We have always reserved out seat for our 'next' journey as we arrive at the station on our current journey - usually a day or two before.

This might be a busy route - and are you flexible with times?

Otherwise I did try bahn.de but can't work this out!
Maybe someone can help if you ask on a new thread - how do I reserve my seat on this route - when I have a pass?
You might however find that you get another run of people saying don't use a pass - and that is tiresome!

Look forward to hearing how you go.

imagine that given I will be traveling by train in Germany / France for the first time>

Some great primers for train travel in Europe and Germany and France in specific - info-laden and not just an add to cart button - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com

And in Germany at least if you do miss one connection there should be another train within 30 mins or at least an hour if not sooner so no big deal.

Also, we are traveling in the first half of Feb which shouldn't be an overly busy time.

I can't imagine them turning Eurail pass holders away from a half empty train because we dont have a reserved seat.

can't imagine them turning Eurail pass holders away from a half empty train because we dont have a reserved seat.>

Well they might in France IME - where on some popular TGV lines there is a strict limit on the number of passholder fares allowed on each train - i have heard from several folks that they were told there were no passholder seats available but they would sell you a full fare ticket on that train.

You should make any France reservations thru the agency that sold you your Eurailpass if you want to be sure to get on that train - i just returned from France and found many TGVs i wanted to take with a pass they said not available - but yup they were selling full price tickets on those trains when i asked.

This is a really bad thing for railpass holders in France (and seemingly only France) so book as early as possible IME

And February is just as busy as any other month with locals and business types who ride these trains - the tourist thing on trains in Europe is a trickle - and in France many schools close for two weeks in February and this can also add to families traveling.

I have boarded a nearly empty TGV train without a reservation and was charged the seat reservation fee plus a hefty fine.

i may end up just buying full fares on the 2 french journeys we have.

I have pretty much written off the passes as a "lesson learned" so I wont expect them to cover all of my needs.

That said, there must be another way of making booking a reservation other than through the travel agency i bought the pass from. They simply bought the passes on my behalf although they had zero knowledge about them...and to be honest, this particular agency ( STA Travel ) I wouldnt trust to book a bus to the end of my street, let-alone anything more complicated.

So I will just buy extra tickets where i need to.