train travel
 

Hi! I used a TA to purchase a Europass for myself and my family. Now the agent has told me that we could not get seat reservations here for the train from Venice to Salzburg. <BR>Does anyone have any input on this? I am afraid that when we get to Venice we won't be <BR>able to take the train on a certain day. <BR>We have reservations in Salzburg and need to arrive on time. Any advice appreciated. <BR>Thanks Kathy <BR> <BR>PS we are leaving June 11

I have never made a reservation for a train and have yet to miss one. In fact, we sometimes ended up sitting in a reserved compartment because the reservees were a no-show. Check the German rail site at http://bahn.hafas.de and see how many trains are available which will get you there on time. You might be able to make reservations yourself on that site--I can't remember. (it has an English page). Have fun!!

I looked at <BR>http://bahn.hafas.de <BR>none of the train is listed as "reservation compulsory." Few trains for the last ~1hr segment until Salzburg is "subject to reservation." Are you planning to use the Couchettes? It looks like if you travel during the day, the reservations are neither necessary nor accepted. <BR> <BR>I do not say as far as some that train reservations are unnecessary because some sections (not the one you mentioned) are definitely "reservation compulsory". But with Europass, which I believe is 1st class (where available,) chance of not findind seats (presuming your party is not huge) is probably very low. The most crowed I have seen in the 1st class was 1/2 full, even when the 2nd class cars in the same train were nearly fully occupied.

Kathy- <BR> <BR>I don't know for sure that this will work, since I've never travelled on a Europass, but I have made reservations in Italy for train tickets bought in the States. When you get to Venice, go to the ticket windows at the train station and ask to make reservations for the day you want to travel, make sure you explain that you already have a Europass. There will be a small fee to reserve tickets. If you cannot make reservations, I wouldn't worry, we have never had a problem taking whatever train we wanted. By the way, the italian word for a reservation is "prenotazione". It's a useful word to know.

When I was in Italy a few years ago, we had a first class flexi-pass. At that time, the rules were that with the flexi-pass, you never needed to make a reservation, even for trains that said "reservation required". You might want to check and see if the same is true for the Europass.

We are travelling in late June and want to take the same train and altough we are buying city to city tickets we too are having problems getting reservations for that train. I've spoken with RailEurope and several other sources and they said just to keep checking but that if RailEurope can't get confirmed reservations, no one can. I was advised to go to the train station in Venice as soon as I arrive and make the reservation but that I should not worry because the train is rarely sold out even in summer (worst case sceneraio I have heard is that you have to travel and pay for first class). Good luck!

I have the same kind of doubt for my scanrail pass that I will use on Scandinavia from 6th of June next thru 25th of June. I was worried about so many "R" in the time table. It was looking like every train trip should be reserved first. Wheres the flexibility? <BR>Must I really make those reservations there?

<BR>Dear Ms Raines <BR> <BR>I'm afraid that fares in Italy are low, so I hear that trains get full. I think you should reserve any seat or couchettre, but write to say that you can do this at any rail travel centrre in Europe, including those at Zurich airport station and at Charles de Gaulle in Paris,. All are online to make bookings from any large station in western Europe. So on your first or second day in Europe you can book your place out of Venice. <BR> <BR>I disagree with RailEurope: I see no need to wait till you're in Venice. <BR> <BR>Any flexipass holders reading this may like to knoiw that in my view you need to book for flexipass journeys as much or as little as you do for all others. This is logical: issuers of flexipass passes can't hold a dozen seats on every train in case their passengers turn up. At the same time, on expresses which need no reservations, which across Europe outside high summer means 90 percent of day expresses, you need not pre-book, whatever your ticket or pass. <BR> <BR>Please write again if I can help further. Welcome to Europe. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London