Trains in Europe
 

My Family and i are traveling to Europe from 19 December 2014 to 8 January 2015.
We bought the select pass : The Eurail Select Pass lets you discover the 4 bordering countries of your choice, including popular destinations like France, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Were from Cape Town SA.
I have some questions
We start in Vienna on 20 December and depart to Munich on 24 December 2014.: question is this a direct train or do we switch trains. Secondly do we need to reserve our seats?
And can we use any station to get on this train linking us to Munich.
28 December we travel to Lucern by train: question is this a direct link? And can we get onto the train from any station in Munich?
1 January we depart to Florence: do we need to travel to Milan first? And how does this affect my Select pass?
4 January 2015 we travel to Rome city centre: is this a direct link?

You can also give some ideas on what to do in Vienna, Munich,lucerne,Florence and Rome.


We need all the help we can get. Im pretty nervous about the trains.
Tx
Denis

You can't depart from just any station. Certain trains stop at certain stations. You can search schedules on the German train website. You will have to connect on some routes, but you will discover that in your search. You will also have to pay supplements on some routes (passes don't include seat fees or supplements that are charged on some trains).

>>1 January we depart to Florence: do we need to travel to Milan first?<<

Yes. You will have to change trains in Milan. Any of the faster trains in Italy have seat reservations mandatory so you will have to book those. You can book seats on the Italian train site, Trenitalia.

>>>And how does this affect my Select pass?<<<

? Not sure what you are asking.

>>>4 January 2015 we travel to Rome city centre: is this a direct link?<<<

There are non-stop fast trains between Florence/Rome. Seat reservations are mandatory.

Funny - I have just exited a train site, trying to put together a somewhat similar trip for October 2015, came over here for inspiration from all of these wonderful people, and found your request.
For the trains, I learned of a site quite recently (I'm pretty sure from this forum) - The Man in Seat 61. go on there, go into Europe, and you enter your departure city and he gives amazing detail on the trains to all the other spots one might want to get to.
I will tell you that I douth you can use any station you choose - the major cities seem to typically have a beautifully organized system, with different stations giving trains of different orientations.
Like you, I'll be searching these postings for specific cities - I would think you'd get best results by doing the same: Vienna is one of the cities on my itinerary for this trip, and there is a huge amount of info here already posted for Vienna, certainly Florence, Rome, etc. Search those, and then ask specific questions as you have them, for better results. enjoy!

Here's the German rail web site. You can search all of your schedules on it.

http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml

While you can buy seat reservations from various websites that sell passes, there is usually a markup. Some countries, you can go to their train website and purchase (select global pass as your discount). For heavy travel days and between countries, you should book in advance especially if you have connections (such as Lucerne/Milan/Florence).

The Italian website.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...005817f90aRCRD

>>>Like you, I'll be searching these postings for specific citie<<<

It helps if you start a thread and post your itinerary first to see if you should even think about a pass. Often it's cheaper to buy point-to-point tickets between countries (which include seats and have advance purchase discounts) instead of passes which don't include seats and have additional supplements between countries.

Here's two charts with the various supplements charged with passes.

http://www.eurailgroup.org/~/media/r...al%202014.ashx

http://www.eurailgroup.org/~/media/r...ic%202014.ashx

With some of these trains having mandatory reservation requirements, you can't hop on just any train if you get seats in advance (and I would book in advance since you are traveling during a major holiday period). They will be for that specific train.

>>We start in Vienna on 20 December and depart to Munich on 24 December 2014.: question is this a direct train or do we switch trains. <<

There is a direct train - Railjet - from Wien Westbahnhof to München main station. Other connections require a change of trains. Look at http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml for connections.

>>Secondly do we need to reserve our seats?<<

Not necessary but advisable. You can use http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml for reservations.

>>And can we use any station to get on this train linking us to Munich.<<

Yes. You may use a local train to Westbahnhof where you board the train to München.

>>28 December we travel to Lucern by train: question is this a direct link? And can we get onto the train from any station in Munich?<<

No direct connection. You have to change trains in Zürich. Be aware that www.bahn.de will include a connection with a bus to Zürich and a train ride from Zürich to Luzern. The bus ride requires a reservation. It is less comfortable than a train ride. The train to Zürich leaves from Hauptbahnhof.

>>1 January we depart to Florence: do we need to travel to Milan first? And how does this affect my Select pass?<<

There are several connections. All require at least two changes of trains, usually one in Milan. It does not affect your pass.

>>4 January 2015 we travel to Rome city centre: is this a direct link?<<

There is a direct train from Santa Maria Novella station to Rome Tiburtina. For this train, a reservation is mandatory.

There is another direct train from Campo di Marte to Rome Termini station.

In any case, make yourself familiar with http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml. Just play around and check connections. You will quickly learn how the train system works.

You can usually get direct trains from Florence SMN to Rome Termini as well.

Yes, Dukey is correct, and the trains from Firenze S.Maria Novella to Roma Termini are usually the most convenient for tourists, unless you're staying in a peripheral area.

Almost all trains from Florence to Rome leave from Santa Maria Novella. The slower Intercity trains usually leave from Campo Marte, which is not right in the center of Florence. I believe all of the trains from Florence to Rome stop in both Tiburtina and Termini stations. Termini is more central than Tiburtina.

>>>There is a direct train from Santa Maria Novella station to Rome Tiburtina. For this train, a reservation is mandatory.<<<<

I wouldn't take a train to Tiburtina unless you have a specific reason as it doesn't make sense to use more outlying stations. Most of the faster trains Florence/Rome leave out of the main station in Florence, SMN and arrive the main station in Rome,Termini. Fast trains do not stop at the lesser stations although a few do stop in Tiburtina, most don't.

>>>There is another direct train from Campo di Marte to Rome Termini station.<<<

Ditto for Campo di Marte. There are only a few fast trains from Campo di Marte to Rome in a day. From Florence SMN, there are fast trains as often as 3-4 per hour. While you could get a slow regional train from Campo to avoid paying for a seat (regional trains have no reserved seating or amenities), it would be a much longer ride 3 1/2 hours versus 90 minutes from SMN to Termini.

Wow thanks for all the info. This sures help us a lot.