Trains in Multiple Countries in Europe - Help Please
 

I am planning a two week vacation in London, Belgium and France 5/28 - 6/11. I have looked at so many web sites and am still confused, so I am hoping someone has a suggestion or can at least explain what I need to do.
A couple years ago I got step by step instructions on this site for getting a train with the best fare from Paris to Lyon on sncf and they worked great. Are there similar directions for multi-country planning?
Anyway, during our time beginning and ending in London, I would like to make four train trips -- London to Brugges, Brugges to Paris, Paris to Bayeux and finally Bayeux to London.
So my questions are:
1. Do I book the Eurostar portions of the trips separately? It looks like I can make a
reservation for the Eurostar now, but not the other trains. Does the Eurostar sell out far in advance?
2. Is there a site where I can make all the trip reservations at the same time?
2. Is it true that although I am paying for tickets in advance, I don't really have a seat reserved? What happens if there are no seats?
3. Should I be looking at a rail pass instead of the separate trips?
4. There will be one adult and one senior, if that makes a difference.
Thanks for any help.

If you want THE answer rather than a BUNCH of "an" answers then do yourself a favor and call Byron or his wife at Budget Europe Travel

www.budgeteuropetravel.com

These people are knowledgeable, there is absolutely no obligation to buy anything, and they will give you ALL the options.

One more thing..unlike ANY of the people who respond here, including myself, these people actually have a PHONE and answer it.

Do I book the Eurostar portions of the trips separately? It looks like I can make a
reservation for the Eurostar now, but not the other trains. Does the Eurostar sell out far in advance?>

Whilst Eurostar trains or at least all of the zillions of them daily do not routinely sell out the cheapest fares, sold in allotments do sell out and often far in adbvance. So if you have a good fare and are sure of your dates (cheaper offers often non-changeable non-refundable) hop on it - if you jew showed up in London and bought you could literally pay hundred bucks or more more. For best availability try for a mid-week day as weekends are much busier and cheaper tickets thus harder to get. Peruse the www.eurostar,com site for fares in pounds and always also check for fares in the U.S. sold thru RailEurope - no rhyme or reason IME between those fares so see which one is the cheapest for your date (and be flexible on both date and time if possible) - for someone to do a thorough manual search I would also advice calling Byron, like Dukey above recommends, and have him do a manual check as IME raileurope.com does not always show the cheaper fares available. If going to Bruges from London be sure to ask for the free ABS (All Belgain Stations) fare that automatically comes with any Eurostar ticket London to Brussels - this lets you hop any train free from Brussels where the Eurostar lets you off to any Belgian station within 48 hours (I think 48 hours - so you could spend a night in Brussels and then later go on free to Bruges!

"the free ABS (All Belgain Stations) fare that automatically comes with any Eurostar ticket London to Brussels "

It's not free anymore - it's now a paid for add on

You could try www.seat61.com

3. Should I be looking at a rail pass instead of the separate trips>

Definitely not for your limited rail travel. And from Bayeux you could easily take a catamaran in a few hours (from nearby Oustreham, Caen's port or Cherbourg) to Portsmouth, England rather than backtracking thru Paris and Eurostar.

Is it true that although I am paying for tickets in advance, I don't really have a seat reserved? What happens if there are no seats?>

Well the only ticket you SHOULD book in advance is the Eurostar ticket London to Paris as if you just show up you could spend literally hundreds of bucks more than as said before buying the limited in number cheaper tickets months in advance and these tickets include a seat reservation in the price. And the same can be said for a Thalys ticket from Bruges to Paris though the other route Bruges-Lille-Paris is just as fast as going via Brussels and has a fairly cheap walk up fare structure - again when you buy your TGV Lille to Paris ticket (in Bruges station) a seat reservation automatically comes with it - no Thalys or Eurostar tickets are issued to my knowledge without seat reservations - and for Paris to Bayeux again the walk up fare is not that expensive though you may be able to save a few euro with advance specials from www.voyages-sncf.com for both Lille-Paris TGV and Paris to Bayeux trains. But if you want flexibility to decide when to go when you are in Bruges then the walk up fare for those routes and not that much more than available discounts that must be booked far in advance and then are not changeable nor refundable perhaps.

All other tickets you

. There will be one adult and one senior, if that makes a difference>

On Eurostar trains there is a senior fare for those 60 and over that can at times be cheaper than the cheapest available leisure fare - so adds another option and if you book one senior ticket and one leisure you should still be able to book seats next to each other.

On other trains there may be a senior fare or not - so always ask. I was in line at a French train station once and some senior citizen Americans asked for a ticket to Angers from Paris and the clerk asked them if they were over 60 and then sold them a first-class ticket cheaper than the normal second-class fare. (I do not think this is the case anymore and senior fares now often involve purchase of some fairly expensive senior card that makes it not worth it for the casual tourist taking just a few trains. But always ask for a senior rate - and in the U.K. also ask everywhere - museums, etc about a senior rate.