Hi everyone! First time to Europe in mid-April, so excited! We've bought a 15 day Eurailpass and would appreciate some advice.

Question about Italy train stations: Is the Bologna Centrale station very large and difficult to navigate? Florence-Venice 22 April, I need to arrive in Venice for 11.35am Doges Palace tour. The train from Florence arrives in Bologna at 7.40am and then departs Bologna for Venice at 7.53am. Will I make the transit or am I risking too much? (I only have one night in Venice by the way)

Question about mandatory train reservations: Can this be done over the phone or over the trenitalia website? I can see that when you buy Italy Eurostar tickets on the web it includes the reservation. But since I don't need tickets, only need the reservation, what do I do? I want to do it when I'm in Italy, not with a local agent as they charge more. Can I book all the necessary connections including Basel-Cologne and Brussels-Paris when I'm Italy or will it be cheaper to reserve at the country of departure? I prefer to allocate some time at the start of the trip to get the logistics out of the way.

I've learnt so much over the past week reading the posts, so thanks heaps for the priceless advice!

I haven't been to the Bologna station (yet), but no station I've ever seen in Europe has been so complicated that you can't change trains in 13 minutes, so you should be fine.

I, too, am interested in the answers to your second set of questions.

You should be able to book the seat reservations after you get to Italy at any rail station. For the travel within Italy itself you can also do it at local travel agents.

You do not have to wait to book reservations within the country of departure. You should be able to book the Basel-Cologne and Brussels-Paris segments at an Italian rail station as well. For the Brussels-Paris segment on Thalys you may end up paying some sort of supplement.

It is helpful to have the train departure date and time written on a piece of paper and, if you know it, the train number. Clerks at the major
stations usually understand enough English that language won't be a problem.

Am sure others will comment.

Thalys charges a 20 euro supplement to Eurailpass holders for Brussels to Paris. There is also the standard 3 euro reservation fee. I did a late morning Thalys Brussels to Paris in January. It includes a free lunch with a split of wine.

I think you can buy all your reservations at one time. This will save you from waiting in additional lines. But you may need to visit two windows in Italy - one for your domestic reservations and one for international.

I haven't been to Bologna either but I agree that 13 minutes is adequate in any of the other scores of train stations I've been in. The trouble is that Italian stations are not well posted. Ask the conductor on your IC for the platform numbers arriving and departing Bologna. Be at the door of the train when it stops and get off before the crowd pushes on. Have no courtesy.

I want to add that Italy is not Germany or Switzerland. Their trains are not as punctual. On our last trip, both ES* trips (Rome-Florence and Florence-Milan) were 15-20 minutes late.

I agree with hopscotch about the change in Bologna.

Are you aware of the two types of "posters" found in European rail stations which list all the arrivals and departures for each day and how to read them? If not, we can probably talk you through it.

rkkwan is right about trains possibly being less than punctual, but the good part is that there are a lotof trains from Bologna to Venice, so even if you miss the 0753, you'll just have an hour to kill until the 0853, which gets to Venice at about 1045; it'll be close, but you should probably be able to make it for the tour.

That Swiss trains are on the second on time is a myth in my experience - i've ridden hundreds of Swiss trains and it's not uncommon for them to be a bit late - it's a small country so they shouldn't be too late but in Italy where ES and IC trains travel much longer distances the chance to be late is more. But ES trains in Italy have a good record of being on time - in fact there is some scheme to refund the fare if they are significantly late. Trains in Italy are much more punctual than before in my experience.
Whether or not you'll be able to make reservations for trains in other countries from Italy is problematic - they certainly can as tied into all european rail computer but don't always want to - in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport recently they balked at making reservations for me in neighboring Germany but finally did it after i begged a bit. Basel-Cologne reservations are not required nor needed in my experience in first class, which i assume you have with your pass -can make but i would just board.
Thalys trains include a meal in first class only, in which case the supplement is about $25 (20 euro) i believe - you could go in 2nd class of course with a first class pass and only pay about $10 sans meal of course. the supplement is much greater in first class but second class passholder Thalys seats can be hard to get on the spot.

rkkwan has a good point, but it can happen anywhere. My Nacht Zug from Dresden to Duisberg was 35 minutes late resulting in missed connections to Amsterdam. Turned out to be no problem. The DB got me on a direct ICE to Amsterdam. The ICE departed 10 minutes late and was a half hour late arriving in Amsterdam.

Did you know that you can go up to the first car, the engine, and look over the ICE driver's shoulder through the front window?

Just got back from our first Europe trip! I'm replying my own questions with what I discovered/learnt during the trip so hopefully someone else can benefit from it in the future.

Trains in Italy:
They were punctual in almost every instant, especially the Eurostar Italia and Intercity ones.

At every train station, there will be an Information office/desk. This is where you can get all the timetables for your route. They also provide a print out of your itinerary and this includes which platform at each station. This would help you gauge how far you have to walk from platform to platform when changing trains.

But always try to be as brief as possible. The staff at train stations could be VERY impatient, especially after the 2nd question and if there is a long line. It also really pays to find ways to break the ice first. If you could get the staff to smile, chances are you could get answers to almost everything, otherwise be prepared to get told off.

Making reservations in advance:

Staff at Termini in Rome refused to make the Naples-Florence and Florence-Venice bookings for us. However, we know for a fact that this could be done. If one person refuses to do it, I suggest you go to another counter or try again at another time with another staff who is friendlier and you would get your booking done.

At Lugano and Lucern in Switzerland, the international trains people were much friendlier and understood/spoke better English. We managed to book all our other mandatory reservations there including Basel-Cologne overnight train, and Brussels-Paris Thalys.

In Italy, the larger stations have automatic machines that can sell you tickets. In English. No need to use the ticket counter.