Travelling by Train with Infant
 

Hi there,

My husband and I are travelling throughout Europe for a month, with an 8 month old son. I have already booked the majority of our transportation- ranging from flights, cars and one train.

Then, a moment of panic set in.

I have read areas where the train webpage says "must make reservation of children, even though they travel for free":

"Seat, couchette and other reservations must be made even for a child traveling for free and still requires a reservation fee" -- Trenilita webpage

Now, I know it refers to a 'child' but, similar to a flight, you always put in the infants information-- there is no area for this for infants on the Italian Trains (where I have been focusing my efforts)

I am hoping someone can put me at ease: since infants travel for free-- is there any 'reservation' I have to make for him? Or, can we easily take him aboard with a purchased adult ticket?

Also, if you have travelled with an infant and care to share any tips... that is always appreciated.

Thanks again,

Can you give a link to the page where you saw this?

I've traveled on Italian trains with a child under age 3, and never made a reservation. I agree that since they have no place to indicate the number of infants traveling with you, it doesn't make much sense. Perhaps they're referring to special offers like "Bimbi gratis", where older children get to ride free, with a reserved seat, if accompanied by a paying adult. However, without seeing the context, I have no basis for answering the question.

When you travel with an infant under age 3, riding free, there is no seat reserved for the child. If the train is full, you have to hold the child on your lap the entire way. If it's not full, there's a good chance that you'll have an adjacent empty seat.

Your child, at 8 months, would probably be on your lap the whole way anyway, but someone who has a lively 2-year-old on a long trip may regret not getting a seat for the child.

I don't know what other tips you might want.

Thank you so much... with al this trip planning/sleepless nights/money to be spent... I just needed a little reassurance and didn't want to, pardon my french, screw anything up! ha

Thanks again,

For other great info on Italian trains check www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - though the two most experts regularly here are bvience and kybourbon - both always step in for questions like yours!

I didn't think I had answered the question, actually, because I didn't know the context of that sentence about needing to make reservations for infants.

Infants that go free cannot occupy their own seat (unless perhaps the seat next to you is empty) so to make a seat reservation probably means buying a child's ticket - this is what one Italian train expert said on another thread I believe and is a general rule of thumb throughout Europe for free under 4 or 5 yrs old passage.

>>>"Seat, couchette and other reservations must be made even for a child traveling for free and still requires a reservation fee" -- Trenilita webpage<<<

I've never seen that on Trenitalia for infants or children under 4. I would like to see the link too. I wonder if it's talking about the Bimbi Gratis promotion for children traveling free (ages 4-15) and not children under 4 as the older kids would still require a seat even with the promo.

Infants don't require a ticket or reservation in any European country, end of. You just bring them along!

But they don't get a seat of their own, so on reservation-compulsory trains (as in France, Italy, Spain) you have to have them on your lap, on unreserved trains you can plonk them in any free seat unless it gets crowded and a fare-paying passenger needs it.

If you want them to have a couchette or sleeper of their own, then you have to pay the couchette or sleeper supplement

One tip, if you buy French inter-city train tickets at www.capitainetrain.com and want your infant to have their own reserved seat, you can pay a flat-rate 9 euros for a 'forfait bambin'. Simply add them as a passenger with their age entered correctly and run the booking enquiry, it'll add this automatically. If you want them to go free, leave them off the booking.

Thank you so much for your help-- its much appreciated.

>>>>I have read areas where the train webpage says "must make reservation of children, even though they travel for free":

"Seat, couchette and other reservations must be made even for a child traveling for free and still requires a reservation fee" -- Trenilita webpage<<<<

Since none of us seem to be able to locate this on Trenitalia, would you please post the link?