Ashy53
Traveller
22 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hi! We will be travelling by train throughout Europe for two months from late July 2012 to late September 2012. I will be buying a Eurail Global Flexible Saver Pass (1st Class) for 15 days within 2 months through railcc but I was wondering whether we should pre-purchase any necessary reservations or buy them at the stations prior to boarding. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
It is not possible to give you the perfect answer. It depends on the days you travel (weekend, beginning of public holidays, route, ...).
Don't book too much in advance - as you are travelling for two months, you are flexible. If a train is full, take an other one or stay one more day in the city.
Also we made a lot of special schedules avoiding trains with extra reservations. Have a look here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-eurail-route[/u]
Not all reservations are available online, then you have to buy them at stations...
I often do it the following way: when arriving in a city at the station, I directly buy the reservation for the next leg of my trip. Then I stay two or three days in a place and continue. But I personally prefer trains without reservations - except the night trains of course. :)
Thank you for supporting railcc with your purchase - and if you want, give me your route...
Peter :)
Ashy53
Traveller
22 comments
Hi! Peter
Thanks for the information, it was very helpful. Below are our planned rail journeys. Maybe you can advise of connections where reservations aren't required:
Sat 28th July Paris- Beaune
Mon 6th August Beaune - Dijon
Thurs 9th August Dijon - Paris and Paris - London
Thurs 16th August London - Lille and Lille - Strasbourg
Sun 19th August Strasbourg - Basel
Tues 21st August Basel - Milan and Milan - Venice
Fri 24th August Venice - Trieste and Sezana - Ljubljana
Sat 25th August Ljubljana - Zagreb
Mon 27th August Zagreb - Split
Sat 8th Sept Split - Zagreb (night train)
Sun 9th Sept Zagreb - Vienna
Sat 15th Sept Cesky Kromlov - Prague
Wed 19th Sept Prague - Salzburg
Sun 23rd Sept Salzburg - Munich
Wed 26th Sept Munich - Berlin
Fri 28th Sept Berlin - Paris
Thanks again
Ashy53 (Peter)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Just have a look at the railcc schedules where you will find routes and information: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-eurail-route[/u]
If you use standard route planers ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u] ) compare the given information to the reservation information: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail-train-reservation[/u]
I will give you short information here and copy in some links. But it is simply copy and paste, you should be able to find the information as well by yourself (see links above). :)
Note: not all schedules are already online.
Calculate with a date for example in the month of May - as schedules won't change a lot in summer.
[b]Paris - Beaune[/b]: possible by free regional train in direction of Lyon (Paris-Bercy dep: 1338, arr: 1700)
[b]Beaune - Dijon[/b]: frequent free connections by regional trains - only 20 minutes.
[b]Dijon - Paris[/b]: free direct regional trains every 2 hours.
[b]Paris - London[/b]: bus, ferry - but avoid the expensive Eurostar train! [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/paris-to-london[/u]
[b]London - Lille[/b]: if you want to travel this, it is the expensive Eurostar train. Check for special-price offers which are often much cheaper than the Interrail extra reservation fee!!!
[b]Lille - Strasbourg[/b]: by direct TGV - EUR 3/6
[b]Strasbourg - Basel[/b]: frequent free regional trains - free!
[b]Basel - Milan[/b]: depends on the type of train. Free connections available - see here for examples: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/basel-to-milan[/u]
Otherwise by direct train, but with reservation fee of EUR 10: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail-train-reservation/eurocity-sbb-italia/65[/u]
[b]Milan - Venice[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/milan-to-venice[/u]
[b]Venice - Trieste + Sezana - Ljubljana[/b]: by free regional trains. For border crossing: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/venice-to-ljubljana[/u]
[b]Ljubljana - Zagreb[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/ljubljana-to-zagreb[/u]
[b]Zagreb - Split[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/zagreb-to-split[/u]
[b]Split - Zagreb[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/split-to-zagreb[/u]
[b]Zagreb - Vienna[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/zagreb-to-vienna[/u]
[b]Cesky Kromlov - Prague[/b]: free regional trains every two hours.
[b]Prague - Salzburg[/b]: use a connection via Linz, not one with a bus (extra costs) going via Munich.
[b]Salzburg - Munich[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/salzburg-to-munich[/u]
[b]Munich - Berlin[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/munich-to-berlin[/u]
[b]Berlin - Paris[/b]: [u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail/berlin-to-paris[/u]
In total I recommend you to start in London if possible: you will save the reservation fee for the Eurostar train (EUR 75) in one direction, then on you way from London to Paris, use a ferry or a bus (incl. ferry). Then start with your rail pass in Paris.
Skip Lille (if it's okay for you) and go via Dijon, Beaune, Strasbourg to Basel. In Slovenia you could add Lake Bled.
I hope this will help you planing your trip.
Peter :)
Ashy53
Traveller
22 comments
Thank you so much. This has given me so much to work with.
Ashy53