Seat Reservations for my Eurail trip: cheapest way

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi timmyno7.
The best way is always to make a reservation at a railway station (except in the UK, but you won't travel there).
Also like you said, some night trains may sell out quick in the summer months - but you always have other trains and alternative routes, as the connections you travel a frequently served.

I suppose you are traveling with an Eurail pass - and 1st class? Then you will always get a seat in trains which are free of reservation, as in 1st class is always enough space. Most persons travel 2nd class and then is is some times more relaxing to reserve a seat at peak travel time on highly frequented routes, but not necessary for the 1st.

Now before telling you the details, I want to hint you to the railcc shop where you can buy your official Eurail pass: [ux]https://rail.shop/eurail[/ux]
With your purchase you support railcc, you support this answer and with the commission we earn we can keep the servers running. Thank you. :)

Here the information with additional links. Follow them to get more details.

[b]Amsterdam - Bruges[/b]: travel with free trains, no reservation required - [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/amsterdam-to-bruges[/u]

[b]Bruges - Brussels[/b]: free, no reservation - [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/bruges-to-brussels[/u]

[b]Brussels - Berlin[/b]: it is not listed but I suppose you are traveling it by train - free day trains - [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/brussels-to-berlin[/u]

[b]Berlin - Munich[/b]: book the night train via the link given and like explained bellow the map here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/berlin-munich-cnl-1247/28[/u]

[b]Munich - Paris[/b]: the same like above. Use the Bahn/railcc booking engine. Same price for you, same tickets and quote (1:1), but little commission for railcc. Thank you - [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux]
Details here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/munich-paris-cnl40418/33[/u]

[b]Paris - Bordeaux[/b]: a reservation is required for the TGV high-speed-train. There are no good alternative routes: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/paris-to-bordeaux[/u]
The reservation is possible here on railcc ([ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux]). Buy it together with your Eurail pass to save shipping fees, as this reservations is a paper ticket and needs to be send by letter.
Note: the prices for the TGV-reservation may change extremely depending on the day, date, train you travel. Why? The French SNCF is very rail-pass-traveler-hostile. They only offer limited seats to the official reservation price of EUR 6. If these seats are sold out, you pay around EUR 18. No one (we neither) knows the quota.

[b]Bordeaux - Nice[/b]: you can travel by free local trains (13h) vs. IC trains (8h). The IC train is with a reservation (same situation like for the TGV trains explained above). So reservation required. An option to get it could also be in Berlin, Brugges, Brussels central station at a ticket window.

[b]Nice - Annecy[/b]: TGV Nice to Lyon like mentioned above. Then by free local train to Annecy.

Now I see that you make a round trip in Switzerland... does the order you travel has a sense (meeting other travellers or ...) - as you could travel more time effective changing your route. The starting point of Amsterdam is fixed ? And the final destination Barcelona as well ?

Peter :)

timmyno7
Traveller
3 comments

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the detailed and quick response, it is greatly appreciated.

I will be travelling with a Eurail Pass (a youth one, 15 days in 2 months - 2nd class) so I will look into buying it through railcc, thanks for the offer.

Firstly, do you think that I should book the TGV routes before I leave Australia (where I live) in order to ensure either cheap reservation fees / a seat reservation at all (I have read about the problems and using separate types of reservations such as Abo Forfait 2e etc.)?

We do make a round trip in Switzerland which unfortunately has to stay fixed as we are meeting different people on certain dates - I know it isn't the best route possible and I have had problems finding out information on whether I need to reserve for places and just travel in general from place to place (eg. Chamonix to Zermatt is proving difficult to find information on).

The final two train trips between Barcelona and Valencia are add-ons as after Switzerland we travel to Croatia for an island cruise, then the Greek islands for island hopping, and then to Barcelona / Valencia for La Tomatina - a very full on experience between all of these countries!

Barcelona / Valencia would then be our last train rides using the pass, and probably the end of the trip.

The starting point of Amsterdam is also fixed / the beginning of our journey, as we fly there first from London where we arrive in Europe from Australia.

Thanks for your help so far Peter, hope you can continue to provide great advice.

Cheers


- Tim

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi Tim.
So lets first fix the route before starting giving you all details about reservations.

If you know already your exact travel dates in [b]France[/b], it is recommended to make the reservations for the TGV trains already from Australia (order them together with your Eurail pass to save extra shipping fees). If you want to stay flexible, make them in Europe at larger railway stations (don't has to be in France).
Don't use the option Abo Forfait 2eme! It is not an official solution - and not accepted. Sometimes tolerated by nice train staff which understand that the behaviour of SNCF isn't fair to rail pass travellers. Better to ask the staff directly at the train if free seats left and to what price. OR use free connections and cheap overnight trains.
Schedules here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u]

Switzerland: have a look at the railcc map of Switzerland which explains exactly all trains free and with reservation (scroll down for the Eurail version) .....

Interesting for Switzerland is the route from Zurich to Milan or reverse, or parts of it: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/zurich-to-milan[/u]
Here detailed information (schedules, photos, ...) in the railcc blog written by Flow: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]

Greece to Barcelona is a very looong trip. You could travel Athens - Patras - ferry to Italy ([u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/greece/gr[/u]) - Rome - Civitavecchia - ferry to Barcelona ([u]https://rail.cc/en/civitavecchia/ferry/c[/u]) - Valencia
Or From Italy via Southern France.

Peter :)

timmyno7
Traveller
3 comments

Hey Peter,

Would be flying from Greece (Athens) to Barcelona, so no need for the long rail trip (fortunately!). This means we will only require Barcelona to Valencia return :)

So it looks like my trip from Chamonix to Zermatt is partly free with the Eurail pass, and then a 25% discount only from Visp to Zermatt?

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

Annecy - Zermatt: The direct way would be via Chamonix - Le Chatelard - Martigny - Visp; from Chamonix to Martigny you travel with the narrow gauge Mont Blanc Express jointly operated by SNCF and TMR. Sadly there are construction works on the French part between Chamonix and Le Chatelard at the moment with replacement buses operating. TMR is included in Eurail; get your discounted ticket for Visp - Zermatt (operated by MGB) at the station either in Martigny or Visp. Take a seat on the right side when you enter the train at Le Chatelard down to Martigny... ;)

Zermatt - Interlaken: Fast way: Down to Visp, then by Intercity to Spiez, change there for Interlaken (Ost is the main station). Slower but more scenic way (the Intercity run through the Lötschberg base tunnel between Visp and Spiez so you wont see anything): From Visp to Brig (possible with regular SBB and MGB trains), then along the old Lötschberg summit route to Spiez, change to Interlaken. From Brig, sit on the left side of the train. Same from Spiez.

Interlaken - Luzern: Technically this is the Brünig Pass route, but the whole route Luzern - Interlaken - Montreux is marketed as Golden Pass Route. Sit on the right side of the train from Interlaken and remain there until Luzern (the train changes it direction halfway at Meiringen).

Luzern - Zürich: Nothing to worry about here...

Zürich - Geneve: Same here...


Flo 8)

timmyno7
Traveller
3 comments

Hey guys,

Thank you for all of your help, it truly is invaluable.

One final question from me:

Is there any difference between a reservation for Interrail / Eurail? I know that on your website the only difference is that the currency defaults between USD / EUR but our friends have been looking for example on raileur*pe.co.uk and raileur*pe.com and the prices differ quite a bit - they were also told that raileur*pe.co.uk was only for Interrail passes so you could not book Eurail seat reservations here... what's the go?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi.

Concerning the flight [b]Greece-Barcelona[/b] I can't help you as I am into rail travel. ;)

[b]Reservations[/b]: reservations are as well available here at railcc - [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux]
I can't give you information about the websites you mention. We don't work together with them, we don't forward railccs to them and we are neither their support website. Sorry.

Have a sunny day, Peter :)