RailEurope.com offers travel tips and tickets by train in Europe. Eurorail and Eurail passes, Eurostar tickets and point-to-point tickets can all be reserved and purchased on the Rail Europe site. Full fares and schedules are also available.
Question: #1: How do you book a sleeper car with rail europe?
On the Rail Europe website how do you select a sleeping car, or make the choice between sleeper,couchette, regular seat etc.Or is there a betterway to book (mainly eastern europe)
- asked by Oli
On the raileurope website, you can only buy thefull ticket, and if you're booking a night train,click on details and it tells you whether you'rein a T6 or T4 couchette compartment, and if youclick on the most expensive it's probably a bettercompartment. The only problem is if you have arailpass, there's no way just to reserve and paythe supplement for a couchette. My advice is togo to a train station as soon as you get to Europeand book the reservations there. If you have arailpass, show it to them and they will onlycharge you the supplement. If a train stationcan't do it for a train in another country, try atravel agency in Europe that sells train tickets. I was able to pay for a couchette supplement inAmsterdam for a train in Germany. In some casesyou can just book it the morning of the departure,but popular routes can sell out, so it's better togo a day or two in advance. There's a greatwwebsite about train travel that might have someinfo for you.
http://www.seat61.com - answered by: tompin
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Question: #2: How does the rail europe express train work?
We will be in Madrid and from there we want to go to other countries but are unaware how to go aboutthis with trains. Any ideas?
- asked by Viñas
Really depends on how many countries you intend tovisit. Rail passes can be useful, and pay forthemselves, if used for long trips. Look at theRailEurope website to find out which pass would berelevant to your needs.If you're travelling withinSpain, it is usually cheaper to buy point-to-pointtickets than to use up a Rail Pass day. You don'tsay which country you'll travel to after Spain,but the Spanish National Railway - RENFE - websiteshould provide some idea of timetables and priceseg Madrid to Paris:
http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.htmlPasses canbe bought through RailEurope, RailPlus or Eurail. It's also possible to book tickets in advancethrough these websites. Be aware that, even witha rail pass, you may still need to pay asupplement to reserve a seat, or sleeper. - answered by: zafir
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Question: #3: Are you able to exchange Rail Europe tickets?
We need a different date for a train ticket we already purchased. It's for a one way trip inNovember. I couldn't find this information ontheir site. How could I go about changing thereservation? Thanks.
- asked by jennylk81
You should be able to change on the site where youbought the tickets, search for a button like'contact' or 'e-mail'.If it does not work try withthe train company you will travel with, readon:Mostly the tickets that are sold are from atrain company, not Rail Europe, and many companieshave different rules.If you have your ticket itmay say something like:Valid for two months, orvalid from (date) to (date).In that case you onlyneed to change reservations if you have made themfor a particular date. Or the ticket can be forone train only, most high-speed trains work thatway, in that case you need to contact thehigh-speed train company you travel on. You willneed to exchange the ticket, or mostly to buy newtickets for which the old tickets are accepted aspart payment. (You will have to pay the differencein price and will loose a little on the value ofthe first ticket.)If your ticket is a combinationof both kinds of tickets you will only need tochange the parts that are relevant.Or the ticketis for one particular day, mostly just ticketwithin one country, or you need to change outsidethe period when the ticket is valid.Contact thenational train company for the country where youtravel, to ask what to do.As you do not give anyinformation on where you will be traveling I cannot give you the contact information.But you willmostly find it when you google on the name of thecountry and train information.If you can not findwhat you need, contact me with more info and Iwill search for you. - answered by: Willeke
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Question: #4: Which trains can we board (Italy only) using a Rail Europe pass? Also, do we need to makereservations?
Can we get on any train going our way regardlessof train company? Or, are we limited to travelONLY on Rail Europe trains (if there is such athing)? Also, how risky is it to travel withouttrain reservations?
- asked by Janis M
My feeling is I don't use EuroRail passes and Ijust buy the ticket for the next trip the day Iget to the new city (so I leave in 3-5 days) and Idon't need to worry about it not being valid. - answered by: JTz
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Question: #5: What is the cheapest way to travel by rail in Europe?
I was wondering if anyone has had experiencetraveling Europe i.e. England/UK or Spain bytrain. Never done this before would like somepointers. Thanks!
- asked by Franchiqua
Regional trains are cheaper but slower than thehigh speed trains like Eurostar or Intercitytrains. It's not always cheaper to get a Eurailpass - if you're taking a lot of long rangetrains, it can be a good deal. However, you dohave to pay an extra fee on Eurostar, someintercity and night trains. With point to pointtickets, there are sometimes discounts andpromotions that you should look for. For example,here in Italy there are some tickets on Eurostaror intercity at the Amica fare which saves about20% over the normal fare
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozioni_offerte/promozioni/tariffa_amica.html. There are similardeals called a "Smart fare" on some internationaltrains.
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozioni_offerte/promozioni/smart_price.html Milan to Amsterdam is aslow as 29 euro for a seat or 39 euro for a berthin a cuchette. You can go from Venice to Zagrebfor 15 euro. There are only a few seats on anygiven train at the special fare. These areavailable starting 60 days before departure.Rightnow there's a fare for day trains from Milan toParis for 30 Euro
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozioni_offerte/promozioni_internazionali/promoparissun.htmlOthercountries have similar deals check the websites ofthe train systems and look for the promotionssection. - answered by: conley39
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Question: #6: questions about the europe rail tickets?
I will be going to Europe in July. I do not need a Eurail pass since I will not travel by train alot. But I do need to travel by train on 2journeys. First one is from Paris to Lucerne,second one is from Lucerne to Milan. And I have afew questions about this.1) Where can I buy thetickets for those 2 legs? Do I have to buy it onthe web or can I buy it at the station?2) I havechecked on web that both journeys requirereservation. Since I am not using Eurail pass,after I have bought the tickets at the station, doI still need to make reservation?3) Normally inJuly, how many days in advance do I have to makethe reservation? 4) if I am in hurry, can I buythe tickets on the train?
- asked by Jessie
Only one way???You can buy the tickets at thetrain stations any time before boarding. (if youare in Paris for let's sy 2 weeks,, you can buythem there the first day you are in Paris.You alsocan buy them in the train from the conductorIf youlive in the US, I doubt you can buy these 2journeys on line anyway UNLESS you are taking the"bullet" trains. (TGV, etc)www.scnf.com (frenchrailroad)www.sbb.ch/eng (swiss railroad) - answered by: Servette
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Question: #7: How can I get reservations thru Rail Europe if I have a rail pass? Can't get their site tocooperate.?
I can't even get their site to list all trains oncertain days/times from Genova to Monterosso
- asked by lestervanslyke
You don't need a reservation - if you have a firstclass pass there will be tons on space open.Justgo to the train station the day before you want totravel and check the schedules. You will need areservation for some High speed trains and forcouchette (sleeper) cars. If you let me knowwhere you're traveling, i might be able tohelp.Bon Voyage.. - answered by: Answerdude
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Question: #8: Is there any way for me to travel from the UK to China by boat or land/rail through Europe?
Basically I'd like to travel to China, but I havea fear of planes unfortunately. So I supposeeither by boat or a month long journey throughEurope would be the only way. I would prefer theboat way tbh. Any feedback on this would behelpful.
- asked by SEGA
By ship: P&O from Southampton (UK) to Hong Kong,from Hong Kong 3 hours train ride to Canton(Huangzou).By train: W.Europe to Moskou, in Moskouby Transsiberian until Vladivostok or earlier stopwhere you can make connection to China. In bothcases back by plane. Bon voyage. - answered by: Dr. House
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Question: #9: Hi can anyone tell me if the eastern europe rail pass and the Balkan Flexipass are a good way ofdoing europe?
or is it better to just pay when you are there andmaybe get buses?I wanting to do most of easterneurope as well as Croatia and the greek islands ascheap as possiblethanks
- asked by Juliet W
WOWPlease first explore map andconnections.Eastern Europe is Praha i.e. and Sofiatoo.From Croatia to Greek islands.It is prettytough!In Croatia train is good between Zagreb andSplit but bus is OK too.You know what please writefew taughts and I'll send you itinerary and fewtips.Bye Robert - answered by: robertsedlar
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Question: #10: Is rail travel in Europe a viable alternative to flying?
I am considering a holiday in Spain (travellingfrom UK). These days, flying is a lot of hassle,what with the increase in security, and baggagerestrictions. Would anyone recommend rail travelover air travel? Is travelling 1st class worththe extra money?
- asked by Citizen
Train travel is definitely worthwhile bothenvironmentally and as a means of enjoying thejourney. This is the BEST website for train travelin Europe. Enjoy!
http://www.seat61.com/ - answered by: fidget
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