Resources for Train Travel in Europe

[audreyh1]

I've always gone directly to the rail site, SNCF, TrenItalia, Renfe ES, etc.

I haven't always prepurchased online though. Some places require you to put in your credit card at the web site ahead of time before using the app.

There isn't always an advantage in prepurchasing tickets in advance. Exceptions were Dutch rail from Amsterdam to Paris and then the Eurostar from Paris to London, because those tickets, at least Eurostar, started at around $100 and went up if you purchased them last minute, like airline tickets.

I buy all my long distance high speed train tickets ahead of time as you can get some pretty great deals if you book a couple of months in advance. Usually at least half full fare. Sometimes even better. I don't usually buy the non-refundable Prems which disappear very quickly, but the Flex tickets that give a good discount but are still exchangeable and mostly refundable depending on the timeline.

Captaintrain has a nice feature where you can book a ticket including reserved seats, but not have to pay for it for 10 to 14 days depending on the type of ticket. This lets you work out a bunch of stuff before committing to the purchase.

And they issue e-tickets whenever they can which means you don't even have to print your ticket at home (although I usually print a backup) but the conductor reads the Q-code on your phone or iPad. That's what we did last year, and it worked great. In fact they didn't even check our IDs if we had the e-ticket on our personal device.

But yes, in this case I'm just figuring out alternatives for buying tickets a day or few hours ahead of time and not having to go to the ticket counter or get stuck having trouble buying (versus just printing) at a self service machine with a long line of people behind me.

 

[Bamaman]

We'll take a train if it doesn't exceed 3 1/2 hours, however the advent of budget European airlines allows to travel from point A to B really cheap. And I won't think of traveling by train in Summer, as their a/c is often not very comfortable.

RailEurope is just a consolidator, and many experienced travelers stay away from them. Many use bahn.com and Trenitalia.com to book their trips. I've never booked a train in France, however the Eurostar from London to Paris is very popular--2 1/2hrs. The Paris to Barcelona fast train is also very popular @ 6.5 hours--as fast as getting to/from the airports.

And point to point tickets are the way to go vs. Eurail tickets. Italy really does trains well. they're inexpensive, and you can get the big discounts at 120 days out.

I tried to book a train into Prague (from Vienna), however the computer wouldn't take my credit card. I'll often run into the train station after I hit town and buy tickets leaving for my next stop. If one train's full, there will be anther going to the same place in an hour or two.

 

[Souschef]

We'll take a train if it doesn't exceed 3 1/2 hours, however the advent of budget European airlines allows to travel from point A to B really cheap. And I won't think of traveling by train in Summer, as their a/c is often not very comfortable.

The flights may be cheap, but getting there is a PITA! Trains leave from city center, and arrive at city center. When you add in the travel time to and from the airports, plus security, etc, I would still take trains.
We got on a train in Wengen in the Bernese Alps, and arrived in Monte Carlo 12 hours later. We loved the trip, as the segment from Geneva to Nice was on the TGV. It was very comfortable, no problem with luggage and security, and we could enjoy looking at the countryside.
YMMV

 

[audreyh1]

We're doing one flight in Europe this year - Amsterdam to Lyon, 1hr 35mins. And both AMS and Lyon airport are easily accessible from the city. Otherwise the high speed train (Thalys) is 6.5 hours with a transfer, and some routes have you doing the dreaded transfer across town in Paris.

Once we get to Lyon though, all the rest is by train. It's not that easy to get from Nice to Barcelona by train. Nice has a nice airport and quick flight to Barcelona I'm sure. But the trains happen to visit a couple of cities of interest, so we're breaking up the trip to stop is a couple of interesting places, including Carcassonne.

We do love the European trains. DB asked me why were weren't taking Thalys, and I just explained how much longer it took to go from Amsterdam to Lyon compared to the lovely direct Amsterdam to Paris Thalys (3 hours 20 mins).

 

[explanade]

I'm doing flights between Athens and a couple of the Greek islands. Also ferries between the islands.

Have to pay for checked luggage on the flights.

I've been on a 4.5 hour train trip, but it involved a change. My suggestion is to get a data plan for you iPad and/or load up movies and TV shows on your iPad. Even with a data plan, the coverage isn't good in a lot of areas the trains go through.

Or better yet, try to take a nap. Much better odds of getting some sleep on a train than a LCC flight within Europe.

 

[Souschef]

I'm doing flights between Athens and a couple of the Greek islands. Also ferries between the islands.

Have to pay for checked luggage on the flights.

I've been on a 4.5 hour train trip, but it involved a change. My suggestion is to get a data plan for you iPad and/or load up movies and TV shows on your iPad. Even with a data plan, the coverage isn't good in a lot of areas the trains go through.

Or better yet, try to take a nap. Much better odds of getting some sleep on a train than a LCC flight within Europe.

How about looking out the train windows and enjoying the scenery?? After all, that is why you travel, and you cannot do that from an airplane.

 

[explanade]

Actually I take pictures and geotag them all so the trajectories of the planes or trains are logged.

One of the best short flights was from Queenstown to Auckland earlier this year. Queenstown airport has the Remarkables mountains as a backdrop for the runway. Then fly past the town and over the lake and over the mountains nearby and on the way over, the Cook Straits.

Took lots of pics.

 

[Bamaman]

The flights may be cheap, but getting there is a PITA! Trains leave from city center, and arrive at city center. When you add in the travel time to and from the airports, plus security, etc, I would still take trains.

Have you ever been in a full train compartment with malfunctioning air conditioning and the stranger sitting next to you was asleep and leaning on you? And shall I say he smelled like a Tirolean goat farmer.

We were on a local train coming into Rome one morning standing, and it was so crowded that my wife said she could feel change in others' pockets. If someone fainted, they'd have not even fallen.

I don't always find trains that pleasant to travel in, and that's why I limit my time on them to 2-3 hrs.

 

[Nemo2]

Have you ever been in a full train compartment with malfunctioning air conditioning and the stranger sitting next to you was asleep and leaning on you? And shall I say he smelled like a Tirolean goat farmer.

Have been on a train from Zahedan, Iran, to Quetta, Pakistan, where they loaded sheep into the compartment.

 

[audreyh1]

Have you ever been in a full train compartment with malfunctioning air conditioning and the stranger sitting next to you was asleep and leaning on you? And shall I say he smelled like a Tirolean goat farmer.

We were on a local train coming into Rome one morning standing, and it was so crowded that my wife said she could feel change in others' pockets. If someone fainted, they'd have not even fallen.

I don't always find trains that pleasant to travel in, and that's why I limit my time on them to 2-3 hrs.

Standing on a train is no fun. We go for reserved seating if available and usually first class as it is usually not much more. Easier to find places for luggage, etc. France is good because all they're long distance trains have reserved seating.

We often get "duo" seating reservations - across from each other with table in between. Otherwise side-by-side. No one else to mash against us.

The short runs - doesn't matter so much and we are usually without luggage.

If you are just slightly mobility impaired though, public ground transportation in Europe is not friendly.

 

[brett]

We have had good luck with Trenitalia. We use maninseat61. In the UK we like spottedredhanky.

We very much like Trenitalia. We travel with carry on only which makes train travel a breeze. We do use discount airlines in Europe but often find the bottom line pricing of the popular routes on the major airlines very competitive.