Help! Baffled by train reservation system....

We have our Eurail passes for our trip next month. Exactly what do the passes give us??? Just the right to board the train?

We are landing in Zurich, leaving immediately (by train) to Como. Then Nice, Florence, Venice and a night train back to Zurich.

I know I have to reserve for the sleeper; but do I need reservations for all of the other trips? And first class or second?

And where can I book the seats online? Or can I wait until we get there? Dates we%26#39;re travelling are Oct. 19 -Oct. 31st.

Thanks to everybody who responds!

|||

Go here

http://www.trenitaliaplus.com/trenitalia.html

My limited experience with the Italian train systen is that it is customary to make reservations - all seats and carriages are numbered and you will be expected tto yield up your seat when someone gets on the train with your place on their ticket.unless you have it reserved

. We have done reservations at travel bureau at main stations, but this site seems to have the kind of stuff you need.

|||

Hi there, To be on the safe side you maybe best to book your seats before hand as mentioned previously. Be aware that a small booking fee often applies depending on where you book it. It also depends on what time of the the year you are travelling, the routes and first or 2 nd class. The more popular routes it is wise to book and any TGV style trains you must book.

A word of advice, especially in Italy. Make sure you fill your Eurail pass in PRIOR to stepping on the train. (It%26#39;s in the fine print on the Eurail pass) If you havent, and decide to fill it in there and then on the train and get busted, they will fine you at least 50 euros each.

We found out the hard way after running for the train, jumping on and sitting down, only to pull out our pass to fill in. 30 seconds later the conductor comes through and rips it out of our hands and tries to stop us filling it in...wants to fine us and the people behind us as well, 80 euros each...or off to the Italian cops....

This is a scam....and put the only negative on a nice trip to Italy....

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 2:17 am, August 21, 2009