Help - I have a horrible Eurail Timetable!!

[CuriousToronto]

So I bought my passes through www.railconnection.com

The passes got here really quickly -- overnight basically. The price was good and for the most part I'm really pleased.

Except their timetable (that they sent me) is in my humble opinion HORRIBLE!

It's missing so many places that it's kind of making my planning difficult.

For example, I'll now be connecting at CDG and taking an Air France flight straight to Geneva. Which leaves me with an extra rail day.

The boyfriend and I would like to use that to visit Mont Blanc -- as it's relatively close.

So I open my trusty timetable and discover that they have completely omitted Chamonix! Who does that
Mont Blanc is only the second most photographed natural location in the entire world (after Niagara Falls).

Needless to say this is making my life a little difficult and as such I come to you guys for help:

Where can I go to find a reliable Eurail timetable that I (hopefully) won't have to pay with?

Even if I only get to use it online and print out the portions I need -- it would still be helfpull.

Also, the timetable says that on certain portions of my trip I need to make reservations.

Who do I call to make those reservations? And should they be made a week in advance or is the same day okay?


Thanks in advance everyone!

[nitsansh]

First of all... Don't panic!

You can't expect a small booklet to include timetables to all places, do you? So Chamonix is one of many places which are not included... does that make it horrible?

Whenever you need a timetable, surf to 81.200.192.72/bin/pf/query-p2w.exe/en
Enter your departure and arrival points, the date and time (optional), whether you want to limit the # of connections, and within few minutes you get the timetable on PDF file which you can print down and take with you.

If you need or want to make reservation, go to a train station and do it. Make reservation as early as you can commit to the time of travel (unless they are exchangeable). Some trains limit the # of places for pass holders and those should be booked early. In peak periods it's also advisable to make reservations early.

[CuriousToronto]

Thanks for your help!

I'm not panicking though -- just annoyed.

And I DO think not having Chamonix makes it horrible. It's such a huge destination and lots of people want to go to Mont Blanc.

I think I just didn't expect the timetable to be that limited. I really had no indication before hand as to what to expect. I at least expected a big place like Chamonix.

But anyhow -- thank you!

[Kim]

Yeah, ours came with a time table - only we didn't realize until we got to Europe that it was a year old!!

Thomas Cook publishes a Eurail timetable.. but you will have to pay for it, I just can't remember how much. Try giving them a call and asking them if they have them.

Kim

[nitsansh]

Chamonix is by no means a big place!!

[CuriousToronto]

Huge as in importance because of Mont Blanc NOT in terms of size.

I think it's tantamount to not including Zermatt on a guide.

I'll call a Thomas Cook agency. I saw one on the internet for sale for 10 British Pounds.

Thanks again!

[nitsansh]

If you buy a Thomas Cook timetable, make sure it's valid for the month you travel. I don't see the necessity of it as timetables are easy to get on the web or at railway stations.
Even Thomas Cook is not a comprehensive timetable. You need books the size of phone directory of the entire USA to include all the train timetables in Europe. You're talking about thousands of trains running at any given time.

[triple5funk]

i actually found it really easy to just find the most updated times online during my trip, especially when you look at the sites of the respective train companies. or even the information kiosks at train stations have the information. at first i thought the thomas guide might be a good idea, but then realized that i don't want to carry another item in my bag and that published guides are never comprehensive anyway - especially with the chance of strikes, delays, etc.