Eurail questions

[foamcows]

Howdy,

I think I have a grasp on how the eurail system works.

My question is this, about a month ago I figured out our trip. I had all the trains figured out by time and such.

When I check raileurope, alot of the trains I wanted to take are not showing up any longer.

Does this mean the train is either no longer traveling at that time, or that the train is full?

For example, I would like to take a train from Interlaken Switzerland to Amsterdam on June 1st. I would like to leave around 7am or so and arrive in Amsterdam around 330ish. I used to be able to find this train in my search results on raileurope, but not any longer.

The train schedule from Eurail I have shows the train on their normal schedule, so I just wonder if by chance the train is full. Is that possible so far in advance?

Also, another question I have, can you buy all your trips reservations at one train station, or do you have to buy reservations from the station you are departing.

[Eagle]

foamcows, Welcome! A few comments on your Eurail questions. First of all, you will probably have to allow a bit longer for the trip from Interlaken to Amsterdam. Here's one example that I found tonight:

Depart - Interlakan Ost 07:56
Arrive - Amsterdam Centraal 17:25
(Duration - 9H 29M, 1 change in Frankfurt)
(IMPORTANT NOTES: HIGH OCCUPANCY TO BE EXPECTED - RESERVATIONS REQUIRED!)

I usually choose routes that have minimal or no changes, so this particular one isn't too bad with only one change. If you want to verify this before your trip, check www.bahn.de rather than the Rail Europe site.

Hope this answers your rail questions.

Cheers!!!

[scribbledhearts]

Can you purchase just one ticket at a time? I'm looking at the website and all it offers are passes that are at least 3 days...

[WillTravel]

The various rail sites are generally a bad place to buy one ticket at a time, because the markup is huge. Consider Bahn.de or sncf.com or trenitalia.com which are the German, French, and Italian country sites. You may or may not want to wait until you get to Europe to buy the tickets - sometimes they're much cheaper purchased in advance.

[Eagle]

scribblehearts, if you're just buying one ticket at a time, the easiest solution would probably be to just buy P-P tickets in Europe. I usually plan my rail journeys for the whole trip, deciding which segments to use the pass for and which ones to use P-P tickets.

Happy travels!!!