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Hi guys, I’m planning my trip in August and I’m quite on a budget 😬. So I’m trying to cut costs wherever I can, including seat reservations. Since both direct trains between Paris-Amsterdam and Prague-Budapest have compulsory seat reservations, I looked for different journeys with no reservations needed. This is the result:

  • Paris-Amsterdam: Paris-Amiens-Lille-Courtrai-Anvers-Amsterdam on TER, InterCity and Regional trains;
  • Prague-Budapest: Prague-Wien-Budapest on RailJet.

So, reservations are not compulsory here, but I’d like to know if you suggest them anyway for any of these journeys. I let you know that we are 10… but both the journeys will start pretty soon in the morning (6:00 and 4:45)

Thanks in advance.

Paris-Amsterdam is without reservations: you can't book them at all. There is a direct TER Paris-Lille on weekends. You can also book a TGV Paris-Lille for €10 and then continue via Kortrijk-Antwerp. (Also note that you won't see "Courtrai” or "Anvers” on any signs at those stations. The rail planner app uses the incorrect names because of Belgian railways data errors.)

Prague-Budapest can be booked for around €3 on cd.cz, when reservation is open, probably 2 or 3 months in advance.


Thank you very much 


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