Skip to main content
Answer

Should I pre-book all train tickets

  • July 15, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 76 views

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has visited various places and not pre-booked their train tickets?

How did that go? Did you find a seat?

Do sleeper trains require pre-booking?

 

TIA

Best answer by EJMRXVI

Hi Louise,

It probably won't come as too much of a surprise, but the answer is really that it depends.

Where and when are you hoping to go, however roughly?

France, for instance, is the country it is most singularly important to make reservations for well ahead of time, because they are required for the vast majority of long-distance trains there and because it is the only country in which the price of many of these reservations doubles once the train starts to fill up.

Are you asking more about how busy trains not requiring obligatory reservation are likely to be, or about the short-term availability of reservations for trains where they are required?

As a general rule it is always strongly preferable to pre-book sleeper trains, but in areas such as Bulgaria where it is impossible to do so before arriving in the country there are at least better prospects of short-term availability than in the west.

3 replies

Forum|alt.badge.img
  • Full steam ahead
  • Answer
  • July 15, 2025

Hi Louise,

It probably won't come as too much of a surprise, but the answer is really that it depends.

Where and when are you hoping to go, however roughly?

France, for instance, is the country it is most singularly important to make reservations for well ahead of time, because they are required for the vast majority of long-distance trains there and because it is the only country in which the price of many of these reservations doubles once the train starts to fill up.

Are you asking more about how busy trains not requiring obligatory reservation are likely to be, or about the short-term availability of reservations for trains where they are required?

As a general rule it is always strongly preferable to pre-book sleeper trains, but in areas such as Bulgaria where it is impossible to do so before arriving in the country there are at least better prospects of short-term availability than in the west.


Forum|alt.badge.img+10
  • Railly clever
  • July 15, 2025

Some popular night trains sell out months in advance during high season but it really depends on where and when you will be travelling. 


Forum|alt.badge.img+10
  • Railly clever
  • July 15, 2025

If you haven't booked the Eurostar from/to the UK, you should do that ASAP, as there's a limited number of seats available for travellers with Interrail/Eurail passes.