This is the best link. See if there is availability between Lille and London + London - Brussels. Usually more seats than Paris or Amsterdam

8th May :

- London - Amsterdam (35€) 06:16 - 11:13

Or a few more Eurostars to Lille (8th-9th May evenings) or Brussels (8th May at 08:16). 30€

From Lille multiple TGVs to Paris (limited 10€, then 20€) and from Brussels hourly reservation-free IC trains to Amsterdam

Either way book ASAP. You could already buy on b-europe without a pass (4€ booking fee per order instead of 2€ per train on eurail.com)

Let us know :)

thank you for such lovely and thorough and specific answer(s)

i was (so extremely frustratingly) juggling where to fly to and fly depart from (from ny)  and London was looking most affordable.  After your reply, Paris popped up as affordable for early May, w direct flight. 

So, due to lack of trains to London, We are now considering (unfortunately) skipping it.   I hope to buy a eurail pass tonight.  and i am looking forward to a view of actual available trains on there.  Wicked tip on b-europe booking fee per order being cheaper !!!

does that booking reservation from b-europe magically update on Eurail app once “booked”  ? 

After i buy the Eurailpass  is there a too Easy button to Mistakenly hit and “start” the pass “accidentally” ?

also.  wicked tip for Lille !!!!    if i were using an particular app (which one?)  would other “tips” arise,  ie.  Berlin to Bern,  might suggest a city in between where a TGV ran more frequently or something of that nature ?   or maybe this forum is best to ask such question ? 

No, pass and reservations are completely separate. The app can't know you have booked a reservation.

No, the pass activation requires multiple steps and confirmations. Activation means selecting a start date explicitly.

Use bahn.de, the German Railways website is a really good planner for all of Europe. It also shows when reservations are needed (very often accurate)

Trains run frequently in Germany, Switzerland and many other countries while seat reservations are optional so you can always stop en-route for an hour or two if you'd like

Some general advice and tricks :

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105 (whole thread is useful)

https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

You can always ask questions here when needed

i want to say thank you much for the replies !

also say i watched “getting ready to board train”

 https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/eurail-mobile-pass/getting-started

spent an hour on: https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

i have installed water pump and head gasket and distrubutor in my volvo. 

replaced hard drive and ram in computer. 

i am a licensed drone operator. 

i can NOT wrap my head around when and how to do things. 

i guess buying a eurail pass and adding it to “rail planner”  will shed some light. 

of course it is even more complicated w Flexi pass. 

does the reservation hold the seat or am i buying a ticket on rail planner. 

how and why is there a disconnect ?   just give up on me, i will keep trying. 

cheers !

ok.  if anybody still there.   im looking at May 6th.  my options for a train to amsterdam. 

trainline.com says the 3 hr trains are fully booked.   that means if i were to buy a rail pass flexi.  there is No way there will be a reservation ?  and maybe i shouldn't buy a rail pass. 

if i try again for amsterdam to berlin.  and there's nothing remotely fast. then again.  maybe it is bus only for me ?    

how and why would i have to buy a pass to know if the reservations are full. ?  and it looked like railplanner would allow me to buy the seat reservation, but now i see a link to eurail ?  

bahn.de is cool but not giving tons of options. 

maybe google maps  gives the options ?  “oh amsterdam is fully booked.  take this local train to Lille and then hall ass to amsterdam.  where is that automated advice ? 

so frustrated folks.  im too late to go where trains run all the time and are plentiful ?

First things first : it was the middle of the night in Europe, that's why nobody answered

Second : the Eurail Pass is your ticket. You add it to the Rail Planner app and then you add trains to your trip and on the day it'll give you a QR-code (= your ticket). Then you need to add seat reservations on some high-speed trains. But for 95% of European trains you simply add the train to the app = QR-code, you board and find a free seat

Third : bahn.de is for planning, to get an idea of all the connections. Google maps can help but it won't show full trains. Remember that seat reservations are optional in Germany, Austria and not possible in Belgium or the Netherlands. Simply board the train

So you want to go to Amsterdam from London on 6th May ? It is Coronation Day so I expect everything to be fully booked but I'll have a look

Here is the only connection with available seats on 6th May :

- London St. Pancras - Bruxelles-Midi 19:34 - 22:38 30€

- overnight in Brussels

- on Sunday morning : hourly reservation-free IC train to Amsterdam (not Thalys ones, they are sold out)

You'll need 2 travel days for this journey or buy a regular ticket between Brussels and Amsterdam

Otherwise 8th May :

- London - Amsterdam 06:13 - 11:12 35€

These are your train options. Now onto the ferry updating]

https://www.stenalinetravel.com/

On 6th May :

- London Liverpool St - Harwich International 06:36 - 08:05 reservation-free train

- Harwich - Hoek van Holland 09:00 - 17:15 ferry (there's a 1h time difference between the UK and mainland Europe) 62.80€ (Eurail gives a 30% discount)

- Hoek van Holland - Schiedam subway 2-3€

- Schiedam - Amsterdam multiple reservation-free trains, simply add the one you take in the app

It willl be a beautiful journey :)

Same option on 7th or 8th May + there's also an overnight ferry on those dates. If you don't want to use a pass day (or won't buy a pass), there is this ticket : https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/london-to-amsterdam-by-ferry.htm

Let us know

folks this is too much

according to seat 61.  i cannot make a reservation online if  want a highspeed going from Barcelona to Paris ? 

 i would have to go to Spain train station ?    i am considering buying a 7 day flex  but no way of know if i can take a train on May 30th from Barcelona to Paris. 

those prices are above 230.  so i assume it is all booked out ? 

also considering trains from berlin to Bern    to  Milan to Lyon to Barcelona to Valencia to (local) to Valencia to Barcelona to Paris.   

i have literally no way of know if i can get trains ?   i have the buy the pass worry about not activating it?  use the yellow slider ?  or not  ?  ( i watched 4 20 minute videos and reservations are ridiculously screwed on some these, and if connecting train leaves because you are delayed you lose reservation)

so confused.  should i buy this pass ?  w refund ?  try and make reservations ?    Barcelona to Paris would be a reason to but i think i cant determine if it is available or not. the reservation. 

Don't worry, seat reservations for the Barcelona - Paris are available online until the train is full. They cost 37€ which is much better than the full price indeed. Book them ASAP though because this train is very popular. There is anyway always the option to go via Portbou along the coast and then take a TGV within France to Paris. I'll have a look at 30th May first -> at the moment both trains of the day are available in both 1st and 2nd class so that's great

On the other hand trains within Spain cannot be obtained online. There will be availability last-minute for Barcelona - Valencia, don't worry. There are multiple trains between the two. Simply book all of them at the first Spanish train station you encounter.

I'd buy the Eurail Pass 100% and make the Barcelona - Paris seat reservation ASAP. Everything else can wait or does not require seat reservations

To answer your other questions : if the inbound train is delayed, staff have to rebook you onto the later train at no extra cost (even 1st class if 2nd is full). Always speak to staff.

You do not have to activate the pass to book seat reservations. In most cases you do not even need a pass to book seats

Barcelona - Paris can be booked online only through the Interrail booking service.

It is currently showing availability on 30 May on both the 10.33 and 14.32 departures, passholder reservation is €37. You can only book this after purchasing a pass.

To sum up :

- Berlin - Bern optional reservation : 3€ per train (free with 1st class pass) on tickets.oebb.at or 4.50€ per journey (multiple trains) on bahn.de

- Bern - Milan 11€ direct train on tickets.oebb.at but can be done reservation-free Bern - Domodossola + regional train Domodossola - Milan

- Milan - Lyon direct train is not included. Either TGV to Chambéry (about 30€) + reservation-free regional train to Lyon OR Milan - Geneva (11€) + reservation-free regional train to Lyon (a bit longer)

- Lyon - Barcelona multiple options ranging from reservation-free to 37€. Let me know which one you'd like

- Barcelona - Valencia return 8-10€ book at any Spanish train station or even while you're in Germany or in Switzerland (it works !)

- Barcelona - Paris 37€ book ASAP

Do not hesitate for questions

wow. so you can see reservations are available ?   i can buy the barelona to paris reservation on Eurail.com ?

and do so without activating the pass ?
 

*seperately, only you can see  ??  if the reservations are available ? and interrail and europass are interchangeable for reservations  ?  i would be buying from usa euro  not inter .

(thank you!)

Yes as long as regular tickets are sold for your class (1st or 2nd) seat reservations are available + I checked on interrail.eu (same as eurail.com)

You do not need to activate the pass, only create an account on eurail.com and add the pass (but no need to set a starting date)

Just want to add that the advice in the first paragraph does not work for Eurostar, Thalys and TGVs to Belgium -> those have quotas

You can check on sncf-connect.com for regular tickets + I'm able to check on interrail.eu because I've bought a pass (but for a whole other trip)

Interrail and Eurail are exactly the same. If one can buy seats, the other can too

Btw if you're planning to travel on or around a holiday weekend (17-21st May and 27-29th May), I'd buy seat reservations in advance because a lot of people will be travelling

but yes i think i got this key piece of information wrong.  as long as one can buy seats, then there is seat reservations available. ?   second class question.

and going to repost.  will delete previous post. 

the as long as seats are available view = reservations are available. .  

is that for this Barcelona to Paris only train ? 

i thought seat 61 mentioned once the airline “like” pricing of high speed trains reaches a certain purchase price of above 130 euros, then passes are no longer accepted.  or around that number.  ?

also after i punch in may pass number to buy reservation, am i  yellow slider activating the barcelona to paris journey. or does it just sit there in my trip.    

what does sliding that slider (which i cant see, but saw on 4 videos) actually do ? 

and where is the pass activation ? 

and where can i reserve seats without a pass ?     for the Barcelona to Paris, it does not show on the B-europe site.

Barcelona - Paris and Milan - Chambéry are exceptions. You need to have bought a pass first (no need to activate it though) and book on eurail.com. You could also call SNCF tomorrow morning to book them (but they somehow don't accept all foreign credit cards)

For other legs see :

https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105

- tickets.oebb.at for Germany, Italy + the cross-border EC Switzerland - Italy

- bahn.de for Germany

- the b-europe link you have for Lyon - Montpellier/Narbonne/Perpignan on your way to Barcelona

Without a pass, you can book by phone Paris-Barcelona via a number of railways, see this post: