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Travelling to Venice over the Christmas period

  • May 18, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 17 views
P
Full steam ahead
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My wife and I (both seniors) will be traveling 1st class to Venice (except for the Eurostar legs) leaving London on 15.12, staying overnight in Lille and then going to Chambery the following day, staying overnight there  and onto Milan and then Venice on our third day.  We are leaving Venice on 4.1.27 and will do a similar journey coming back but not stop over in Lille.  Alternatively we may go from Chambery to Paris and take the Eurostar back from there.   

I used AI to ask whether or not it was worth purchasing interrail tickets, and the response was yes- because of price inflation over the Christmas period.  I have to say that we did a similar trip last Christmas and the prices were very high.  So my 1st question is - do you agree with that assessment?     Note - if we do not use Interrail then we have the option of using the Frecciarossa to and from Lyon as an alternative to the Chambery.

Ideally we don’t want to commit until after 1st August as this will be our first experience of traveling via Chambery instead of Lyon to get to Italy.  However AI advised it was better to make the decision now because Interrail reservations on Eurostar may get fully booked before then.    Do you agree with this assessment?  Is it really advisable to purchase Interrail tickets now and book reservations on Eurostar now to be sure of getting bookings over the Christmas period?   

2 replies

R
Railmaster
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  • rvdborgt
  • Railmaster
  • May 18, 2026

AI is not trustworthy.

Many trains can't be booked yet for that period. Eurostar can already be booked, but not the rest.

Domestic TGVs in France and the TGVs to Italy for that period can only be booked from 30/9:

https://www.sncf-connect.com/aide/l-ouverture-des-ventes

You could look at some regular TGV tickets when you book a long time in advance, to see what prices might be expected. But doing the maths for your travel dates is the real comparison.

The end of September/early October should still be early enough to book pass reservations on Eurostar for the dates you mentioned.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
Z
Engin-ius
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  • zagmund
  • Engin-ius
  • May 18, 2026

As above . . . AI is not trustworthy.

Note that December 15th is a Tuesday 10 days ahead of Christmas, so it’s not exactly going to be the busiest day ever.  It might well be busy (as in, higher than usual demand for tickets) but in my experience it wouldn’t be worth worrying about.

Wait until June (when the newer timetables will be out) and then price up the various legs of your trip on a similar set of dates in October or November.  That will give you an idea of the fares you can expect to pay in December or January.  If you think that demand will be sufficiently higher to push up the dynamic pricing then just use the base price above and add an extra 10% or 25% or whatever you think.

Then compare it with the price of the equivalent interrail and decide for yourself whether it’s worth it.

The interrail comes with the benefit of increased certainty - you will get a ticket (although mandatory reservations complicate things).  The advance fares may come with the benefit of lower price - you may get a cheaper fare or you may end up paying a load of money becuase one leg of your trip is really, really expensive and can’t be avoided.

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