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Asking for suggestions for a travel plan

  • 28 September 2022
  • 33 replies
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  • Keeps calm and carries on
  • 18 replies

I bought 5-day Eurail Global pass and now designing the travel plan. Please help me plan. Thanks a lot.

17th Oct Paris to Nice, reaching Nice at around 4pm

18th Oct Nice to Rome, reaching Rome at around 10pm 

** 21st Oct Rome to Venice *planning not to include this trip in 5-day Eurail pass

22nd Oct Venice to Geneva arriving Geneva in the night

24th Oct Geneva to Zurich starting from Geneva in the afternoon

25th Oct Zurich to Paris starting from Zurich in the afternoon

Looking for some suggestions on the above trip. 

If I buy separate ticket for Rome to Venice, what would be the best option?

Thanks.

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Best answer by Yorkie 28 September 2022, 22:44

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33 replies

Userlevel 7
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Thank you. The above information is very helpful but it stuck at

Eurail/Interrail pass cover number

I have a mobile pass. It is six character long and the website is not accepting that as a valid number.

What to do? Please help.

 

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Please help. I need to book Geneva to Paris reservation urgently for 26 Oct.

Thanks.

 

Here is information about the known ways to book the TGV from Geneva to Paris.

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105?postid=37042#post37042

 

Please be aware that the cost for the seat reservation is very high for the international travel. If you take a regional train from Geneva to the nearest station in France where the TGV stops it will be much cheaper. 

Thank you. The above information is very helpful but it stuck at

Eurail/Interrail pass cover number

I have a mobile pass. It is six character long and the website is not accepting that as a valid number.

What to do? Please help.

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

 

Please help. I need to book Geneva to Paris reservation urgently for 26 Oct.

Thanks.

 

Here is information about the known ways to book the TGV from Geneva to Paris.

https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105?postid=37042#post37042

 

Please be aware that the cost for the seat reservation is very high for the international travel. If you take a regional train from Geneva to the nearest station in France where the TGV stops it will be much cheaper. 

Userlevel 7
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Works fine for me from Bellegarde - Paris Gare De Lyon through b-europe, up to the point of payment.

 

Not sure what else to say to you.

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There are several different connections for this, including ones connecting to Ouigo TGV which are not valid with passes.

 

Look for a connection via Bellegarde (Ain) then book the Bellegarde - Paris section here https://travel.b-europe.com/eurail-ge/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish

That will give the €10 or €20 reservations.

 

The connections Geneve - Bellegarde do not require booking.

The above suggestion I got when I tried to book Geneva to Paris seat reservation and failed each time.

Then I tried to book the Bellegarde (Ain)-Paris leg through Eurail website following the above suggestion, but the same error is coming at the last moment. The error is:

Please try to find an alternate connection. The unavailable leg will be removed from your cart.

Please help. I need to book Geneva to Paris reservation urgently for 26 Oct.

Thanks.

 

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I bought a second class ticket from SNCF portal for Bordeaux to Paris for 20th Oct (TGV INOUI).

I now would like to cancel the ticket and use a Eural pass day for the above travel.

What would be the cancellation charges?

It is written that: TGV INOUI: on the day before and the day of departure, the ticket exchange/refund fee increases to €15. 

So if I cancel today, how much do I have to pay?

Thanks for the help.

https://www.sncf.com/en/itinerary-booking/exchanges-cancellations

After-sales options for Loisir tickets (Prem's, 2ⁿᵈ and 1ˢᵗ)

  • up to 31 days before your train departs: you can exchange your Loisir ticket free of charge, or cancel it and get a full refund
  • 2-30 days before departure: if you request an exchange or refund, you will be charged a fee of €5 per person per journey
  • TGV INOUI: on the day before and the day of departure, the ticket exchange/refund fee increases to €15  
  • Intercités requiring booking: on the day before and the day of departure, the exchange/refund fee increases to 40% of the ticket price, with a minimum of €5 and a maximum of €12
  • starting 30 minutes before departure, you cannot exchange your ticket more than twice (same day, same journey). If you make an exchange during this period, the ticket is no longer refundable
  • once the train has departed, Loisir tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded

 

 

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I bought a second class ticket from SNCF portal for Bordeaux to Paris for 20th Oct (TGV INOUI).

I now would like to cancel the ticket and use a Eural pass day for the above travel.

What would be the cancellation charges?

It is written that: TGV INOUI: on the day before and the day of departure, the ticket exchange/refund fee increases to €15. 

So if I cancel today, how much do I have to pay?

Thanks for the help.

Userlevel 7
Badge +3

There are several different connections for this, including ones connecting to Ouigo TGV which are not valid with passes.

 

Look for a connection via Bellegarde (Ain) then book the Bellegarde - Paris section here https://travel.b-europe.com/eurail-ge/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish

That will give the €10 or €20 reservations.

 

The connections Geneve - Bellegarde do not require booking.

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I am trying to buy Geneve to Paris (TGV) reservation for 26th Oct.

I am always getting following error:

Please try to find an alternate connection. The unavailable leg will be removed from your cart.

Can anyone please help.

Thanks.

Userlevel 7
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When will you be travelling? A nice route is to go via Lausanne - Montreux - Gstaad to Interlaken. 

 

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I will be using a Eurail pass day for travel from Paris to Interlaken (Ost).

Can anyone pls suggest an economical route? I am sure that would be scenic too.

I plan to start from Paris around 9am.

Thanks a lot.

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I have an international flight to catch on 27th Oct from Paris. I will travel to Paris either from Geneva or from Zurich (not decided yet) using Eurail pass. My question is a bit odd:

Should I travel back to Paris on 25th or on 26th as I could not guess the reliability of the train service from Geneva or Zurich to Paris? Certainly I would not like to miss the international flight at any cost.

Whether 24hrs gap between arrival to and departure from Paris should be enough?

Thanks a lot.

As a personal view, if I was in your position I would certainly be happier travelling the day before to Paris for such a vital flight. Although trains are reliable, there is always the risk of an external issue causing a delay of such magnitude that you miss the flight. 

I would probably also look for accommodation near the airport with easy transport at the appropriate time - I hate Paris hotels, but they can be a necessary evil.

As an example I recently travelled back from Brussels to London on Eurostar. We travelled on The Tuesday afternoon from Cologne to Brussels along with many booked on the late Tuesday Eurostar. They had about 2 hours connection time. An incident required a diversion and the train finally arrived 1.5 hours late -,A lot of stressed people. We simply strolled  to the local hotel, had a drink or 2 and a meal. a good nights sleep and then a mid morning stroll before checking in about an hour before a lunchtime departure.

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We will be going from Interlaken to Lucerne on 23rd Oct and then Lucerne to Zurich on 24th Oct.

We are a group of three.

Would it be cheaper if I buy the ticket now online in comparison to buying on the day of the travel?

Should we buy Half fare travel card? We also plan to visit Jungfrauch and Mt. Titlis. 

Can we get any discount if we have Eurail pass for Swiss train ticket. We may not be using Eurail passes on that day though.

Thanks very much.

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I have an international flight to catch on 27th Oct from Paris. I will travel to Paris either from Geneva or from Zurich (not decided yet) using Eurail pass. My question is a bit odd:

Should I travel back to Paris on 25th or on 26th as I could not guess the reliability of the train service from Geneva or Zurich to Paris? Certainly I would not like to miss the international flight at any cost.

Whether 24hrs gap between arrival to and departure from Paris should be enough?

Thanks a lot.

Userlevel 7
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Reservations in Switzerland are generally a waste of money (in my opinion) and almost nobody makes them. Except for the few special panoramic express trains.

Userlevel 7
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  1. You are advised not to activate your pass until the first day of your travels. Then it will automatically create a travel day and you can then transfer trains from your trip to your pass and create a QR code for that day. Until you board any train you can remove it from your pass, and if you wish add an alternative.
  2. You can purchase reservations at any time to suit your plans, often even up to the day of departure. In many countries you can purchase from any station and many main stations have an international ticket office. 
  3. If a train is showing as reservations not necessary then you can indeed get onto the train and stand, unless the operator deems it unsafe to leave so full, then they will remove as many as needed, but that is a rare event.
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Sorry for putting up three questions:

  1. The Eurail app downloaded in my phone is asking me to activate my Eurail pass. Can I not add trains to pass without activation? The first day I activate the pass and then add the train in the pass, is that day will be counted as one day of travel? I am not travelling until Oct 17 (Paris to Nice) though and I have already purchased reservation for the travel by 10:20am train to Nice from Paris Gare du Lyon.
  2. Am I allowed to purchase reservation after arriving in Europe? I have already purchased Eurail pass from my home country.
  3. Zurich to Geneve train in Eurail pass shows no reservation needed. Does that mean I can get into any specific train even if all the unreserved seats are filled in that train? That is, am I allowed to travel standing?

Thanks a lot.

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I am planning to spend 3 full days in Switzerland. I would certainly like to visit Mount Titlis and Jungfrau. I will be coming to Switzerland from Milan.I will be using a Eurail pass. Could anyone please suggest an itinerary? Thanks very much.

 

Userlevel 7
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My travel requires changes between trains. What happens if I miss a train (for which I have a reservation) due to late arrival of previous train (so that I miss the change)? In that case, can I take this reservation for the next train?

Talk with the staff in such a case. First in the late train. Sometimes, they can let the connecting train wait for a bit. If not, they should be able to advise what you should do. In general, your reservation should be rebooked free of charge. If there's no time to do that before the next train, then talk with the staff of the next train before you board.

If the next train does not require a reservation, then you can get a full refund from the place where you booked it.

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I will be using Eurail pass. My travel requires changes between trains. What happens if I miss a train (for which I have a reservation) due to late arrival of previous train (so that I miss the change)? In that case, can I take this reservation for the next train? Thanks a lot.

Userlevel 7
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On the day when I will be using my Eurail pass, can I also use the pass in Paris metro or Rome metro network?

No you can't. The pass is not valid in metro, tram or bus (with few exceptions). Only in trains run by one of the participating companies. In Rome, that does include the suburban train services, but not the metro. In Paris, that does not even include the RER train services because the responsible authority decided not to take part in Interrail/Eurail.

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I have a Eurail pass. On the day when I will be using my Eurail pass, can I also use the pass in Paris metro or Rome metro network? Thanks.

Userlevel 7
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This is a question reg. reservation. I have a Eurail pass.

My reservation is from Paris to Nice on Oct 17. Can I discontinue my journey at Cannes and take some other local train to Nice from Cannes at a later point of the day? Do I have to notify this discontinuation of journey at Cannes station?

Thanks very much.

You can leave the train whenever you please and no you don’t have to inform anyone, even if you are fluent in French you’d probably confuse station staff by trying to do so.

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This is a question reg. reservation. I have a Eurail pass.

My reservation is from Paris to Nice on Oct 17. Can I discontinue my journey at Cannes and take some other local train to Nice from Cannes at a later point of the day? Do I have to notify this discontinuation of journey at Cannes station?

Thanks very much.

Userlevel 7
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Just to be clear:

The trip part of your app is merely a diary of your intentions and a history of past activity. Until you add a train to your pass it is simply that and has no validity for travel. You can add, change or remove from your trip at will.

Every train you travel on using your pass must be added to your trip and, before boarding, transferred to your pass by moving the slider. That validates your travel on that train. Until you actually board the train there is no problem deactivating individual trains and adding new ones, but you can’t cancel the travel day after midnight the day before. This is why you are advised not to add to your pass until you are sure you are travelling that day.

The first train of the day will then create a travel day and by selecting the show ticket button a QR code will be created for the day, and this with the listing text will be your ticket. This is what you show when required and all the inspector will check is that it is for the current day and the specific train is listed. On some trains also requiring a reservation he will look at this separately. 

The inspector is not interested in what day of your travel you are on, only that it is valid for his train.

As you travel on further trains you follow the same process - add train to your trip and move it to your pass before boarding.

So you can travel to VM on any train that day simply by deleting the train the planner has added and replacing it with your choice. There is a half hourly service from Nice To VM from early hours.

To find the choice to make your selection you can simply open the planner and search Nice to VM at the appropriate time, choose your train and add to your trip then to your pass.

I assure you that the planner is up to date for these trains, despite what others say, but if you see a train in another planner or at the station it is simple to add it manually.

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