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As an Inter-rail newbie I’m not clear exactly which stations are included in the pass, both in the UK and on the continent and wondered if it’s possible to check prior to purchasing to avoid additional costs later on? The online map only shows the main locations but we’d like to confirm whether other sections of our anticipated trip are included before purchasing the passes!  Specifically Reading to London and Marseille to Toulon. Would be grateful for your help. 

In UK; everything except Heathrow Express, London Underground, DLR, Trams and Metros in regional cities.

In France: All mainline rail, all SNCF. Not Paris Metro or RER or metros/trams.

Eurostar London - Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam has mandatory reservations at €30 that sell out well in advance.

French High speed TGV and Intercities also have mandatory reservations at either €10 or €20. The €10 price has a quouta, once that is sold the remaining seats are available at €20.

The pass covers rail companies, not stations as such. E.g. you take many trains from Köln Hbf to Hamburg. But if you would consider boarding a Flixtrain on that route, the pass won’t be valid. On all trains of Deutsche Bahn however, the pass is valid.

You can find the overview from all companies included in the pass here: https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/railway-companies . You can use the pass to get to 10.000’s of stations in Europe, huge or tiny, als long as you take trains that are covered by the pass.

Reading-London won’t come with an extra cost, Marseille-Toulon also not if you take TERs (Train Express Regional, regional trains in France)

Best take some time to familiarise yourself with reservations. They come in three kinds

  1. Trains with mandatory reservations (Like Eurostar, TGV, AVE, Frecce,...) like @Al_G mentioned above. These reservations are usually rather expensive, but these trains are usually very fast.
  2. Trains with optional reservations. You can board whichever train you like, and find an unreserved seat. But you’ll have to give way to passengers having reserved a seat. (all long distance traffic in Germany/Switzerland/Austria; ICE, IC, EC, Railjet,…, but also long distance trains in the UK). Cost is usually very minor (4,5-3 EUR per seat), and recommended to reserve on busy travel days (long weekends, summer weekends,...) or if you have specific seating wishes.
  1. Trains without any form of reservations (basically all other, mostly regional trains in Europe, with a multitude of names). Hop on, find a seat, and enjoy the ride.

Please check this topic to figure out on which routes you can expect extra seat reservations, how to reserve them via other ways than interrail and (in some cases) how to avoid them.

Feel free to come back to this forum, if you want good advice on your travel wishes, avoiding extortionate reservation fees and how to best plan or get reservations. It’s could difficult to navigate as a starter, but once you get the hang of it, interrailing is a very nice way to travel :)

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