Replies posted by SamCritch

32 Replies

L
LoraRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

Need help figuring out UK travel - Seat Reservations Required vs No Reservation

Plus here on the Interrail site - see “Mandatory reservations required”:https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/trains-country/trains-great-britain 

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N
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
L
LoraRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

Need help figuring out UK travel - Seat Reservations Required vs No Reservation

You also need seat reservations on LNER trains which run on the route London → York → Newcastle → Edinburgh. The reservation is free though.  Could you please provide a source that there is a reservation needed? I’ve used several LNER services last autumn and nobody asked me for a reservation... Sure:https://www.lner.co.uk/support/faq/tickets-booking/national-rail-travel-vouchers/can-i-use-interrail-passes-on-lner-trains/​​​​​​​

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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
L
LoraRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

Need help figuring out UK travel - Seat Reservations Required vs No Reservation

P.S. It’s approximately 4 hours Edinburgh → London.

26
N
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
L
LoraRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

Need help figuring out UK travel - Seat Reservations Required vs No Reservation

You also need seat reservations on LNER trains which run on the route London → York → Newcastle → Edinburgh. The reservation is free though. https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/make-a-reservation/I would book York → Edinburgh and Edinburgh → London through that site. There’s usually availability. If you’re travelling first class they’ll even bring you a hot meal and drinks.On the GWR trains from London to Bath, for example, you can just get on board. If the train is full, you may not get a seat until someone gets off, but you’ll be allowed to stand or sit on your bag.

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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
W
WilmaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

How to use DB reservation in Spain ?

This evening I popped up to the NS International ticket desk at Amsterdam’s Centraal Station (and admired the amazing new underground bike parking for 11,000 bikes on the way in). The person who helped me (who was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable) said that NS can only reserve to Barcelona with their booking system, but the whole RENFE booking service isn’t connected to theirs. She was aware that DB is connected to RENFE, but said Spain has always been a problem for NS - they can reserve/purchase pretty much anywhere in Europe, but not Spain.Her advice was either to call DB, SNCB or SNCF, or to find someone in Spain who could make the reservations for me.

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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
W
WilmaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

How to use DB reservation in Spain ?

Thanks, I’ll try the NS International counter here in Amsterdam and see if it’s possible there. I’m crossing Spain in March to go to a meeting in Portugal. I’m planning to go (Amsterdam → Brussels → Valence → ) Barcelona → Madrid → Sevilla → Huelva → Ayamonte (the last bit by local bus), cross into Portugal on the little ferry and then take the train to Faro.I haven’t even been able to get regular tickets Barcelona → Huelva from the RENFE website (you have to break the journey into separate Barcelona → Madrid, Madrid → Sevilla and Sevilla → Huelva sections), so being able to get an Interrail ticket and reserve from here would be great. 

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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
W
WilmaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

How to use DB reservation in Spain ?

Can you reliably get RENFE seat reservations in the DB app or is it only on paper? That’s great! How do you get them?

10
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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
N
nk7Rail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

Can't book a seat reservation and I won't be able to make my plane on the date

Have you tried looking at availability to Lille and getting a connecting local train, or to Rotterdam and getting off early? Sometimes the Eurostar has fixed numbers of seats to different destinations. Also worth mentioning that P&O ferries allow foot passengers on their Dover to Calais route again now so you could get a train to Dover and then travel from Calais to Brussels:https://www.poferries.com/en/routes/dover-to-calais/travel-information/travelling-as-a-foot-passenger#:~:text=We%20are%20very%20pleased%20to,to%20miss%20out%20on%20exploring! 

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M
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
E
Keeps calm and carries on
Eric OKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Eurostar how many times?

In my experience on the Eurostar, your seat reservation will not let you into the ticket gates automatically, you have to go and show it to a real person sitting at a desk (they’re always very polite and helpful). That person will check you have a valid Interrail pass, and that you have your pass activated for today. I’m not sure they check the journey in the app though. 

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S
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
D
Full steam ahead
dennistdFull steam ahead
posted in Train connections & reservations

Interrail not valid on ICE NL->DE 17 June - 18 August 6:00-16:00

Oh that’s a pain, taking the local train Venlo → Köln adds quite a lot of time. I’d rather just pay more for a reservation, TGV- or Eurostar-style, than have an outright ban.

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Camilo.
9 months ago
J
Keeps calm and carries on
justin1123Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Trains in Spain without reservations

When I was in Spain (a year ago now), I found it very difficult to find any trains which didn’t need reservations except local commuter trains radiating from bigger cities. That was problematic as I could not reserve trains from outside Spain - I tried calling the RENFE international number and they told me to go to a larger station once I got to Spain.Good tip about using the DB planner or DB Navigator app. I had several RENFE apps installed at the same time, and some of them seemed to show more useful information than others.The positive was that the person who helped me in San Sebastian station spoke very good English, knew the train system extremely well, and was very helpful. Ditto for someone who helped me at Salamanca station when I’d missed the last train of the day towards Medina del Campo.

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Y
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
D
dimplethedancerRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

London to Paris on December 16th

According to an article I read in the latest edition of Hidden Europe magazine (by the authors of “Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide”), P&O is the only ferry company which accepts foot passengers on the Dover-Calais ferry route, and then only on 4 sailings a day. It’s worth noting that most of the ferry companies do allow you to turn up on a bicycle, even when they don’t accept foot passengers. So the creative purchase of a beaten up bike in Dover might be an option.I travelled as a foot passenger on the Portsmouth-Caen ferry route quite recently, which worked fine (although it’s a 30-minute bus ride from Caen city to the ferry port). 

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L
Keeps calm and carries on
1 year ago
Chak Sine Lee
Chak Sine LeeNew aboard
asked in Train connections & reservations

Eurail long transfer time

Hi @Chak Sine Lee I would also not recommend staying in the Gare du Nord (where you will be arriving in Paris from London) or Gare de l’Est (where you are probably leaving from if you’re taking the TGV to Germany - it’s next door to Gare du Nord). There are lots of police, but the stations and the area around them do not “feel” very safe at night and there are quite a lot of people hanging around who do not look very honest.I would suggest one of the following:Take a room in a hotel or a hostel next to the station, even if only for a short night - there are lots of them. Put your luggage in a locker in the “consigne à bagages” in the station (left-luggage area - don’t forget to check the time it’s open - I think the one in Gare du Nord opens at 06:00), take the metro to a beautiful, safer area of the city like l’île de la Cité, the Champs-Elysées, and walk around for a few hours. This will feel safer if you’re travelling with another person, but I would personally feel safe doing it. T

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Railmaster
1 year ago
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MetroTrekkerRight on track
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

From the UK to France - Inbound/Outbound

Oh, interesting you can use the home-country travel days so liberally - I never knew that and always thought you had to be exiting or entering the country by train. Thanks for the update!

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A
Railly clever
1 year ago
M
MetroTrekkerRight on track
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

From the UK to France - Inbound/Outbound

[snip] Thank you for this. So if I didn’t do the Eurostar the airport run would be valid as it’s exiting the country? Or does it have to be to an outside train station?  @MetroTrekker I don’t think exiting the country by plane counts - it has to be exiting by train. So yes, it has to be to a train station.

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Railly clever
1 year ago
M
MetroTrekkerRight on track
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

From the UK to France - Inbound/Outbound

Hi @MetroTrekker ,I’ve got a few answers for you. I’m a UK citizen, but have lived in NL for many years, so have been to the UK (and back) on an Interrail pass. In answer to your questions: Question 1 - Any journey you make inside your country of residence has to be part of the journey (on the same day, I believe) to exit or enter the country. So you could do Southampton or Manchester to London to catch the Eurostar to Lille, but you cannot do Southampton to Manchester airport on a different day. I think the app may also reject a Southampton to Manchester itinerary unless it’s part of the same day’s travel to leave the country, in which case it will ask “would you like to use up your country-exit day on this journey?” Question 2 - usually the guard/conductor on the train scans the QR code of the Interrail pass in the app. Sometimes they just look at it to check it’s validated for that day, and sometimes they just glance at it and say “ah, Interrail ticket eh?” The app does reject certa

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A
Railly clever
1 year ago
El Ra
El RaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

Paris Nord to Amsterdam Centraal

@El Ra you’re welcome! It’s worth mentioning that there’s a direct non-Thalys train (called Intercity Brussel) from Bruxelles-Midi to Amsterdam Centraal pretty much every hour all through the day, and you don’t need a reservation to go on it. It doesn’t take that much longer than the Thalys and it goes through Antwerp, so if you can get a regular TGV from Lille→Brussels (or change the reservation from Paris to go to Brussels) it won’t take that much longer to get to Amsterdam.There’s usually more availability Brussels ↔ Paris, so if I’m travelling from Amsterdam (where I live) to Paris I always check if there are seats on that part of the route if I can’t get a seat reservation for the whole route. I also do that for Brussels ↔ London as sometimes there are seats available between those two cities, even on the same trains which are full Amsterdam ↔ London - I think they put passengers for different destinations in different parts of the train. 🤷

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M
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
El Ra
El RaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

Paris Nord to Amsterdam Centraal

Hi @El Ra did you book to travel from Paris to Amsterdam on the Thalys (high-speed train) or on normal trains? If the latter, then you don’t need a reservation on the sections from Lille to Antwerp Centraal (Anvers/Antwerpen in French/Dutch) and from Antwerp Centraal to Amsterdam. You can just get on the train with your activated Interrail/Eurail pass. So it might be you only need a seat reservation on the (TER?) train from Paris to Lille.

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M
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
S
sudhaRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

Order number on Eurail did not convert to reservation

Hi @sudha occasionally people don’t receive their reservations for some reason (it happened to me once). In that case you can fill in the form here and they will contact you:https://eurail.zendesk.com/hc/en-001/requests/newMany thanks, Sam

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Railly clever
1 year ago
L
LisanneneNew aboard
asked in Train connections & reservations

Trains not in app?

A slightly better option is Rotterdam - Paris - Barcelona - Madrid - Vigo - Porto. Also worth noting that if you go Rotterdam → Brussels → Lyon/Valence you can pick up the TGV to Barcelona and you don’t need to walk/metro across Paris to get from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon.

5
R
Railmaster
1 year ago
L
LisanneneNew aboard
asked in Train connections & reservations

Trains not in app?

Hi @Lisannene there are a couple of main routes to Porto, but only two routes to actually get into Portugal by train (via Vigo to Porto or via Badajoz and Entroncamento). I think you’ve got the following challenges depending on which route you choose:Thalys to Paris - it’s possible to reserve in the app or on the Interrail site, but there’s a lot of demand TGV from Brussels to Paris - it’s possible to reserve in the app, but again, there’s a lot of demand (note it is possible to travel on local trains Antwerpen → Lille → Paris) TGV from Paris to Bordeaux - it’s possible to reserve in the app, but again, there’s a lot of demand TGV from Paris to Barcelona, then on to Madrid - you can only reserve via the Interrail reservations service (with a paper reservation) or at a local station in Spain. Renfe trains in Spain are in the planner, but most trains are compulsory reservation and you can pretty much only reserve at a station in Spain (I tried the phone line and the person I spoke to tol

5
R
Railmaster
1 year ago
Laura di Caporiacco
Laura di CaporiaccoRail rookie
posted in Train connections & reservations

I have to take a train but the seat reservation is no longer available. What to do?

Hi @Laura di Caporiacco if you’re travelling on the Thalys from Cologne to Paris or the Deutsche Bahn ICE to Paris (via one of the other stations in Germany), then I’m afraid a reservation is compulsory:https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/high-speed-trains/thalyshttps://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/high-speed-trains/iceYou could try going to a station in Germany and seeing if they can get you a seat reservation, or you could try another route like going to Brussels, Strasbourg or Basel first?

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S
1 year ago
F
FincholyRail rookie
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

How does the app work? Showing QR code for trains not requiring reservation sufficient?

@Fincholy as other people said, usually if you haven’t reserved a seat then you just show your pass QR code to the conductor. Sometimes they scan it or they just want you to scroll down to see that it’s valid today.On trains which need both a reservation and an Interrail/Eurail pass, it varies. Sometimes the conductor doesn’t check the seat reservation (the seat is just reserved from one place to another) and they only want to see the ticket. In other places, they check both - for example on the Eurostar your reservation acts as a ticket, but you can’t get through the automatic check-in gates with it, you have to go to a real person and show them both your reservation and that your Interrail/Eurail ticket is valid today. They check your reservation in the computer and then let you through.I love just hopping on a train. In the UK, for example, reservation is only compulsory on GNER routes. On other routes, including GWR, you can just hop on as they always have a few seats unreserved fo

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Y
Full steam ahead
1 year ago
M
MartalRail rookie
asked in Train connections & reservations

urgent! no reservation train

@Martal as I understand it, seat reservations are only compulsory on some international DB trains such as the ICE to Denmark or Paris:https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/high-speed-trains/iceI don’t think the ones to Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands are compulsory, e.g:https://support-en.nsinternational.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15032/~/ice-%C2%BB-facilities-on-boardJudging by the people I’ve seen sitting on suitcases at the ends of ICE carriages I think a lot of people just turn up with a ticket.This is also useful:https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/ice.htm

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Full steam ahead
1 year ago
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Full steam ahead
SamCritchFull steam ahead
asked in Train connections & reservations

Paying for Thalys seat reservation with Thalys vouchers

That you need to contact Thaly and ask. You need to buy the reservations directly from Thaly in that case. https://www.thalys.com/de/en/help/contact   Thanks @AnnaB 

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Railmaster
1 year ago
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