Replies posted by BrendanDB

1459 Replies

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NaJoFriRight on track
asked in Train connections & reservations

Seat reservations in the Netherlands and Belgium

We wanted to continue to Lille via Kortrijk / Courtrai. There seems to be a TER-train from Kortrijk, so we can avoid those crazy French seat reservations.  Correct, (almost) hourly. The train couples in Kortrijk and continues as IC to Gent and Antwerp. So you don’t even need to change (usually, exceptions possible. listen well to the announcements or ask staff) in Kortrijk. In Antwerp you can take the hourly, non reservable IC to Rotterdam and Amsterdam.If you want to go to Brussels, it’s more convenient to take a train to Tournai, to connect to ordinary IC to Brussels and beyond.

6
N
5 hours ago
N
NaJoFriRight on track
asked in Train connections & reservations

Seat reservations in the Netherlands and Belgium

Indeed + it’s easy to avoid cross border High Speed trains between France - Belgium and the Netherlands, with their expensive seat reservation.If you have concrete questions for your itinerary (don’t forget to mention travel date and times), feel free to ask. 

6
N
5 hours ago
M
MuhsinRail rookie
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

Need to convert EU rail to interrail

No need to convert. You’re good to go. As you’ll probably have a valid Indian Passport, stick with Eurail. No questions will be asked if you show them your Indian passport.

3
M
8 hours ago
O
OnneRail rookie
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

any help with putting up a travel itinerary for Schengen countries and what passes to book

That’s a very broad question 😅Answering depends on how much time you have on your holiday, when you’re planning your trip and what you want to visit. Take a map, and do some research where you would like to go.Best use www.bahn.com for your train travel planning to get an indication of the connection and how much time it’ll take you. If you’re looking for dates next your, no single timetable will be available. Than just pick a random date somewhere next week to get an indication. 

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T
Full steam ahead
2 days ago
K
Keeps calm and carries on
karinkaKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

night train summer 2024

Berlin-Paris will open 3 months in advance (like all NightJet-connections), Stockholm Narvik 60 days. Just a couple of days patience and you’ll be able to book :)

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K
Keeps calm and carries on
2 days ago
Eilis
EilisNew aboard
asked in Ask the community

Looking for route suggestions luxembourg - Belgium - Netherlands - denmark

Make sure to check ordinary tickets too, I'm not sure a pass will be best value for your plans. Train travel in Luxemburg (actually all public transport) is completely free, and rather cheap in Belgium if you can score a multi-pass (domestic Belgian railways product, not a Eurail pass).Check timetables and prices for Belgium here: https://www.belgiantrain.be/enYou probably already paid for your train and bus ticket (from any destination in Belgium) for the Springsteen concert in Belgium (probably included in the ticket price, best check it).Leuven is recommended to stay when going to/ coming from Werchter. Plenty of special festival buses will get you from Leuven to Werchter and back. Leuven is a good place to visit and easy base in the middle of Belgium to discover Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, Liège,... since distances in Belgium are rather short and trains frequent. You can get practically anywhere in the Benelux by public transport, so everything is possible. But in two weeks y

1
BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
8 days ago
M
Keeps calm and carries on
Marie NoisetteKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Train connections & reservations

Kolding-Hamburg : 1 seat reservation + 1 full ticket

1. The easiest is that the person without Interrail buys a ticket without seat reservation. Then get them in one go here: https://travel.b-europe.com/dsb-rail/en/booking#TravelWish. Or just ask your neighbours politely to switch, should the ordinary ticket and reservation already been made.2. Never took the ferry from Hirsthals before. But trains run every half hour, pick an IC to Hamburg that provides some buffer, in case you should mis the earlier train. 

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M
Keeps calm and carries on
17 days ago
J
jenjabRight on track
asked in Ask the community

Amsterdam to London in the summer

They are constructing a new Eurostar terminal. Because of this there are no trains Amsterdam to London from mid June to December.  You need to change. But there are options without mandatory reservation to Bruxelles.  What are those options? I don't see any. Thank you The Intercity to Brussels, from Amsterdam/Rotterdam. Leaves every hour, no seat reservations needed. Slower than Eurostar, but much cheaper and much more flexible. Timetables don’t seem to be updated yet to day. This is nothing to worry about. August is still quite far away in Railway terms. There”s probably some uncertainty in the planner yet. They should show up somewhere next in the weeks.In in the unlikely case the IC to Brussels wouldn’t go in the midst of high season, there’s also an Alternative via Roosendaal. But wait a few weeks, and then get back to us if you can’t figure the schedules out. Best reserve a Brussels-London Eurostar in the afternoon, to have ample of time to get to Brussels and for

7
J
17 days ago
O
OCTravelersRight on track
asked in Train connections & reservations

bruxelles midi - Platform Map? Do we have enough time to Transfer?

When are you travelling? Note that there are many works going on the next weeks, on the Brussels-Luxemburg line, with replacement busses or longer detours. The most obvious connection the next two weeks is indeed via Liège.If you travel later (after 13th of May) Connection should work out fine outside of rush hours, no problem to take an earlier train. The train to Luxemburg starts in Brussels Zuid/Midi, so it should be on the platform 10 to 20 minutes before departure. Enough time time to find a good seat. With a bit of luck, there’s an I6-carriage in the consist, consisting of separate compartments of 6 seats. Making it a far more comfortable option, but with less nice views, than the Liège-Luxemburg train.

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BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
18 days ago
Ivy Oh
Keeps calm and carries on
Ivy OhKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Ask the community

Seat Reservation fares - discrepancy between Raileurope & Eurail

Raileurope seems allright. The SNCF sells seat reservations in two batches, an early bird version of 10 EUR per seat when booking in advance when the trains have plenty of availability, and 20 EUR per seat when a certain passenger number threshold has been reached.The Eurail website says clearly prices from 12 EUR. So I think you’ll eventually pay the same I guess, when proceeding in the bookings.

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Ivy Oh
Keeps calm and carries on
22 days ago
M
martinsjuuuRail rookie
asked in Ask the community

How do I use the eurail pass without a seat reservation?

The clock on the QR-code is to prevent fare dodging by screenshots. Best not activate a travel day until just before boarding your first train of the day! You never know what happens (you getting ill, severe delays, bad weather, strikes,… you risk losing travel days otherwise. They cannot be de-activated on the travel day itself, only before.   Seat reservations cannot be booked via the app. Use the Eurail reservation module or www.raileurope.com (desktop version only, see below, Portuguese version available, very recommended). Seat reservations are seperate from your pass. Show the pdf with the reservation and the qr-code of the pass upon inspection.   Indeed, just find a free seat and enjoy the journey.When are you travelling to London? Get your seat reservations asap via www.raileurope.com (desktop version only, add the rail pass you have in the search module below. “adicionar pase de trem”. Raileurope also has a Portuguese version). Get them as soon as possible, Eurostar tickets Lo

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R
Railmaster
22 days ago
S
SiraRail rookie
asked in Routes & destinations

How many trips on one day

You can take as many trains as you want, on a travel day. 1 or 25 trains. Several times up on down the same trajectory or a circle around. Doesn't matter. Everything is possible, it's very flexible. 

3
ralderton
Railmaster
25 days ago
Rachel Russell-Smith
Keeps calm and carries on
Rachel Russell-SmithKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Travelling by train

11 days London to Belgium-Amsterdam-Cologne-Paris

1st of May is labour day, so a public holiday, a lot of people make a long weekend out of it. + There are some school holidays in Belgium and the Netherlands. So you'll best decide quite quickly before all remaining options run out. All the alternatives were given :) If you want to completely shake up your itinerary, you can go for the ferry Harwich-Hoek van Holland, visit Amsterdam first. Then Belgium/Brussels, then Paris, Afterwards back to London with the Eurostar.Or otherwise the Flixbus London-Bruges, good option, with a nice break on the Calais-Dover ferry.Eurostar is one of the most annoying trains with Eurail, very convenient product, but horribly expensive last-minute and inflexible. 

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BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
26 days ago
Rachel Russell-Smith
Keeps calm and carries on
Rachel Russell-SmithKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Travelling by train

11 days London to Belgium-Amsterdam-Cologne-Paris

I’m going to take the defence of Brussels here 😉The centre of Brussels is indeed a bit meh, especially around the North and Zuid/Midi stations a lot of tourists only see. But it’s a city of neighbourhoods, kinda bit difficult city to appreciate than e.g. Bruges. But it’s definitely worth of your time if you are a city person and up for some discovery in less obvious neighbourhoods. Walk 10-15 minutes uphill from Midi station to St. Gilles neighbourhood, and you’ll have a completely other vibe (that is much more pleasant).It has wonderful museums and a vibrant cultural scene, and if you venture out of the centre towards the east you have lovely neighbourhoods and architecture, with lots of nice bars and restaurants, beautiful parks and a totally different experience than the bit gloomy centre. You can easily spend 3-4 days there, if you’re visiting the best museums. If you want the quick basics, agreeing Ghent (my hometown) is a slightly more favourable base, if you plan to whistle-sto

22
BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
26 days ago
C
Claudia ZeiskeNew aboard
asked in Eurail & Interrail Passes

Hurtigrouten

Some years ago it was the case that Short routes could only be booked throw the Norwegian site. Best to compare also prices in NOK and EUR. It’s still the case. The international websites always tends to lead you to the cruise variants, not the ferry options.https://www.hurtigruten.com/nb-no/praktisk-informasjon/havn-til-havn#gods-og-bil

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BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
26 days ago
sirin
sirinRight on track
asked in Ask the community

zuschlag German rail pass

The Brenner route requires an additional supplement (no matter which pass you have): you can find more information here: https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/about-reservations/trains-with-additional-supplements

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A
Railly clever
26 days ago
L
Keeps calm and carries on
LeaithKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Ask the community

trying to understand the train line help

It's difficult without dates to help. When are you planning to travel?To plan, best use www.bahn.com, they have updated timetables for almost all of Europe.   

3
L
Keeps calm and carries on
27 days ago
Z
ZagabriaRight on track
asked in Ask the community

How much extra buy ticket for Eurostar?

About 35 eur. They are a tad expensive. Know that seat reservations on Eurostar are limited (very limited on Amsterdam-Brussel-Paris route) , get them as soon as you have a concrete travel date.Eurostars Amsterdam Paris, can be avoided by taking the IC to Brussels, and taking regional trains to Lille, from where you can get a TGV from 10 EUR per seat reservation.

6
Z
24 days ago
N
Full steam ahead
nikita2007Full steam ahead
asked in Ask the community

Reservation night train

You need to select a discount, "Eurail/Interrail Global pass"No more seats available for this train it seems, there are some couchettes available. Get them asap (54 EUR for a Couchette Dresden Basel).

3
A
Railly clever
28 days ago
C
ChavenhamRight on track
asked in Ask the community

Help Freiburg - Bruxels

Seat reservations are not linked to the rail planner app. They have to be made separately. Each train you take needs to be registered in the app. The first train of the day will trigger add a travel day, make sure do that only just before departure. Your app has the ticket (qr code and travel days) and functions as a sort of travel diary, so that Interrail /Eurail knows which rail company to reimburse.Upon inspection on a train with mandatory seat reservations, show both the QR-code in the rail planner app and the reservation you made to travel correctly. Wether you print reservations on paper, or have them as a pdf, doesn't matter. Seems a bit complicated, but after one or two trains you will navigate smoothly and confidently through Europe. No need to stress :)You can also familiarise yourself with the app via this webpage:https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/eurail-mobile-pass/getting-started

9
C
28 days ago
Nabil Islam
Keeps calm and carries on
Nabil IslamKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Ask the community

PRAGUE TO ZURICH 00:40 TO 13:20

Best remove your number, you might get some spam otherwise. Feel free to ask all of your questions here on the community, you'll get an answer in no time. 

19
ralderton
Railmaster
28 days ago
C
ChavenhamRight on track
asked in Ask the community

Help Freiburg - Bruxels

It says reservation is not mandatory, I just wanted to make sure I have seats. Actually, if I don’t reserve seats I can’t “confirm” that trip in any way, how Interrail knows I’m using it or what I have to say in the station if I don’t have any kind of reservation?  By registering your journeys in the app.As Frankfurt is the starting station of the ICE to Brussels, and you’re travelling alone or with two, I wouldn’t bother for reservations on a Tuesday in May. 

9
C
28 days ago
Nabil Islam
Keeps calm and carries on
Nabil IslamKeeps calm and carries on
asked in Ask the community

PRAGUE TO ZURICH 00:40 TO 13:20

Best place will be can be online at the Czech Railways website www.cd.cz.  Before running the enquiry, click where it says 1 x Adult 26-64 No discount card then click on No discount card , click Interrail and Eurail Pass then select the one you have. Select the type of accomodation you want and you can reserve.  You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone. This community guide is also helpful: 

19
ralderton
Railmaster
28 days ago
E
Keeps calm and carries on
Eurotrippers2Keeps calm and carries on
asked in Ask the community

Parsi to Frankfurt DB Reservation Changes

I have also done the same method with Baden Baden - Basel. Came up with the same amount.   You don’t need to do anything for this one, just a reservation at DB is okay. It’s a bit confusing sometimes, but for some routes there’s a surcharge above the reservation cost on cross border trains. Only some trains crossing the border have it (luckily). The High Speed Routes Germany-Paris has it, and also some routes From Germany, through Austria, to the North of Italy. Most other routes don’t have it.Here’s a link an overview: https://www.eurail.com/en/book-reservations/reservation-fees/international-train-reservation-fees(Some prices might have been indexed recently, but it gives you a good indication)

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A
Railly clever
16 days ago
C
ChavenhamRight on track
asked in Ask the community

Help reserving tickets Lyon-Brussels

Thanks! How could I check if a train is fully booked? I need to do it for other trips. Speaking for myself, I usually check on the website of the train operator. In this case SNCF connect.When do you leave on May the 5th, where do you come from that day? Do you start in Brussels or do you have other journeys before? There are some alternatives via Lille, cutting down on reservation cost and trains have a lot more availability from Lille.

5
R
Railmaster
28 days ago
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