Help Needed with Train Trip Planning MUC/STUTTGART > SAN SEBASTIAN > MAD / And MAD > LYON > MUC

thanks.
but still it looks like a mystery to me (maybe because i am old … ). They tell me now on some connection (Madrid > Lyon), that e.g. i need to make a reservation at the station in spain. how should i be able to book this train than from germany? 

Who is "They”?

The direct train Madrid-Lyon can be booked via Interrail or via Happyrail, see the page on Seat61 I mentioned. If that doesn't work for you, then please mention your travel date.

About the outbound trip: you’ll have to pay separately the Paris-Est - Montparnasse transfer as well as the Hendaye-San Sebastian Euskotren. Only costs a couple € each.

Whether a pass + reservations or standard tickets are better value depends on the travel date. At short notice the former is likely cheaper.

Thanks so far. That helped. I am a little further now.

 

What I sill don’t understand:

1. When I search for a connection via Renfe (e.g., Madrid to Montpellier on March 7th, 1:25 PM to 7:52 PM), the ticket costs €95 all-inclusive. With the Interrail Pass, I have to pay a €35 reservation fee for this route. Am I understanding this correctly? (This raises the question of whether the Interrail Pass is worth it for me in the end as pointed out above)

2. For AVE trains, I get a message saying, ‘Seat reservations must be made at the station (more info).’ Does this mean I can only book the reservations on-site? And how much do these reservations cost?”

and 3rd is more a suggestion. I need to go from Madrid to Munich from 7.3. to 9.3. and looking for a nice stopover 2 nights in a town on the line (everything beside Paris. and somehow roughly in the middle that the trip is nicely done in 2 days).  i was thinking about Lyon or Montepellier. but i cannot figure out some smooth connections. Any other recommendations?

1. Madrid 13:25 to Montpellier is an AVE. Reservation is €10 in 2nd class, €13 in 1st, plus any booking fee.
2. AVE trains all have the same reservation fees. For domestic journeys, there's also a Premium option (1st class with food) for €23.50 plus any booking fee.

This is from the Interrail website, as an example:

On which website are you seeing “Seat reservations must be made at the station"? If that's on the Rail Europe website: that's their standard message for a mandatory reservation you can't book via Rail Europe. They can't book AVE pass reservations. Please follow the Seat61 reservations page as a guide:

https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

i did this on raileurope (but same feedback) - so i cannot do the reservation. I unfortunately cannot miss this one. (and yes, you seem right and it would be 10 Euro)

Not on raileurope.com, but you can on interrail.eu.

excellent

now i still need to figure out, if the pass with all the reservertion fees really is worth it :)