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Hi everyone, I am helping 2 friends, who are 1st time Eurailers, with the ‘benefit’ of my experience of 4 years ago.😬 They are travelling from Italy-France-Italy in June. They have the first trip sorted (La Spezia to Como San Giovanni), but we're having problems with seat reservations from Como SG to Lyon on 16 June. We can book the 1st leg from Como SG (dep 0904) to Basel (arr 1256) or Como SG (dep 0950) to Zurich (arr 1227), but not onward to Lyon. This is using OBB website, following instructions from other topics.

RailPlanner app says that 0904 trip from Como SG needs a seat reservation from Como-Basel and Mulhouse (dep 1357) to Lyon (arr 1656). The 0950 trip from Como SG needs seat reservations from Como SG-Zurich, Zurich-Dijon and Dijon-Lyon.

Even if I break down the sectors, as other posters have suggested, OBB says ‘no ticket available’ for both options (only Basel-Mulhouse-Lyon shown below).

Basel-Mulhouse
Mulhouse-Lyon

What are we doing wrong, or is it too soon to make this booking?

Also, if you make a booking on OBB, realise you've chosen wrong train, can you change or delete the seat reservation and get a refund?

Do not go via Mulhouse. Unnecessarily more expensive, longer and less scenic

You can do the journey reservation-free

- Como S. Giovanni - Lugano RE train

- Lugano - Lucerne, Olten or Zurich

- Lucerne, Olten or Zurich - Geneva

- Geneva - Lyon

Everything runs at least hourly, Geneva - Lyon every 1-2 hours

As it's reservation-free, you can stop along the way whenever you wish


Other info :

ÖBB can't book seat reservations in France. Use : https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish (4€ booking fee per order)

Seat reservations are generally non-refundable, with some exceptions.

Regional trains in all countries can never be booked.

Other quite scenic journey :

- Como S. Giovanni - Locarno

- spend a few hours in Locarno

- Locarno - Domodossola

- Domodossola (- Brig) - Geneva

- Geneva - Lyon

Also fully reservation-free

Do not hesitate for questions. Really do not pay anything extra for this journey, it would be a complete waste of money

Use sbb.ch, SBB app or bahn.de for planning


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