This will be your guiding topic:

You can’t do everything via ÖBB, only Italian trains, German and Austrian trains. But the way how differs.

Can you provide exact train details and dates? (for every train you try to reserve) please, otherwise it’s a bit difficult to help.

I'll give some advice too. First : no need to cancel the passes, don't worry !

ÖBB indeed can't book seat reservations in France. There are not many trains between Italy and Paris unfortunately... they are very popular too so book well in advance. Only one option with a single connection, the other TGV is sold out in 2nd class :

- FR Roma Termini - Torino Porta Susa 12:10 - 16:49 (or earlier) 13€

- TGV Torino Porta Susa - Paris Gare de Lyon 17:38 - 23:26 30€

More options if you go via Switzerland : cheaper (23-33€ max), not necessarily longer but more changes. Very scenic and you'll also arrive earlier ! Let me know for advice, I'll gladly help. For such a long journey I'd recommend leaving earlier than 9 am if possible.

Here is another general guide : https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

I see, I didn’t even consider the remaining routes as we’re struggling with the initial phase, which I guess should be doable through OBB? Or Paris is also unreachable from Italy through it?

The exact train details are really open, we are open to most routes that are able to fulfill the start/end points of the journey listed below provided it wouldn’t be too exhausting, let me know if that’s good enough details for you to help us (we do have exact train times from the planner if that’s better)

The initial phase (Aug-13):

~8:00am: Rome (Termini) → Paris (Garis De Lyon)
(suggested routes we couldn’t fulfill would go through Milano Centrale, or Porta Sussa)

Second phase (Aug-15):

~7:30pm: Paris - (Garis De Lyon) → London (St Pacras)

(This is the Eurostar, am I right? What site would be able to book it?)

Third phase (Aug-17):

~6pm: London (St Pacras) → Amsterdam (Central)

Fourth phase (Aug-19):

8:30pm (nigh train): Amdsterdam (Central) → Basel (SBB)

Aug-20 ~6am: Basel (SBB) → Interlaken (OST)

Fifth phase (Aug-21):

~8:30am: Interlaken (West) → Roma (Termini)

(back to Italy, suggested routes would go back through Basel SBB / Milano Centrale, open to others)

Thank you so much once again!

I'll suggest an itinerary for Rome - Paris then. :)

Book Eurostar here :  4€ booking fee per order, compared to 2€ per person per train on Eurail. Do it ASAP as it has a limited quota for passholders... 30€ Paris - London and 35€ London - Amsterdam.

Night train : use nighjet.com (no booking fee)

Seat reservations are not needed in Switzerland. Pass not valid on Interlaken - Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen (25% discount) but fully valid on boats on Lake Thun and Brienz.

You can go via Spiez and Milan yes. 10€ for the cross-border Eurocity, use ÖBB

Btw do you really need the 22-day pass ? It may be better value to exchange for a 7 or 10 day pass (not necessarily consecutive days) ?

Thank you!

The link for the Eurostar booking site did not come through, can you post it again?

Thanks!

Is it a good scenic route through boats? Is it time effective? Or is it worth to pay the discounted trains? They won’t be very light on baggage if that’s relevant.

Thanks!

Yeah I thought that was overkill as well, after they are fully booked maybe should exchange for a more flexible alternative. Is it easy to exchange it? Within the cities, is it valuable to move via trains (I guess that was their rationale, to also use daily to move within sites)

Here you go for Eurostar, my bad... https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Booking/Pass#TravelWish

Well it's not the same thing : either you head into the mountains from Interlaken with the discounted trains or you take a boat with beautiful scenery (railways along those lakes are fully included). Boats are not time-effective at all but it's an experience. Not exactly the same area, have a look at a map.

The pass is not valid for transportation within cities so I'd try exchange it. There is a 15€ fee but Eurail should refund the price difference, i'm not 100% sure though…

Rome - Paris :

- FR Roma Termini - Milano Centrale 09:25 - 12:30 13€ ÖBB

- EC Milano Centrale - Genève 13:05 - 17:21 10€ ÖBB

- TGV Genève - Paris Gare de Lyon 18:29 - 21:04 29€... Eurail

I guess this is the option you've seen, quite fast but expensive... option 2 (23€) :

- FR Roma Termini - Milano Centrale 08:50 - 12:05  13€ ÖBB

- RE Milano Centrale - Lugano 12:43 - 13:58 (don't worry about the tight connection, it's Switzerland)

- IC2 Lugano - Basel SBB 14:02 - 16:56

- TER Basel SBB - Strasbourg 17:21 - 18:39

- TGV Strasbourg - Paris-Est 18:57 - 20:42 10€

Book TGVs within France here : https://travel.b-europe.com/Eurail-GE/en/booking-tgv#TravelWish

Cool, I saw the map (now the Interlaken city name makes sense :)
So from Interlaken they could head west to Spiez station through either rails or a scenic boat trip across lake Thunersee, then head to Milan > Rome, is that correct? 
Are reservations from Spiez > Milan required/recommended? Where can I book it?

Edited my post (final edit I think).

I wouldn't take the boat on the day to Rome, too tight and they won't necessarily enjoy it. Better on 20th August : they arrive in Interlaken before midday, relax for a bit in their hotel and then boat to Brienz + train back. As an example :

- Boat Interlaken Ost - Brienz 16:07 - 17:20

- IR Brienz - Interlaken Ost 17:37 - 17:55

Seat reservations are mandatory between Domodossola and Milan on the Spiez - Milan train -> 10€ (ÖBB)

So this leg would be booked on the Eurail planner?

Is this also booked from OBB?

Those departing from Switzerland, will them take a reservation? Or simply showing up for the train with their pass is enough?

Thank you so much for the help, it clears a lot of doubt and frustration !

So before boarding you add each train you'd like to take to the Rail Planner app. This can be done at anytime and even changed, it works like a diary. It gives you a QR-code = your ticket.

On top of that you need to add seat reservations on some trains, mainly high-speed ones. You can make them in multiple places, some with a lot of or no booking fee : Eurail, ÖBB,... they are completely separate from the app/pass so whenever asked on the train you need to show both.

Seat reservations are not a thing in Switzerland yes, add the train to the app (see above) and hop on. You can sit wherever you want, people are lazy and often board in the middle only -> go to train ends and you'll be guaranteed seats.

In Italy it is recommended to use ÖBB as there's no booking fee. On the other hand the international TGV Lyria between Geneva and Paris can mainly only be booked on eurail.com or by calling SNCF. Have a look at the 2 links provided above too ! :)

EDIT : Btw do not wait long before booking the night train. It is incredibly popular and has limited capacity... nightjet.com -> add Eurail as a discount

136€ for 4 couchettes in a 6-people compartment (so with 2 other people) or 176€ for 4 couchettes in a 4-people compartment (so all for you)

I still can’t seem to be able to book anything at all in eurail.com, for example trying out the train you suggested from Geneve > Paris, it will error out when clicking the button to go to passenger details. If that’s the only way to book it that’s a real bummer!

I still can’t seem to be able to book anything at all in eurail.com, for example trying out the train you suggested from Geneve > Paris, it will error out when clicking the button to go to passenger details. If that’s the only way to book it that’s a real bummer!

 

 

Eurail has some issues sometimes. Sometimes it might be helpful the clear the cache on your browser, or change browser.

If I were you, I'lld split up Rome-Paris, and have a night somewhere in Switzerland if you're schedule permits. Otherwise it's gonna be a long train day, that's a bit rushed. 

The reservation cost of that TGV Paris-Switzerland (TGV Lyria) is terribly overpriced (You can score cheap advance ticket for the same price as a seat reservation for Eurail).

You can avoid it, by taking a regional train across the border (e.g. To Lyon, or Mulhouse or even Strasbourg) limiting reservation cost to 10 eur per seat for the TGV ride in France. (but not always an option later at night). 

Shouldn't you find a Eurostar to Amsterdam (there are only two a day, they sell out fast) take one to Brussels, and change there for the hourly reservation free IC (at hh:45 in Brussels Zuid /Midi) 

If you like scenic routes, I'lld sugges to take day trains from Amsterdam to Switzerland. Take the train to Cologne, and switch their to an intercity (IC) or Eurocity (EC) to Switzerland. Look for a route via Koblenz, for a nice ride through the Rhine gorge (sit on the left in the direction of traffic, when heading to Switzerland). Use www.bahn.com to plan (select further options, via a stopover Koblenz, set transfer time to 00:00)

Ok when trying through Safari and examining the network response (developer here), I found the following error:

ERROR #7201: Datatype value '<redacted>' length longer than MAXLEN allowed of 50
ERROR #5802: Datatype validation failed on property 'Eurail.Data.Address:Address1', with value equal to <redacted>

I’ll pass this info to them so they can try booking again through eurail website with a simplified Address field, hopefully it will yield better results. Terrible UX not stating any error validation dialog about it :(

Is the eurail website generally capable of doing it on its own?

I still can’t seem to be able to book anything at all in eurail.com, for example trying out the train you suggested from Geneve > Paris, it will error out when clicking the button to go to passenger details. If that’s the only way to book it that’s a real bummer!

 

 

Eurail has some issues sometimes. Sometimes it might be helpful the clear the cache on your browser, or change browser.

If I were you, I'lld split up Rome-Paris, and have a night somewhere in Switzerland if you're schedule permits. Otherwise it's gonna be a long train day, that's a bit rushed. 

The reservation cost of that TGV Paris-Switzerland (TGV Lyria) is terribly overpriced (You can score cheap advance ticket for the same price as a seat reservation for Eurail).

You can avoid it, by taking a regional train across the border (e.g. To Lyon, or Mulhouse or even Strasbourg) limiting reservation cost to 10 eur per seat for the TGV ride in France. (but not always an option later at night). 

Shouldn't you find a Eurostar to Amsterdam (there are only two a day, they sell out fast) take one to Brussels, and change there for the hourly reservation free IC (at hh:45 in Brussels Zuid /Midi) 

If you like scenic routes, I'lld sugges to take day trains from Amsterdam to Switzerland. Take the train to Cologne, and switch their to an intercity (IC) or Eurocity (EC) to Switzerland. Look for a route via Koblenz, for a nice ride through the Rhine gorge (sit on the left in the direction of traffic, when heading to Switzerland). Use www.bahn.com to plan (select further options, via a stopover Koblenz, set transfer time to 00:00)

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I forwarded to my siblings to take into account when making the reservations !