We are inter-railing in July as a family of four (two teenagers). We are doing some popular long-ish routes eg Brussels to Munich via Frankfurt, and Salzburg to Budapest. My question is whether the trains tend to be heaving at this time of year and how likely we are to end up standing/ sitting on the floor?
If the latter, can trains safely be booked a few days in advance or should we be doing it weeks in advance?
It all depends on the route, date and time of the day. Some will be very busy, others less so.
Certainly the Brussels to Frankfurt is worth booking via bahn.com - just reserve a seat only booking. We travelled Fra - Bru in 2022 and it was manic.
Other optional reservations are as rvdborgt posted - simple research on times and routings, but optional reservations are relatively cheap.
If you make bookings always do it as one booking for all and then you should be seated together. Most can be purchased without a pass.
Depends a lot from day to day, and which (popular) destinations your train will call at. If you travel long distance during the weekend or public holidays in one country, make sure to reserve.
If you travel with more than 2 people, best also reserve if you want good seats some weeks in advance.
If you travel on relatively infrequent international connections, best reserve too. (Brussels Cologne for sure, or travel by regional trains if you want flexibility and a seat)
Ordinary weekdays are a bit better to travel usually in summer and usually you'll find some places. I always managed to reserve a lot of seats for 4, on domestic ICE's and Railjets the day before travelling in the depths of summer (on weekdays).
This summer was indeed mayhem on the international ICE's to/from the Netherlands and Belgium, but mostly because half of the trains got cancelled because of technical problems.
So the more details on the trains you'lld want to take, the better advice you'll get :)
Thank so much for the replies
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