Eurail Train Tickets
I’m confused about Eurail trains! How do I reserve the trains?
It says on the Eurail timetable that I need to reserve the trains. I got my Eurail pass ticket already and waiting for it through the mail. Is there supposed to be a website or phone number so I can reserve the trains? More specifically trains I’m looking at that need to be reserved:
1) Toulouse, FR to Nice, FR
2) Nice, FR to Venezia, IT
3) Venezia, IT to Pisa, IT
4) Firenze, IT to Rome, IT
5) Paris, FR to Toulouse, FR
In France, reservations are only compulsory on TGV and Corail high speed trains, which will most likely be on your Paris-Toulouse and Toulouse-Nice trips. Reservations and train tickets are two separate things: a train ticket grants you access to the train, a reservation grants you an assigned seat. Just show up with your pass at a station window to get it stamped the first time you use it and ask for a reservation on the next TGV. You will pay only for the reservation (something like 10€ maximum I think) but not for the train ticket. For any other trip not requiring reservation, just show up on the train and sit wherever you want (except if the seat says “reserved”).
Since you’ll be traveling between France and Italy I don’t know how it works in Italy and how cheap or expensive their trains are but for people traveling in France only I never recommend to buy a eurail pass. French trains are so much cheaper when you book ahead and online that a pass ends up costing much more. The other disadvantage with the pass is that you cannot make reservations online.
To see the train schedules, go to http://www.voyages-sncf.com/leisure/fr/launch/home/
You can display the page in English by clicking on the flag at the bottom but the English version doesn’t have as many options. For Italy: http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/