Eurail questions
May 31st 2003, 11:00 am
#16
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
Eugene A writes:
> My situation is that I will travel by train from Frankfurt to Vienna using
> this site http://www.raileurope.com/us/ to purchase tickets. Anyone ever had
> bad experiences ordering online?
I agree with the comments that you seem much too concerned about this.
Trains in Europe are like buses in the US; you just buy a ticket and
take the next train.
There's no reason to buy tickets in advance unless you can get a rebate
for doing so. You may want to *reserve* in advance if you want to travel
on a very busy day, but note that reservations are a separate matter and
have their own fees. (However, on some trains, reservations are
compulsory, including all EuroCity trains, I believe.)
The train you mention seems to run at least five times per day, so I
really don't see a need to buy a ticket in advance (unless there's a
rebate).
> This may be a subjective question, but people told me that sometimes the
> passengers get robbed if they fall asleep. Maybe it will be safer in the
> first class (it sounds naive now that I wrote it....)?
I think can being *robbed* can certainly happen, unlike being *gassed*,
which I think is an urban legend. I think that being robbed is more
likely on a night train, when many people are asleep, than on a day
train if you happen to fall asleep.
--
Yves Bellefeuille , Ottawa, Canada
Francais / English / Esperanto
Esperanto FAQ: http://www.esperanto.net/veb/faq.html
Rec.travel.europe FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/travel/europe/faq
> My situation is that I will travel by train from Frankfurt to Vienna using
> this site http://www.raileurope.com/us/ to purchase tickets. Anyone ever had
> bad experiences ordering online?
I agree with the comments that you seem much too concerned about this.
Trains in Europe are like buses in the US; you just buy a ticket and
take the next train.
There's no reason to buy tickets in advance unless you can get a rebate
for doing so. You may want to *reserve* in advance if you want to travel
on a very busy day, but note that reservations are a separate matter and
have their own fees. (However, on some trains, reservations are
compulsory, including all EuroCity trains, I believe.)
The train you mention seems to run at least five times per day, so I
really don't see a need to buy a ticket in advance (unless there's a
rebate).
> This may be a subjective question, but people told me that sometimes the
> passengers get robbed if they fall asleep. Maybe it will be safer in the
> first class (it sounds naive now that I wrote it....)?
I think can being *robbed* can certainly happen, unlike being *gassed*,
which I think is an urban legend. I think that being robbed is more
likely on a night train, when many people are asleep, than on a day
train if you happen to fall asleep.
--
Yves Bellefeuille , Ottawa, Canada
Francais / English / Esperanto
Esperanto FAQ: http://www.esperanto.net/veb/faq.html
Rec.travel.europe FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/travel/europe/faq
May 31st 2003, 11:36 am
#17
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
[email protected] (Yves Bellefeuille) wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I think can being *robbed* can certainly happen, unlike being
> *gassed*, which I think is an urban legend. I think that being robbed
> is more likely on a night train, when many people are asleep, than on
> a day train if you happen to fall asleep.
>
Hello Yves, I am feeling just a wee bit testy tonight so I would note (with
a smile) that one is not likely to be "robbed" at all since that would
entail the threat of force on the part fo the robber. It is ever so much
more likely that one would have some petty larceny such as pick pocketing
done to them on a train.
:-)
news:[email protected]:
> I think can being *robbed* can certainly happen, unlike being
> *gassed*, which I think is an urban legend. I think that being robbed
> is more likely on a night train, when many people are asleep, than on
> a day train if you happen to fall asleep.
>
Hello Yves, I am feeling just a wee bit testy tonight so I would note (with
a smile) that one is not likely to be "robbed" at all since that would
entail the threat of force on the part fo the robber. It is ever so much
more likely that one would have some petty larceny such as pick pocketing
done to them on a train.
:-)
May 31st 2003, 5:58 pm
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
AFAIR from our trip to Italy a couple months ago, only the Eurostar
reservation got us an assigned seat. You could get reservations on the
EC trains, but they only guaranteed a seat, not a specific seat.
Eugene A wrote:
>
> Hi Helmut.
>
> Well unless reservations made 24 hrs before departure are cheaper, it makes
> sense to buy the tickets and reservations at the same. If I buy a
> reservation though, I want to make sure that I have a window seat. I wonder
> if that is possible. I really do not want to miss the views since I will be
> travelling during the day.
>
--
wf.
Wayne Flowers
Randee Greenwald
[email protected]
reservation got us an assigned seat. You could get reservations on the
EC trains, but they only guaranteed a seat, not a specific seat.
Eugene A wrote:
>
> Hi Helmut.
>
> Well unless reservations made 24 hrs before departure are cheaper, it makes
> sense to buy the tickets and reservations at the same. If I buy a
> reservation though, I want to make sure that I have a window seat. I wonder
> if that is possible. I really do not want to miss the views since I will be
> travelling during the day.
>
--
wf.
Wayne Flowers
Randee Greenwald
[email protected]
May 31st 2003, 6:20 pm
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
"randee" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> AFAIR from our trip to Italy a couple months ago, only the Eurostar
> reservation got us an assigned seat. You could get reservations on the
> EC trains, but they only guaranteed a seat, not a specific seat.
> Eugene A wrote:
> >
> > Hi Helmut.
> >
> > Well unless reservations made 24 hrs before departure are cheaper, it
makes
> > sense to buy the tickets and reservations at the same. If I buy a
> > reservation though, I want to make sure that I have a window seat. I
wonder
> > if that is possible. I really do not want to miss the views since I will
be
> > travelling during the day.
> >
> --
> wf.
> Wayne Flowers
> Randee Greenwald
> [email protected]
A reservation on any train anywhere in Europe is always for a specific seat.
That's the whole purpose of a reservation. How can you have a reservation
for no specific seat. You may be thinking of a rail pass. A pass gets you
on the train but you are not guaranteed a seat; which is why you often see
people standing or sitting in the corridors.
Ryan
news:[email protected]...
> AFAIR from our trip to Italy a couple months ago, only the Eurostar
> reservation got us an assigned seat. You could get reservations on the
> EC trains, but they only guaranteed a seat, not a specific seat.
> Eugene A wrote:
> >
> > Hi Helmut.
> >
> > Well unless reservations made 24 hrs before departure are cheaper, it
makes
> > sense to buy the tickets and reservations at the same. If I buy a
> > reservation though, I want to make sure that I have a window seat. I
wonder
> > if that is possible. I really do not want to miss the views since I will
be
> > travelling during the day.
> >
> --
> wf.
> Wayne Flowers
> Randee Greenwald
> [email protected]
A reservation on any train anywhere in Europe is always for a specific seat.
That's the whole purpose of a reservation. How can you have a reservation
for no specific seat. You may be thinking of a rail pass. A pass gets you
on the train but you are not guaranteed a seat; which is why you often see
people standing or sitting in the corridors.
Ryan
Jun 1st 2003, 12:51 am
#20
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
First of all, thanks for the reply.
I will refer to it as the Eurostar under the Channel! I do appreciate
that bit of advice. And yes, I did look up the getting from Gatwick to
Victoria to Waterloo and it's a bit of a pain.
So I'm thinking that we may just take a plane from Gatwick right on to
Stockholm and just have the hassle of getting out one way. There seem
to be pretty decent connections on to Munich - and part of the reason
for the train trip is the wonderful scenery anyway. (The other reason
is that the passes are free!!!)
Thanks a bunch for the recommendation (and the email address too) for
the hotel in Stockholm - it sounds just like the type we always hope
to find.
We will still get to experience the Eurostar under the Channel by
leaving Paris or Brussels and returning to London.
However, we decided we would never ever carry our bugs up and down the
underground. The last time it seemed like every station we needed was
at the bottom or top of an eternal staircase. I remember standing
there thinking this must be a foretaste of hell. (We had the Britrail
and kept having to crisscross London to get to our next town. - eg:
Exeter to East Anglia)
It won't matter that way about the connections as we are staying for 3
nights there anyway. Do you have a favorite London hotel that you
might recommend? We have stayed at the Burns and were satisfied, but
that was later in the year when the prices are half what they are now.
Thanks again for spending the time on your reply. And Happy Travels!
Carol - Brahmama
Cisco, Texas -hot,windy,dusty,dry -
[email protected] (Hatunen) wrote in message news:...
> On 31 May 2003 10:35:15 -0700, [email protected] (Brahmama)
> wrote:
>
> >so glad to find this thread. We are flying to Gatwick London and then
> >are to take the "Chunnel" to Brussels or Paris to hook up with a train
> >to Stockholm - using our 15 day Eurail Pass.
>
> First advcice: don't call it "chunnel"; it seems to sit with some
> the way "Frisco" does to San Franciscans.
>
> We took the Nord Express from Brussels to Copenhage in 1996; it
> was a night train, but it is no more. I think you'll hae to
> change twice to get to Stockholm. Check it out at
> http://bahn.hafas.de (click on English).
>
> >I am baffled about the Chunnel - I can mangage (fairly well) after I
> >get to the continent - and 30 years ago (sigh) we did Eurail trips all
> >over europe for 25 days. But now we are in our 60's and moving much
> >slower and I can't seem to remember all the details.
>
> Don't worry; I'm over 60 and we get around just fine. No mystery
> to the Eruostar under the Channel. You get on the train at London
> Waterloo station and you get off in Brussels or Paris. Back when
> we did it on the Nord Express we only ahd one change of train, in
> Copenhagen: we arrived in the morning and left on another night
> train to Stockholm, giving us a day to wander around Copenhagen.
>
> Now it seems you will have to change trains at least three times,
> save for the night trains from Brussels or Paris which only
> require two changes: Hamburg and Copenhagen.
>
> Since you have a Eurailpass, take the X2000 from Copenhagen. It's
> direct and first class is quite nice (we had a Eurailpass, too).
>
> >Any suggestions for older train travelers? I expect the obvious - pack
> >just as light as you possibly can - will surface, but I would like
> >some more tips and suggestions if available from some kind soul!
>
> There's not really much in the way of tips if you were doing this
> all 30 years ago. There tend to be faster trains, and many
> require you to make seat reservations with the tickets, but
> otherwise ...
>
> >We are hoping to go to some places we haven't been before - EG:
> >Stockholm, Budapest, Athens, Barcelona and then back to Brussels (or
> >Paris) to chunnel back to London for a 3 night stay.
>
> Las May in Stockholm we stayed at the Queens Hotel on
> Drottninggatan, http://www.queenshotel.se/english.htm. Quite
> European with the hotel starting on the first level above street
> level. Very nice breakfast comes with the room.
>
> Unfortunately, the hotel has seen fit to turn its rooms in en
> suite by sticking those modular bathroom units in one corner of
> the room, but the original in-the-hall bathrooms are still tehre
> and quite nicer.
>
> Drottninggatan (Queens Street) has been made vehicle free and is
> rather long, lined with shops and restaurants, and leads right on
> down to Gamla Stan, the old town. The hotel is only a few blocks
> from the central station, although our cabdriver managed to take
> us on a bit of an unwanted tour getting there. Leaving, we
> dragged our luggage to the station.
>
> >The only information I have found (and I have done a bunch of
> >searches) don't tellme how we get from gatwick to the chunnel
> >connection. And how we get BACK from the Chunnel to London for our 3
> >night stay.
>
> Eurostar departs from Waterloo International, which is tacked
> onto Waterloo station. Trains from Gatwick come into Victoria
> Station, so you need to get from the one to the other. The
> Underground can do it, but it's a bit of bummer schlepping your
> bags around (although my wife and I do take our bags on the
> Underground almost every time we're in London; chacun a son
> gout). You'd probably be best served taking a taxi.
>
>
> ************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
> * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
> * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
I will refer to it as the Eurostar under the Channel! I do appreciate
that bit of advice. And yes, I did look up the getting from Gatwick to
Victoria to Waterloo and it's a bit of a pain.
So I'm thinking that we may just take a plane from Gatwick right on to
Stockholm and just have the hassle of getting out one way. There seem
to be pretty decent connections on to Munich - and part of the reason
for the train trip is the wonderful scenery anyway. (The other reason
is that the passes are free!!!)
Thanks a bunch for the recommendation (and the email address too) for
the hotel in Stockholm - it sounds just like the type we always hope
to find.
We will still get to experience the Eurostar under the Channel by
leaving Paris or Brussels and returning to London.
However, we decided we would never ever carry our bugs up and down the
underground. The last time it seemed like every station we needed was
at the bottom or top of an eternal staircase. I remember standing
there thinking this must be a foretaste of hell. (We had the Britrail
and kept having to crisscross London to get to our next town. - eg:
Exeter to East Anglia)
It won't matter that way about the connections as we are staying for 3
nights there anyway. Do you have a favorite London hotel that you
might recommend? We have stayed at the Burns and were satisfied, but
that was later in the year when the prices are half what they are now.
Thanks again for spending the time on your reply. And Happy Travels!
Carol - Brahmama
Cisco, Texas -hot,windy,dusty,dry -
[email protected] (Hatunen) wrote in message news:...
> On 31 May 2003 10:35:15 -0700, [email protected] (Brahmama)
> wrote:
>
> >so glad to find this thread. We are flying to Gatwick London and then
> >are to take the "Chunnel" to Brussels or Paris to hook up with a train
> >to Stockholm - using our 15 day Eurail Pass.
>
> First advcice: don't call it "chunnel"; it seems to sit with some
> the way "Frisco" does to San Franciscans.
>
> We took the Nord Express from Brussels to Copenhage in 1996; it
> was a night train, but it is no more. I think you'll hae to
> change twice to get to Stockholm. Check it out at
> http://bahn.hafas.de (click on English).
>
> >I am baffled about the Chunnel - I can mangage (fairly well) after I
> >get to the continent - and 30 years ago (sigh) we did Eurail trips all
> >over europe for 25 days. But now we are in our 60's and moving much
> >slower and I can't seem to remember all the details.
>
> Don't worry; I'm over 60 and we get around just fine. No mystery
> to the Eruostar under the Channel. You get on the train at London
> Waterloo station and you get off in Brussels or Paris. Back when
> we did it on the Nord Express we only ahd one change of train, in
> Copenhagen: we arrived in the morning and left on another night
> train to Stockholm, giving us a day to wander around Copenhagen.
>
> Now it seems you will have to change trains at least three times,
> save for the night trains from Brussels or Paris which only
> require two changes: Hamburg and Copenhagen.
>
> Since you have a Eurailpass, take the X2000 from Copenhagen. It's
> direct and first class is quite nice (we had a Eurailpass, too).
>
> >Any suggestions for older train travelers? I expect the obvious - pack
> >just as light as you possibly can - will surface, but I would like
> >some more tips and suggestions if available from some kind soul!
>
> There's not really much in the way of tips if you were doing this
> all 30 years ago. There tend to be faster trains, and many
> require you to make seat reservations with the tickets, but
> otherwise ...
>
> >We are hoping to go to some places we haven't been before - EG:
> >Stockholm, Budapest, Athens, Barcelona and then back to Brussels (or
> >Paris) to chunnel back to London for a 3 night stay.
>
> Las May in Stockholm we stayed at the Queens Hotel on
> Drottninggatan, http://www.queenshotel.se/english.htm. Quite
> European with the hotel starting on the first level above street
> level. Very nice breakfast comes with the room.
>
> Unfortunately, the hotel has seen fit to turn its rooms in en
> suite by sticking those modular bathroom units in one corner of
> the room, but the original in-the-hall bathrooms are still tehre
> and quite nicer.
>
> Drottninggatan (Queens Street) has been made vehicle free and is
> rather long, lined with shops and restaurants, and leads right on
> down to Gamla Stan, the old town. The hotel is only a few blocks
> from the central station, although our cabdriver managed to take
> us on a bit of an unwanted tour getting there. Leaving, we
> dragged our luggage to the station.
>
> >The only information I have found (and I have done a bunch of
> >searches) don't tellme how we get from gatwick to the chunnel
> >connection. And how we get BACK from the Chunnel to London for our 3
> >night stay.
>
> Eurostar departs from Waterloo International, which is tacked
> onto Waterloo station. Trains from Gatwick come into Victoria
> Station, so you need to get from the one to the other. The
> Underground can do it, but it's a bit of bummer schlepping your
> bags around (although my wife and I do take our bags on the
> Underground almost every time we're in London; chacun a son
> gout). You'd probably be best served taking a taxi.
>
>
> ************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
> * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
> * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
Jun 1st 2003, 11:03 am
#21
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
"Eugene A" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email protected]...
> The price for that route is unavailable on bahn.de. Plus I have less then
> three weeks before the trip. Since I dont have the Bahn card I have to
have
> them sent to my house. Will there be enough time?
According to www.bahn.de (a bit hidden) they need 7 work days for shipping a
ticket abroad.
But it would also possible to collect the ticket at the Frankfurt Airport
railway station.
To buy this ticket in advance makes only sense if
- you buy a return ticket (rebates if bought in advance)
- you want to reserver a seat (EUR 2,60)
Before they will ship the ticket they will inform you about the price (by EU
laws customers must be informed about the final price of a product (incl.
all taxes etc.) in advance).
news:[email protected]...
> The price for that route is unavailable on bahn.de. Plus I have less then
> three weeks before the trip. Since I dont have the Bahn card I have to
have
> them sent to my house. Will there be enough time?
According to www.bahn.de (a bit hidden) they need 7 work days for shipping a
ticket abroad.
But it would also possible to collect the ticket at the Frankfurt Airport
railway station.
To buy this ticket in advance makes only sense if
- you buy a return ticket (rebates if bought in advance)
- you want to reserver a seat (EUR 2,60)
Before they will ship the ticket they will inform you about the price (by EU
laws customers must be informed about the final price of a product (incl.
all taxes etc.) in advance).
Jun 1st 2003, 11:19 am
#22
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
Yves Bellefeuille wrote in article
...
> There's no reason to buy tickets in advance unless you can get a rebate
> for doing so. You may want to *reserve* in advance if you want to travel
> on a very busy day, but note that reservations are a separate matter and
> have their own fees. (However, on some trains, reservations are
> compulsory, including all EuroCity trains, I believe.)
Reservations are *not* compulsory on most EuroCity trains. In Germany,
reservations are generally not requirerd, but they are advisable if you're
taking a long journey and want to be sure of a seat.
Regards,
David
...
> There's no reason to buy tickets in advance unless you can get a rebate
> for doing so. You may want to *reserve* in advance if you want to travel
> on a very busy day, but note that reservations are a separate matter and
> have their own fees. (However, on some trains, reservations are
> compulsory, including all EuroCity trains, I believe.)
Reservations are *not* compulsory on most EuroCity trains. In Germany,
reservations are generally not requirerd, but they are advisable if you're
taking a long journey and want to be sure of a seat.
Regards,
David
Jun 1st 2003, 11:45 pm
#23
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
On Sat, 31 May 2003, Phil Richards wrote:
> Agree www.bahn.de is great for ticket pricing in Germany, but
> pretty useless for beyond the German border. A great shame as the
> timetabling facility on the site covers most of Europe, the "commercial"
> side of the site (i.e. on-line booking = revenue for German Rail) hasn't
> been developed to match it.
> French Railways - www.sncf.fr which AFAIK is the only European rail site
> to offer an on-line pricing and booking facility for journeys beyond its
> respective borders might be better in getting a idea of the fare (in
> Euros). However, it doesn't offer delivery of tickets to North America,
> instead refers you back to www.raileurope.com
My understanding has always been that Raileurope (at least the arm that
operates within the UK and at www.raileurope.co.uk) was a subsidiary of
SNCF and used its timetable and booking system.
At one time, the Raileurope.co.uk online site could pretty much only
sell Eurostar tickets and to some French destinations, but
I just tried it for a German destination, and got what looked like
a reasonable price. They could always sell you other tickets over
the phone though.
--
[email protected]
> Agree www.bahn.de is great for ticket pricing in Germany, but
> pretty useless for beyond the German border. A great shame as the
> timetabling facility on the site covers most of Europe, the "commercial"
> side of the site (i.e. on-line booking = revenue for German Rail) hasn't
> been developed to match it.
> French Railways - www.sncf.fr which AFAIK is the only European rail site
> to offer an on-line pricing and booking facility for journeys beyond its
> respective borders might be better in getting a idea of the fare (in
> Euros). However, it doesn't offer delivery of tickets to North America,
> instead refers you back to www.raileurope.com
My understanding has always been that Raileurope (at least the arm that
operates within the UK and at www.raileurope.co.uk) was a subsidiary of
SNCF and used its timetable and booking system.
At one time, the Raileurope.co.uk online site could pretty much only
sell Eurostar tickets and to some French destinations, but
I just tried it for a German destination, and got what looked like
a reasonable price. They could always sell you other tickets over
the phone though.
--
[email protected]
Jun 5th 2003, 9:11 am
#24
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
> Anyone ever had
>bad experiences ordering online?
I think a better question would be:
"Anyone ever had a good experience ordering online?"
>bad experiences ordering online?
I think a better question would be:
"Anyone ever had a good experience ordering online?"
Jun 10th 2003, 7:10 pm
#25
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Eurail questions
[email protected] (OCEANRADIO) wrote in
news:[email protected]:
>> Anyone ever had
>>bad experiences ordering online?
>
> I think a better question would be:
> "Anyone ever had a good experience ordering online?"
>
>
my experience ordering a Eurail Select Pass (10 days 5 Countries + Prague
Excursion) went just fine and I get the pass in the mail quickly ... only
thing that sucked was realizing I would have to make reservations (or in my
case, take the longer routes) to get out of major cities (like Paris
), which was like 11 Euro for each reservation (if you order the
reservations from home it costs an extra $12 I belive, but from what I
understand, if you have most of the other Eurail passes, you don't have to
pay for reservations... I definitely got my moneys worth from that pass
though
Heather
news:[email protected]:
>> Anyone ever had
>>bad experiences ordering online?
>
> I think a better question would be:
> "Anyone ever had a good experience ordering online?"
>
>
my experience ordering a Eurail Select Pass (10 days 5 Countries + Prague
Excursion) went just fine and I get the pass in the mail quickly ... only
thing that sucked was realizing I would have to make reservations (or in my
case, take the longer routes) to get out of major cities (like Paris
), which was like 11 Euro for each reservation (if you order the
reservations from home it costs an extra $12 I belive, but from what I
understand, if you have most of the other Eurail passes, you don't have to
pay for reservations... I definitely got my moneys worth from that pass
though
Heather
