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Just
click on the city or country in which your train journey starts:
Bookings open 90
(in some cases 60) days in advance. Remember that you
can't book before reservations open, but no-one else can book
before reservations open, either, so don't worry!
More information about when bookings open.
Ingenuity
is sometimes required... Bear in mind that for longer or more
complex journeys, it's often necessary to break the journey into
logical sections. For example, none of the websites
recommended here is capable of booking an entire journey from (say)
Naples to (say) the town of Haarlem in the
Netherlands all in one go. But you can get train times from
Naples to Haarlem using
http://bahn.hafas.de.
Using this as a guide, you can use the Italian railways website to book
the train from Naples to Milan, and once you have booked
that you can use the
City Night Line sleeper website to book the sleeper from
Milan to Amsterdam, with your ticket printed out on your own PC
printer. The Dutch railways website will then
give you fares and times for the last short hop from Amsterdam
to Haarlem, but for purely domestic Dutch tickets no reservation
or advance booking is necessary, you can buy this ticket when
you get to Amsterdam. A bit of
creative thinking is often required!
Each seat61 country page gives
specific step-by-step instructions for booking a journey from the UK to
that particular European country, so just select your destination country
from the menu on the left. But just for the record, here's a general
summary of the best way to buy train tickets from the UK to
Europe:
You can buy combined train+ferry
tickets from London or any station in Great Britain to Dublin online
on the Ireland page from just £27 one-way, or you can buy them by phone
from the SailRail telesales line on 08450 755 755.
If all you want is a Eurostar ticket from London to Paris
or Brussels, the best way to book is online direct
from Eurostar at
www.eurostar.com. Tickets will be sent to any UK,
French or Belgian
address or (if travelling at short notice or booking from
overseas) you can choose to collect them at the
station in London, Paris or Brussels
using the e-ticket
machines. If you're only going one-way,
see this advice on
one-way Eurostar
fares. Eurostar bookings open 120
days before departure. Although
www.eurostar.com is capable of booking through
tickets from London to many cities in
France, it won't book overnight trains
or tickets to every destination, so I'd recommend using either www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents) or
www.voyages-sncf.com
(for residents of any country) for destinations beyond Paris or
Belgium, as they offer more destinations, give you more control
over each booking, will also book overnight trains, and often
offer cheaper options. Remember that Eurostar tickets to
Brussels are valid to any station in Belgium, not just Brussels,
see the Belgium page.
The best way to book train journeys from London to
anywhere in France and to major cities in Italy, Spain
or Switzerland is online at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(French Railways' UK subsidiary for UK residents, now with a new
easier-to-use system, backed by UK
call centre) or French Railways
website www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, tickets
sent from France or can be collected from French
stations, can be quirky, so
see this advice on
using it).
Reservations open 90 days before departure.
www.raileurope.co.uk
will post tickets free of charge to any UK address.
www.voyages-sncf.com will post tickets to any address
in Europe and some countries worldwide, or if you leave
'France' selected as the country in which you want to receive
tickets, tickets can be picked up at
stations in France or in the case of the cheapest 'prems'
fares you can print them out in .pdf format on your own PC
printer.
Onward tickets
within Italy: The new
www.raileurope.co.uk
online system can now book major internal routes within
Italy, and this is the most painless way to add an
onward connection to your London-Italy journey.
It's best to add the internal journey separately, in
other words, don't try booking Paris-Naples all in one
go, first book Paris-Rome and add to your basket, then
click 'continue shopping' and book Rome-Naples as a
second journey, allowing plenty of time for the
connection. The Rail Europe system won't sell all
trains on every Italian route, and it charges a pound or
two more than booking direct with Italian Railways, so
you might prefer to book onward connections within
Italy separately at the
Italian Railways site,
www.trenitalia.com. The Trenitalia website has its
quirks, so see
this advice on using it. Voyages-sncf.com probably
won't succeed in booking many trains within Italy, so
you'll probably have to use the Trenitalia website to
book these.
Onward tickets
within Spain: The new
www.raileurope.co.uk
online system can now book major internal routes within
Spain, and this is the most painless way to add an
onward connection to your London-Madrid/Barcelona
journey. It's best to add the internal journey
separately, in other words, don't try booking
Paris-Malaga all in one go, first book Paris-Madrid and
add to your basket, then click 'continue shopping' and
book Madrid-Malaga as a second journey. The Rail
Europe system won't sell all trains on every Spanish
route, and importantly, it will only sell full-fare
fully-flexible tickets, it can't sell the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares available direct from the
Spanish Railways themselves, so you might find it
cheaper to book onward connections within Spain
separately at the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.es -
See
this step-by-step guide to using renfe.es.
Voyages-sncf.com can't book anything in Spain beyond
Madrid or Barcelona, so if you use it you'll have to
book onward trains at
www.renfe.es.
UK to Germany, Austria,
Scandinavia & eastern Europe...
You can book the direct sleeper
trains from Cologne to Prague, Vienna & Copenhagen, and from
Paris to Munich & Berlin online
at the German Railways sleeper train website,
www.bahn.de/citynightline, 'English' button at upper
right. Look for the cheap 'Savings' fares. You pay by credit card and print
out your own tickets in .PDF format, making it easy for anyone
booking from any country.
You can then book a connecting
London-Cologne Eurostar+Thalys ticket using either
www.eurostar.com (residents of any country, tickets sent to
UK addresses or collected at the station) or
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents, tickets sent to any UK address) or
www.voyages-sncf.com
(tickets sent to any European address). You can book a connecting London-Paris or
London-Brussels Eurostar ticket at
www.eurostar.com. Onward journeys from Munich to
Salzburg & Innsbruck or Berlin to Krakow or Warsaw can then be
booked at
http://bahn.hafas.de. Onward tickets from Copenhagen
to Stockholm & Oslo can be booked online at
www.sj.se (no
booking fee) or
www.bokatag.se (small booking fee) or if you can't get your
credit card to work, call SJ telesales on +46 771 75 75 75
(touch tone 6 for English). Tickets are collected from the SJ
ticket machines at Copenhagen main station. For daytime travel from London
to Germany, book London-Cologne using either
www.eurostar.com (residents of any country, tickets sent to
UK addresses or collected at the station) or
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents, tickets sent to any UK address) or
www.voyages-sncf.com (tickets sent to any European
address), then book connecting trains from Cologne to your
German destination using
http://bahn.hafas.de.
London-Amsterdam via Eurostar can
be booked online at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(French Railways' UK subsidiary for UK residents, tickets sent
to any UK address) or French Railways
own website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, tickets
sent to any European address). London-Amsterdam (or any
Dutch stations) by train+ferry via Harwich-Hook of Holland can
be booked online at
www.dutchflyer.co.uk.
Train journeys wholly within
France
UK residents can book French train tickets through
www.raileurope.co.uk,
which will book any train in France, including overnight trains,
with prices in pounds and tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address. Non-UK residents can use the French Railways website,
www.voyages-sncf.com,
though it's quirky so see this advice on how to use
it. Seat reservation is compulsory for almost all French
long-distance trains, and cheap advance-purchase fares called
'prems' are available if you book in advance, so it's well worth
pre-booking if you can.
www.voyages-sncf.com
will send tickets to most European countries. Paris to London:
There's a more-or-less hourly Eurostar
train from Paris to London via the Channel Tunnel, taking just 2 hours 15 minutes, centre to centre, much
faster and more comfortable than flying.
Fares from £59/89 euros return. The best way to book
Eurostar tickets is direct with Eurostar at
www.eurostar.com. If you're making a one-way journey,
see this advice
about one-way Eurostar fares. See the
Eurostar page for more
information about Eurostar and the Eurostar journey. You
can choose to pick up tickets at the station if travelling at
short notice or if booking from overseas.
From other French towns & cities to London, it's best to
buy tickets
using either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any address in Europe),
see this advice on how to use
these websites. The London to
France page will help with UK-France routes and train
times, in either direction, and show you what French daytime
TGV and overnight trains are like.
Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria,
Switzerland:
Direct high-speed trains link Paris with other European
cities including Brussels (1½
hours), Amsterdam (4 hours), Luxembourg, Cologne (4½
hours), Frankfurt (4 hours), Geneva (3½
hours), Basel (3½
hours), Bern (4½
hours) & Zurich (4½
hours). From city centre to city centre, it's
usually
quicker than flying, and certainly more relaxing.
The best way to book these trains is online at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any address in
Europe or can be picked up at the station if you select
'France'). These sites can book international
train journeys from Paris and other French cities to
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany (Berlin,
Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart and others),
Austria (Vienna via Strasbourg), & Switzerland (Geneva,
Lausanne, Bern, Interlaken, Basel, Zurich). The
voyages-sncf.com system has quite a few quirks, so see this advice on how to use
it.
Paris to Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice & Italy:
There are direct overnight sleeper trains from Paris to Milan, Bologna, Florence,
Rome, Verona, Venice. Leave central Paris at 7pm, arrive
next morning in Florence at 7.15am or Rome at 9.50am.
Or leave Paris at 7.40pm, arrive in central Venice
9.35am, a short walk from the Rialto Bridge and St
Mark's Square. Effectively faster than flying, and
it'll save a hotel bill too. There are also three daily daytime
TGV trains from Paris to Turin & Milan (7 hours), and an
overnight sleeper from Nice & Monte Carlo to Rome &
Venice (although sadly, after over 100 years, the
Nice-Rome/Venice train is to be withdrawn in June 2008). See the London to
Italy page for more information about all these
Paris-Italy trains, including times, fares and on board
accommodation. The best way to book any of these trains
is online at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, new easier-to-use system, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any address in
Europe or can be picked up at the station if you leave
'France' selected). The
voyages-sncf.com system has quite a few quirks, so before booking,
see this advice on how to use
it.
Onward tickets
within Italy: The raileurope.co.uk or voyages-sncf.com
booking system will book the direct trains Paris-Rome or Paris-Florence, but may struggle with Paris-Naples
or Paris-Pisa, both of which require a change of train.
So use raileurope or voyages-sncf to book (in this example)
the Paris-Rome or Paris-Florence train, then book onward connections in
Italy separately at the
Italian Railways site,
www.trenitalia.com, but first
see
this advice on using the Trenitalia website.
Paris to Madrid, Barcelona & Spain:
There are excellent overnight sleeper trains called
'trainhotels' from Paris to Barcelona & Madrid, with
cosy sleepers, an elegant restaurant and a bar.
Leave Paris 8.30pm, arrive Barcelona 8.30 next morning.
Leave Paris 7.40pm, arrive Madrid 9.15 next morning.
In effect it's faster than flying and it'll save a hotel
bill too. For more information about these trainhotels, including
photos inside & out, see the London
to Spain page or the trainhotel website,
www.elipsos.com. The best way to book these
trains is online at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any address in Europe, or if you leave
'France' selected you can pick up tickets at the station). The booking system
at raileurope.co.uk or voyages-sncf.com has quite a few quirks, so before booking,
see this advice on how to use
these websites. These websites will also book the
direct daytime trains Barcelona-Montpellier.
Residents of the USA & Canada can also book this train
online using
www.raileurope.com,
and Australians at
www.raileurope.com.au,
although prices will be slightly higher. Onward tickets
within Spain: The new raileurope.co.uk system can book
onward trains within Spain, but only at full fare, not the cheap
advance-booking fares. The voyages-sncf.com
booking system will book the direct trainhotels Paris-Madrid
or Paris-Barcelona, but can't book onwards trains to Malaga or
Alicante.
So use raileurope or voyages-sncf to book the Paris-Madrid train
(for Seville or Malaga) or the Paris-Barcelona trainhotel (for
Valencia or Alicante), then book onward connections in
Spain separately at the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.es - see
this step-by-step guide to using renfe.es. Similarly, it may struggle with (say)
Nice-Barcelona, so break the journey into logical stages, and try first booking Montpellier-Barcelona, then
click 'add another ticket' and book a connecting
Nice-Montpellier journey. Paris to
Prague & Poland:
For
Paris to Prague, Warsaw or Krakow, first book the
overnight Paris-Berlin sleeper using either
www.bahn.de/citynightline (the German Railways sleeper
website, for residents of any country,
you simply print your own ticket) or
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address, a subsidiary of French Railways) or French Railways'
own website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any address in Europe). Check both the
German and French sites, as for some reason if the cheapest
tickets are sold out on the German site the fare on the French
sites can sometimes be cheaper. Then book a
connecting ticket from Berlin to Prague, Warsaw or Krakow
using
http://bahn.hafas.de. The
London to Poland and London to the
Czech Republic pages may help with train times, the
Brussels to Berlin sleeper referred to on those pages in fact
starts in Paris. Paris to Austria,
Budapest, Ljubljana, Zagreb:
For
Paris to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana or
Zagreb, first book the overnight Paris-Munich sleeper train using either
www.bahn.de/citynightline (for residents of any country,
you simply print your own ticket) or
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any address in Europe). Then book a
connecting daytime train from Munich to Innsbruck, Salzburg,
Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana or Zagreb using
http://bahn.hafas.de. Allow at least 25 minutes to
change trains in Munich. Paris to
Copenhagen & Denmark, Sweden, Norway:
You can book the
direct Cologne-Copenhagen sleeper using
www.bahn.de/citynightline, and print out your own tickets.
Then book a connecting
Paris-Cologne Thalys high-speed train using either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free of charge to any UK
address) or the French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any address in Europe). Allow at least
30 minutes to change trains in Cologne.
Onward tickets from Copenhagen to Stockholm & Oslo can be booked online
at www.sj.se (no
booking fee) or
www.bokatag.se (small booking fee) or if you can't get your
credit card to work, call SJ telesales on +46 771 75 75 75
(touch tone 6 for English). Tickets are collected from the SJ
ticket machines at Copenhagen main station. Paris to
Athens & Greece:
Paris to Athens takes less
than 48 hours via the ferry from Italy, and it's a great
journey. It can be booked online in 3 stages, see the
London to Greece page for times,
fares and how to buy tickets, just ignore the London-Paris part.
The overland journey from Paris to Athens via Belgrade or
Bucharest cannot be booked online it has to be booked by
phone. Paris to Portugal, Russia,
Ukraine, Turkey:
Journeys from
Paris to Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey cannot be booked
online, they need to be
booked by phone.
Train journeys wholly within Belgium
You can check Belgian train times & fares at
www.b-rail.be,
and buy tickets online. But
Belgian internal trains don't require seat reservations, you
just buy a ticket at the station and hop on, so no need to book
in advance. The price is a kilometric tariff, so the price
is the same even if you buy tickets at the station on the day of
travel. However, buying a print-your-own .pdf format
ticket online can save time at the ticket office.
Brussels to London:
There are regular Eurostar trains from Brussels to London,
taking just 1 hour 55 minutes or so.
The best way to book is online direct with Eurostar at
www.eurostar.com. You can choose to pick up tickets at
the station if booking at short notice or from overseas.
If you're only going one-way,
see this advice on
one-way Eurostar fares.
Brussels to Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne & Germany:
High-speed 'Thalys' trains link Brussels with Paris (1½
hours), Amsterdam (3 hours) or
Cologne (2½ hours).
Although you
can book these at
www.thalys.com, I'd
recommend using
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any European address) as these can also book Thalys
trains and
are usually easier to use. Note that the hourly intercity
(i.e. non-Thalys) trains
from Brussels to Amsterdam need no reservation, you can easily
buy a ticket on the day at the station and just hop on, which
makes them easier to use than Thalys if you're only going
Brussels-Amsterdam. Top tip for
Thalys one-way journeys: Check Thalys return fares
even for a one-way trip as these can be cheaper. Book
onwards trains from Cologne into Germany using
http://bahn.hafas.de.
The German Railways website,
http://bahn.hafas.de can book ICE trains (but not Thalys
trains) from Brussels to Cologne, Frankfurt and onwards into
Germany.
Brussels to Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Copenhagen & Italy (via Cologne):
Journeys from Brussels to Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Copenhagen or Milan
can be booked online in two stages. First, book the
direct overnight sleeper train from Cologne to
Vienna/Prague/Copenhagen/Milan at
www.bahn.de/citynightline. Then book a connecting
Brussels-Cologne Thalys train using either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any European address). Allow at least 30
minutes in Cologne to make a safe connection. Onward
connections from Milan to other Italian cities can be booked
separately at the
Italian Railways site,
www.trenitalia.com, but first
see
this advice on using the Trenitalia website. Onward
tickets from Copenhagen to Stockholm & Oslo can be booked online
at www.sj.se
(no booking fee) or
www.bokatag.se
(small booking fee) or if you can't get your credit card to
work, call SJ telesales on +46 771 75 75 75 (touch tone 6 for
English). Tickets are collected from the SJ ticket machines at
Copenhagen main station.
Brussels to Switzerland:
The two daily direct daytime trains from Brussels to Basel &
Zurich can be booked online at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any European address).
There is now no direct sleeper, but it's possible to use the
Cologne-Switzerland sleeper booked at
www.bahn.de/citynightline with a connecting
Brussels-Cologne ticket booked at
www.raileurope.co.uk
or
www.voyages-sncf.com. Allow at least 30 minutes in
Cologne for connections, and remember that for a one-way trip
on Thalys, return fares can be cheaper than one-way fares.
Brussels to Italy (via Paris) & the South of France:
Journeys from Brussels to the South of France or Italy via
Paris can also be booked, usually in two stages (first book Paris-Italy
then book Brussels-Paris), at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any European address).
Brussels to Spain:
Take a high-speed Thalys train to Paris (Gare du Nord),
change stations, then take the 'trainhotel'
sleeper train from Paris (Gare d'Austerlitz) to Madrid or Barcelona overnight with
sleepers, restaurant & bar.
Journeys from Brussels to Spain can be booked in two separate
stages, Brussels-Paris & Paris-Madrid/Barcelona using either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any European address). Onwards tickets
from Madrid to Seville/Malaga or Barcelona to
Valencia/Alicante can be booked online at
www.renfe.es.
For more information about these trainhotels, including photos
inside & out, see the London to Spain page
or the trainhotel website,
www.elipsos.com. Brussels to
Prague & Poland:
For
Brussels to Warsaw, Krakow or Prague (via Berlin), first book the
Brussels-Berlin sleeper using
www.bahn.de/citynightline, you pay online and simply print
out your own ticket. Then book a
connecting daytime train from Berlin to Prague, Warsaw or Krakow
using
http://bahn.hafas.de. The
London to Poland and London to the
Czech Republic pages will help with train times and
on-board accommodation, just ignore the London-Brussels part.
Train journeys wholly within the Netherlands
You can check Dutch train times and fares at
www.ns.nl.
Dutch trains don't require seat reservations, you just
buy a ticket at the station and hop on, so no need to book in
advance. The price is a kilometric tariff, so the price is
the same even if you buy tickets at the station on the day of
travel.
Amsterdam to London:
You can travel from Amsterdam to London either by Eurostar via
Brussels (5½ hours) or
by train+ferry via Hoek van Holland-Harwich (either daytime or
overnight with cabin), see the
London to the Netherlands page. The way to book
inbound journeys from the Netherlands is explained in the 'how
to buy tickets' section. By Eurostar via Brussels, you
can buy tickets using
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any European address).
Top tip: Return fares are often cheaper than
one-way fares on Eurostar and Thalys, so check return prices
even for a one-way trip.
Amsterdam to Paris & Brussels:
There are high-speed Thalys trains from Amsterdam, Den Haag &
Rotterdam to Brussels (3 hours) and Paris (4½
hours), city centre to city centre, faster than flying.
Although you can book these online at
www.thalys.com,
I'd recommend using
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English
button at the bottom, tickets sent to any European address) as
the Thalys website
directs you to an awkward Dutch website for Thalys journeys starting in
the Netherlands, with tickets only sent to addresses in the
Netherlands. Top tip for Thalys one-way journeys:
check Amsterdam-Paris return fares even for a one-way trip as
these can be cheaper. There is also an hourly InterCity
(i.e. non-Thalys) train between Amsterdam, Den Haag,
Rotterdam, Antwerp & Brussels, which needs no reservation,
just turn up, buy a ticket at the station and hop on. In
many ways this is much easier to use than Thalys. It's
cheaper than Thalys if you pay on the day, but Thalys has
cheaper fares available if you can book in advance on a
no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.
Amsterdam to major cities in Germany, also Innsbruck, Salzburg,
Ljubljana, Zagreb:
There are high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains from
Amsterdam to Düsseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt, and InterCity
(IC) trains from Amsterdam to Berlin.
The German Railways website,
http://bahn.hafas.de can book international tickets for
daytime trains from Amsterdam to Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin
and other cities in Germany.
The German Railways sleeper train
website,
www.bahn.de/citynightline can book the direct City Night
Line overnight sleeper trains from Amsterdam to to Stuttgart &
Munich. You can book connecting daytime trains from
Munich to Innsbruck, Salzburg, Ljubljana or Zagreb using
http://bahn.hafas.de.
Amsterdam to Vienna, Prague, Copenhagen, Switzerland &
Italy:
There are excellent 'City Night Line' overnight sleeper trains
direct from Amsterdam to Basel & Zurich in Switzerland, to
Stuttgart & Munich in Germany, and to Vienna, Prague,
Copenhagen & Milan. Leave central Amsterdam at 7pm,
arrive in Prague city centre at 9.30am next morning! Or
leave Amsterdam at 8.30pm, arrive Zurich at 8.20am or Vienna
at 8.35am next morning. Or leave Amsterdam at 5pm,
arrive Milan at 7.45am next morning, changing there for
Florence, Venice or Rome. All these trains have
couchettes (4 & 6-bunk) and sleepers (1, 2 & 3 bed rooms, some
with private shower & toilet, breakfast included. You
can easily book all these sleeper trains at the German Railways sleeper train
website,
www.bahn.de/citynightline. You pay by
credit card and simply print out your own ticket in .PDF format. Connecting tickets from Milan onwards to
Florence, Rome or Venice can be booked online at
www.trenitalia.com, but
see this
advice on using the Trenitalia website. Onward
tickets from Basel or Zurich to any station in Switzerland can
be bought on board the sleeper train, for about 29 euros each
way (ask your sleeper attendant for a Swiss connection
ticket). Onward tickets from Copenhagen to Stockholm &
Oslo can be booked online at
www.sj.se (no
booking fee) or
www.bokatag.se
(small booking fee) or if you can't get your credit card to
work, call SJ telesales on +46 771 75 75 75 (touch tone 6 for
English). Tickets are collected from the SJ ticket machines at
Copenhagen main station.
Amsterdam to Spain:
Take a lunchtime high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to
Paris (Gare du Nord) in just 4½ hours,
then
take the overnight 'trainhotel' from Paris (Gare d'Austerlitz) to Madrid or
Barcelona, arriving next morning. For more information
about these trainhotels, including photos inside and out,
see the London to Spain page or the trainhotel website,
www.elipsos.com.
Journeys from the Netherlands to Spain can be booked in two
separate stages, using either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any European address). First book
Paris-Madrid/Barcelona. Then click 'add another
ticket' and book an Amsterdam-Paris train, allowing at least
90 minutes to change trains and
stations in Paris. Onwards tickets
from Madrid to destinations such as Seville, Malaga or
Granada, or from
Barcelona to Valencia or Alicante can be booked separately at
www.renfe.es.
Amsterdam to Portugal, Russia, Poland, Ukraine:
There is a direct sleeper train from Amsterdam to Warsaw
(taking 1 night) & Moscow (taking 2 nights), but unfortunately
it cannot be booked online, only
by phone.
Journeys to Portugal & Ukraine also need to be booked by
phone.
Train journeys wholly within Switzerland
You can check fares and train times at
www.sbb.ch, and
buy tickets online.
However, apart from a few tourist trains such as the
Glacier Express, Swiss trains
don't require seat reservations, you just buy a ticket at the
station and hop on, so no need to book in advance. The
price is a kilometric tariff, so the price is the same even if
you buy tickets at the station on the day of travel.
Switzerland to Paris & London
There are direct high-speed TGV trains from Switzerland
to Paris, for example Geneva to Paris
3½ hours, Zurich to
Paris 4½ hours. You can book Switzerland to Paris
journeys at either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(for UK residents, tickets sent free to any UK address) or the
French Railways website
www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, English button at the bottom,
tickets sent to any address in Europe). If you click 'add another ticket'
after booking the Switzerland-Paris train you can book a
connecting Eurostar from Paris to London at the same
site.
See this advice on how to use
these websites. See the
London to Switzerland page for more information,
including Switzerland-London train times.
Switzerland to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne,
Copenhagen:
There are excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains from Zurich or Basel
direct to Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne &
Copenhagen, with couchettes (6 & 4 bunk) and sleepers (1, 2 &
3 bed, some with private shower & toilet, breakfast included).
You can easily book these using www.bahn.de/citynightline
or
www.bahn.de/citynightline, you simply print out your
own ticket in .pdf format. Onward tickets from
Copenhagen to Stockholm & Oslo can be booked online at
www.sj.se (no
booking fee) or
www.bokatag.se
(small booking fee) or if you can't get your credit card to
work, call SJ telesales on +46 771 75 75 75 (touch tone 6 for
English). Tickets are collected from the SJ ticket machines at
Copenhagen main station.
Switzerland to Italy:
There are both daytime
trains from Swiss cities to Milan, Florence & Venice, and
sleeper trains from several Swiss cities (for example, Bern &
Zurich) to Rome. These journeys can be booked at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents),
www.raileurope.com
(US/Canadian residents),
and
www.raileurope.com.au
(Australian/NZ residents).
Switzerland to Austria:
There is a
direct sleeper train from Zurich to Vienna, with both
couchettes and sleeping-cars, some sleepers with private
shower and toilet. It appears
to be bookable in either direction using the Austrian Railways
website,
www.oebb.at,
as you simply print out your own ticket
in .PDF format. To use this site, don't switch to
'English', but leave the site in its German version.
Click 'Online-tickets' at the top, then on the next page click 'EURO-Night' for sleeper
trains between Switzerland & Austria. If you manage to
book this train this way, let
me know! Daytime EuroCity trains from Zurich to
Innsbruck, Salzburg & Vienna via the amazingly scenic Arlberg
Pass cannot easily be booked online, but must be
booked
by phone, although residents of the USA & Canada may be
able to book this train online using
www.raileurope.com,
and Australians at
www.raileurope.com.au.
Switzerland to Spain:
There's an
excellent 'trainhotel' from Zurich, Bern & Geneva to Barcelona
in Spain, with cosy sleepers, restaurant car & bar. It
now
runs 3 times a week all year round (though it used to run daily
in summer). Change in
Barcelona for Madrid, Valencia, Alicante. UK residents can
book this train at
www.raileurope.co.uk. Residents of the USA & Canada can book this train online using
www.raileurope.com,
and Australians can book at
www.raileurope.com.au.
It cannot be booked at other sites.
Switzerland to eastern Europe
There's a
direct sleeper train from Basel to Prague which you can book
online at www.bahn.de/citynightline,
you pay online and print out your own ticket. Other
trains to eastern Europe are not generally bookable online,
but must be
booked
by phone.
Journeys starting in
Italy:
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Train journeys wholly within Italy
You can book Italian train tickets online at
www.trenitalia.com, but first
see this advice
on using it. Seat reservation is now required
on most long-distance trains (and included in tickets bought
online), although outside busy holiday
periods it's easy to buy tickets at the station on the day of
travel if you want. There's little if any price advantage
in buying in advance as there are few if any advance purchase
deals, just normal fares. However, booking online offers a
hassle-free 'ticketless' option on most fast trains, where you
book and pay online and simply quote your booking reference to
the conductor on board the train. It's painless and works
a treat, with no need to queue at the ticket office.
See this advice
on using the trenitalia website, and if you have any
problems, buy your Italian train tickets from either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(if you're in the UK, best prices but not all Italian trains
featured) or
Seat61 UK Railshop (if you're in the UK, all Italian
trains featured), the
Seat61 US Railshop (if you're in the USA or Canada) or the
Seat61
Australian Railshop (if you're in Australia or NZ)
Italy to Paris, London, Nice, Monte Carlo, Brussels,
Amsterdam, Cologne:
There are direct sleeper trains with couchettes (6 & 4 bunk)
and sleepers (1, 2 & 3 bed) from Rome, Florence,
Bologna, Venice & Verona to Paris, also 3 daytime TGV trains
from Milan to Paris (7 hours). Leave Rome 6.30pm, arrive
Paris 9.10am next morning! See the London to Italy page
for more information about times, fares and on board
accommodation. The Italian
railways website,
www.trenitalia.com, can book these trains. It can also book
the direct Venice-Nice and Rome-Nice sleeper train, and some
other Italy-France trains. First,
see this
advice on using the Trenitalia website. Look for
'smart price' fares as these are the advance-purchase cheap
deals. Tickets can be picked up at any main station in
Italy (ideal for people living outside Italy), or posted to
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