A nasty surprise experienced by quite a few first-time
rail travellers is that seat reservations are not included with an
Interrail pass. This means that you need to learn the “fine art” of buying seat
reservations.
To do this, you have 3 main options. These are:
Buy seat reservations directly from a rail provider.
Buy seat reservations from an online platform.
Buy seat reservations from Eurail (the “Interrail
app”).
Buying seat reservations directly from a rail provider
Even if it can be somewhat tricky, buying seat
reservations directly from the rail providers for each leg of your journey has
some advantages:
Many rail providers allow you to select your preferred
seat from a seat map.
Seat reservations purchased directly from rail
providers are (almost always) cheaper.
Because each rail provider has its own (unique) system
for making seat reservations, I will explain how to make seat reservations with
specific rail providers, where relevant, in the section on suggested
itineraries.
Buying seat reservations directly from an online
platform
It is fairly straightforward to buy seat reservations
from DB International and Rail Europe.
When entering your journey details and before clicking
on “Search”:
Click “Add a rail pass” and select “Interrail Global
Pass” (1st or 2nd class).
Buying seat reservations from Eurail
Buying seat reservations from Eurailshould be seen
as a “last resort”. It is almost always more expensive than booking seat
reservations directly from rail providers. However, for some journey legs,
Eurail is the only option for Interrail pass holders to buy seat reservations.
This is how to buy seat reservations using Eurail if
you have an Interrail pass:
Create an account and login using the same details
(e.g., e-mail address) that you used to purchase and activate your Interrail
pass.
Click on “Seat reservations – Book seats” and enter
the city or station from which you are departing, the city or station which you
are traveling to, and an approximate departure time.
Choose the trip you created when you purchased and
activated your Interrail pass.
If seat reservations are required (or recommended),
click on “Book seats”.
Choose from available reservation classes (e.g., first
or second class) and add them to your cart.
(If no options are available, passholder seats are
probably sold out. This can happen, especially on Eurostar. If it does, choose
another train. The best way of avoiding this happening is to book early.)
Pay for your seat reservations.
In most cases, your seat reservations will be sent to
you by e-mail within a few minutes.
The option you should choose for buying seat
reservations will depend on where you are travelling to. In the second part of
this chapter, I will explain what you need to know to buy seat reservations for
the routes described in the final chapter (“Suggested itineraries”) of this
book.
Seat reservations for travel to/from and in Denmark
and Sweden (for Stockholm)
Interrail passengers are not required to (but can)
buy seat reservations for travel in Denmark. This can be done from Danish State
Railways (DSB) as follows:
When entering your journey details and before clicking
on “Søg rejse”, select “0 passagerer” (0 passengers) and “1 plads” (1
seat).
The prices you now see are for seat reservations only.
Select seats from a seat map if offered to do so.
Your seat reservations will be sent to you by e-mail
within a few minutes.
Interrail passholders are required to buy seat
reservations for rail travel in Sweden. This can be done from SJas follows:
When entering your journey details and before clicking
on “Search journey”, click on “Traveller 1, Adult” (or your name if you have an
account with SJ).
Check “Travels with travel card.”
Scroll down and select “Interrail or Eurail.”
The prices you now see for cancellable tickets
are for Interrail passholders.
Depending on which options are offered, either
select seats from a seat map or enter seating preferences.
Your seat reservations will be sent to you by e-mail
within a few minutes.
Seat reservations for travel in (and beyond) Germany
(for Tübingen)
Interrail passengers are not required to (but can)
buy seat reservations for a rail journey with Deutsch Bahn that starts and ends
in Germany. Interrail passengers can be required to buy seat
reservations for rail journeys between Germany and Denmark, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Croatia (via Austria). Seat reservations can
be purchased from DB Internationalas follows:
Enter the station your journey details (number of
passengers, first or second class).
Enter stopovers (for any overnights) and how long
these should be.
(This is an iterative process: You will need to adjust stopover lengths
until you find your preferred itinerary.)
Set the minimum transfer time to 45 minutes.
(Why? Because German trains are very often delayed.)
Check “Book seat only”.
Click on “Search”.
The website will respond with some suggested
itineraries. The prices for which are for seat reservations only.
If none of the suggested itineraries work for you,
click on “Modify details” and I suggest making small changes to the length of
any stopovers or adding a stopover to force a longer transfer time. Click on
“Change” to see some new suggestions. This is an iterative process and (with a
little persistence) you can often find a much better itinerary.
If one of the suggestions does work for you, select it
by clicking on “Continue”.
The website responds with an option to select seats
from a seat map on most trains which are operated by DB. On most other trains,
seats are assigning automatically.
(Note: Sometimes one or more legs of your journey will
be missing from the seat reservations offered to you by DB International. This
happens if 1) seats cannot be reserved, e.g., on some regional trains (This is
not a problem); 2) a train is very busy (This is not usually a problem: You can
still travel and you will probably find a free seat); or 3) seats cannot be
reserved by DB International, e.g., on some trains operated by other rail
providers (This is a problem if seat reservations are required. If this
happens make sure to reserve a seat with the rail provider for that leg of your
journey).
After selecting seats, click on “Continue” and pay for
them.
You will receive an e-mail with your seat reservations
within a few minutes.
(Tip: I recommend using DB International to buy seat
reservations for as long a stretch of your journey as possible. This is
because you pay one fee irrespective of how many legs you travel, how many
stopovers you make, and how long they are. This includes overnight stopovers!
For example, on a rail journey from Stockholm to Amsterdam, it makes more sense
to make seat reservations for Copenhagen to Amsterdam with DB International
than to make separate seat reservations for Copenhagen to Hamburg (with Danish
State Railways) and only use DB International for onwards travel from Hamburg.)
Seat reservations for travel in the Netherlands and
Belgium (for Brussels)
Interrail passengers are not required to (and cannot)
buy seat reservations for travel in the Netherlands (operated by Dutch National
Railways) and Belgium (operated by Belgian National Railways), as well as cross-border trains within these
countries. Just use your Interrail pass, get on any train and sit in any
available seat. One exception is Eurostar (formerly Thalys): They charge a lot
of money for tickets and seat reservations for cross-border journeys that can
be easily accomplished using domestic trains.
Seat reservations for travel to/from and in the UK
(for Glasgow)
Interrail passengers are required to buy
“passholder seat reservations” for the Eurostar to Great Britain (London). These
can be purchased from Rail Europeas follows:
Enter your journey details.
Click “Add a rail pass” and select “Interrail Global
Pass” (1st or 2nd class).
Click on “Search”.
The website will return a list of possible journeys.
Choose your preferred one.
Enter your passenger details.
Click on “Add to basket” and pay for your seat reservations.
You will receive an e-mail with your seat reservations
within a few minutes.
Interrail passengers are not required to (but can)
buy seat reservations for travel in the UK. Seat reservations can be obtained
online for all British rail providers from Great Western Railway.
You do this as follows:
Create an account and login.
Click on “My account” (or “Hello, …”).
Click on “Make a booking” (or “View bookings”).
Click on “Make a seat/bike reservation”.
Enter your journey details and choose “Standard” of
“First class”.
Choose an itinerary and select “Anytime Single” (It
doesn’t actually matter what you choose as you are not buying a ticket).
Click on “Continue” and make a seat reservation.
You will receive an e-mail with your seat reservations
within a few minutes.
(I have no idea why this works …).
Seat reservations for onwards travel to/from and in
France (for Marseille) and Spain (for Madrid)
Interrail passengers are required to buy
“passholder seat reservations” for long-distance trains to/from and in France
(operated by French National Railways and partners) and Spain (operated by Spanish National Railways). Passholder seat reservations can be purchased from
Rail Europe as follows:
Enter your journey details. (For journeys between France and Spain, you need to make separate
bookings to/from Barcelona to access passholder seat reservations.)
Click “Add a rail pass” and select “Interrail Global
Pass” (1st or 2nd class).
Click on “Search”.
The website will return a list of possible journeys.
Choose your preferred one.
The website will prompt you to enter any seating
references (e.g., Aisle or Window, Upper or Lower Deck on double-decker trains)
or to select your seat from a seat map.
Indicate your seating preferences.
Choose a delivery method (“Print-at-home” or “Mobile
ticket”).
Enter your passenger details.
Click on “Add to basket” and pay for your seat
reservations.
Your seat reservations will be delivered in the manner
you requested within a few minutes.
(Tip: If you can’t access the passholder seat
reservation you are looking for, try breaking your journey into separate parts,
e.g., in Barcelona.)
Seat reservations for travel in Switzerland (for
Lausanne)
Interrail passengers are not required to (and
cannot) buy seat reservations for travel in Switzerland (operated by Swiss
Federal Railways).
Seat reservations for onwards travel to/from and in
Italy (for Rome)
Interrail passengers are required to buy
“passholder seat reservations” for long-distance journeys to/from and in Italy.
Passholder seat reservations can be purchased from Rail Europeas follows:
Enter your journey details.
Click “Add a rail pass” and select “Interrail Global
Pass” (1st or 2nd class).
Click on “Search”.
(For journeys
between Switzerland (Basel) and Italy, you need to make separate
bookings to/from Milan to access passholder seat reservations.)
The website will return a list of possible journeys.
Choose your preferred one.
The website will prompt you to enter any seating
references (e.g., Aisle or Window, Upper or Lower Deck on double-decker trains)
or choose your seat from a seat map for some Italian trains.
Indicate your seating preferences (or choose your seat
from a seat map).
Choose a delivery method (“Print-at-home” or “Mobile
ticket”).
Enter your passenger details.
Click on “Add to basket” and pay for your seat
reservations.
Your seat reservations will be delivered in the manner
you requested within a few minutes.
(Tip: If you can’t access the passholder seat
reservation you are looking for, try breaking your journey into separate parts,
e.g., in Milan.)
Seat reservations for onwards travel in Austria (for
Salzburg)
Interrail passengers are not required to buy
seat reservations for onwards travel on domestic trains in Austria (operated by
Austrian Federal Railways).
Seat reservations for onwards travel to/from and in
Romania (for Bucharest)
The suggested itineraries to/from Romania use the
Dacia Express from Bucharest to Vienna (see “Night trains”).
Seat reservations for onwards travel to/from and in Greece
(for Athens)
The
suggested itineraries to/from Athens use the bus/train connection from Patras
to Athens. Seat reservations are required for the bus. These are free and can
be obtained from the ticket office at Patras “Railway” Station.
