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sammorgan44
Traveller
2 comments

Posted 5 years ago

Hi,

I\'m about to start making my train reservations and wondered what the best website to use was. I want to book all my train reservations before I leave and receive tickets in the post or e-tickets. A couple of years ago I used SNCF but my route this time is through Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy.

I have been in contact with Wasteels to book a night train from Budapest to Split and I have been in contact with OBB Austria for a night train from Lake Bled to Lake Garda. Should I let one of these companies book the rest of my reservations as I have been particularly impressed with the communication I\'ve received from Wasteels to date.

My concern is that I could do this cheaper myself? The interrail seat reservations system seems quite expensive to what I experienced in 2015. I would like to see what other systems people have used.

Thanks in advance for your responses,

Sam

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

Hi Sam!

Which reservations do you intend to buy?
In these countries you usually do not need many reservations, except for night trains and high speed trains in Italy.

Regarding the overnight connection from Lesce Bled via Villach to Peschiera del Garda (?); you can book a seat from Lesce Bled to Villach locally at any train station (I assume that you can travel this short bit without a reservation too) and order the reservation from Villach to Peschiera via the ÖBB hotline at +43 5 1717 - collect this ticket at a ticket machine in Austria.
Wasteels should be able to book this reservation as well I think.

Flo

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sammorgan44
Traveller
2 comments

replied 5 years ago

Hi Flo,

Thanks for your response. I probably intend to buy most if not all of my reservations as I\'m travelling in a group of 4 and would like us all sat together. I\'d rather not take my chances and know that would be the case.

That would mean Reservations for trains from Split to Zagreb, Zagreb to Lesce Bled, Lesce Bled to Peschiera del Garda, Garda to Florence and Florence to Rome.

My intention was to catch the high speed trains through Italy but was surprised at the seat reservation cost of 10EUR each even for journeys totalling less than an hour (the first train prior to a change between Peschiera del Garda and Florence).

I would hope to book these all in one online system for simplicity but if it\'s significantly cheaper to buy from individual providers then I\'ll happily do that.

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Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

replied 5 years ago

Seat reservations in Europe are usually the same price irrespective of the distance travelled. Regarding high speed trains I usually recommend to travel with regional trains instead if the difference in travel time is not too great (eg if high speed and regional train run on the same tracks where the high speed train cant operate at its maximum speed).

Reservations in Italy can easily be bought on the website of Trenitalia (the train operating company) at [ux]https://rail.shop/trenitalia[/ux] - select the train, then go to the price options and select "Global Pass". If you are asked to enter your ticket number it is ok to simply enter "00000000" or enter the number of your actual pass (if you already have it). Reservations can be collected at ticket machines in Italy or should also be available as e-ticket.

Split - Zagreb reservations (for the day train?) might be available only locally; you can try Wasteels as well or [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/reservation[/ux]
Zagreb - Lesce Bled shouldnt be a problem for Wasteels (or you simply buy them locally, for instance in Budapest).

It makes no sense to travel the short section from Lake Garda to Verona with a high speed train; simply take a regional train and get a high speed train to Florence from there.
If you do not find regional trains to Verona make a separate search only between Lake Garda and Verona and/or use the schedule planner at [ux]https://rail.shop/trenord[/ux]