Rail Pass Itinerary: No Reservation Fees

Paris → Gent/Ghent → Amsterdam → Berlin → Prague/Praha → Vienna/Wien → Venice/Venezia → Florence/Firenze → Milan/Milano → Basel via Interlaken → Paris
OR
Paris → Gent/Ghent → Amsterdam → Berlin → Prague/Praha → Vienna/Wien → Venice/Venezia → Florence/Firenze → The Cinque Terre → Genoa/Genova → Marseille → Paris

This suggested rail pass itinerary lives up to its title, as it excludes any train on which Eurail and InterRail Pass users have to pay reservation fees.
It shows that you don't have to pay additional charges to visit the most popular cities in Europe by train

Though avoiding the trains which do have reservation fees, means you have to take more trains than you would otherwise.
So we also show when the alternative trains with compulsory reservations are an option worth considering; and what the additional costs of taking them are.

The specific departure and arrival times of the included trains are correct according to the European rail timetable, but they can be confirmed prior to departure on the Eurail and Interrail apps.
Timings can be altered by local circumstances such as construction works and weather.

The need to take more trains is offset by how comparatively stress-free following this itinerary should be; you can just hop on these trains with your rail pass, once you have filled in the details of the trains you will be taking.
We’ve also squeezed in as many scenic train journeys as possible!
The itinerary is also a continuous loop, so you can follow this itinerary if you want your start and finish point of your entire trip to be in any of the cities, where each day concludes.

If you use a 10 days of travel within two months InterRail Global Pass OR a 10 days within 2 months Eurail Global Pass you can take breaks between your days of train travel.
You can then spend some time in fabulous destinations including Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Venice or Florence.

OR our Concierge rail travel planning service, could help you plan a similar itinerary.

Most of the journeys are clickable, so you can access more useful info about each individual train ride including:

(1) All you need to know about the stations where you will be joining and leaving the train.
(2) What to expect when on board each train, such as catering facilities and tips for how to manage your luggage.
(3) Insights for scenic journeys - what to look out for, which side of the train to sit on for the best of the views etc.
Plus if you click the station buttons on the journey guides, you will also usually* find:

(1) Lists of overnight accommodation with easy access to the station and with high user ratings;
(2) Links to destination guides to help you make the most of each location.

MONDAY – FRIDAY:

Train 1:
Depart: Paris Gare Du Nord at 10:29 – the train should be heading to Calais-Villle
Arrive: Amiens at 11:35

Train 2:
Depart: Amiens at 11:50
Arrive: Lille Flandres at 13:07

Train 3:
Depart: Lille Flandres at 14:09 – the train should be heading to Anvers
Arrive: Gent Sint-Pieters at 15:27; Gent-Dammport at 15:35
A change of train may be required at Kortrijk

SATURDAYS:

Train 1:
Depart: Paris Gare Du Nord at 10:29– the train should be heading to Calais-Villle
Arrive: Amiens at 11:35

Train 2:
Depart: Amiens at 12:37
Arrive: Lille Flandres at 13:55

Train 3:
Depart: Lille Flandres at 14:03* – the train should be heading to Anvers
Arrive: Gent Sint-Pieters at 15:24; Gent-Dammport at 15:35
A change of train may be required at Kortrijk
*= Yes that 8 min connection is far from guaranteed, but on Saturdays, the next train on to Gent should be departing only an hour later.

SUNDAYS:

Train 1:
Depart: Paris Gare Du Nord at 12:20 – the train should be heading to Amiens
Arrive: Amiens at 13:20

Train 2:
Depart: Amiens at 14:34
Arrive: Lille Flandres at 15:53

Train 3:

Depart: Lille Flandres at 17:09 – the train should be heading to Anvers
Arrive: Gent Sint-Pieters at 18:27; Gent-Dammport at 18:35

A choice of stations in Gent:

Regardless on which day you will be making this journey, the train from Lille will make two station calls in Gent - At St Pieters station and at Gent-Dampoort station.
So check which station in the city, is closest to where you’ll be spending a night or two.
Don’t be surprised if you have to also make an unscheduled change of train at Kortrijk, when making the journey between Lille and Gent.

Adding Brugge to this itinerary:

Spend two nights in Gent and take an easy day trip from there to Brugge by train.
The return train ticket to Brugge from Gent will cost less than €15.

Train 1:
Depart: Gent Sint-Pieters at 09:27 or Gent-Dammport at 09:36
Arrive: Antwerpen-Centraal at 10:23

Train 2:

Depart: Antwerpen-Centraal at 10:35 by ECD train
Arrive: Amsterdam-Schiphol at 11:48

Train 3:

Depart: Amsterdam-Schiphol at 10:59 by Sprinter train
Arrive: Amsterdam-Centraal at 12:16

You don’t have to take these suggested trains, you could leave Gent two hours later and make the same transfer in Antwerp, or spend time in Antwerp between trains,

Travelling Sept 2nd to May 31st

Depart: Amsterdam Centraal at 10;00 or 12:00
Arrive: Berlin Hbf at 15:51 or 17:51

Reservations for this journey are optional, so if you don't want to reserve, be at the station at least 20 mins before this train departs.
Do that and you can be amongst the first to board – if you don’t make reservations, sitting in the same seat for the entire journey isn't guaranteed.
For that reason, try to avoid making this journey on a Friday or Saturday.

If you do want to reserve then book the reservations online on DB, the German national railways website - more info is available here.
You'll be charged a booking fee if you book the reservations at Amsterdam Centraal station.

Travelling June 1st to Sep 1st

Reservations are now mandatory during this time, so the usual no fee alternative is:

Train 1:
Depart: Amsterdam Centraal at 10:00
Arrive: Hengelo at 11:51

Train 2:

Depart: Hengelo at 12:34
Arrive: Bielefeld at 14:47

Train 3:

Depart: Bielefeld at 15:39 by ICE train
Arrive: Berlin Hbf at 18:16

Travelling Sept 2nd to May 31st

Depart: Berlin Hbf at 09:16 or 11:16 - there is a choice of late morning departures
Arrive: Praha Holseovice at 13:14 or 15:14
OR
Arrive: Praha Hl (Nadrazi) at 13:24 or 15:24.
(The final destination of the train that departs at 09:16 is Budapest).

If you don’t reserve, seats aren’t guaranteed on these trains, particularly if you have a 2nd class pass, so try to avoid making this journey on a Friday or Saturday.

If possible sit on the left of the train when boarding, in order to make the most of the river valley views after Dresden.
Check the location of your where you’ll be staying in Praha/Prag, as either Holseovice OR hl. Nadrazi stations may be the most convenient for your onward travel in the city.

Travelling June 1st to Sep 1st

Reservations are now mandatory during this time, so the usual no fee alternative is:

Train 1:
Depart: Berlin Hbf at 09:16 by EC train
Arrive: Bad Schandau at 11:51

Train 2:

Depart: Bad Schandau at 12:48
Arrive: Decin at 13:16

Train 3:

Depart: Decin at 13:57
Arrive: Praha Holseovice at 15:14
OR
Arrive: Praha Hl (Nadrazi) at 15:24.

Depart: Praha Hln at 08:44 or 10:44
Arrive: Wien Hbf at 12:49 or 14:49
These trains will be heading to Graz.

Train 1:
Depart: Wien Hbf at 14:25
Arrive: Villach Hbf at 18:46

The best of the views will be available if you sit on the left of the train.

Train 2:

Depart: Villach Hbf at 19:29
Arrive: Udine at 21:13

Train 3:

Depart: Udine at 22:09
Arrive: Venezia S. Lucia at 23:59

Rail pass users have to pay reservation fees on the direct Railjet trains from Wien/Vienna to Venezia/Wien of €10 in 2nd class and €15 in 1st class.
However, if you pay those fees prior to boarding you can travel direct and depart Wien at 06:25 and arrive in Wien/Venice at 14:05, or depart Wien at 12:25 and arrive in Venice at 20:05.

Mondays to Saturdays:
Train 1:
Depart: Venezia S.Lucia at 08:57
Arrive: Venezia Mestre at 09:07 (the train will be heading to Bassano del Grapa)

Train 2:
Depart: Venezia Mestre at 09:34 by IC train
Arrive: Firenze Rifredi at 12:27

Train 3:
Depart: Firenze Rifredi at 12:45
Arrive: Firenze S.M. Novella at 12:52
On Sundays you will be waiting more more than an hour at Rifredi station for a train for the short journey on to the city centre station at Firenze S.M.Novella.

Daily
Train 1:
Depart: Venezia S.Lucia at 14:01
Arrive: Venezia Mestre at 14:11 (the train will be heading to Trieste)

Train 2:
Depart: Venezia Mestre at 14:34 by IC train
Arrive: Firenze Rifredi at 17:27

Train 3:
Depart: Firenze Rifredi at 17:45
Arrive: Firenze S.M. Novella at 17:50

This combination of trains maintains the no reservation rules for this itinerary, by avoiding the Frecce trains between Venezia/Venice and Firenze/Florence.
However, the Frecce train which departs Venezia S.Lucia station daily at 10:25 will get you to Firenze/Florence at 12:30.
The reservation fee for the Frecce train is €10 if you have a 1st or 2nd class pass - more info on how to book them is available here.

If you want make day trips by train from Firenze to the likes of Assisi, Sienna, Pisa or the ‘Cinque Terre’ don’t use a day of your rail pass – as none of these journeys will be particularly expensive.

Journey option 1 - daily

[Depart: Firenze S.M. Novella at 08:21 by IC train
Arrive: MIlano Centrale at 12:15](/train-travel-info/journeys/from-firenze-florence-to-milano-milan-mailand-by-train/)

Journey option 2- daily

Train 1:
Depart: Firenze S.M.N at 15:09
Arrive: Firenze Rifredi at 15:14 (the train will be heading to Viareggio)

Train 2:
Depart: Firenze Rifredi at 15:33 by IC train
Arrive: Milano Centrale at 19:17

Train 1:
Depart: Milano Centrale at 09:43
Arrive: Lugano at 10:58

Train 2:
Depart: Lugano at 11:02 / 11:32 – the train will be heading to Basel SBB
Arrive: Luzern at 13:41

Sit on the right of this train to see the best of the views over Lake Zug!

Train 3:
Depart: Luzern at 14:06
Arrive: Interlaken Ost at 15:55 by the Luzern-Interlaken Express

Sit on the right of this train to see the best of the views as it passes four lakes.

Train 4:
Depart: Interlaken Ost at 16:30
Arrive: Basel SBB at 18:32

Sit on the right of this train to see the fabulous over Lake Thun!

Making these connections on this day nine schedule may seem ambitious, but you'll be in Switzerland so these changes of train shouldn't be a problem.
The trains on from both Luzern and Interlaken operate hourly, so an option is to explore Lake Luzern between trains - InterRail and Eurail pass users can obtain a 50% discount on the cruise boats!

Basel can be an expensive city in which to spend the night, so an option which can be worth considering, is to spend the night in Olten instead.
The trains to Basel on Day 9 will all be calling there and then in the morning there are frequent trains from Olten to Basel - and the journey won’t take more than 40 mins.

MONDAY TO FRIDAY

Train 1:
Depart: Basel SBB at 14:21 – the train will be heading to Strasbourg
Arrive: Mulhouse-Ville at 14:44

Train 2:
Depart: Mulhouse-Ville at 15:35
Arrive: Paris Est at or 20:19

SATURDAY and SUNDAY

Train 1:
Depart: Basel SBB at 14:39
Arrive: Mulhouse-Ville at 15:10

Train 2:
Depart: Mulhouse-Ville at 15:32
Arrive: Paris Est at 20:16 or 20:53

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