Hey Debra,

No, I bought them all at the train station in whatever city I was in. I found late morning or sometime in the afternoon to be the best time to buy them because the lines were not too long. Everyone at the ticket booths speak English so you tell them where you want to go, and when, and they will sell you what you need. If a reservation is required they will let you know.

There are automatic ticket machines everywhere, but I never liked using them. I didn’t find the lines long ever (and I was mostly there in August), so for me it was easier to go to the ticket windows and make sure I was buying the correct tickets. I found this especially easier when I had to buy a ticket that took me across the border into another country. Hope this helps you out.

Debra: There is a real advantage to getting a railpass in terms of ease of use. If it turns out that p2p tix are only a bit cheaper, opt for the pass. As I understand your trip, you’re trying to make itin decisions as you go. Besides the fact that standing in line is time wasted, you certainly don’t want to buy a bunch of tickets that you will be needing to refund or exchange, and just carrying them all around is a hassle.

By the way, if you do buy tickets at a station in Europe, I’d say that nivid’s comment that "Everyone at the ticket booths speak English" is
true in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, or Zurich, but totally false in Paris, Barcelona, Athens or Milan, the cities you are more likely to be in. In Paris, you’ll often see a sign above one or two of the dozen or so ticket windows indicating that the clerk speaks English, so make sure you get in the right line. Don’t know what it is about Parisian ticket clerks, but as a rule, they tend to be short with their customers.

It does sound to me like you will be doing A LOT of surface travel. You might consider arranging a flight or two well in advance to minimize travel time and keep it cheap, then work with those set dates; be flexible the REST of the time instead. My daughter and I did a trip two years ago that was very freewheeling, but we did get some very cheap Ryanair flights that we stuck to religiously.

Have a good trip.
Russ

You generally don’t need to buy train tickets in advance — just arrive at the train station 45 minutes early. The only time you need to buy a ticket in advance is if the specific train REQUIRES a reservation — even then, you can usually get a ticket a couple of hours in advance. Buying your tickets in advance from a single website will nearly double the cost — wait until you get to Europe or buy the tickets from the specific national rail company sites.
I think the convenience factor of a railpass is often over-rated. It’s generally easy to buy tickets. Just write the date, the departure time and your destination on a slip of paper. I’ve never been anywhere (including Romania and Ukraine) where buying a train ticket was all that difficult. I’ve never been in any Paris train station where there weren’t open ticket windows with little Brittish flags (indicating that the ticket agent speaks English). In Italy, it’s easy (and user friendly in English) to buy tickets from the kiosks with no waiting. Buying a reservation (required on many Italian trains) to use with your railpass can require standing in hopelessly long lines.

quote:
You generally don’t need to buy train tickets in advance — just arrive at the train station 45 minutes early. The only time you need to buy a ticket in advance is if the specific train REQUIRES a reservation — even then, you can usually get a ticket a couple of hours in advance. Buying your tickets in advance from a single website will nearly double the cost — wait until you get to Europe or buy the tickets from the specific national rail company sites.
I think the convenience factor of a railpass is often over-rated. It’s generally easy to buy tickets. Just write the date, the departure time and your destination on a slip of paper. I’ve never been anywhere (including Romania and Ukraine) where buying a train ticket was all that difficult. I’ve never been in any Paris train station where there weren’t open ticket windows with little Brittish flags (indicating that the ticket agent speaks English). In Italy, it’s easy (and user friendly in English) to buy tickets from the kiosks with no waiting. Buying a reservation (required on many Italian trains) to use with your railpass can require standing in hopelessly long lines.

Thanks for your info. I’m sorry I’m not sure I understand. Since reservations are needed for most trains in Italy, can’t I buy the reservation ONLY at the Kiosk you mention, if I have a pass? Or do these ‘kiosks’ only sell train tickets and no reservations? Where are these kiosks, by the way? Do you mean something on the street, or a ticket booth in the station? Thanks

quote:Thanks for your info. I’m sorry I’m not sure I understand. Since reservations are needed for most trains in Italy, can’t I buy the reservation ONLY at the Kiosk you mention, if I have a pass? Or do these ‘kiosks’ only sell train tickets and no reservations? Where are these kiosks, by the way? Do you mean something on the street, or a ticket booth in the station? Thanks

YES you can just buy the reservation at the kiosk. The Kiosks are very close to the ticket booth counters in the station. You will see them easily. In Italy there are a big orange/yellow machine.

Nivid — Can you actually buy JUST a reservation at the kiosk in Italy? You can change a reservation that you already have at the kiosk, but I’ve never found a way to buy just a reservation either at the kiosk or from trenitalia.com

I think you can buy "just resevations" from the kiosks in Germany and France?????

Maybe i’m mistaken. I know that you can change your reservation, but maybe you can’t buy them. Still though, you can wait in line and buy the reservation. Anytime I was travelling I never had to wait more than 15-20 minutes.