SBB is excellent for finding trains, but I believe they sell tickets only for journeys that start or end in Switzerland. I’ve never dealt with eurorail, but my impression is that they only sell passes, not tickets.

Try going to the Spanish, http://www.renfe.com…, or French, http://www.raileurop…, sites. The French site listed is a subsidiary in England.

I’m not sure how to book with a pass; perhaps you just need to buy a reservation.

Are you just trying to find out prices? You’re not going to be able to book train tickets for summer 2012 yet, let alone 2013. Anyway, if you’re planning on buying a pass then all you’ll need to purchase is a reservation, which most national rail companies don’t sell online. You can buy reservations from some third-party vendors, but they come at inflated prices. The only times I’d buy a reservation in advance is if you needed it for a really popular route in high season on one of your first two or three days in Europe. Otherwise, just buy your reservations once you get there.

What are you referring to when you say “euorail?” Do you mean a Eurail pass, which you can buy from a variety of on-line (including the one that sponsors this website) and regular travel agencies. Or are you talking about something else?

Your eurail pass (if you choose to buy one) will be your ticket for almost every train in the 20-some countries that are members of the Eurail group. The only exceptions are Eurostar (the chunnel train between UK and Europe) and some privately owned scenic rail lines — almost all of which are in Switzerland. Your railpass also covers a few ferries, lake steamers, local commuter rail, and buses (generally those that are owned by the national rail companies in the eurail countries) as well as providing a discount on a variety of other transportation options.

Reservations, as Augustin25 explains, are required on some trains and are not covered by the railpass. Follow Augustin25’s recommendations if you buy railpass and choose to take specific trains that require reservations.

You do not have to buy a eurail pass to use Europe’s excellent rail system. You just buy a ticket for the train you want to take — easily accomplished up to about an hour before train time at the train station. Some tickets can be purchased on-line. For many itineraries in Northern and Western Europe, some sort of eurail pass will save money — especially if you’re under 26 and qualify for a Youth Pass. In Eastern Europe it’s often cheaper just to buy point to point tickets.

IMO, a global pass is seldom the most cost-effective way to take the train, but it depends on your specific itinerary. Usually some combination of a less expensive railpass, some point to point train tickets, a cheap flight or two and the occasional bus or ferry is cheapest/best.

Thanks for the great comments. What I’m trying to do is to find the best route by train from one destination to the next – time wise. Your comments are helping a great deal, thanks. Another question I have: If I get to a train station in e.g. Barcelona and want to buy a ticket to Nice will the ticket operator be able to suggest or help me with the complete route? Or must I research my route beforehand. In this specific instance the train stops at Montpellier or you can go via Figueres. Will the operator know best or is this where my research comes in?

They will certainly know how to route you, but you might want to specify a route for some reason (some routes take less time, for example).

I often specify a route because of the scenery. In such cases, I find SSB very useful, others recommend the German site. Because I don’t want to stumble over my language abilities, I write down the places I want to be routed through and to, and show it to the agent.

The Swiss agents have all been very capable. The Spanish less so, but if they have a question they will call over a supervisor to get it right. I seem to recall that in Spain they had multiple lines, some for future travel, and some for same day travel, and it was not always apparent which was which. Ask before waiting in a long line.

I’m not sure about France; I used a kiosk there, but it was always for relatively short trips.

I’ve always found the German National rail company website to be the most complete, up tp date and easiest to use inEnglish: http://reiseauskunft…. They have schedules for trains everywhere in Europe (including UK). You can also check pricing and often buy tickets for routes that start, end or cross through Germany.

As Clevelandbrown says, you will be able to buy a ticket that crosses country lines. You may have to go to an “international” window, or even to a special window for international sleeper trains. It’s easier in some countries than others, but if you write out departure city, train, number, time and date (European format: day/month/year) an arrow and then your destination city you should be able to purchase the ticket even if the agent doesn’t have great skill in English and you aren’t fluent in the local language.