Hi Everybody,
We (a family ot 5 with 3 kids from age 10 to 17) are going on a 12
day trip to Europe at the end of June. We are flying into London and
riding the Eurostar to Paris, after than we mostly wanted to visit
Germany.
I've read a lot about travel by rail, and was hoping to take a
whirlwind tour using a rail pass, but there are some questions that I
can't seem to figure out from my books and the various websites...
1.) If we get Rail passes for everybody, (costing around $2000 total)
then we can ride all the trains for free after that, from Paris to
Munich and Salzburg and Prague and Brussels, provided we get a pass
that covers those countries. But we wanted to take three or four
Night Trains so that we can travel in maybe a Triple and a Double
cabin at night and not need a hotel for those nights. Of course this
costs extra...
But if I go to www.bahn.de to make a reservation, I can only see
the prices that I would pay without a rail pass. Can I make
reservations at the price I'd have to pay considering I must get some
discount because I have the pass?
2.) Is it worth it to get tickets from www.bahn.de for all the train
travel we are going to do before we leave?
3.) If we do have tickets are we guaranteed a seat even if the train
is very busy and we arrive shortly before it leaves?
4.) Do all train stations have someplace to store our luggage for the
day while we see the sights?
5.) If you must switch trains on your Night Train, are you going to
get cabins on the connecting train also?
6.) Do you have to make sure you don't miss your connection, or does
a train conductor wake you up when it is time to switch trains?
7.) Would it make sense to get Bahn 50 cards? Would they discount
the cabins on the night trains? Would the discount stack with the
discount of the rail pass?
8.) Since there are 5 of us, would it make more sense to rent a car
and spend that time driving? I worry about navigating and parking....
9.) It looks way cheaper to get Couchette seats on the night trains,
which have 6 bunks, but then we would get split up, or maybe have one
stranger person sleeping in our cabin. Would they typically actually
give us a Couchette to ourselves with one empty bunk because there are
5 of us?
Thanks for any advice.
-Jen C.
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