Buying European Train tickets

Hey all:

I will be crossing Europe
(Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/Germany/France/UK) in October and
November, but I do not know my schedule yet. In fact, I will probably
decise as I go along.

My question is whether buying tickets on the go would be much more expensive
than reserving and pre-purchasing long in advance. I know its a general
question, but what do you all think?

Daniel

"D" wrote
| I will be crossing Europe (Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/
| Germany/France/UK) in October and November, but I do not know my
| schedule yet. In fact, I will probably decise as I go along.
| My question is whether buying tickets on the go would be much more
| expensive than reserving and pre-purchasing long in advance.
| I know its a general question, but what do you all think?

For the UK for longer distances you can make significant savings by buying
in advance, but the cheapest tickets are only valid on the train for which
they are issued and are no change of travel and no refund. They are also
limited in availability and sell out quickly.

For example, a return London Kings Cross -- Edinburgh can theoretically be
had for GBP 25 whereas a Saver Return is GBP 87 and a Standard Open return
is GBP 186.

Owain

I will be crossing Europe
(Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/Germany/France/UK) in October and
November, but I do not know my schedule yet. In fact, I will probably
decise as I go along.

There are no train connections between Estonia and Latvia any more, and
only very limited train connections between Latvia and Lithuania.

My question is whether buying tickets on the go would be much more expensive
than reserving and pre-purchasing long in advance.

Probably not. Especially, buying train tickets for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
and Poland is more expensive if you do it from abroad AFAIK.

Trains are not heavily used in the Baltic countries, so you can expect to
get a seat reservation (which is compulsory and included in the ticket)
on the spot.

In Germany, advance booking is only cheaper for return tickets. As you
seem to need one-way-tickets, you can buy them on the go anyway. Tickets
bought from touch-screen ticket machines include a free seat reservation.

France has special offers (called "Prems") available on the Internet
(www.voyages-sncf.com).

I don't know much about today's fares in UK - probably a rail pass would be
your best bet there.

.... Martin

"D" wrote
| I will be crossing Europe (Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/
| Germany/France/UK) in October and November, but I do not know my
| schedule yet. In fact, I will probably decise as I go along.
| My question is whether buying tickets on the go would be much more
| expensive than reserving and pre-purchasing long in advance.
| I know its a general question, but what do you all think?

For the UK for longer distances you can make significant savings by buying
in advance, but the cheapest tickets are only valid on the train for which
they are issued and are no change of travel and no refund. They are also
limited in availability and sell out quickly.

For example, a return London Kings Cross -- Edinburgh can theoretically be
had for GBP 25 whereas a Saver Return is GBP 87 and a Standard Open return
is GBP 186.

Owain

I will be crossing Europe
(Norway/Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Poland/Germany/France/UK) in October and
November, but I do not know my schedule yet. In fact, I will probably
decise as I go along.

There are no train connections between Estonia and Latvia any more, and
only very limited train connections between Latvia and Lithuania.

My question is whether buying tickets on the go would be much more expensive
than reserving and pre-purchasing long in advance.

Probably not. Especially, buying train tickets for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
and Poland is more expensive if you do it from abroad AFAIK.

Trains are not heavily used in the Baltic countries, so you can expect to
get a seat reservation (which is compulsory and included in the ticket)
on the spot.

In Germany, advance booking is only cheaper for return tickets. As you
seem to need one-way-tickets, you can buy them on the go anyway. Tickets
bought from touch-screen ticket machines include a free seat reservation.

France has special offers (called "Prems") available on the Internet
(www.voyages-sncf.com).

I don't know much about today's fares in UK - probably a rail pass would be
your best bet there.

.... Martin

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