European train travel question

I'm planning to spend two weeks in Europe this summer. I plan to get from place to place by train. My question is, for long distance trains, Amsterdam to Paris for example, is it safe to buy the tickets the day of travel? Or do the trains sell out, making buying them in advance a good idea? I would prefer to stay flexible and buy tickets as I need them, but hate to get denied a seat because I didn't plan in advance.

For the members experienced with traveling in Europe, what is your advice?

My daughter bought a pass that let her jump on or off at her lesiure. She didn't need reservations, but she did mention that nicer cabins were available for those who upgraded to reserve them. This was in Switzerland last year.
Here is a link Eurail Pass
The site mentions high speed and night cars requiring reservations.

Quote: Wizard

I would prefer to stay flexible and buy tickets as I need them, but hate to get denied a seat because I didn't plan in advance.

You didn't mention budget as advance purchase tickets are radically cheaper.

I haven't done European train travel in some years, but I find that most people plan to go to far too many countries in a two week period ("If It's Tuesday this must be Belgium" syndrome). The cost of getting to Europe is much less than the cost of being there.

For example, I think it is perfectly acceptable to spend two weeks in Spain (Iberia flight)
9:55am LAS to 7:30am MAD 12h 35m, 1 stop ORD
1:35pm MAD to 7:20pm LAS 14h 45m, 1 stop LHR



I stayed in this Paradore
Spain - Andalusia - Jaen Luxury four star hotel in a thirteenth century Arab fortress

My AF major son was stationed in Spain
6 years ago, and loved it. Best place he
ever lived. Food and drink and women
were fantastic. Especially the food.

Quote: Evenbob

Especially the food.

The humble sandwich is incredible in Spain


Who knew hams made such wonderful decorations.

I would recomend a rail pass Mike. They allow you to get on and off on a whim and are likely cheaper than buying multiple tickets depending how much you travel. I would also echo Paco and don't try to do to much or you will actually see less. If you are just going to stand in front of some famous landmark, take a selfie and move on, just buy a postcard and photoshop it. The fun of travel is to find the unexpected and this is usually while on foot. It also allows you to talk to the residents which is another of the main reason to travel. To do them any kind of justice you need to schedule several days for both Amsterdam and Paris so that is one week already gone. A bigger concern than train tickets is likely rooms if you are there in the summer is the preferred hotels in many tourist areas can be booked or terribly expensive. Probably too late now, and you may be accomadating your kids schedules, but shoulder seasons are the way to travel with smaller crowds and less expense.

Quote: Evenbob

. Best place he ever lived. Food and drink and women were fantastic. Especially the food.

Yeah, a computer programmer in Silicon Valley retired at 43 and bought a sailboat to cruise the world. When he happened to arrive in Spain he met a woman there, sold the sailboat and now writes reviews of festivals, street vendors and very small restaurants.

I spent two weeks in Germany a few years ago. Traveled from city to city by train. 5 or 6 trips total.

I chose to buy individual tickets at the last minute. My recollection is that you needed to ride the train nearly every day to make a long term rail pass worthwhile economically. For my situation, I think I saved about 30% compared to the cost of a pass. I don't remember a discount for advance purchase. If it existed, it was not sufficient to make spur-of-the-moment travel prohibitive.

I was actually there during an engineers strike, so the number of trains available was reduced by about 75%. I still didn't have any trouble getting a ticket and finding a seat as a last minute walk-on.

First, thank you for all the replies everybody.

Paco, sorry, Spain is not in the plan this time. I'll get there someday. Kind of ironic that in five trips to Europe I still haven't made it there. One of these days I'll do a trip that is just Spain. I've written about the Camino several times. That is dropping down my bucket list and may soon be dropped. I've been hearing mostly negative things these days -- that is is along roads 90% of the time, crowded, and overly-touristy.

Quote: kenarman

I would recomend a rail pass Mike.

Thanks. I've also come to that conclusion after doing more research. Here is a link for Eurail.

Quote:

To do them any kind of justice you need to schedule several days for both Amsterdam and Paris so that is one week already gone.

I also came to that conclusion yesterday after trying to plan out an itinerary. It looks like I just don't have time to do Paris justice so am going to have to put it off for a future trip. Looks like I will be confined to what Eurail calls Benelux, which is the group of Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

While I greatly appreciate and agree with your advice, I think that three solid days is enough to "do" a major European city. I haven't been to Amsterdam or Paris but I've spent a week in both London and Berlin. While you really get to know a city in a week, I think that a few days would be enough to do the major things you want to do and move on. I'm also a busy kind of traveler and tend to pack in full days.

Quote: PapaChubby

I was actually there during an engineers strike, so the number of trains available was reduced by about 75%. I still didn't have any trouble getting a ticket and finding a seat as a last minute walk-on.

Thanks for your comments. I'd be interested to know the German reaction to this strike. I was in London when there was a subway strike and only about 20% of the lines were running. Everybody just shrugged and said, "They do this every year." I asked many Brits, both during and after the trip, why they put up with it and the government doesn't just don't fire every striker. I've yet to get a clear answer but I get the impression that unions are just more ingrained there and accepted as a part of life.