Researching Train Times:
Great news, Luxembourg has ONE train station. So you can catch all of your trains from Luxembourg Gare (where our Line 60 ends).
Germany: www.bahn.de
The official rail site of Germany - but will research train times for all European journeys (even if you never even cross through Germany!) *Great for determining if Reservations are needed Also has a mobile app |
Luxembourg: www.cfl.lu
The offical rail site of Luxembourg - researches train times for all European journeys (even if outside of Luxembourg!) *Great for purchasing online tickets in Benelux area Also has a mobile app |
France: www.sncf.com
The official rail site of France - which is the best resource when investigating TGV (the French fast train) prices Also has a mobile app |
Italy: www.trenitalia.com
The official site of Italy - can see prices for inter-Italy travel. |
Best Transportation Apps:
Rail Planner Mobile App
It is an offline timetable of European trains, meaning... Should you miss a train- you do not have to connect to WIFI to research either a reroute or next train time. It also tracks where you should be in the schedule of stops taking away the stress of guessing when your stop is coming up. And... it's free. |
Buying Your Ticket:
It can be done online on some sites, but by far the easiest way is to purchase in person at an International Ticket Office. Good news is, we have three: in Luxembourg City, Belval-Université, and Esch/Alzette. Everyone will be able to speak English and you walk away with a physical ticket in hand.
Important to Note! When you purchase your ticket, show your Jumbo Card and you will only pay from travel beyond the border!
Important to Note! When you purchase your ticket, show your Jumbo Card and you will only pay from travel beyond the border!
Luxembourg City Ticket Office
Monday - Sunday & Holidays: 5:00 - 21:30 Tel: +352 2489 2489 Located through the glass doors at the very end of the hallway. |
Belval-Université
Monday - Friday: 6:15 - 21:30 Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays: 9:00 - 16:30 |
Esch/Alzette Ticket Office
Monday - Friday: 6:15 - 21:30 Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays: 9:00 - 16:30 Located across from the main entrance. |
Buying a Eurail:
If you didn't buy a Eurail in the States, you can:
1) Buy online at Eurail.com
Pro: It is cheaper Con: It takes 4 - 5 business days to arrive (shipping ranges from $25 - $39) 2) Buy at the Luxembourg City International Ticket Office
Pro: You have it in your hands and ready to use same day as purchase Con: You pay more |
Most Popular Eurail Price Comparison:
Global Flexi : 10 days for use over 2 months Online: 442€ Train Station: 487€ Gloabl Flexi: 15 days for use over 2 months Online: 580€ Train Station: TBD Global Continuous: 3 months Online: 1034€ Train Station: TBD |
Using the Eurail:
Important to Note! Before your first journey, you must have your Eurail activated (in Lux City) - which starts the first day of the 2/3 month period.
Important to Note! You must fill out your Eurail BEFORE the conductor comes through to check tickets... otherwise there are fines!
Important to Note! You must fill out your Eurail BEFORE the conductor comes through to check tickets... otherwise there are fines!
When to use a day vs. buying a ticket: If you are strategically counting your travel days, the rule of thumb is if the ticket is more than 40€, you will be saving money. What is a Travel Day? It is 00:00 to 24:00 (midnight to midnight). Within that day, you can take as many trains as you like. So say you depart at 2 pm, that travel day only lasts until Midnight. But there is one exception... 7 pm Rule: If your train departs after 7 pm and arrives at it's final stop after 4 am, you only need to use the Arrival Day on your Eurail. Which means if you take an overnight train, you can continue to traveling the day of your arrival. When can't I use my Eurail? On the Eurostar and trains throughout Great Britain. Filling out a Flexi Pass
When filling out the Continuous Pass: You must enter each leg of the journey as a different line. So anytime you switch trains, it must be marked. Do not worry about running out of space, you can print and staple on additional "Travel Reports" - found here! |
Filling out a Continuous Pass
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When do I Need a Reservation?
The question of the century! And tricky because sometimes the ticket office will tell you that one is always needed. But that is not the case.
Only Three Events when a Reservation is Required: 1) Overnight Sleeper Trains - called "couchettes" 2) If a leg of the journey is by bus 3) If you take a "Fast Train" |
Other times the ticket office might recommend that you make a seat reservation because it is a busy train... but you do not have to make one. Even if a train is completely full and every seat is taken, you can still ride (you may just have to stand or go to the bar car).
If no reservation is required, you do not even need to go to the ticket office. You can find the train time you want... confirm that you are not taking a bus... confirm you are not riding a country's fast train... and then you can just hop right on the train and your Eurail is your ticket. If a reservation is required, you will need to stop in at the ticket office and reserve a place. Usually they are only a couple of euros. Sometimes couchettes can be around 15€. Important to Note! The TGV only accepts a certain # of Eurail reservations available for each train. So reserve tickets to Paris & throughout France as early as possible! But the TGV is the only fast train that does this. |
Fast Train Reference by Country
According to Eurail.com:
France: TGV, InterCites (only select routes) Belgium: Only to and from the Brussels Airport Bulgaria: Express (ekspresen) trains Croatia: IC Zagreb: Split or Rijeka/Osijek/Cakovec Czech Republic: SC SuperCity Finland: Pendolino Germany: ICE Sprinter, Thalys, EuroCity Berlin-Warszawa Express Greece: ICE Hungary: IC, IP Italy: Le Frecce, EuroCity Netherlands: Fyra Norway: Long Distance Trains Poland: EC, EIC, EX Portugal: Alfa Pendular, IC Romania: A, R, IC Serbia: ICS Beograd- Subotica/Prijepolje Slovakia: Inter City Trains Slovania: ICS trains Spain: Arco, Talgo, Diurno, Avant, AVE, Euromed, Alvia, Alaris, Altaria, TRD Sweden: SJ High Speed Trains, Veolia Transport Switzerland: Bernina Express Panorama train, Chocolate Train, Glacier Express, Golden Pass Panorama train, Wilhelm Tell Express. Remember: the TGV, there are only a certain # of Eurail reservations available for each train, so reserve those as early as possible! |
When researching train schedules you can see what types of trains are being taken listed beside the train times. Often it will be accompanies by an R for reservation. The first one won't need a reservation because in Luxembourg, France & Switzerland "RE' and "ICE" reservations aren't needed. The second one would need a reservation because "TGV" in France requires a reservation. So when choosing which train time to take, you might want the first one.
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