Is a train reservation required or optional on ICE in the Netherlands and Germany?
I and my wife will be traveling on a EuRail pass in a couple of weeks. I am aware that many fast trains in Europe, including the ICE International, require a supplement and sometimes a reservation. We are travelling from the Netherlands to Dusseldorf in Germany and further travels within Germany.
I have found it impossible to book a reservation and pay the supplement through RailEurope or EuRail on the ICE 123 (Amsterdam-Utrecht and then into Germany); EuRail tells me my order number is wrong for their system. DBahn won't complete a reservation that crosses an international border. And NS-International won't sell me anything but a full ticket.
We will have to go to the counter in the Netherlands anyway, to activate the EuRail pass, and I know I can pay the surcharge then. What risk is there on the ICE to not getting a seat reservation?
Best Answer
You have to pay a surcharge to use the ICE trains within the Netherlands, you do not need to hold a reservation, an international ticket covers your surcharge. See this page.
A good site for all train travel questions, in Europe and the rest of the world, is the site of the Man in Seat Sixty-One, here on the how to make reservations with a rail pass (but that also works when you have a train ticket already.)
If you have a rail pass, either Eurail or InterRail you do not need to pay the surcharge on the ICE trains within the Netherlands, see this page for Eurail or InterRail and go down till you see the paragraph about the Netherlands. Here a quote of the Eurail pass.
Amsterdam to Germany (Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt & so on) by IC or ICE train: No supplement, reservation optional.
When using the Eurail pass in Germany you can use most IC trains without having to pay for a reservations. There are a few trains which do require a reservation, as explained on this page, in the Germany section, prices in the quote current in 2015.
Using a Eurail pass in Germany is easy, as reservation is optional not mandatory on almost all German domestic daytime trains and there are no supplements to pay, even on fast InterCity (IC) or high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains. So you can simply hop on any train, find an empty seat and show your pass when asked. The only exceptions are a tiny handful of ICE Sprinter trains aimed at the business market, marked in the timetable as 'reservation obligatory', on which a seat reservation is mandatory for €11.50 in 2nd class, €16.50 in 1st class.
You can easily find which trains have a compulsory reservation if you check your intended train on the German rail planner.
Pictures about "Is a train reservation required or optional on ICE in the Netherlands and Germany?"
Do I need to reserve a seat on Deutsche Bahn?
Optional seat reservations On some trains, especially those offered by Deutsche Bahn, it is not mandatory to have a reserved seat yet it is recommended if you do want to have guaranteed place to sit.Are trains running between Germany and Netherlands?
No, there is no direct train from Germany to Netherlands. However, there are services departing from S+U Alexanderplatz Bhf and arriving at Amsterdam Centraal via S+U Gesundbrunnen Bhf and Hilversum. The journey, including transfers, takes approximately 7h 40m.Do you have to reserve a seat on Eurail?
We're all about flexibility \u2013 most trains covered by your Eurail Pass don't require seat reservations, so if you're willing to take a slower route you can often avoid the extra cost. National trains will take you to all corners of Europe, and you can just hop on and off as you please.How do you reserve seats on ICE trains?
For long-distance trains, you can either book your reservation online directly with your ticket or separately, independently of a ticket. You can also reserve seats for some regional trains - these reservations can be made at the ticket machines.ICE high speed train from Frankfurt in Germany to Amsterdam in The Netherlands via Cologne \u0026 Utrecht
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