Tickets for part of the journey not available yet - book Eurostar now?

[coffeerevelsrule]

I am starting to really regret the holiday I have semi-booked for summer next year - it's making my brain hurt!

I have fully-refundable AirBnBs booked in Geneva, Vienna and then Genoa. Planning to travel to all by train as per dc request. I've just spent an exhausting couple of hours on the excellent Seat 61 site and think I have settled on the routes there and back at least. However, the SNCF tickets aren't yet on sale. Eurostar are and they are pricey already so don't want to leave it too much longer. But depending on how much the other tickets come up as I'm thinking of sacking the whole thing off and booking something cheaper and simpler. Once Eurostar is booked we're committed. I'm just thinking these trains are all going to be £££ and it's going to get ridiculous. I'm starting to wish I'd never told the dc about it all.

I'd be really grateful for any thoughts, especially if anyone has done a similar trip and can share what their overall travel costs were.

Sounds like an awesome trip, I’d book the Eurostar now but before you do have you looked at interrail passes? There is sometimes a seat reservation to be paid (and even if you don’t have to have one it is likely a plan to get them so you know you are sitting together), but thought I’d mention it as children under 11 are free (not sure how old your dc are) and last year they had a January sale which made them very good value. Man at Seat 61 has good instructions on how to use the inter rail and how to calculate if it’s good value for you.

I'd book the Eurostar and sign up for an alert for when the onward tickets are available. I've done this a few times now, for travel within France and to Switzerland.

It does feel a bit stressful but it will be fine. The hardest bit is not knowing when the trains will leave until the timetables are published - I've always aimed to arrive in Paris as early as possible to maximise our options.

The trip sounds amazing - have fun!

Can you go by car? That's what we've been doing as it's by far the most economical option during the summer for a family of 4 who would all need tickets.

Realise I didn't reply to the cost part of your question. The last trip we took (2 adults plus teen DS) cost £400 return Paris to Spain, plus the Eurostar section on top.

It would have been cheaper to fly (though the additional costs are easy to forget about) but we wanted to travel by train. Driving wouldn't have been an option for us.

@coffeerevelsrule what stretch of the trip is Eurostar? Is it London to Paris?

Besides that, it’ll help to wait a bit to book Eurostar. There’s usually a sale around now / early January. You can give yourself another week or two to wring your hands. 🙂

Thanks all - it does sound a great trip, just so much to plan!

Car is not really an option as we've done ferry-drive before and dc really want to experience sleeper trains! Plus, as the only driver, these distances would be pushing it I think.

Just seen the info about the sale - thank you for that, will wait it out and worry a bit longer! It's London-Paris both ways. Tbh, if I knew for a fact that those legs were to be the priciest, I'd be fine. It's just if the rest comes out more costly than expected...well, it's only money I suppose.

On pricing, I think the man in seat 21 website gives an indication (though I found I'd rarely get seats as cheap as the minimum he quotes).

Doh, 61!!

I've heard that the best deals Paris-Geneva are when the tickets first go on sale. I know you mention sleeper trains, but I'd want to travel during the day to see all that stunning scenery!

I booked the eurostar tickets this time last year as they were significantly cheaper, then booked the rest through SNCF in about April I think. We didn't do sleepers but the trains in France are so much cheaper and more reliable than in the UK. To test the pricing I picked a couple of random dates in the following 3 months (same times and days of the week) to check roughly what the costs would be. You can check via SNCF or even via thetrainline if you want to make it super easy in English.

We adored our train trip and so pleased we did it - don't let it put you off!

i sooooo advise getting interrail tickets. Just for the stress reduction, but I expect it’ll be cheaper for tou too. There is often a Jan/Feb sale, AND there will be loads of Eurostar availability, even late. There are lots of supplements on top of the basic ticket but even so was totally worth it for us.

Can you book to Brussels instead and go via Germany? I'd do Nightjet Brussels to Vienna, then Genova and then Geneva via Paris on way back.

With Eurostar you have to pay about £30 each way for a seat, even with an interail ticket so worth bearing in mind if you can get an up front bargain.

It’s true about the supplements, but the stress reduction of being able to book late, and also change plans without huge penalties, is amazing