amsterdam to paris with an interrail pass?

hey folks! my friends and i are going interrailing next summer and we%26#39;re wondering:

1) whats the best way to get from amsterdam to paris using a train compatible with an interrail pass?

2) whats the best way to get frm nice to barcelona using a train/trains compatible with an interrail pass? and is there a night train from nice to barcelona as we%26#39;d prefer to travel a night as it is a long jouney?

Any help wuld be greatly appreciated!!

thanks!

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I%26#39;m not sure what you mean by %26quot;a train compatible with an interrail pass.%26quot;

You will be able to use your pass on all trains between Amsterdam and Paris but you will need a reservation for which you will have to pay a supplement.

Pretty much the same thing applies to trains from Nice to Barcelona. There is no night train on this route and at best only a couple of reasonable daytime routings. These take 10-11 hours, require a change Montpellier and require a reservation. I suppose it might in theory be possible to cobble together a routing using local trains that do not require a reservation, e.g. Nice to Toulon to Marseille to Montpellier and so on. if you tried to do that I%26#39;m not sure you could actually make it all the way without an overnight along the way and it certainly wouldn%26#39;t be an easy way to make the trip.

Note that many trains in summer will be very fully booked and you may have difficulty on some routes finding a train at a convenient time at short notice. Trains that do not require a reservation, e.g. along the Mediterranean coast, can also be very full at peak travel times.

You should also consider whether a pass is really a money saver considering the supplements and fees you will have to pay on most long distance trains. The only way you can determine that is by going to the various national rail sites, voyages-sncf.com, bahn.de, renfe.es, trenitalia.it, tggv-europe.com and the rest and price out point-to-point tickets for your proposed itinerary. You might also look at budget airlines for some of your longer trips. You can find information about who flies any particular route at whichbudget.com among other sites. OTOH if you want the maximum flexibility then the pass probably makes sense even though it may not be the least expensive way to go. Just take into account that there will probably be few occasions when you will be able to arrive at a station and board a long-distance train with no reservation and that you may find that you cannot travel exactly when you want to at short notice.

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ok great...what would be a guideline price on supplements? x

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A good resource for rail travel answers is seat61 which has a lot of info and a link to a listing of likely price supplements:

http://www.seat61.com/InterRail.htm#When do you need to make a reservation

If the link splits, the end of the URL is the complete phrase %26#39;When do you need to make a reservation%26#39;

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I also recommend the seat61 website. Supplements are going to be different depending on routes, speed, night trains, countries, etc. That information is something you will need to research depending on your proposed itinerary. Passes at one time were a great value, not so much now, but you may decide it%26#39;s better for you anyway.

Low-cost airlines for some of the longer routes can be a much better deal.