Most travellers sequence their bookings the wrong way: hotel first, transport second. It feels logical - you lock down where you’re sleeping, then figure out how to get there. In Europe, especially on high-speed and overnight routes, this gets people into trouble.
Train tickets on routes like Paris to Barcelona, Rome to Naples, or Amsterdam to Cologne operate more like airline seats than bus passes. Prices are tiered, the cheapest fares disappear early, and unlike a hotel booking, there’s usually no free cancellation window. A Thalys or Frecciarossa ticket booked three days out costs significantly more than the same seat booked three weeks out - and on a Friday in July, it might not be available at all.
The Overnight Train Problem Is Worse
Couchette and sleeper compartments on overnight routes - the Nightjet network in particular, which runs across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and into neighbouring countries - sell out months in advance during summer. Not weeks. Months. The private sleeper cabins go first, then the couchettes, and by the time most people are thinking about their trip, what’s left is a seat reservation in a standard car, which is fine but not what you planned.
If an overnight train is central to your itinerary - say, you’re crossing from Vienna to Rome or Brussels to Berlin without wanting to waste a day travelling - book it before you book anything else. The hotel will still be there.
What This Means Practically
Europe’s main rail booking platforms - Raileurope, the national carriers like SNCF or DB, and Trainline - all open advance tickets at different windows, usually between 90 and 120 days out depending on the operator. Set a reminder for the day your target route opens. This sounds excessive until you’ve watched a €29 fare become €140 overnight.
Interrail and Eurail passes don’t exempt you from this. The pass covers travel rights, but on high-speed and overnight trains you still need a seat or sleeper reservation, which carries its own fee and is subject to the same availability constraints.
One More Thing
If your hotel is non-refundable and your train is non-refundable, you’ve built a trip with no slack. At least one of those should have some flexibility - and the hotel is almost always the easier one to find that option on.
The train dictates the shape of the itinerary more than the accommodation does. Book it like that’s true.