Travel Geneva - Strasbourg with suitcases

ClareJ

Hello, we are travelling from Geneva to Strasbourg in July. We will have 2 large suitcases with us and as a family of 4 would like to sit together. Is this possible, and also to be near our luggage? I am trying to book tickets and it will not allow me a seat reservation. Thank you

Tafunge25

Hello ClareJ
I fear that might be hard… July is holiday season in Switzerland, so trains can sometimes be somewhat full. When boarding, try to position yourselves before the arrival of the train somewhere where there are not a lot of people waiting (usually near the ends of the train and not near underpasses). With the luggage, that quite strongly depends on what you mean by ‘large’ and by which connection you intend to take. For instance, will it fit under the seats?
If no, it might be hard to fulfill all your wishes. Luggage may not be placed in a place where it blocks other passenger’s of train staff’s ways or seats, so it is usually best to place it in the luggage racks; but nobody can guarantee you will find four seats just next to one.

Danhiel

Hello ClareJ

I suggest to travel with an IC1 service and change in Bern, board at the rear of the train in direction of travel. You have more seats as a connection with a IC51 service from Renens.

An example (check the timetable again before departure):

Kind regards
Danhiel

allanorn

Hi ClareJ

For that routing, most trains won’t accept reservations so seating for four might not be guaranteed. For the Basel-Strasbourg TER you should be able to get seats for four as Basel is a terminus, but the seats for four are in the middle of the carriage. There might be one or two TGVs from Basel to Strasbourg that would require a reservation, but that will be a much more expensive and restrictive option over the half-hourly TER.

Also, how big are your bags - can you measure them? Swiss trains will have overhead luggage storage to fit medium-size luggage that would fit in the overhead on a regional or smaller mainline aircraft (e.g., Embrarer 175/190, Canadair CRJ 700/900, smaller Boeing 737s or Airbus A319/320), but I would not expect a lot of luggage storage at the end of the car - especially as you won’t know what type of train is serving your route until it shows up at the station. See this SBB link for more details.

The Basel-Strasbourg TER does not have any larger luggage storage at the end of the cars from what I remember.

I don’t know your situation, but you may want to consider packing less and expect to do more laundry. Also, if you can, invest in AirTags or similar devices - they’re great for keeping track of luggage if you’re worried about it walking off, or forgetting about it and leaving a train without it as I once did!

Krist

Most trains do not take reservations. The Basel - Strasbourg definitely does not. Depending on which route you take you may be able to get reservations on some. But I would not worry. It is rare for there not being free seats on trains here.

The Swiss do not bother with reservations. Not even families.

Krist

allanorn Also, how big are your bags

I often travel with a big pelican case, that at airports often mistakingly ends up on the oversize luggage belt. It is in other words exactly the maximum dimension for checked luggage.

It fits perfectly in the overhead racks of single deck trains in France, Switzerland and Germany. On double deck trains in Switzerland I usually stay downstairs, where there is a big luggage rack that can take skis, luggage, and even the odd small sailboat. No worries there.

The Basel - Strasbourg TER train still uses old Corail coaches. With large overhead luggage racks.