1- If you can buy a ticket with an assigned seat, do it because there is nothing more confusing than boarding a train and having to find an unassigned seat to sit in. When you have an assigned seat, you can easily find your space and remain in the same seat throughout your trip, however, if your seat is unassigned, you have to wait to sit and hope there is an open seat. If you finally find an open seat, it may not be open for the whole duration of your trip because trains often make multiple stops on one journey. I highly recommend booking ahead of time and reserving a seat to avoid any hassle.
2- There is no need to arrive at a train station more than 10 minutes before departure. On my first train journey, I decided to arrive at the train station an hour ahead of time. You do not need that much time. Often when you arrive early, there is nowhere for you to go, at certain stations, train platforms are assigned when trains arrive, so if you arrive early, you have no place to go. Stations, even the most popular like Kings Cross in London, are small, so getting there about 10 minutes before your departure time gives you ample time to arrive, scan your ticket, and board your train. This concept is strange to most Americans because our main mode of long-distance travel is by plane where we must show up a minimum of two hours ahead of departure, but trust me when I say, this is optional for trains in Europe.
3- Every part of the train is attached, so if you enter the wrong part of the train, do not worry, you can get to where you need to be once people have seated and the train has departed. When I took my first train, I was very confused about which coach was which. I was assigned coach B, but there were five coaches, so distinguishing which coach was B was hard. I almost missed the train entirely because I was trying to identify the coaches. Looking back, it would’ve been wiser to get on the train and ask someone on the train which coach I was on because you can easily move from one coach to another.
4- Luggage space exists but is minimal, so pack light if possible, but if you must carry a suitcase or two, most trains have room for it. When I arrived in London, I had two suitcases, one large and one small, and although it was difficult at first, I was able to find room for both of them on a train. There is normally room at the entrance of each coach on both sides and between some coaches, there is often more room for larger bags. The amount of space depends on the train you receive that day. Ultimately, I would choose to never travel with more than one small suitcase when traveling by train because of the differing amount of space.
5- If you are staying in Europe for an extended time, buy a rail card. You will save much more than you paid for the card, so I cannot recommend this enough. Railcards for my age group, 16-25-year-olds, was approximately £30, and it cut my price by ⅓ per ticket. I have saved over $100 at this point, and I have only taken about eight trains, easy to say, it is worth the cost.
