Seat Guru for trains? Maybe not yet, but on this page you'll find links to European train seat maps, showing the layout & numbering of seats & berths in specific types of train for the main countries in Europe. Please report any dead links, or if you find a new seat map.
Click the country where your train starts:
Train compositions are often posted on station platforms or shown on departure screens so you know where to stand to board your car. They show the carriage numbering for each departure from that platform. Train operators don't usually put such information online, but there are some useful websites that show train formations, often with photos of what the cars look like:
For Austria & Central Europe including Nightjet, see www.vagonweb.cz. This has photos of the carriages, seat maps and other useful information.
For German domestic & international trains see www.fernbahn.de/datenbank/suche. If you don't know your train number, look it up using int.bahn.de.
Two units coupled together? Where two trainsets run coupled, the second set's car numbers typically increase by a factor of 10. So the first of two coupled TGVs might have car numbers 1-8, the second set's cars might be numbered 11-18.
A few train operators let you choose your seat from a seat map, but usually only if you book their own trains on their own website. For example, you can't select your seat when booking an Austrian railjet train from Munich to Vienna with DB (German Railways), but you can if you book with �BB (Austrian Railways).
On Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) you can view & change your seats using the Manage booking link, even if you've bought your Eurostar ticket from another retailer.
Other operators that allow seat selection include French Railways (www.sncf-connect.com, only in 1st class on TGV & Intercit�s), German Railways (www.sj.se), Spanish Railways (www.renfe.com), Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.com), Czech Railways at www.cd.cz and a few others. Trenitalia and Renfe charge a small additional fee for seat selection.
Only two 3rd-party retailers offer seat selection from a seat map: www.italiarail.com provides seat selection from a seat map for Trenitalia trains. www.thetrainline.com lets you choose seats from a seat map when booking 1st class on French TGVs & Intercit�s and on Trenitalia trains in any class.
Most other booking websites only let you choose basic options such as aisle or window, or compartment (meaning classic side-corridor-and-compartment carriages with 6-seater compartments) or saloon, meaning more modern open-plan seating.
Some trains have seats in open-plan saloons, most modern trains are like this and layouts vary. Some trains, often older ones in central & eastern Europe, have seats in traditional 6-seat compartments, these usually follow the standard numbering pattern shown below. There are sliding (non-lockable) doors to each compartment. Sometimes you'll find saloon and compartment cars on the same train, some websites ask you which you prefer. Unless you're a group of 5 or 6 people, most travellers prefer open-plan saloon cars, you get a better view as you can see out through multiple windows, not just sideways through your own compartment's window.
Generic compartment car numbering plan. The first digit is the compartment number. Larger image
People get allocated berth numbers 21 & 25 and worry they're not together in the same 2-bed sleeper, when of course they are! A generic sleeping-car numbering plan is shown below. Adjacent compartments sometimes have a communicating door when people travelling together occupy both compartments, for example 11/13/15 will often have a door through to 12/14/16, 21/23/25 will have a door to 22/24/26 and so on.
Generic sleeper numbering plan. When used as a 2-berth, only the top & bottom berth numbers are used, for example 21 & 25.
Generic couchette numbering plan. When used as 4-berth, usually the top & bottom berth numbers used, for example 21, 22, 25 & 26. But not always!
