Hello! Going to Amsterdam-Bruge-Paris-Cologne-Munich-Wengen-Zurich this August. Our family of 4 (two young teenagers) plan to take trains between all cities.

Going to start making some reservations - but trying to find a balance of cost, reserving seats so we can all sit together, speed of train, minimize transfers, and ensure each transfer is long enough since we'll be in unfamiliar stations each time.

Would appreciate some general advice?

Also I had questions about:

1. I can't reserve seats until AFTER I pay for a train ticket - what should I do if we can't all sit together? We could sit 2 and 2 but not as ideal.
2. How busy will this general route be in August? Seat reservations required the whole way or just some legs? High speed trains need reservations more than slower trains?
3. We're from Canada - so if signs are in English or French we should be okay - but in other countries - how long would you recommend at each station (haven't looked into how far to walk from platform to platform). I recognize this answer changes since we don't technically know every station we are transferring at. Some of the websites are only giving us 6 min to transfer trains which seems short.
4. As I understand, many people say if we miss a train, just catch the next one. Does this apply to all trains in every country, or just the non-high speed trains?
5. So many opinions on best websites to book trains - suggestions?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide - we are excited to explore Europe with our children.

June 12th, 2026, Toronto

2 tickets in Row 7, Block 102 (Cat 1)

$1600 CAD each - below face value ($2205)

These tickets are in the Canada Fan Supporter Zone

Contact me directly if interested, willing to meet in person or meet virtually to ensure a fair process.