Help! Very confused about railpass and night trains!!
 

I'll be traveling around Europe this summer and will be using a railpass. I need to take a night train at least twice during my trip and am REALLY confused with what I see and read about it online. I thought that if I had a railpass all I needed to do was to reserve a spot on a night train with a small added fee, But the websites I've looked at all state that I'd owe $200-500 depending on the type of sleeper train. Can someone who has experience with this please explain it. Thanks much!

If the train has ONLY sleeper cars, then you would have to pay for a cabin. But if it has coach cars, you can sleep sitting in a chair for no additional charge.

sweetpea...keep on being sweet...dont worry...it is NOT 200 bucks.

There are choices, two of which I would not choose. First choice...sitting up in a private cabin in an overnight train. Just like regular train travel, you can get a compartment instead of a seat (think of the movie Eurotrip when the Mi Scuzi guy comes in...thats a compartment). This costs next to nothing on top of Eurail costs. I did this from Interlaken to Paris...and it SUCKED THE LIFE OUT OF ME.

Second, you can get a sleeper car. That will cost you 200 bucks and is like a mini-bedroom. Unless you are travelling with a family, are a bit older and would like maximum comfort, or are just simply high maintaince (g-d please say no) you dont have to choose this option.

The third, and value added option, is the COUCHETTE. A couchette is a compartment, anywhere from four to 6 per compartment. You share it with others and even in sketchy Prague station, this was not an issue. I waited on the train...found two people who were cool and went in with them.

It costs anywhere from 10-25 bucks on top of the eurail pass. YOU MUST, especially in summer, call ahead to reserve and/or order it at a ticket window.

A couchette has enough room for your luggage/pack and is basically a plank off wood that comes down and has a hospital gurney type of mattress. You get sheets with the couchette.

I am 6' and 175 and had no problems with it.

As for safety, the doors lock from the inside and if you are going over a border, you will hear a knock in the morning for a quick passport check.

That should answer your question.

Yes couchette is the cheapest sleeping option on overnight trains except regular seats, which like above poster says, are not comfy at all and more and more night trains don't even have regular seats anymore - some have sleeperettes - reclinging seats for a few euro reservation fee - but couchettes - three bunks on each side of an aisle in second class and two bunks on each side of an aisle in first class cost about 20-25 euros typically and should be reserved to guarantee availability. Sounds like you're a novice European rail traveler: some good free sources that will answer questions like yours - www.ricksteves.com has lots of night trains and passes and at www.budgeteuropetravel.com you can get the excellent free European Planning & Rail Guide that explains many things about European rail travel, including night trains - remember the 7pm rule - if you have a flexipass and you board an overnight train after 7pm you put the next day's date in as your unlimited travel day - thus, take a night train from Amsterdam to Zurich and then you can travel all the next day until midnight on one day on your pass - virtually going from one end of Europe to the other on one day on your pass. No type of sleeper costs $200-500 with a pass - not nearly though deluxe single cabins can run about $100 - there are a few fancy hotel trains where you could pay more however.

http://www.seat61.com/Sleepers.htm

WK

Thank you sooo much. I've been researching like crazy for months, and your simple answers were exactly what I needed to know. I'll check out the websites suggested. Thanks again. And no, I'm not high maintenance!

"But the websites I've looked at all state that I'd owe $200-500 depending on the type of sleeper train".

What specific websites were you looking at when you got those fares?

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

hope this can help