Overwhelmed by Train options - Advice needed!

Hi Tennille,
On this web site page, at the top, is a tab entitled "Railpasses". If I understand correctly, you may contact that office (phone) which will help you perfect your understanding of the subject.
All the best,
P...

Part of the problem with your itinerary is you plan to visit six countries....the most flexible pass only covers five adjoining countries. You could always purchase a separate ticket, say, from the French-Spanish border and back again to cut out one country, but since you want to take overnight trains, that would be a huge hassle. After the Eurail Select saverpass (5 countries max.), the next one up is the Global pass, which would cost each of you $630, and that's before the extra expense (and trouble) of booking reservations and sleeper accommodations. Instead, I would try exploring some of the deals you can get from the national rail websites. Switzerland (www.sbb.ch/en), France (www.voyages-sncf.com), and Italy (www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html). Those three should be able to handle all your itinerary. Trenitalia and SNCF allow bookings 90 days in advance; I'm not sure about SBB.

1) You propose six rail trips, five of them quite long, out of fifteen days. Not only might point-to-point train tickets be cheaper than a railpass, but you might do as well (and save lots of time) flying some of these routes.

You don't ask, so please excuse me for suggesting that this is rather a lot of travel in so short a time and you might enjoy a trip where you see more by trying to see less.

3) Night trains might require a supplement for a bunk in a shared compartment or private compartment. Night trains are romantic and fun, but rarely restful; one or two in a short tip like your is plenty. See #1. Many other trains require reservations in addition to a ticket or pass.

5) As you do your research about available night trains, note well how long the actual sleeper segment of the trip is. Otherwise you may find yourself in the middle of nowhere t 4 a.m. waiting for your connecting train.

I didn't understand your other questions, but i hope this helps. Good luck!

I only see five countries unless you need the pass to go through Germany on the Basel SBB to Amsterdam night train leg. Still its a large quantity of train time and I don't think that you will get the sleep you think you will. The Zurich to Amsterdam trip will take 13.0hrs with 11hrs on a sleeper car. This is good. Amsterdam to Paris only takes 4.5hrs. No sleeper cars there. Paris to Barcelona takes 13.0hrs with better than 8.0hrs in a sleeper car on two runs. Barcelona to Nice can take 17.0hrs with no sleeper car until you change trains at Toulouse at midnight or Montpellier-Saint Roch at 5:00am. Both are couchette cars and not much sleep there. Nice to Florence takes 9.0hrs with almost 8.0hrs in a sleeper (Nice to Pisa). Florence to Zurich takes 10hrs with 8.5hrs in a sleeper car from Florence-Campo di Marte to Bern.

You might look into the inexpensive airlines for a couple of long legs.

Here are two examples of point-to-point discount fares:

If you book well in advance at www.bahn.de, you can get a SparNight fare of 59€ for a bunk in a four-person couchette on the Zuerich-Amsterdam night train.

Advance booking (up to 90 days allowed) at www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html can get you a Smart fare of 45€ for a bunk in a four-person couchette on the Firenze-Zuerich night train.