Reservations for Rail Pass users: Book in advance/ Book in Europe?

Depending on the route, couchettes will probably be booked long before you arrive, particularly on a popular route like Rome to Munich. You can reserve couchettes on the German Rail (Bahn) website or through Euraide.

I believe you can reserve seats on most trains in Paris, but you can also reserve seats on German trains, Munich-Bacharach and Bacharach-Amsterdam for the lowest price, €4 per seat, on the Bahn website.

Absolutely book couchettes well in advance.

Any major train station in Europe will let you make reservations for most routes within Europe. Remember, though, that not all trains require reservations. You can take a look at Rick Steves' list of trains requiring reservations.

I've already charted out my trains on the DB website and am only looking to reserve the tips that say "subject to compulsory reservation." Here's those legs of the trip:

Paris to Aix les Bains le Revard, Sunday Aug. 30th "Nachtzug" Night Train

Brig to Venice, Thursday Sept. 3rd "Cisalpino" day train

Venice to Rome, Friday Sept. 4th "EuroStar Italia" day train

Rome to Munich, Monday, Sept. 7th "City Night Line" Night Train

Cologne to Amsterdam, Friday, Sept. 11th "ICE" day train (this one warns "high occupancy expected, please reserve")

Because it is such a whirlwind would it be a good idea to book these in advance or is it more than likely that they will be available when I arrive in Paris?

One more, can you reserve on the DB website with a Eurail Pass? I couldn't find a place to do so.

Thank you all so much,
I'd love to here some personal testimonials on booking train reservation in Europe. Did anyone miss a train because they didn't reserve in advance?

Thanks again for all your help.

If just looking to reserve a seat on a day train, you can use the DB website. When you get the connections, select "purchase" for the one you want. One of the choices will be "reservations without ticket". Note: for a connection to Amsterdam (part outside of Germany), the radio button for that option might be "greyed out", meaning you cannot get online reservations only for that connection. However, you can get reservations once you are in Europe, even a couple of days before in Munich. Not, however, in Bacharach as it is an unmanned station. I have been on only one completely occupied train in Germany, but there were still a lot of unreserved seats.

Since you already have a railpass, you can't do this, but for those who are deciding whether to get a railpass, you can book the entire trip Bacharach to Amsterdam for as low as €41 with a reservation with a Europa-Spezial-Niederlande fare.

So you're saying that the "reserve without ticket" tab is intended for rail pass users. It will reserve a seat but not purchase a ticket?

If I have a tight schedule or know my night train dates/times, I always get those reservations nailed down as far in advance as I can. There are two websites that Rick Steves recommends for doing this from the US.

RailEurope http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/passholderrequest.htm - This one allows you to pay a surcharge per reservation.

EurAide - http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/euraide/howtores.htm - This one charges a flat $50 fee to make the reservations in addition to the reservation costs. I have used them to make 5 NT reservations for a trip and would recommend them.

You will need to look at which option would be cheaper for you.