Hidden fees using Eurail pass

[guest]

Hi there, great site!!

A friend of a friend told me that during their backpacking trip there were quite a few extra charges even though they had the unlimited eurail pass. And these were between countries included in the 17 countries you can travel to. Is they are truth to this and how much extra can i expect to pay during my travels?

Also, do you have to reserve every time you travel at night, or can you just show up and hop on?

Thanks!

[LHR02]

The 'hidden' fees are quite minimal, and I don't actually consider them hidden, it;s information that is included right with your pass when you get it. Many of the intercity high speed trains require a reservation, no matter what time of day you want to travel. All you do is show your pass at the window and buy the resv part....and I can't remember ever paying more than 2 euros for one. It's a minimal charge. But it can even be gotten around if you have the time and don't mind taking the slower, local trains which don't require a reservation.

Well you don't have to have a reservation for night trains and if you are intending to sit up all night you could just show up, hop on, and hope there is a seat available. However, they are extremely popular routes and especially if you are going to be there in the summer you might want to invest in resv just to insure you have a seat.