1. Some trains require reservations. It depends on which specific trains you choose to take. While you can often avoid trains that require reservations by taking slightly slower regional and local trains, I think it’s unlikely that you’ll get by without buying at least some reservations. All overnight trains require reservations.

2. Reservations are usually relatively cheap — 4 or 5 euros. Reservations in Italy, however, can cost up to 19 euros. While there are lots of trains that don’t require reservations in Italy, the ones at popular times usually do and the trains that don’t can be very crowded, so it’s hard to avoid buying reservations unless you’re really flexible and don’t mind standing.

3. DO NOT buy reservations on-line. For the most part, only travel agencies sell them on-line and the cost with shipping and handling will end up being double what you’ll pay at the train station in Europe.