If you have a Eurail pass it typically costs about 25 euros to book a 6-person couchette (according to Eurail website). 25 euros is typically about the same price or a little bit cheaper than a hostel bed in alot of places. Thus you save paying for a hostel and end up somewhere new in the morning instead of sleeping somewhere and then traveling the next day (eats up valuable exploration time!).

Yeah they can help you out for long distance travel. I have used them for mid-week travel to get from one side of Europe to the other. I don’t want to loose a weekend night on the train. It wasn’t too bad, and I was pretty tired when I got on the train and slept a lot of the way. They come by and get your passport so that in the middle of the night they don’t have to wake you at border crossings. I’m a little tall, so the bunks were a bit cramped. I’d have no problems in considering doing it again.

I took the night train from Amsterdam to Prague

Whether you can buy from Bahn.de depends on specifically what you want to buy. You can buy tickets, which will include the reservation if needed, for trains in Germany and many routes that start or end in Germany. You can occasionally buy “just a reservation” to use with a railpass from the site, but it takes some hunting around and it doesn’t seem to be available on many trains.

However, with specials as low as 29 euros for ticket and seat reservation or 39 euros for ticket and 6 berth couchette reservation, you may want to just buy the ticket with reservation and don’t use a day of the railpass. 39 euros for ticket and reservation compares to 25 to 30 euros for just the reservation. These specials go on sale 90 days in advance and sometimes sell out very quickly, so you have to be willing to commit to a specific time and date for travel well in advance to take advantage of the great prices.

If you can’t buy from Bahn.de, just buy at the train station about 3 days in advance — longer if it’s for Friday or Sunday night. On most popular routes there’s one direct overnight train and several options that require a connection. You can almost always find something that will work (allbeit not necessarily the best option) up to a couple of hours before train time.

thank you guys for the advice!
i will definitely take that all into consideration.
i do plan on purchasing eurail’s 5 country/8 day pass and some of the destinations i’m traveling to span from 10 to 15 hours in a train, which i think will be much better spent in a train at night versus losing a day of sightseeing
and i’ve seen a few of the train specials, but i’m not traveling until next year, so i guess i’ll just have to keep a look out for them.

However, with specials as low as 29 euros for ticket and seat reservation or 39 euros for ticket and 6 berth couchette reservation, you may want to just buy the ticket with reservation and don’t use a day of the railpass. 39 euros for ticket and reservation compares to 25 to 30 euros for just the reservation. These specials go on sale 90 days in advance and sometimes sell out very quickly, so you have to be willing to commit to a specific time and date for travel well in advance to take advantage of the great prices. There are lot of comfortable hotels around city. most of the hotel has natural latex mattress for beds. So its totally comfortable nights.I have used them for mid-week travel to get from one side of Europe to the other. I don’t want to loose a weekend night on the train. It wasn’t too bad, and I was pretty tired when I got on the train and slept a lot of the way. They come by and get your passport so that in the middle of the night they don’t have to wake you at border crossings. I’m a little tall, so the bunks were a bit cramped. I’d have no problems in considering doing it again.