are we crazy to ride eurail without reservations?

Regarding reservations for accomodations, don't count on being able to stay in all train stations overnight. The waiting rooms are closed during the night in many places here in Italy, for example. In Bologna, you can go outside and stand by the platforms; in Milan, the police kick everyone out of the station. Night trains are a good option when they are available, but there aren't as many as there used to be and you need to be going relatively long distances. The supplement that you have to pay when you're using a railpass can be more expensive than getting a hostel too. In addition to hostels, you might look at convent/monastery stays which can be inexpensive.

There are trains where reservations are mandatory - you can make the reservations at the station up to the time the train leaves if the train isn't sold out. This particularly applies to many fast trains, international trains and night trains. There is a risk involved in this because some trains have a quota for the number of Eurail passes that can be used on the train. June and July are part of the busy season and the risk is higher than in the spring and fall. this information has a lot of information on using railpasses here: http://www.seat61.com/

Last year I did a round trip Ljubljana - Venice - Ljubljana on an overnight train and it was packed full. People without reserved seats had to stand/seat on the corridors. It was in June and I bet it gets even more packed in July and August. And I'm pretty sure it's about the same on all the other overnight trains going to multiple countries. But I think you can make reservations like 2 days before you leave? Atleast with normal tickets you can but I'm no sure about Eurail.

If you do reserve seats and you come on train and someone is already sitting on your sit, just tell them you have a reservation and they will leave, if not, tell the conductor.

particular, you may desire to take the TGV, regardless of in case you would be subject to a needed reservation cost in this direction. The reservation could be the two 3 or 5 Euros and could desire to be booked a minimum of an afternoon ahead, via actuality the TGV routes are somewhat severely used and you on no account understand if it is going to in all risk be many times booked by utilising departure time. To make a reservation for the TGV, you may pass to any substantial rail station in Europe - purely undergo in suggestions that the reservation is physically powerful for a undeniable seat on a undeniable day at a undeniable time - it is not transferable to a different prepare. Have a super holiday!