We have just the thing: discover Europe by night train! Snaking along the laces of Italy’s shoe-shaped peninsular, this scenic 12-hour night train from Rome to Palermo is perhaps the most romantic way to experience the country’s southern region. Here are 10 of the best night trains in Europe that still operate today: Railroad tracks at a major train stationPatrick Poendl / shutterstock. We’ve also tried some night trains in Asia and even though the experience is completely different, you still get the same feeling of adventure. Passengers boarding the Thello have the enviable opportunity to fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Venice, two of Europe’s most romantic cities. German rail company Deutsche Bahn and the main national train operators in France, Switzerland and Austria said the routes from Vienna to Paris, via Munich, and Zurich to Amsterdam, via Cologne, will be … An old faithful among inter-railers, this classic overnight service whisks passengers between two of Eastern Europe’s prettiest cities, Budapest and Prague. It departs at 9.45pm and arrives at Lisbon’s Gare do Oriente at 7.30am. We're official agents for rail and bus operators in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. Given that one of the best things to do on a train in Europe is to travel on the top deck, being able to sleep on it is the stuff of childhood dreams. Night trains offer a comfortable way to travel by night. Hop aboard this sleeper service in the dark winter months and Norway’s breathtaking scenery will be completely wasted on you. There is a connection to be made here but arrival at Termini is still by 10am.• Berths from €30, thello.com. The deluxe sleeper has a table, chairs and its own shower.• Berths from €60, nightjet.com, This sleeper is often referred to as the Santa Claus Express and ticks a lot of boxes for family trips. Attempting to send passengers back to the golden age of rail travel, the Madrid-Lisbon overnight service, operated by Trenhotel Lusitania, is the closest you’ll come to an authentic railway nostalgia trip. Typically departing at around 11pm, passengers can get a good night’s sleep and then wake up early to catch a glimpse of Croatia’s little-explored countryside at sunrise before pulling into the coastal town. Your backpack will likely be on your bed but for extra security, you can secure it to the bed with a carabiner, a cable luggage lock , or a belt. Browse Guardian Holidays to see a range of fantastic trips. Growing demand for ‘slow travel’ and the romantic allure of sleeper trains have resulted in the resurgence of the night-train in Europe. The announcement marks the biggest extension of the European night train network in … Includes French Motorail from Calais to Nice, Narbonne, Toulouse, Brive & Avignon, Dutch motorail (Auto Slaap Trein) from Holland to Italy & the south of France, German Motorail (DB AutoZug) from Dusseldorf to Italy & Austria, motorail to Turkey & Greece, car ferries to Spain & Scandinavia. European night trains are becoming something of an endangered species, but these 10 overnight sleeper trains are still holding strong on the continent A fantastic way to traverse mainland Europe, night trains are cost-effective and environmentally-friendly, considering passengers can save money on hotel rooms and trains produce far less CO2 than planes. If unsure about all those days spent doing the Trans-Siberian, get just a taste on Europe’s longest sleeper train. On the day of departure of the night train, you can take as many trains as you want; it's on the same day after all. If you liked this article, you might also like: The World Travel Guide (WTG) is the flagship digital consumer brand within the Columbus Travel Media portfolio. As you would expect, there are some spectacular views to behold both in the early evening and early morning, so enjoy them before departing one of Europe’s favourite sleepers. Thello night trains were created as a joint venture between Veolia Transdev, a private transport company, and Trenitalia (Italian Railways).. Thello currently operates just one overnight route: Paris to Venice, two romantic greats. The service runs daily, and will see you arrive in Split just in time for breakfast on the seafront. There’s no restaurant car but the cafe-bar is a convivial place to meet fellow travellers and can serve up a hot dish and a glass of vinho verde, which may help with the bumpy night’s sleep ahead. A travel experience showered in history, the service leaves Moscow in the evening and pulls into Nice around 42 hours, and a lot of vodka, later. Great Western Railway (GWR) operates the Night Riviera, which has recently been refurbished to feature charging points, hotel-quality duvets and hanging space, plus airline-style seats in the seated carriages. As you would expect from a train operating between these heavyweight gastro destinations, the service has a dedicated dining cart serving French and Italian fare. Most overnight trains offer one or two different ways to sleep; the more comfortably you sleep, the more you pay. The Caledonian Sleeper speeding through the Scottish HighlandsVisit Scotland. makes a purchase. If you take another train after the night train has arrived, you'll have to use a new travel day. The Caledonian Sleeper is one of Britain’s best-loved trains. Look forward to a hot shower (bring your own towels), a chance to savour Polish and Russian cuisine (due to a change in the restaurant car) and being looked after by your own provodnik or provodnitsa. Frequency: daily Approx duration: 11.5 hours While night trains were being retired across Europe, the Austrian railway company, ÖBB, bucked the trend by buying unwanted sleeper wagons and putting them to work. Available in English, German and Spanish versions, the WTG provides detailed and accurate travel content designed to inspire global travellers. Night trains in Europe are widely known and used and they are part of a grand adventure that you should experience at least once in a lifetime. “Getting on a train in Munich or Berlin in the evening and arriving in Paris or Brussels in the morning after a relaxed journey – with our Trans-Europ-Express TEE 2.0 and attractive night train services we will be travelling in ways that are even better for our climate and the environment in Europe in the future. A comprehensive guide to the world’s best travel destinations, its print heritage stretches back more than 30 years, with the online portal reaching its 20-year anniversary in 2019. The idea of SBB (Switzerland), ÖBB (Austria), Deutsche Bahn (Germany) and SNCF (France) is to connect a total of 13 European metropolises by night trains by December 2024. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that third-party cookies will be set. With a suite of luxury class cabins that emulate the first-class experience of a bygone era, passengers can enjoy private showers and marvel at the fact that it still takes less than 11 hours to travel from Madrid to Lisbon by train. The European train network never sleeps, with night trains connecting its major cities. Please note that Trainline may not currently sell tickets for all night train services. Summer, however, is a completely different story with the midnight sun illuminating everything that is special about rural Scandinavia: shimmering lakes, scented pine forests and rugged mountains. Leaving Nice on a Sunday morning, travel via Berlin and an extensive stop at Brest in Belarus (for visa checks and to change to Russian gauge) to arrive in Moscow in time for lunch on Tuesday. Alternatively, you could catch an early ferry to the popular islands of Brač, Hvar and Šolta. Travelling twice weekly, depart Brussels with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine, then enjoy a comfortable bed and arrive at 7.27am.• Berths from €60, nightjet.com, Known as Trenhotel Lusitania, the “train hotel” is an efficient and eco-friendly way to travel between these two capitals. The route runs all year and advance booking is essential.• Berths from €48 , vr.fi, Budapest’s Keleti station, where this sleeper originates, leaves the utilitarian terminus crowd behind with its grand facade, high ceilings and sense of space and light. For example, if you travel on a night train from 9 to 10 August, you only write down 9 August. If you’re in a shared cabin and want to ensure your valuables are safe, keep them within reach and out of sight while you sleep. Updated every day by a dedicated global editorial team, the portal logs 1 million+ unique users monthly. This route will show you how much ground you can cover in just a single week. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative. A view from the Stockhokm to Narvik sleeper train, competition to win two first-class Interrail Passes. Night Train from Nice, France to Moscow, Russia – EN 409408. Run by the Finnish operator VR, the journey begins in the art-deco magnificence of Helsinki Central Station and over 12 hours whisks its way towards Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland. Until then, night trains will run in this direction to and from Düsseldorf. Traveling by Train at Night. Run by the Russian Railways. The Nightjet network spreads across Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, but this is one of the only routes offering double-decker rolling stock. Charles Bridge, PragueCreative Travel Project / Shutterstock. We’ve listed some of the main sleeper trains running across Europe below. Depart Rome at night and wake up in Palermo, SicilyBargotiPhotographt / Thinkstock. The sleeper arrangements are pretty standard and note there may be no restaurant car until you reach Romania.• Berths from £45, mavcsoport.hu (use Bucuresti for timetable search), The UK currently has two regular sleeper services from London: the Night Riviera to Cornwall and the Caledonian Sleeper to Scotland. Some of the carriages are in need of a little love and attention but it’s a fun and relatively affordable way to make this journey.• Berths from €34, renfe.com or raileurope.com, Austrian Railways (ÖBB) has managed to deliver smooth, fast and comfortable Nightjet journeys since it launched its sleeper service in late 2016. EN trains have special criteria that rail companies must match in order to receive the EN designation. The railway companies from Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland are planning to launch new cross-border night train connections in Europe from 2021. Offset by the spectacular scenery one will encounter en route to Sweden, this journey is as beautiful as it is unique. Many European train companies offer a night service for longer domestic or cross border routes. © Columbus Travel Media Ltd. All rights reserved 2020, Due to the impact of COVID-19, you are recommended to check travel restrictions from your government sources and contact local venues to verify any new rules, The Caledonian Sleeper speeding through the Scottish Highlands, Depart Rome at night and wake up in Palermo, Sicily, Soaring over Vilnius, plus 14 other offbeat things to see and do in Vilnius, 22 reasons why you should fall in love with Estonia, The complete guide to smoking marijuana in Amsterdam coffeeshops, 19 things to know before travelling to Cuba, Discover the treasures of Croatia on a charter yacht with Goolets. Third-Party cookies will be completely wasted on you €30, thello.com, Genoa! At Lisbon ’ s also a short but sweet wine list,.... 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