Seeking advice for booking a night train from Munich to Venice in April

my advice for a successful booking is to fly.

DB has announced they are discontinuing the City Night Line service at the end of 2016. So the staff might not be entirely enthused, nor may they be maintaining the coaches as well as they ought to (which can be an issue even back in the "good" days, see below)
Hare our experiences on 3 night-train trips. One was just fine, no issues. On a 2nd the A/C did not work and the compartment was well into the 90's because the train had been baking in the sun all day. It stayed that way for hours, and opening the window made the compartment very noisy and the wind blast was annoying. Not a good night. On a 3rd trip the assigned car was not actually present on the train. We jumped aboard as the train was leaving and spoke with the conductor, who was brusque and not very helpful. "wait here" and 45 minutes later we had to track him down, he finally put us into a room without the shower/bath we had paid for. DB refused to refund the difference between what we paid for and what we got; our credit card company was no help.

So based on these experiences, there is a 1-in-3 chance of having a good trip. Hopefully these odds are wrong; you pays your money and takes your chances.

I suppose a night train is one option, but many people find they don't sleep well on night trains and are so tired when they arrive that hitting the canal running is not an option. Travelling during the day would be faster and more pleasant, and probably cheaper. For example, there's a departure listed at 11:02, arriving Venezia S.L. at 18:10 (time 7H:08M, 1 change). There are currently Saver Fares advertised on that route for €49 PP.

There's nonstop flights that are 1 hour long, starting at about $33 on the random April date I checked. Have you considered flying this route - especially since you want to hit the ground running there?

Did it 6 years ago. They used a different route then, via Innsbruck and Verona. Now it goes via Salzburg an Villach. It was not the best night's sleep (economy cabin), but it allowed us to get totally hammered at Oktoberfest and "hit the canal running" on arrival the next day. Since they look to be discontinuing after this year, I'd jump on it. Might be your last opportunity. City Night Line is the class act of European night trains.

I'll be taking that exact route on April 16th. Leaves Munich at about 11:30 pm and arrives in Venice at about 8:30 am. I'm very excited about it, I think it will be a fun experience. I'll be traveling with my wife and another couple so we purchased a 5 bed couchette (leaving one bed empty). I think it's a great idea since it gives us the full day and most of the night in Munich and combines the hotel and transportation into one night. I also like the idea of not having to stress about getting to/from the airport and dealing with the whole process of flying. Getting into the town first thing in the morning is also a huge plus for us. We are also taking a night train from Amsterdam TO Munich, but my wife and I will have our own private sleeper so that will be a different experience. I have heard that people don't sleep well on them, but I've also heard that people have no trouble at all. I myself can sleep just about anywhere so I'm not too concerned. I hope it works out for us both!

Hi,

On the CNL night train I've never had a bad ride, one was less desirable than the others but that was due to sitting in a compartment with a school group, just my luck and a fluke since that train was going to Paris from Hannover. The other CNL rides were satisfactory, no problems falling asleep, pleasant normal fellow riders in the general seating area, no sleeper or couchette here. If DB does phase out the CNL, there are still numerous night lines in Poland, CR, Hungary, Austria, Germany to choose from, such as Wien Hbf to Gdansk, or Cologne to Warsaw, etc.

I've spent 11 nights on night train in this country and in Europe, most recently from Reno to Denver on the Zephyr. I've never had a bad night, but maybe that's just me. The first 10 nights were in a single compartment, the last one was double with my partner. The "worst" night was on a train from Brussels to Heidelberg back before the Chunnel was operating. The train waited for ferries from England that were delayed by storms in the Channel and was 3 hours late leaving Brussels. I naively thought the train would make up the time and set my alarm clock to wake up before getting to Heidelberg, but instead woke up in Koblenz.

So, based on my experience, I would try it.

I wouldn't fly. I will take almost an hour to get to the Munich airport from downtown. If you check in 2 hours before flight time, it will be three hours from downtown. Add an hour for the flight, half and hour to deplane and find ground transportation, then half an hour to get to Venice, and you'll have at least 5 hour expended. The cheapest one hour flight on Expedia, booked two months out, is about $385 for two people, not including ground transportation, and that flight leaves MUC at 8 AM, so you'll have to leave downtown Munich at 5 AM. Later flights are more.

Instead of flying, there is a non-stop EuroCity train leaving Munich at 1138, getting into Venice at 1810 (6:10 PM). With advance reservation, which you would need anyway to fly, two people can ride that train for 78€ ($87). Even without advance reservations, it about the same cost as flying.

I'd much rather spend my day looking at the alpine scenery over Brenner Pass than the inside of airports.

"There's nonstop flights that are 1 hour long, starting at about $33 on the random April date I checked."

That doesn't include ground transportation, about 40€ for two people, or any checked luggage.

Did you mean that you have not yet seen the sleeper selection feature of the DB site? It's pretty much the next step after you choose a departure and click "Check Availability." The prices quoted above sound like starting fares with a seat, not a couchette bunk or private sleeper. If I were booking a double, I'd choose the Economy Double, from €218 for two on my test date of June 27, not the Deluxe Double from €358. I don't need to take a shower on a moving train and the beds are not any different.

Thanks everyone for all the information! The level of effort and detailed information provided to help fellow travelers have a successful trip is fantastic! We are grateful to all who contributed to the conversation! It really helped us make an informed decision.

We are going to travel on the night Train in a sleeper compartment (yes the option only came after booking got started), for various reasons. We travel by air in the US for work monthly, our son insists we must have this experience, knowing it will be ending soon and the chance for a grand adventure even if it is marred by noise or imperfections!

Once again, thanks to all! Your input was so helpful!

Gratefully,
The Pizzutos