Take night train in Italy

We did night train fr Salzburg to Venice - my husband and I got a private berth - we're too old to share with strangers...but the train didn't leave til 12:30am-ish...we didn't realize we could have gotten on sooner so ended up hanging at McD's for an hour...and it was hard to sleep - the pillows were the worst - tiny airline pillows...had I know, I almost would have found somewhere to pick up a cheap pillow...but, an eight hour train trip passed more quickly half-asleep, and saved an extra night at a hotel...

I think all night trains are equally safe. The bigger issue is that I think night trains are over rated. Hard to sleep and if you have to change trains in the middle of the night then it is even worse. I would only use a night train as last resort.

LoLa, When considering a night train, it's important to look at the specifics to make sure there are no (or few) changes in the "wee hours" of the morning. If there are several changes, you won't be getting much sleep and will likely arrive tired and cranky. Another option (and one that I often use) is to travel during the day time and choose an "intermediate stop" for at least one night to break up a long rail journey. For example, on the trip from Nice to Rome, you could stop in the Cinque Terre for one or two nights, and then continue to Rome. It would help to have a few more specifics about your trip. Is your destination Rome or Naples? Travel via budget airline might be a better choice. Happy travels!

The night trains are safe in general but I choose not to take them any more, they are not comfortable and I could never get any sleep.

Many of the Italian train trips are just two or three hours in Italy. I never liked getting dropped of in a city @ 6:00 a.m. since the hotel wouldn't let me in until 2:00 p.m. I prefer to take the trips at normal times.

yes the italian night trains are fine, if you're worried you can get a private compartment, otherwise just keep your valuables on yourself you'll be fine. there might be a stop crossing into italy from france, but otherwise with a private compartment nobody will come in/out. i have taken a few night trains in eastern europe, in italy from naples to venice once, and in spain from granada to barcelona once, never a problem.

We chatted with an American ex-pat/travel expert who lives in southern Italy. She told us she does not recommend the night trains because besides the fact that they are difficult to sleep on, they are old and not well-maintained in other words, dirty. She suggested that we either rent a car and drive (from Rome to Tropea) or fly, and that there are good promo prices at www.Alitalia.it and we just bought tickets that rival the prices of the train, no more than an extra two days in a rental car (would have had to stay overnight somewhere along the way. We saved big dollars, and will get to our destination in just over an hour, giving us lots more time in Sicily. The downside is that the website is in Italian, so you'll have some translating to do, but the American site does not offer promo rates. Hint: you'll need an Italian phone number - use your hotel - and when you enter the number, use no hyphens or spaces.

There is probably no "official" terminology, but I only consider "night" trains to be those that do not involve changes after midnight. If there is a change of trains in the middle of the night, then that's just a train that happens to run at night. Not a "night" train in my mind. I would be surprised to learn there are any true night trains from Nice to anywhere in Italy. Yes, night trains are safe. The Thello night train from Paris to Venice, Milan (and to Rome starting in June) are brand-spankin' new. That train also stops in Dijon, but that's it for France, I believe.

At the moment the Thello trains, according to our friend in the 61st seat, are lightly refurbished carriages of the previous incumbent. The trip requested is very, very difficult at night. There is no "night train" but if you don't mind wandering around Turin for over 5 hours from 11:30pm to 4:50 am and changing again in Milan at 6:45 (after changing twice on the way to Turin) - so no sleep unless you sleep on the floor of the Turin station - you can leave Nice at 7:26pm and arrive at Rome by 9:55 (...ish - this is Italy). Total journey time 14 hours 29 minutes, on normal trains which have nothing more comfortable than regular train seats. Not the way I would choose...