All-Aboard the Night Train - Would U Recommend It?!?!

1. The bunks themselves are reasonably comfortable, though not as much as most regular hotel beds. I'm 5' 11-1/2 and would say that length is not a big problem.

2. Noise is a bigger issue than bed comfort in my view.

It depends to some extent on what kind of overnight accommodations you spring for--a 6-bunk couchette has more chance of including a cat 4 snorer than a 4-bunker. (If you all reserve in advance, you can maybe get a 4-up couchette to yourselves.)

There is also the incidental noise of train travel, and the risk that your conductor may permit or worse encourage a party-car party.

1. The doors on all the compartments lock securely.

This list doesn't sound like much fun, and I would not recommend a night train to someone who cannot tolerate ear plugs.

Nonetheless I've taken night trains from Nice to Venice, from Amsterdam to Berne, from Madrid to Granada, and from Madrid to Lisbon (the last in a private compartment--ironically the worst sleep of the three) and would do so again.

Thank you - you've definitely helped me squash this theory flat! :)

I'm the pickiest sleeper on the face of the earth, and I just know this probably wouldnt work out for me. Oh well, back to the drawing board! :)

Just trying to figure out how to get from Amalfi to Venice in a reasonable amount of time. I'm afraid there isn't such a concept!

Brian

Brian: I can confirm what you've already figured out, with Adam's excellent help: that the night train is not going to be a good choice for you as you've described yourself as the world's pickiest sleeper.

I don't know how the trains are in Italy, but my husband and I took the night train from Fulda to Denmark. I felt like my head was right over the wheel. The train stopped several times during the night for varying periods of time and seemed to be linking and unlinking the cars, shuttling them around. When we got on the train, the compartment we were supposed to be in was already full! So the porter gave us another one, which we thought we might have to ourselves as we told him it was sort of a honeymoon trip. Then he asked if a elderly lady could join us. Being kind, we said yes. During the middle of the night, I thought my husband was snoring really loud and I thought I should wake him up. In the morning, he said he hadn't slept but that I was snoring really loud. I told him I hadn't slept either, so we laughed thinking this lady was the only one who had slept. If I had to do this trip over again, I would pay the extra money for one of those nicer family compartments. I think I could sleep in one of those.

Brian, you may decide that you do not like night trains but there is one from Naples to Venice. It departs Naples at 19:57 and arrives at 5:30 in the morning. No train changes. You just have to get from the Amalfi Coast to Naples in time.

Brian, from the responses already it sounds like a nite train isn't going to work for you.

However, for others reading the thread, I'll add some more comments. I took a night train this past June so I thought I'd chime in here...

1) Its a bunk bed. Comfortable enough, and I'm 6' tall. BTW I was staying at Rick Steves types of hotels, so this was the only time on my entire trip I slept in an air conditioned room! It worked great.

2) Noise factor -- I didn't hear people walking by the room, but could hear some rail noise. It doesn't get completely dark because the curtain isn't perfectly opaque and so when you go thru a station or cross a street the light comes in. It's no problem, though; I just put on my mask from the airplane flight over my eyes.

3) privacy & safety -- they lock from the inside, you have a card key if you need to go down the hall to the bathroom. Seems pretty safe, at least in the European Union countries. You hear stories about travel in Russia and Eastern Europe of sleeping gas and the like, don't think its a problem in the EU.

Lastly, there's a solution for light sleepers. Sleeping pills. I use them for most of my trips, wouldn't travel without them.

In sum, this past June I took my 1st nite train. I was apprehensive about it, but it worked out great and I'm planning many more in the future.

You didn't mention your origin and destination, but you might look at a discount airline flight (i.e. EasyJet, Vueling, Ryanair, etc.) as an alternative to a night train. For example, our original plan was for a night train from Paris to Venice, but after discovering how inexpensive the flights were, we chose that option instead. It worked out well for us. Of course, you have to factor in another night's hotel stay into the cost/benefit equation, but it still might be something you find attractive.