Trentialia from Venice to Rome - Sleeping train

Venice to Rome is a 4 hour journey on the frecciarossa train (high speed), so wondering why you’d consider an overnight train?

I’ve not seen any other posts about taking the night train on this route.

I’ve only taken one overnight train in my life, and it was definitely not worth it, IMHO.
The main reason I wouldn’t recommend a sleeper train is because it’s very difficult to get some sleep, and then the following day is basically wasted due to being sleep deprived.

Wishing you a great trip!

It is mainly so that we can spend more time in Venice. The last 4 hour train is 1930. I figured we could take the sleeping train, save time by the time we wake up, we are ready at Rome.

I’ve never taken a night train and never would
I’ve never seen anything but reports of how miserable it is
Don’t count on getting any sleep

Take a very early train, and enjoy the ride. Bring a lunch and a game... before you know you will be at Termini. Go to your accommodation, it may be too early for check-in but leave the luggage and meander until you are able to check in. Go to dinner and retire and begin the next day.

Buon Giorno
Lorie

Oh ChristineH, I guess you don't watch train vlogs on Youtube. Overnight trains are all the rage and everyone can't wait to try them out. They are usually quite pleased the next morning, but there are a lot of options and permutations to consider when booking as our OP has found out.

OP you should also look for some videos which might give helpful info.

The other thing is, what would 5 of you do with luggage till 23:00, or are you just there for a day trip?
If you’re just going to Venice for that day, perhaps book a hotel in Mestre, (cheaper than Venice) and then get the train back to Rome the next day!
That way you can relax, and also enjoy Venice in the evening without looking at your watch.

That particular train makes 10 stops before it gets to Rome.
That doesn't allow for any kind of quality rest.
No thanks- "all the rage" or not.

SJ has best advice. Get a cheap hotel, early train, enjoy!

For luggage at 23:00 I guess I will need to find a place to put our stuff or dump it at train station. There's also a nannybag.com service to rent bag dropoffs.

My preference is usually traveling at night since quite a number of places are closed already. I figured if 4 hours, it would be waste of time to travel in the morning.

I've taken 2 overnight trains, rooms fully equipped with comfortable beds and duvets, full ensuite bathoom with shower with all the accessories, breakfast served to your room along with hot coffee prior to arrival - I found both rides to be a quite an enjoyable experience.

Good luck in your quest with Trenitalia.

But I guess no one knows how's the arrangement work for seat choice 5 people. I'm confused about the booking.

That particular train makes 10 stops before it gets to Rome. That
doesn't allow for any kind of quality rest.

How do you know that if you've never taken a night train? I've taken plenty of night trains and have never been bothered by a stop along the way.

This is a 3rd party website ItaliaRail that talks about adjoining compartments with open doors between them - is there a fit there for your party of 5 - see if you can glean anything useful. It still looks like the uneven number of passengers is not in your favour

https://www.italiarail.com/night-trains

Thanks for the link. Let me try. At this point I cannot even choose Cuccetta comfort tripla - uso esclusivo for 5 people. I get error.

Got the booking done. Apparently the way you have to book the tickets are weird. By default, the price rates goes to "cheapest". Super economy or economy. But at those rates, no tickets are available. There are also other default rates if you choose private compartment -- it defaults to group rate. You have to choose the "base" rate which is 2x the cheapest price. Then the whole system goes through. If not it is either error or no tickets available.

I’ve taken night trains from Florence to Paris (and back) a couple of times, and I belong to the group that doesn’t enjoy them since I’m a light sleeper. But in those days there were no low cost airlines and that was the only affordable option. However I don’t understand the need to take such train in your case. The fact you say you have luggage suggests that you are already spending at least one night in Venice. So are you doing this just to have an extra 3 hours in Venice from 19:30 to 23:00? If that is so important to you why not stay an extra night in Venice and head to Rome first thing in the morning with a fast Frecciarossa? The first FR can get you to Rome at 9:30am.

I can only say I hope the northbound train is much more comfortable than the the night train I took from Rome to Sicily in 2015. It was worse than the overnight flight to Europe in coach. I got no sleep at all on the train because the ride was so rough. As a result, I slept much of the next day.

So are you doing this just to have an extra 3 hours in Venice from
19:30 to 23:00?

This was what I was wondering as well. I've been to Venice a couple of times and don't recall it being a late night kind of town. Sights and shops will be closed so you can have a long dinner I suppose 8-10- then it's time to get to the station and retrieve your luggage before boarding for a 7.5 hour trip.

Do you know for sure that you can drop your luggage that early in Rome? Most hotels will hold for you but most airbnb/apartment type rentals do not.

Anyway- too late now as you've purchased the tix. I do sincerely hope you are all able to sleep and it works out well.

egoadk

I'm so glad that you've been successful!

Don't be a one question and go visitor... we can give advice and comment on all sorts of things - and as you've seen we all have different opinions on things but we play nice.

I'd sure like to see you come back in a month and say how things went for you - and to see how you and the family enjoyed Venice (one of my favourite cities!).

I look forward to it...