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Sleep on a train?

I'm currently planning a honeymoon and someone recently suggested sleeping on trains as a way to save money and not waste a day on a train. How comfortable is it to sleep on a train? How much does it cost to get one of those rooms with a bed? Does it matter if you're using a EuroRail as far as the way you pay for it and days it uses. Initially, I was planning 4 nights in Paris and then taking a train to Switzerland for 4 nights there. Since the train ride from Paris to Murren is about 7 hours, I think, I was thinking of breaking it up by staying one night on Lake Geneva and then 3 nights at Murren. But if we can sleep on the train, then it wouldnt be a problem to head straight from Paris to Murren. Course that would mean cutting out Lake Geneva. But we gain an extra day to get lost in the Alps. Any suggestions?

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4132 posts

Brian, Kent is right that there are many opinions about night trains in general. (Personally, I like them, though I've never slept well on them; my worst sleep was in a first-class compartment.)

However, there is a specific consideration for you, namely that the night trains from Paris to the Berner Oberland, as far as I can see, are only sleepers for the first segment, until 5 a.m., at which point you must wait nearly an hour for your connecting train.

Don't do that.

With a rail pass, you might try an indirect route--a night train to someplace that is a morning train ride from Interlaken. Maybe someone else here has an idea.

Or you could do it in a day--its 6 hours to Interlaken, get out, stretch legs, buy chocolate, then another hour or so on to Murren.

I'm not sure where your Lake Geneva stopover is. One interesting overnight that is more-or-less on your way is Colmar, in Alsace, for a German-flavored French town. About 3 hours from Interlaken.

Happy Honeymoon!