I just want to double check with all of you that a family can occupy a sleeper, it isnt' divided by sex?
On the Bahn website it says:
You can decide yourself how many people you would like to share the compartment with. The sleeper car area is divided by sex, so if you are travelling with your partner, you will have to occupy your own compartment.
I'm ready to buy my tickets and don't want to make an error.
Thanks for the help!
As family of 5 we used a couchette which sleeps 6 and the "stranger" in bunk 6 was always a female. I don't know if this was arranged or just how it worked out. It was no big deal for us or them. We all slept in our clothes anyway. A true sleeper is different, my son and I had our own compartment and the girls had thiers, couchette is cheaper.
I called Bahn this morning because I'm purchasing tickets today. They did confirm that a family can be together in a sleeper compartment.
As a family of 5 that wanted to stay together on the sleeper from Bordeaux to Nice, we booked the couchette. I had asked the ticket agent when I purchased the tickets, if I could just purchase the 6th bed so it would just be our family in the cabin, and she said no, because the conductor could technically re-sell the ticket if he knew that someone needed a bed. I thought that was strange. As it turned out, an older gentleman ended up in the couchette with us. He seemed very nice, but it was very strange - like sharing a hotel room with a stranger.
Thinking back on this, I know that the conductor never saw 3 out of five us, because we were in the bathroom. My husband just showed them the tickets/passport information.
We will be taking a night train this summer, from Vienna to Venice, and I think I'm going to take a chance and book a "ghost" person for the 6th couchette. If push came to shove, I would say that the person got ill at the last minute and had to go home.
Has anyone else done this before?
I'm pretty sure that they have an option for females to be in a female only couchette, but otherwise, it doesn't matter whether it's mixed or not. We were in a group of four, me and three guys and we didn't even have to say what sex we were when we booked it online. Remember, it's Europe, and they're much more relaxed there! : )
