Night Train from Budapest to Prague

I'm not particularly familiar with the (if any) night train from Budapest to Prague, but, in most of Europe, there are no couchettes for two people. Couchettes are essentially bunks where people sleep in their clothes. They are in rooms the size of the old 4-6 person compartments, with 4-6 bunks on the sides, stacked up, half facing the other half. Two person compartments are sleepers, with what they call beds, with linens. If two people who don't know each other are assigned to a compartment a 2 person compartment, they are of the same gender. RailEurope shows an overnight train, without a night train designation, from Budapest (8:05 PM - 6:20), but RE only sells 1st and 2nd class seats on this train. DB shows an EN leaving Budapest at the same time, 8:05, but getting into Prague at 4 AM (Happy sleeping), but DB doesn't sell tickets for this train. There are day trains (EuroCity) that make the trip in less than 7 hours.

Yes I did mean a sleeper for 2 people. Thanks for the information

I have not taken that particular night train, but we did take the night train from Paris to Venice. The two of us had our own car (it had a tiny sink withnhot and cold running water). In the evening the attendant came to make the seats into bunks. The door locked from the inside, so I felt qute secure. I found it comfortable and slept well. My husband is a light sleeper, but he said he also slept well although he did wake up a few times. Personally, I much prefer train travel in Europe over flying. When you add in the time to get to/from the airport, checking in and then security, flying isn't all that much faster. I find train travel to be less hassle and far more comfortable. When I arrive at my destination, I'm usually in the center of the city, not at some remote airport.

...but...they can be quite 'lurchy', too hot, too cold, with lots of squawking, grinding brakes all the way... Then, as with most n/t, you stay stopped at some remote train station to make the trip long enough for a n/t; while you're stopped there, the train personnel all hang out outside your window, smoking and talking loudly while the smoke wafts into your cabin. The loudspeaker at the station keeps repeating the same anouncement over-and-over-and-over...LOL! OK - not really 'LOL'... :-( Let's just say there's a very good reason why the upper bunk has a (not always large enough) net from the side rails to the ceiling... Most people don't get any appreciable rest on them, so you arrive exhausted at your destination. While you may be able to store your luggage at your hotel, you most likely can't check in until mid-afternoon, so you can't take a short nap. In other words, your entire first day in the new city may be pretty crummy. All n/t aren't equal! Be sure yours doesn't change trains twice at 1:34AM and 4:57AM...:-( You want 0 train changes. Having said that, they may be just the thing that fits your itinerary and it can't be avoided without really messing up your plans (crummy-day-after notwithstanding). And definitely get the 2-bed compartment if at all possible (shuddering at the memories of that Prague-Venice n/t...) Having ridden several n/t, my husband and I would just take the non-stop, 7-hour train during the day. But that's us.

Took a night train from Paris to Salzburg once - and it will be the last time. Got to our hotel in Salzburg at o'dark 30 in the morning. Luckily the hotel (Hotel Mozart) let us check into our room because it had not been occupied the night before. THEN I got some sleep!

haven't taken the night train on this particular line but haven't seen any couchette yet. most like you're sleeping in a 6 people compartment, and the border police will wake you up during the night for passport check.