Night train from Madrid to Venice...HELP!

The timetables at www.bahn.de show that this is a very long trip with several connections. The shortest route is Madrid-Barcelona-Milan-Venice, with the Barcelona-Milan leg being a night train. However, that night train only runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Your other choice is Madrid-Paris-Geneva-Milan-Venice with the Madrid-Paris leg being a night train. It's a much longer trip and you don't get into Venice until 23:40. To see these timetables, go to the DB site and click on the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner for English. After you get summary timetables for Madrid-Venezia Santa Lucia, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points.

While I prefer trains to planes when feasible, in this case I suggest that you consider flying on Vueling. It's a budget airline that offers very cheap fares if you book far in advance.

Your looking at a 21hr-24hr train journey. Included in the journey is a change to the 272 Salvador Dali night train that runs from Barcelona to Venice. No changes in the middle of the night.

You might consider flying Vueling airlines from Madrid-MAD to Venice-Marco Polo. It's a 2hr. 10min flight. If you book out far enough, the fares are quite reasonable.

What is the train station in Madrid called?

Thank you so much in advance!

Madrid has two train stations. If you take the first route I gave above, you will depart from Madrid-Puerta de Atocha. (Note: you will change stations as well as trains in Barcelona.) If you take the night train from Madrid to Paris, you will depart from the Madrid-Chamartin station. And you will change stations as well as trains in Paris. The bahn.de site spells this out when you click on "Details for all."

I am thinking about doing the first option, where I'm going from MAD-BAR-MIL-VEN with the shortest duration time. I have a eurail pass. Does DB work with this pass? Do I have to reserve this train time and connecting schedule with the sleepers?

You'll have to make reservations, and calling DB might be the best way to go, in terms of price. Booking through RailEurope, which is perhaps easier, will cost you $17 for MAD-BAR, $117 for a second-class four-person compartment bed (gender segregated), and $11 for MIL-VEN, plus their shipping fees. Go to raileurope.com, enter your origin and destination (split into the three separate legs...watch connecting times and railway stations!), and click the little box that says, "Click this box if you have a railpass."