Nights Train Help Please

Some people say they can't sleep, others have no problem. My one European night train was fine, except the train was three hour late into Brussels (waiting for English channel ferries). I expected it to make up the time so woke up in Koblenz instead of Karlsruhe, so I didn't get much sleep. . . . . . ¶ Beds and privacy depend on how much you pay. The least expensive "beds" are in a 4-6 person couchette, which are really just bunks. You share them with others and sleep in your clothes. You get a bed in a sleeper compartment, private in a single sleeper, but you pay hundreds of Euro for the privacy.

Sleeping accommodations on night trains include none at at all (an open reclining seat); bunks in six- and four-person couchettes; and beds in three-, two-, and one-person sleepers. Couchette and sleeper doors lock from the inside. Couchettes are either mixed gender or women only. Couchette compartments are all the same size. The only difference is how many bunks are pulled down. It's well worth paying a little more to share the space with three other people rather than with five. Unless you book the entire compartment, sleepers are same sex only. I like night trains and sleep well on them. Others will tell you that they tried it once and stayed awake all night.

Tim and Lee have covered this topic so well that there is little left to add. I would suggest, though, that you google The Man in Seat 61. This is the website run by a train fanatic which has tons of information as well as lots of photographs of various European night trains. I think in addition to what has been said here, the photos and descriptions on that site will also be helpful. For what it is worth, I am one of those people who simply cannot sleep on a night train, and I have tried many times.

Roe, Thanks for mentioning www.seat61.com. It's a great site!

The next time I'm confronted with a 6-person compartment I will shoot myself.........and we had no problem with the other 4 people (no room to truly prop oneself up on their side on their elbow; SOOOOOO HOT!!!).........I kinda like the 2-person compartments, but someone in the room with me snores like you've never heard, so THAT'S my main problem (over earplugs and train noises...). My experiences have all been rather wild rides - LOTS of screeching to a halt and getting flung REPEATEDLY into that 'safety net' that the top bunk person gets - and Thank God we get one!!! Otherwise, it's like getting rocked to sleep - repeatedly - because of all of the near-death experiences mentioned...Because most night trains have many loooong stops here and there (to make the train a longer ride), THAT'S typically where I get my sleep. Except for the snoring.........and beating him with a pillow..........

Would you take a night Amtrak train from Chicago to Denver? Probably not, so you better not take them in Europe either. IMO the "time saving" is a myth, unless you are willing to pay for an expensive sleeper, in case of which you can at least try to sleep.

IMO Andre makes a good point (above post). Most American first timers to Europe, or first timers to night trains, have probbly never taken a night train before, and have no way to think about what it's going to be like or how well they'll sleep. The constant small jerks, noises, slowing down, strangers in the compartment with you. They sell the tickets, so there must be some young and sound sleepers who do okay on them. Just something to think about.

I have taken 3 night trains in Europe and all of them in 4-6 person couchettes. I did fine on all of them, but I wouldn't recommend more than 1 a week. I do think they save time. One train we did a pub crawl in Munich before the train, hopped on the train, and woke up in Berlin at 8am. We spent the whole next day touring as we slept good enough to not need to nap. If we would have flown or day trained we would have missed 1/2 a day in the process. Some people can't sleep on them, but usually we tour hard the night before and fall asleep pretty decently. Obviously you won't wake up as refreshed as if you slept in a hotel, but if you are okay with that they are a great idea. Most on the trains are probably 30-year-olds and under, but on our last one there was an older man and his daughter in our car.

Lindy presents the other point of view on night trains (it's good to have another point of view) - but agrees that it depends on how sound a sleeper you are, and maybe on how much you had to drink earlier in the evening (reading between the lines of Lindy's post)? And Lindy says not more than one per week.

Julianne, If you want the luxury, privacy, and also to ensure yourself the best chance of falling asleep on a night train, reserve a sleeper(Schlafwagen). Definitely! At the other end is the 6 person compartment, if it's entirely occupied, which is the cheapest. But you still have to reserve otherwise you just pay the controller. No problem if you can sleep upright. That's what I do when I take the night train, such as I did this past May from Frankfurt-Vienna. All I need is 4.5 hours min. to function upon arrival. I think it's true that most who reserve the compartment seats are under thirty or so.

When I was 22 I took a night train from Frankfurt to Paris. I was in a mixed-sex 6-person compartment on a lower bunk. Had no trouble sleeping and no trouble with the 5 other people. If you've ever successfully shared a cabin with others at summer camp, you'll do fine. I did feel that it saved some time and I found whatever stops and starts and bouncing around to be just a part of the fun and adventure during the night. Bumps and stops and starts are not a big part of what I remember. I got a decent night's sleep and I was ready to go when I woke up in Paris the next morning. I would do it again.

My wife and I took a two bed sleeper from London to Edinburgh. I slept, she claims she didnt. I dont remember too many stops and starts

Not as fun as I thought, due to above posted noise and sensations. Took the CNL round trip from Amsterdam to Prague with my 2 teens and spouse in a T4. Nice train, tho they ran out of food shortly after boarding, adequate facilities (some WCs ran out of TP), clean blankets and pillows. The adults had Ambien, earplugs and sleep mask & felt like hell the next morning. We may have saved some money on a night in a hotel but had to take time to decompress in the hotel room after arrival. Also the climate control didn't work so had to keep the window open on the outbound, (NOISY) and on the return the window didn't open, still no airflow, so rather stuffy. I can't imagine sharing with strangers in a 6 person couchette; no place to sit except on someone else's bunk. I'll go back on a CNL but be better prepared next time.

Melissa: Yep, I can identify with what you said, night trains are when people really get to appreciating what ambien can do for them. But you gotta have 6 or 7 hours for it to wear off. I've read of people taking ambien on a night train or airplane, but they only had a few hours to sleep and when they woke up they didn't even know what planet they were on. Know before you go.

I have taken a night train from Amsterdam to Florence and had no problem at all. I shared a 2 bed sleeper with my brother. Now, if you are by yourself, you can get a sleeper for yourself only, but will have to pay a heavy charge. It is easier if you are traveling with at least one other person. I had gone from Amsterdam, through Cologne, to Freiburg, then in the later hours of the day, left Basel to Milan on the way to Florence. The actual night train was from Basel to Milan. I did sleep a little here and there, since this was my first trip on a night train. When I returned to Frankfurt from Florence, went on a night train from Florence to Basel and then onto Frankfurt. I slept well on this one, because I knew what to expect. It does save alot of time for the next day. In fact, I arrived in Milan at 500-600am and then took a day train to Florence, arrived early in the morning and was able to see the Duomo and the main central location of Florence on the way to Arezzo, where I stayed about 9 days and did day trips from there. It is fun, but make sure, that you do lock the door to your sleeper compartment, even if you are just going to the bathroom down the hall. A person next to us, did not and someone stole her wallet. She said she looked and didn't see anyone when she exited her compartment and would be right back. However, there was someone watching and slipped in and took the wallet and then left, she noticed it when she returned. She had a husband but didn't want to wake him. Not a good thing. Have a great trip. Hope this helped a little bit.

I've taken many night trains. I did it primarily as a student when we didn't want to waste day time traveling. I even took a trip that was 42 hours once. That was a long trip and I did it sitting up in a second class compartment, but I was 19. I sure wouldn't do that again, unless forced. Once was enough for that adventure. But if it suits your travel plans and schedule then do it. Just bear in mind that unless you're like my sister and can sleep anywhere your sleep will likely be disrupted. BTW there are people who take night trains in the US. My sister and her two children routinely take the Lake Shore Limited from Rochester NY to Chicago. The kids find it an adventure - love that railway French toast!- it's significantly cheaper than flying and as mentioned, my sister can sleep anywhere! ; ) Pam

Well you've gotten the broad range of experiences and opinions so far. Here's mine. I've taken many and they have their benefits. If you're traveling on a railpass the couchette reservation is pretty cheap and beats the cost of flying. Flying has other hassles too - like getting to and from the airports, limited luggage allowances etc... Even if you can sleep most anywhere - you won't sleep well. But unless you are the type to not sleep easily even in dark quiet rooms, you'll get enough rest to make it through the next day. It's a great way to meet people. How full your 4 or 6 bed compartment is depends on timing and luck. Six is a lot to pack into the compartments so try and "splurge" for a four person couchette. My horror story: I once had a compartment right next to the conductor's cabin. At about 2:00 we stopped at a station for a couple hours while some problem was fixed. The whole time some alarm/beeping was going off in the conductor's cabin and he was off helping to fix the problem. It was as if an alarm clock was going off right next to me so I got no sleep the whole time we sat there when normally that's the best time to sleep.