Overnight Trains

Thello now has that service. Check the links in the Railpasses section on this site. Night trains from Paris to Italy are no longer covered by Eurail passes. My guess is that the cars will be better, but I won't know til we've gone Thello later this month.

I have tried overnight trains here in the US and in Europe. I find that they are almost as impossible to sleep in as a jet. Yes, you are lying down, which is a plus. But the bunk, even in a private compartment, not just in a couchette is narrow. There are numerous jerks and bumps through the night. Even in Europe the train makes several station stops, and at each one bright platform lights, loud PA systems, and people getting on/off wake me if I have fallen asleep. At level crossings , more common here than in Europe , the train sounds its horn and you hear the clanging of the gate guard. Look, for some people, none of this matters. Their head hits the pillow and that's it until morning. But if you are not sure you can sleep on a moving train, assume you will rest but not sleep. If that would wreck your arrival day, choose another method of getting there. You can actually do a day train from Paris to Milan, and the connection to Venice can probably be made in the same travel day. Check out the website "The Man in seat 61" for tons of information on European train travel.

We took that train last month from Paris to Venice. Purchased our tickets online from Rail Europe. Loved the ride. I found the sleepers very comfortable and slept like a baby. It seemed expensive until you realize that you aren't paying for a hotel room. Arrived right in Venice (not the mainland) about 9:00 am rested and raring to get started. Got our vaporetto passes and were good to go.

The Thello night train is a joint venture between Veolia and Trenitalia. If you book well in advance (up to 90 days on the Trenitalia site and up to 120 days on the Thello site), you can get discount fares. The Trenitalia site is available in English. The Thello site is only in French. Because SNCF (French National Rail) is not invoved in this partnership, you cannot book on the SNCF site even though one end of the train's route is in Paris.

Thanks to everyone for the useful info. I appreciate it.
I too am worried able being able to sleep, as I am a light sleeper; but that is the trade off of using a day to travel or the trouble of catching a quick flight.

My experience has been the same as described by Roe. I've tried night trains twice: Rome to Palermo, and Vienna to Frankfurt. Never slept a wink on either one, despite what would have to be pretty optimal conditions: private compartments (in one case, a six-person compartment with only myself and spouse); blankets, pillows, eyeshades, earplugs. The constant motion, the ultra-high-pitched shrieks of the rails, the flashing lights, the PA announcements and other ambient noise, just was a constant annoyance. If you can sleep at the drop of a hat - and some folks can - then it may be great. If you require quiet and/or stillness to sleep, good luck, you'll probably need it. Light sleeper? Fuggedaboudit. Be prepared to be awake all night and a zombie for the next couple of days. Honestly, I think Rick's "night train gambit" (his suggestion that you can cheat and squeeze out an extra day on your trip by doing a night train instead of a hotel room) does a great disservice to many. It may work for some, but for others its a prescription for misery. Good luck either way.

I agree with David and Roe, their description is accurate. And I've taken A LOT of night trains. I sleep ok on them, but always spend the next day groggy and can't wait to get to my hotel and shower and rest. But I confess I love the romance of it all... With intra-Europe airfares as they are, it simply may make more sense to fly on such a long trip.

Good advice already; difficult for most people to sleep soundly on a train (or a sailboat, bus-anything that moves) unless you've been "acclimated" by doing so a number of times. I've probably spent hundreds of nights on trains in various countries so I sleep like a baby.

Hi, I have taken numerous night trains but only within Germany, France, and Austria, such as Paris-Munich, Paris-Vienna, Hamburg-Linz, etc. What has been mentioned is an accurate description: the screeching, cracking mechanical sounds, the bright lights at station if the rain pulls in at 0215, or something like that. As far as negative experiences go, one comes to mind and that is if you really don't get along with your compartment mates, eg., they want to leave the lights on. It makes no difference. But that's a fluke. My other experiences sitting in a six seat compartment were satisfactory. Lots and lots of European travelers take night trains...they do sell out especially on week-end nights in the summer. If they can survive a night train, so can you. I've no problems with night trains and can count on at least 5-6 hrs of sleep, be in a compartment or the armchair (sleeperette), all the better on a CNL train.

I am in the "can't sleep on a night train" faction of posters. I found my one experience to be extremely noisy as others described, as well as the bright lights in the station stops, going around curves I thought I would roll out of bed, or my head ended up being lower than my feet and it was just very uncomfortable. Arrived at my destination absolutely exhausted without having slept at all. Husband, who can usually sleep at the drop of a hat, also ended up being awake the whole night too. One thing many people don't mention is the fact that is wonderful to see the land you are riding through, the towns, the scenery, the forests, the change in architeture when you cross a border. You miss that if you are asleep, and for me, seeing the landscape is one of the things I enjoy about taking a train rather than fly.

I would recommend taking a night train at least once as one of those quintessential European experiences. I always managed to get at least 5 or 6 hours of sleep, which was enough to hit the ground running the next day without feeling overly tired. The biggest downside I remember was feeling grubby and unwashed after arriving in the morning. In my case though I mostly stayed in hostels, and I could usually claim my bed and hit the showers right after arriving from the train station. I suppose early check-in at hotels is more hit and miss.

I just got back from Scandinavia and while I did not take an overnight train, hubby and I took an overnight cruise/ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm and it was like the same thing for me. I could not sleep with the constant jiggling of the bed so was awake most of the night even though I took a sleeping pill. I did manage a little sleep just because it was a decent size room and I was not on a bunk bed on a train i suppose. We had 2 twin beds on this cruise and my bed folded down from the wall and it was less stable than what my husband slept so it jiggled more.
A few years ago we took the RS Turkey tour and we were on an overnight train with a bunk bed and I had the top bunk. I ended up taking 2 sleeping pills as the 1st never worked with the constant jiggling and I still never slept. I sure felt horrible the next day (or 2) while trying to enjoy an awesome historical museum and other things with all that chemical in my body and no sleep. I am a super light sleeper (noise, movement, light) so now I know not to jump on travel modes that have possibility of movement or I can be assured of not sleeping. BTW, my husband had the better bed both times (bottom of bunk, more stable bed on cruise) and he got a little more sleep than me but he has more issue with noise and less with movement than me. Would I still go on an overnight cruise or a train again - maybe, but I will need to make sure there is nothing great to do the next day. Best of luck with your travels.

As others have mentioned, Thello now has that service. You can try the Thello site directly, but it is entirely in French. The trenitalia site has some English, but some translations are a bit wonky. A quick internet search gave me this site: http://www.italiarail.com/ I havent used it, but they say they work directly with trenitalia. The site also appears to be all in English. As to overnight trains - as you can tell from the responses, some folks like them, others not so much. Personally, I enjoy them - but I also have no trouble sleeping on a moving form of transportation.

I agree with all the overnight train nay-sayers here. Sometimes the train fare is more expensive than staying in a hotel overnight, you get very little rest and you see very little along the way. However, I checked the DB site and there is an option that requires no train change that might work for you. As of now, there is a EuroNight (EN 221) train that leaves Paris Lyon at 19:45 and arrives in Venice at 09:34 the next day. It adds up to about 14 hours on the train and is the shortest time for the trip. It does have several intermediate stops, but most are after Milan when it will be morning already anyway. Depending on the time of year you go, it could still be daylight for the early part of the trip and the sun could come up early the next morning. The bad part is that you would probably miss the scenery going through the Alps no matter what time of year you will be traveling.

I have taken the night train from Venice to Munich, Prague to Krakow, and Krakow to Budapest. To me, it feels like camping, sleeping in a bunk at summer camp. If you enjoy camping like I do, you will probably do fine on a night train. If you don't like to camp, it is unlikely that you will enjoy a night train and should think about another way to go.

"one of those quintessential European experiences" Night trains are a niche market now, there are only a handful of them and they don't transport not even 1% of the numbers of passengers that fly the same routes. Airline de-regulation killed the majority of night trains, high-speed (day) rail travel killed many other trains for lack of demand. Rick Steves, on his guides and films, devotes a lot of attention to night trains making them look like something most people will use on their trips this side of the Atlantic... It is as "quintessential European" as it is taking the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco... which means - it's not.

The deluxe private sleepers on the City Nightline trains are amazing!! They typically use modern double deck couches and are very clean/modern. The deluxe sleepers are on the second level so you get an extra smooth ride. In addition your cabin has a shower/toilet/sink, table/chairs, cabinets for your gear, and the beds are configured so you can see the scenery out the windows while lying down.
It's a great experience!