Overnight trains - will we get any rest??

I have slept in a regular seat overnight, 4 bed and 6 bed couchette and a compartment that had all the seats fold down so it formed one big bed (shared it with all strangers-got WAY to close to them and we slept head to foot!). I only had one instance of someone trying to take luggage and that was in the compartment fun room;). Luckily someone woke up right away and made noise, and the guy ran away. I always use a pac safe cable lock to secure my bag as most cases of theft that I have read involve very quick snatch and grabs. Always take your personal stuff with you. In your case you should have no problems as you should be able to lock your compartment.

Lee: I suppose it's obvious that no one else's experience sleeping or not sleeping on night trains is going to be a good predictor of how you will sleep on a night train. Posters here on this board tend to want to be supportive of people's ideas and plans, so you're probably not going to get a representative sample of opinion--those travelers who have not slept well on night trains may not take the time to give you an opinion that is not what you want to hear. We'll see. What the heck, we'll add up the votes and if it's 4 who slept and 2 who didn't, I guess that means your guaranteed a good night's sleep 2 to 1.In general, light sleepers report they don't sleep well, because of the noise and movement of the train. On the other hand, sound sleepers seem to do okay (few people seem to sleep as well on a train as in their bed at home). Earplugs, eyeshades, and ambien will increase your odds, and some would say forget the earplugs and eyeshades and go with the ambien.I don't sleep as well as I used to and have not so far wanted to seek out and set up a situation where I will be dragging through the next day-- jet lag at the beginning from the airplane flight in has been bad enough. I like to enjoy my precious days in Europe.

I realize that each person's different and I didn't expect anyone to have a crystal ball to tell me how I'll do, but was just trying to see what other people's experiences have been. I can sleep OK in a car, so I doubt if movement or noise will bother me much. I also go on cruise vacations so I'm quite familiar with getting rocked to sleep.

Just wanted to hear if anyone else has had good or bad experiences in 1st class double sleepers since most of the posts on this board are from folks in couchettes or with large groups of strangers.

Here are ~100 posts from the RS Graffiti Wall, people describing how they slept, or didn't sleep or other problems they had on overnight trains: How They Slept on Night TrainsAnd here are prior Q&A discussions on the Helpline in which either the subject or one or more replies relate travelers' experience on night trains:http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=9272http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=9050http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=14714http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/8303/taking-a-night-train.htmlhttp://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=12700http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=7202http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=9662http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=3398I've browsed these and there appear to be about 2/3 that weren't satisfied with the experience and about 1/3 who reported they slept "okay" and survived relatively intact. Very few enthusiastically praise the experience, no one has claimed to sleep like a baby, except those with prescription medications.

"getting rocked to sleep." The experience on a night train is completely different from a cruise ship. The movement is not the slow back-and-forth variety, but nearly constant, unpredictable small jerks in various directions. For analogy, it would be similar to if someone kicked your mattress every few seconds from various directions while you tried to sleep.

I've taken a night train one time. Splurged for the deluxe City Night Line private sleeper, and slept like a baby. This was in October during cool weather. Some people have complained that during the summer couchette compartments can get very hot. I'm someone who needs air conditioning to sleep comfortably at night, so I would personally steer clear of couchettes in the summer.

Sleeping well on the train can also depend on how tired you are. If you are backpacking and walking all over town before you get onto the train, you could probably sleep standing up. But, if you're not exhausted or a sound sleeper, the jerky movement of the train and the noise can make sleeping really difficult. On our night on the train from Nice to Paris, my husband slept like a log (nothing new) but my daughters and I were up all night. The next day, exhausted from the lack of sleep, I had the best 10 minute nap on the bus.

You will likely sleep very well in a room for two. I have used sleepers on many occasions and sleep well, and enjoy waking up in a different place. I love the train!

Thanks to everyone for your input. From what I read, I think that being in 1st class double sleeper cars should be OK. I'll remember all the tips of what to take.

Tom - you said: "'getting rocked to sleep.' The experience on a night train is completely different from a cruise ship. The movement is not the slow back-and-forth variety, but nearly constant, unpredictable small jerks in various directions. For analogy, it would be similar to if someone kicked your mattress every few seconds from various directions while you tried to sleep."

I had to chuckle; guess maybe you haven't sailed in bad storms - well I have! A night on a cruise ship isn't always just slow swaying. One storm was so violent that I was sliding up and down in the bed and had to crawl to the bathroom because there was no way to stay standing up. BUT . . . I slept all night long and got up feeling fine. Thanks for the warning though.

"I had to chuckle; guess maybe you haven't sailed in bad storms - well I have!" Yup, I have, and not on a cruise ship. That was still easier than sleeping on a night train.

I took a City Night Train from Bologna to Munich last summer. Used ambien CR and night shades (the light from passing streets and stations still flashes the window shade), slept fine. Only regret is it wasn't a longer ride; about 7.5 hrs total, and with getting to bed, falling asleep, and waking up before the train arrived it was about 6.5 hrs sleep. I would definitely do it again. From posts I've seen, taking a night train either works for you or it doesn't.

My wife and I took the night train from Paris to Rome - she is a light sleeper and I am a heavy sleeper. She did not sleep well at all, and I (with the motion sickness patches you can put behind your ears) slept like a baby. It was a fantastic way to travel and in the morning you got to see some amazing sights!

We were in 2nd class in a 4-sleeper. The door locked just fine. I didn't sleep well at all because of all the stops and noise from other travelers. BUT, the first class couchettes that I walked by looked much more isolated. I don't think there were windows (into the hallway) and it seemed like it would have been a lot quieter in them. I wasn't worried about safety because it was me and 3 men traveling together. I didn't care that I didn't slept well because I thought it was a cool experience, we saved money compared to a hotel for that night, and we saved travel time to our next city. (We went from Prague to Munich.) I'm a light sleeper so sleeping in the train wasn't ideal anyway... I'd be curious what your 1st class couchette is like. The website for the German trains looked NICE.

As others have said, your experience will depend on a lot of factors. For me, it was terrible; for my wife, it was fine. We took a night train from Paris to Salzburg - about 12 hours. The constant jerking, rocking, creaking, and whistle stops made for a LONG night for me. What was even more maddening was passengers getting on the train in the middle of the night and making absolutely no effort to be quiet.

On the other hand, my wife fell asleep in France and woke up in Salzburg - in fact, I had to wake her up!

Steve, that was another big reason that I couldn't sleep. In fact, one guy got on and kept yanking on our door because he thought we were in his cabin. Since our tickets had already been checked by the conductor had already verified our tickets, we knew we were in the right one. But it's hard to sleep with all the commotion every hour when they stop. Your wife must be a heavy sleeper!!! Lucky her.