Andy's EPIC Adentures Around Europe by Night Train
Sleeper Trains: an Altogether Different Adventure
Just a couple of years ago, the era of sleeper trains seemed to have come to an end. In the 1970s the French company Wagon Lits started to sell or rent out its rolling stock to other European railway operators. Switzerland ceased night services in 2009. Germany followed suit in 2016. In the age of mass air travel and low-cost airlines, why would any sane person waste a whole night on a train, when the same distance could be done by plane in a couple of hours at a fraction of the costs? Then came Greta Thunberg and Flygskam (flight shame) and a more climate-aware public, willing to spend a premium to reduce their carbon footprint. A romanticised notion of travel from a bygone age helped too, as did the increasingly tedious experiences of overcrowded airports, baggage restrictions and enhanced security measures. In recent years, Austrian Railways (ÖBB) put sleeper trains firmly back on the agenda. Together with other European train companies, it now offers an astonishing 27 lines and travellers can take comfortable trains in sleeper compartments from as far north as Hamburg in Germany to Rome in Italy.
When looking at all night train operators and the services that they are offering (check out Interrail for a comprehensive list) it is now feasible to practically circumnavigate Europe by using mostly sleeper services. This not only saves time, it can also be a supremely comfortable adventure (unless you suffer from motion sickness or share a compartment with an apnoea sufferer). It is also potentially rather cost-efficient. Keep in mind though that many but most certainly not all services are operational throughout the year. Prior booking is now absolutely essential, even when travelling outside the holiday season or during mid-week.
Scandinavia and Northern Germany: from Oslo to Berlin
Norway is a vast place. Looking at a map, the distance between its southernmost and northernmost points is exactly the distance between its southernmost end and Rome in Italy. No wonder you would need two night journeys to travel along the country's spine. From its capital Oslo, a year-round service brings you halfway up to Trondheim, from where another train crosses the Artic Circle and into Bodø. And then you are stuck: you can either do the return journey or take a regional bus (6 hours) even further north to Narvik, the northernmost passenger station in Europe, where the Arctic Circle Train awaits for a three hour trip to Kiruna in Sweden. You can check out the routes here. Sweden might not be as long as Norway, but this is another huge country and a whopping 17 hour ride will transport you to the capital Stockholm. During the 2020 Corona pandemic, Swedish company Snӓlltåget reorganised its night-time schedules and by the summer of 2021 was offering a revamped service from Stockholm, via Copenhagen, and onto Hamburg and our ultimate destination Berlin (check out this link). The trains run nightly in June, July, and August and at weekends in April, May, and September.
Night 1: Oslo to Trondheim 23.06 – 06.30 Norway Railways Night 2: Trondheim to Bodø 23.12 – 09.17 Norway Railways Bus transfer: Bodø to Narvik: 6 hrs Bus Connections Day train: Narvik – Kiruna 3 hrs, 2x day Sweden Railways Night 3: Kiruna – Stockholm 13.48 – 07.15 Sweden Railways Night 4: Stockholm – Berlin 16.20 – 08.25 Snӓlltåget Night Train
Night 1: Oslo to Trondheim 23.06 – 06.30 Norway Railways Night 2: Trondheim to Bodø 23.12 – 09.17 Norway Railways Bus transfer: Bodø to Narvik: 6 hrs Bus Connections Day train: Narvik – Kiruna 3 hrs, 2x day Sweden Railways Night 3: Kiruna – Stockholm 13.48 – 07.15 Sweden Railways Night 4: Stockholm – Berlin 16.20 – 08.25 Snӓlltåget Night Train
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Stockholm, Old Town
Suggested Reading
Andrew Martin. Night Trains
Suggested ReadingTom Chesshyre. Slow Trains to Venice
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How to book:
Regretably, the usually peerless Trainline website and app does not allow you to do bookings on sleeper services. For this you have to go directly to the night train providers (with links provided in the text). But for researching and booking day time journeys, the Trainline remains an invaluable source.
Where to stay: Booking.com has established itself as Europe's leading site for hotel accommodation. They also increasingly feature appartments as an often cost-saving alternative. The website has multiple listings in all the locations featured in this post. For those keen on saving on accommodation costs, Hostelworld has a comprehensive list of options in most of the cities listed in this article.
Where to stay: Booking.com has established itself as Europe's leading site for hotel accommodation. They also increasingly feature appartments as an often cost-saving alternative. The website has multiple listings in all the locations featured in this post. For those keen on saving on accommodation costs, Hostelworld has a comprehensive list of options in most of the cities listed in this article.
Central Europe: from Berlin to Vienna
Warsaw is conveniently close to Berlin and a frequent 6-hour day train brings you to the Polish capital. Once there, you can travel all the way to Prague in the Czech Republic, followed by another night train to Budapest in Hungary. You can even venture further into the Balkans with the Euronight Ister train, which arrives in Bucharest in Romania some 17 hours later. But there your sleeper journey would come to a temporary halt and you would have to make the reverse journey back to Budapest (unless you take an additional 19-hour night train down to Istanbul, which takes you even further away from our loop). This might be an excursion too far and thus many opt instead for Vienna as their next stop. There is a night train to the Austrian capital, bundling along local stops, which means you would be hard-pressed to get any sleep at all, so it might be wise to just take a regular day time connection, which makes the journey in under three hours. In Vienna, the plethora of Austria’s Nightjet services are at your disposal. North to Hamburg? South to Rome? West to Zurich? Travellers are spoilt for choice.
Day train Berlin – Warsaw 6 hrs, 5x day German Railways Night 1: Warsaw – Prague 19.20 – 07.56 Polish Railways Night 2: Prague – Budapest 21.56 – 08.35 Czech Rail Day train Budapest – Vienna 3 hrs, +10x day the Trainline
Day train Berlin – Warsaw 6 hrs, 5x day German Railways Night 1: Warsaw – Prague 19.20 – 07.56 Polish Railways Night 2: Prague – Budapest 21.56 – 08.35 Czech Rail Day train Budapest – Vienna 3 hrs, +10x day the Trainline
Berlin
Heading South: from Paris to Porto, Barcelona and back
You can get to the south of France and onto the Iberian peninsula by taking a day train from Paris to Hendaye on the country’s south-western border with Spain. Up until 2020, onward travel was easy and straighforward, since the Sud Express sleeper train whisked you away to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon in 11 hours. But that connection is no more, since Spanish operator Renfe used the Covid pandemic to get rid of the service. Even more incredible, at the moment there is no straightforward rail connection between Lisbon and Madrid, although plans are in the pipeline for a fast 4-hour connection between the two capitals. For now though, your best bet is to take the day time train from Hendaye to Vigo (via Madrid). And once in Vigo, you can take the short hop to Porto in Northern Portugal (a mere 90 minutes) and maybe even on to Lisbon. Getting back to Spain, however, requires you to head back to Vigo, where the fabulous Trenhotel 921 to Barcelona departs. The final leg of this stage is an overnight Intercité de Nuit Couchette back to Paris (Gare du Lyon).
Day train Paris – Hendaye 5 hrs, at least 2xday French Rail Day train Hendaye – San Sebastian 40 min; several per day the Trainline Day train San Sebastian – Madrid - Vigo 9.00 - 21.00 the Trainline Night 1: Vigo – Barcelona 17.55 – 08.49 the Trainline Night 2: Barcelona – Paris 15.00 – 07.30 Rail Europe
Day train Paris – Hendaye 5 hrs, at least 2xday French Rail Day train Hendaye – San Sebastian 40 min; several per day the Trainline Day train San Sebastian – Madrid - Vigo 9.00 - 21.00 the Trainline Night 1: Vigo – Barcelona 17.55 – 08.49 the Trainline Night 2: Barcelona – Paris 15.00 – 07.30 Rail Europe
Lisbon
Heading South again: from Paris to the Adriatic Sea
The sleeper service to Venice leaves from Paris' Gare du Lyon. From there, you can either make your way back to Vienna or Munich (once again using the Austrian Nightjets), or you continue even further south to the port of Ancona where a night ferry (which in the summer months metamorphoses into a glorified party boat) drops you off in Croatia’s second city Split. You can board a sleeper to the capital Zagreb, and then connect with another night train to Munich (or Zurich if you have spare cash to burn and crave for some cheese fondue).
Night 1 Paris– Venice 19.15 – 09.25 Thello Night Train Day train Venice – Ancona 4 – 5 hrs, plenty per day the Trainline
Night ferry Ancona – Split 07.45 – 07.00 Croatian Ferries Night 3: Split – Zagreb 21.52 – 05.48 Croatia Night Train Night 4: Zagreb – Munich 21.23 – 06.10 Austrian Nightjet
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Venice
Up the Centre: from Munich to Oslo
You might have realised by now, that you could - in theory - connect all these previous sections and do an impressive circumnvaigation of Europe. Such a journey would not come cheap, and it takes at least three weeks of non-stop travel, and quite easily two months if you want to spend a decent amount of time at the respective locations. But in case you would like to finish where this article started out, you can compete this European circle by taking a couple of night trains and one daytime service back to Oslo. Once again, an ÖBB Nightjet, and Swedish Snӓlltåget will take you there.
Night 1: Munich - Hamburg 20.50 – 08.36 Austrian Nightjet Night 2: Hamburg – Malmo 23.26 – 07.30 Snӓlltåget Night Train Day train: Malmo to Oslo around 7 hrs, plenty a day the Trainline
Night 1: Munich - Hamburg 20.50 – 08.36 Austrian Nightjet Night 2: Hamburg – Malmo 23.26 – 07.30 Snӓlltåget Night Train Day train: Malmo to Oslo around 7 hrs, plenty a day the Trainline
Copenhagen
Other Night Train Journeys
Shorter but nonetheless equally adventurous journeys are listed on Inter Rail’s website. These are mostly A to B connections, and you might have to make the trip back along the same route to reach your initial point of departure. But they certainly deserve to be mentioned. For instance: The oxymoron-named Hellas Express runs from the Serbian capital Belgrade down to Skopje in North Macedonia and further on to Thessaloniki in Greece. The whole trip takes a cool 16 hours leaving Belgrade at 18.21 and arriving in Greece at 10.21. Please note that as of 2019, the Greek leg of the journey (from Gevgelija in North Macedonia to Thessaloniki) involves a 2-hour bus journey. But once there, access to several Greek islands is straight forward with multiple links to Crete, the Cyclades, and the islands in the north-western Aegean.
I would also like to highlight two monumental services, which not only take up a whole night, but parts of the next day as well. The first one is the Euronight Ister, which in a leisurely 17 hours connects Budapest in Hungary with the Romanian capital Bucharest (19.10 – 12.05). From Bucharest, a further night train - this time taking at least 19 hour – brings you to the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul (11.00 – 06.20). Here is the link:
And for those spending time in the UK, London offers two night train outfits: The Caledonian Sleeper which connects the capital’s King’s Cross Station with Glasgow and Edinburgh and either Fort William on the West Coast, or Inverness on the eastern side of Scotland (the journey to Fort William takes about 12 hours). Or there is the Night Riviera, connecting London Paddington with the Cornish resort of Penzance in a swift 7 ½ hours.
Scotland
Prices
If you go through the process of booking tickets individually, these can come at a significant expense, in particular when opting for luxury class. For instance, travelling on the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Edinburgh can set you back between 150£ and 300£ depending on the type of accommodation and service. At the slightly cheaper end of the scale the Euronight Ister from Budapest to Bucharest could still set you back around 150€ per person. However, rock bottom prices are offered between Bucharest and Istanbul for about 35€ in a 4-person couchette. But the price of sleeper train tickets becomes just that little bit more acceptable once you factor in the savings made on hotel accommodation. Still, night trains might be convenient, but most often they are not bargains.
This is where Interrail (for European citizens) or Eurail (for non-Europeans) come in. Both services are by and large identical but operate under different websites and apps, so it is crucial to choose the right one. The apps by the way are fantastic tools that provide for a surprisingly seamless process of reserving all your train journeys and sleeper tickets. Hats off. Let’s stick with Interrail for now. There are four age ranges (Child, Youth 12 – 27, Adult 28 – 59, and Senior 60+). And for each of these age ranges you can choose between first and second class travel. And lastly, you can choose the type of pass. Options include 15 days, 22 days, 2 months, 3 months, four/five/seven days within a month, and 10/15 days within two months.
Rather conveniently, night trains only ever take up one day of your allocated allowance. So, if your sleeper train departs on a Thursday night, that is the day of travel, although you might spend most of Friday on that train. Interrail also insists that you reserve all night trains in advance with the price obviously depending on the type of service that you choose (or that is available). For instance, the Nightjet from Vienna to Munich will set you back an additional 15€ for a simple reclining seat, or a further 150€ for a private cabin. At the cheaper end of the scale, additional charges for the night train from Split to Zagreb range from 10€ to 40€.
At the budget end of the price range a shorter loop might work best. You can do the ‘Iberian loop’ in five travel days and nights. An Interrail ticket (5 days within one month) for adults aged 28 to 59 would set you back 282€ in second class. Add to this around 250€ for the three sleeper trains, plus meals and additional accommodation when you are not travelling on a train, and you might end up just short of 1000€. Of course, with more money at your disposal, you can stretch out the journey as Interrail allows you a whole month to complete these five travel days.
But let us assume for once that you intend to do the whole circle in one go with hardly any breaks (good luck, we will be cheering you on all the way) That would lead you to a one-month ticket, costing 670€ in second and 893€ in first class for someone aged between 28 and 59. The prices for seniors are marginally lower at 603€ and 804€ respectively. But to those under 28, a real bargain reveals itself with charges of 503€/670€. In order to get a bed in a couchette, you might have to add approximately 90€ for every night train journey, plus one night ferry and 13 nights of ‘standard’ accommodation in the places that you come across. This could quickly add up to 3500€ or even 4000€ plus meals and catering. Then again, you would be travelling for one entire month…. Alternatively, you can always take your loved ones on that 2 week, all-inclusive package to Ayia Napa, which I somewhat doubt you are seriously considering since you read this article all the way to its conclusion.