For a less stressful journey, my recommendation is to
opt for overnight stopovers, rather than night trains, if at all possible. This
is for one important reason:
Overnight stopovers allow you to “catch up” on any
delays you might have accumulated during the day.
If you have planned an overnight stopover, a missed
connection might mean that you will reach your overnight accommodation later
than planned. If you have planned to continue your journey with a night train,
missing it because of accumulated delays, can be more of a problem.
On the other hand, night trains make for shorter
overall journey times and can be a fun way to travel, so here are a few tips
for making night train journeys a little less stressful and a lot more
enjoyable:
Plan a very generous connection at the station
from where your night train departs that allows for at least one missed
connection on your journey to that station. If you arrive on time, you can
always have an evening meal at or near the station before boarding your night
train. If you are delayed, grab some food at the station and take it with you,
or eat dinner on the night train (if food is served on it).
Choose a private sleeping compartment if you
are travelling for work. This is like a small hotel room with 1, 2 or 3 bunk
beds, often with an en suite toilet and shower. You can, of course,
share a sleeping compartment. This can be fun with a colleague or a friend, or
even a complete stranger. However, I don’t recommend sharing with someone you
don’t know if you are travelling for work. This is because you are less likely
to arrive well-rested. The same holds for couchettes. These are compartments
with 4 or 6 beds. They are the rail travellers equivalent of a hostel dormitory
(fun if you’re on holiday – not great if you’re travelling for work). And, as
for seats: If you want to be miserable, why not fly?
Book early. Private sleeping compartments sell out quickly.
Night trains which you might find useful if you are
travelling between CIVIS universities in Eurpe are operated by:
SJ between Stockholm and Malmö
Euronight (SJ) and Snälltåget between Stockholm or
Malmö and Hamburg or Berlin
Nightjet (Austrian Federal Railways) between Hamburg
and Vienna, Basel or Zürich
Dacia Express between Vienna and Bucharest
Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland
Night trains between Stockholm and Malmö
SJ operate night trains between
Stockholm and Malmö. On these night trains, SJ offer the following types of
accommodation:
Seat
Berth in a couchette
Bed in a sleeping compartment
Private sleeping compartment
For business travellers, I recommend a
private sleeping compartment. This is a comfortable way to travel, which
maximises your chances of arriving well-rested at your final destination. If
you opt for a bed in a sleeping compartment or couchette, you will be sharing
with other passengers.
In 1st class (if
available), each sleeping compartments has its own en suite toilet and
shower. In 2nd class, these facilities are shared and can be found
at the ends of each wagon.
You buy sleeping compartments from SJin the same way as you buy other rail tickets from
them (see “Buying tickets”).
Interrail passengers can reserve
sleeping compartments from SJ in exactly the same way as for reserving seats:
When entering your journey details and before clicking
on “Search journey”, click on “Traveller 1, Adult” (or your name if you have an
account with SJ).
Check “Travels with travel card”.
Scroll down and select “Interrail or Eurail”.
The prices you now see are for
Interrail passholders.
(Tip: Not all SJ night trains have a
bistro wagon. Check this before boarding so that you can take food with you if
needed. There should be cartons of drinking water in sleeping compartments.)
Night trains between Stockholm and
Hamburg
SJ and Snälltåget operate night
trains between Stockholm and Hamburg.
Snälltåget offer the following types
of accommodation:
Seat
Berth in shared mixed
compartment
Private compartment
The “compartments” are couchettes with 6 berths.
Private compartments are very expensive (even with Interrail) and a berth in a
shared compartment is unlikely to be all that restful.
For these reasons, SJ’s Euronight might be a better
option for business travellers. However, SJ will cease to operate this night train from September 2026. On this train, SJ offers the following types of accommodation:
Seat
Berth in a couchette
Bed in a sleeping compartment (2nd class)
Private sleeping compartment (2nd class)
Private sleeping compartment (1st class)
For business travellers, I recommend a
private sleeping compartment.
In 1st class (if
available), each sleeping compartments has its own en suite toilet and
shower. In 2nd class, these facilities are shared and can be found
at the ends of each wagon.
You buy sleeping compartments from SJin the same way as you buy other rail tickets from
them (see “Buying tickets”).
Interrail passengers can reserve
sleeping compartments on SJ’s Euronight in exactly the same way as for SJ’s
other night trains (see above).
A problem with SJ’s Euronight is it
has too few wagons for the number of passengers wanting to use it. This means
that you need to book far in advance if you want a private sleeping
compartment. Also, I have had problems with missing wagons and fairly
substantial delays. For these reasons, I only recommend using SJ’s Euronight as
a “last resort”.
(Tip: There is a bistro wagon as far
as Malmö. A “breakfast box” is included with a private sleeping compartment.)
Night trains connecting Hamburg with Basel, Munich and Zürich, and connecting Salzburg with Brussels, Rome and Paris
Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) operate
night trains (Nightjets) connecting Hamburg with Basel, Munich and Zürich, and connecting Salzburg with Brussels, Rome and Paris, as well connecting mny other
destinations across mainland Europe. They offer the following types of accommodation:
Seat
Couchettes for 4-6 persons
Sleeper cabins for 1-3 persons
Couchettes and sleeper cabins can be
booked for single occupancy. Sleeper cabins have en suite toilets and an
optional shower. Beds are made up for you. Bedlinen is provided in couchettes
and toilet facilities are in the corridor.
For business traveller, I recommend a
single occupancy sleeper cabin.
Enter your journey details and click on “Find
connection”.
(You can add an Interrail pass as a “discount” but it
does not seem to affect the price for couchettes or sleeper cabins.)
Select your preferred journey, click on “Show offers”
and choose from seat, couchette or sleeper cabin, before clicking on “Continue
to night train details”.
For sleeper cabins, choose from “single”, “double” or
“triple”, with or without a shower, and mixed or “ladies only” if you are only
booking a bed in a double or triple cabin. For couchettes, choose from a couch
in a compartment or a private compartment, and mixed or ladies only if you
booking a couch in a compartment.
Click on “Continue to passengers”, enter your details,
click on “Continue to summary” and pay for your booking.
(Important: Flexible tickets are only flexible until
you print them, so wait to do this until you are sure that you will travel.)
(Tip: Breakfast is included with
couchette or sleeper accommodation.)
Night trains between Vienna and
Bucharest
Romanian Railways operate a night
train (Dacia Express) between Vienna and Bucharest. They offer the following
types of accommodation:
Seat
Couchettes for 4-6 persons
Sleeper cabins for 1-3 persons
Sleeper cabins can be booked for
single, double or triple occupancy. Couchettes cannot. Toilet facilities are in
the corridor (for most cabins). Beds are made up for you in sleeper cabins.
For business traveller, I recommend a
single occupancy sleeper cabin.
Enter your journey details and click on “Find”.
(If you have an Interrail pass, click on “change” to replace “1 adult – without
discounts” with “1 adult – 1 applicable discount” by scrolling down to
“Interrail / Eurail Globalpass” on the “Add discount” menu (Click on “Show
more” until you find it.)
Select the night train by clicking on it, and choose
from seat, couchette or sleeper cabin.
Choose “non-flex”, “semi-flex” or “flex” (Interrail
passengers should choose “flex”) and click “Continue to reservation”.
Click “Continue”, enter your details and pay for your
booking.
(Tip: On the outward journey, a
restaurant car is available in the evening and a simpler “bar car” the next
morning. The “bar car” is also available for the first part of the return
journey.)
Night trains between London and
Glasgow
Caledonian Sleeper operates night
trains between London and Glasgow. They offer the following types of
accommodation:
Seat
“Classic” sleeper cabin
“Club en suite” sleeper cabin
“Double en-suite” sleeper cabin
For business travellers, I recommend a
sleeper cabin. Caledonian Sleeper do not sell individual berths, so this is
a private sleeping compartment with either 2 bunkbeds (“Classic” and “Club
en-suite”) or 1 double bed (“Double en-suite”). Beds are made up for you. As
the name suggests “en-suite” cabins have an en-suite toilet and shower.
For “Classic” sleeper cabins, toilet facilities are at the end of the corridor.
Both “en-suite” options include priority access to the “Club Car” where you can
buy meals and drinks at any time of night. Other passengers can order food from
the “Club Car” to their cabins or seats.
