Take the night train
Rail journeys enjoy a renaissance
Trains are enjoying a moment. Yes, after years of cutbacks to long-distance rail services as budget airlines lured travellers away from the platforms, some people were surprised to see a new sleeper service linking two European capitals this year.
However, the growing flight-shaming movement centred in Europe has seen renewed consumer demand for this low-emission alternative.
Whether you’re a never-flier or not, the economics often stack up for tourists: your bed and your transport all-in-one ticket for a sum lower than a flight, bag and hotel combo, with none of the queues, extra fees and seat recline etiquette dilemmas. All aboard.
Brussels to Vienna
This ‘‘Nightjet’’ service is run by Austrian state train firm, OBB, and launched in January, after an Austrian government push to reinstate more sleeper services to and from its capital.
Fall asleep after waffles, wake up with strudel, while emitting around 90 per cent less CO2 emissions than if you took the same journey by plane – what’s not to love?
Departing Brussels’ Gare du Midi station twice a week at 6.04pm, the overnight journey will have you in Vienna by 8.30am the next morning. Sleeper options are sold on a one person, one ticket, one berth model, which keeps prices low, but means you’ll likely be sharing unless you pay extra to book out another bunk.
If travelling as a couple, book two berths in a two-berth sleeper to ensure you’re not split by gender, €89 (NZ$158) a person. Tickets cost from just €49 (NZ$87) to reserve a bunk in a six-bed couchette cabin, with basic breakfast; nightjet.com.
Paris to Venice
From one romantic city to another, these destinations deserve a more fitting transport link than busy Charles De Gaulle Airport or the hated cruise ships that lurk by Venice’s lagoon. Thello’s night train is such a link.
You board at Paris’ Gare de Lyon for a 7.15pm departure. Book your bunk in a six-couchette cabin (you get one of six padded bunks with pillows and duvets, but not much space) from €29 (NZ$52), a four-couchette for €49 each, or have more privacy in a two-berth sleeper cabin twin-share for €87.
There’s a restaurant carriage, but you can also bring a picnic and wine onboard. Your journey takes you through the beautiful Italian Alps, and before ending at Venice’s Santa Lucia station by 9.25am, you’ll stop at Milan and Verona.
Milano Centrale station is useful for easy morning connections to trains bound for Bologna and Florence. The return sleeper service departs at 7.13pm; thello.com/en/paris-venice.
Madrid to Lisbon
Scoot across the Iberian Peninsula as you snooze on this night service dubbed the Trenhotel Lusitania sleeper.
Depart from the centre of Madrid at 9.43pm and, just shy of 10 hours later, you’re on the Atlantic coast of Europe, refreshed and sampling Portuguese custard tarts beside Lisbon’s Santa Apolonia station.
Reclining seat tickets can cost just €25 (NZ$45), but for another €10 (NZ$18) you might as well get a berth in a four-berth, fold-out bunk carriage called a ‘‘turista sleeper’’, which has a basin, towels, bedding, and can be locked.
The next step up, the two-berth sleeper carriage is €102 (NZ$182), but gives more space for a couple travelling, while a ‘‘Gran Clase’’ cabin for two is €122 (NZ$217) but has a toilet, basin and compact shower. Hotel-style key cards will keep your luggage secure when you check out the restaurant carriage; venta.renfe.com.
London to the Scottish Highlands
The Caledonian Sleeper, a night train linking the British capital with Scotland, relaunched after a refurbishment last year.
Departing each night, except Saturday, from London’s Euston Station at 9.15pm, you can go seat only for £35 (NZ$72) (this may require a dram or two of Scotland’s finest to get you to sleep), or sleeper cabins (twin) for a supplement, from £140 for a single. The posh ones for £205 (NZ$418) means no sharing and rooms come with toilet and shower.
The sleeper cabins are sold like hotels rooms, so you’ll either have it with somebody you booked with, or to yourself. Because of this, the prices are higher than the couchette cabins of mainland Europe.
Regardless, you can be whisked away overnight to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William and Inverness, with much less fuss (and baggage fees), and arrive revived and ready to explore Scotland; sleeper.scot.