Latest news with #sleepertrains
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Thrill of the night train: from Vienna to Rome on the next-gen moonlight express
Toasted ham baguettes in hand, we cheered as the new-generation Nightjet drew into Vienna Hauptbahnhof. It was a little before 7pm, and as the carriages hummed past I felt a rush of joy, like celebrity trainspotter Francis Bourgeois, but without the GoPro on my forehead. For more than three years I've been documenting the renaissance of sleeper trains, and I'd wondered if I might one day tire of them. But the thrill seems only to intensify each time I embark on another nocturnal adventure, this time with my two daughters – aged eight and five – who were already arguing over the top berth. The first four carriages were designated for travellers to the Italian port city of La Spezia, the other seven carrying on to Roma Tiburtina, where we would alight at 10am. Once in Rome we had 24 hours to eat classic carbonara, dark chocolate gelato, and bike around the Villa Borghese before taking a train to Florence. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) has played the lead role in resuscitating Europe's night trains. Towards the end of 2016, ÖBB launched its Nightjet network on 14 routes, using old rolling stock it bought from Deutsche Bahn. Then, to the delight of train nerds like me, it launched a brand-new fleet at the end of 2023, and now operates 20 routes across Europe. We were now on board this high-spec service, which smelled of freshly unpacked furniture, the carpets soft underfoot, the lighting adjustable to disco hues of neon blue and punk pink. We were booked into a couchette carriage, which mostly comprisesd mini cabins designed for solo travellers preferring privacy. Placing shoes and small bags in lockers, passengers can open a metal door with a keycard and crawl into their single berth, drawing the door closed around them, and not have to look at another human until morning. Last year I had trialled the mini cabins from Vienna to Hamburg alongside a tall friend who had likened the experience to sleeping inside a bread bin, though I hadn't found it as claustrophobic as I'd feared, just a bit hard, chilly, and with a pillow as flat as a postage stamp. So I was curious to see how the carriage's four-person private compartments, for families and groups, would differ. Normally happy to share with strangers, I'd booked a whole compartment for the three of us: more to protect other hapless travellers from my children, who were now swinging off the berths like members of Cirque du Soleil, their sweaty socks strewn under the seats. With raised sides, the upper berths were safe for the girls to sleep in without rolling out, and I set about tucking in their sheets while they settled down to finish their baguettes. There is no dining car on the Nightjet, so we'd bought food from the station, which was now moving backwards as the train sailed out of the Austrian capital in silence, smoothly curving south-west. Two days earlier we'd arrived in Vienna by train from London, via Paris, and had checked into the Superbude Wien Prater, a curious hotel that appeared part art-installation, part hostel, with gen Zs slouched around worn leather sofas on MacBooks. With four-bed family cabins overlooking the Prater amusement park, it was a great location from which to explore the city, then finish the evening with a terrifying rollercoaster and a spicy Bitzinger wurst. A friend had described Vienna to me as a grand and beautiful 'retirement village', but, on the contrary, its green spaces, playgrounds and museums made it an easy stop for 48 hours with kids. Hopping off the Nightjet from Paris, we'd gone straight to my favourite restaurant, Edelgreisslerei Opocensky – an unassuming nook serving homely dishes such as stuffed gnocchi, and goulash with dumplings – before whiling away an afternoon at the Children's Museum at Schönbrunn Palace. Dressing up like young Habsburgs, the girls had swanned around in wigs and musty gowns, laying tables for banquets and begging not to leave – a far cry from our usual museum experiences. Before boarding this train we'd had one last run around the interactive Technical Museum, where the human-sized hamster wheels, peg games and slides had so worn out the children that my five-year-old was asleep as the train plunged into the Semmering mountain pass. It was still light as we swept around the Alps, my eight-year-old kneeling at the window and asking where local people shopped, so few and far between were signs of human life. Horses grazed in paddocks, cows nuzzled, and the occasional hamlet emerged from round a bend as though the chalets were shaken like dice and tossed into the slopes. In the blue-grey twilight we watched streams gleam like strips of metal, and spotted a single stag poised at the edge of a wood, before the train made a long stop at the Styrian city of Leoben, at which point we turned in. Like the mini cabins, the compartment was still too cold, the pillow still too flat, but the berths were wider and the huge window a blessing compared with the single berths' portholes – this one allowed for wistful gazing. Shoving a rolled-up jumper under my head, I fell asleep, waking at 7am to rumpled clouds and a golden flare on the horizon. Most night trains terminate soon after passengers have woken up, but this one was perfect, allowing us to enjoy a leisurely breakfast of hot chocolate and jam rolls while watching the Tuscan dawn breaking into song, and Umbrian lakes and cornfields running parallel before we finally drew into Rome – on time. When travelling alone I relish arriving with the entire day at my disposal, but with children it's hard work waiting until 3pm to check in to accommodation, so I default to staying at a Hoxton hotel if one is available. Its Flexy Time policy allows guests to choose what time they check in and out for free, and by 11am we had checked in, showered and set off to toss coins in the Trevi fountain, finding thick whorls of eggy carbonara at nearby trattoria Maccheroni, and gelato at Don Nino. To avoid the crowds and heat, we waited until 6pm to hire an electric pedal car from Bici Pincio at the Villa Borghese and drove around the landscaped, leafy grounds, relishing the quietness of the evening ride. Excited about the next adventure in Florence, the girls had only one complaint: that they couldn't ride there on the night train. Monisha Rajesh is the author of Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train (Bloomsbury, £22), published on 28 August and available on pre-order at Omio provided travel in a four-person private compartment in a couchette carriage from Vienna to Rome (from £357). Accommodation was provided by Superbude Wien Prater in Vienna (doubles from €89 room-only); and The Hoxton in Rome (doubles from €189 room-only)
Condé Nast Traveler
5 days ago
- Condé Nast Traveler
These 7 Sleeper Trains Are the Best Way to Travel Europe
When it comes to railway adventures, there are few things more exciting than falling asleep in one city and waking in the next, nudging up the blind to see what lies outside. Whether that reveals the golden haze of dawn or a moonlit night still holding on, the moment is one that's always filled with magic. For the last three years I've been journeying around Europe documenting the resurgence in sleeper trains, watching passengers drift back to the romance of the railways, eschewing budget flights and bullet trains for cosy couchettes and a slower mode of travel. For scenery, comfort, and camaraderie, these are the seven best night trains that Europe has to offer. The Good Night Train: Brussels, Belgium to Berlin, Germany Crowdfunded, and launched by a Belgian-Dutch collective named European Sleeper, The Good Night Train made its inaugural run from Brussels to Berlin in May 2023 and has since extended its route to Dresden and Prague, with a winter service to Venice. Set up by two night-train enthusiasts, European Sleeper offers a no-frills service whose hodgepodge of carriages date back to the 1950s—but no one on board is bothered, and raucous groups uncork wine and spread out slabs of pâté and cheese in what feels like a house party on wheels. With a mixture of sleeper and couchette compartments, the train departs Brussels three times a week, clattering out of the Belgian capital at 7.20 p.m. and pulling passengers through Flanders' golden meadows and waterways that turn blush in the setting sun. Stopping at Amsterdam, where canals glimmer through the darkness, the train then runs smoothly through the night, with barely a jolt or jerk, giving passengers a chance to sleep deeply before a dawn arrival in Berlin. Lacquered walls, velvet furnishings, and Art Deco design in the head-turning suites onboard The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Ludovic Balay/Belmond The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond train: Paris, France to Portofino, Italy With its iconic blue carriages and gold trimming, Belmond's legendary train is a familiar sight to lovers of luxury travel, but this route is a well-kept secret, and the most scenic of them all. Running only once a year in summer, the VSOE departs Paris Austerlitz at 3 p.m., taking passengers to the pastel-colored town of Portofino. To the pop of a bottle of Ruinart champagne served with Petrossian caviar and blinis, the train thumps and clacks south of the French capital, picking up pace through villages and vineyards, warm air billowing through the wind-down windows. Over a black-tie dinner, guests are serenaded before moving piano-side for an all-night singalong, the bar only closing when the last passenger has left. Wisely, Belmond ensures that the train stables at midnight at Avignon, granting passengers five hours of undisturbed sleep in damask bedding until the train departs at dawn. Nudge up the blind and bite into warm croissants as you watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean, paddle boarders on the waters, and purple bougainvillea blooming by the tracks. The rest of the journey is nothing but sparkling ocean, beaches and palms, ending with two nights at the newly renovated Hotel Splendido in Portofino, overlooking the bay. For dinners on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, black tie is not a requirement but tends to be the norm. Karolina Marco/Belmond Menus onboard are designed by Paris-based culinary star Jean Imbert, who was appointed the train's chef in 2022. BOBY/Belmond Santa Claus Express: Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Finland A regular passenger train that runs year-round, the Santa Claus Express is Finland's flagship service carrying riders from Helsinki into Rovaniemi, on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Best ridden in winter, this green and white double-decker beast departs just before 7.30 p.m. and takes 12 hours to wind north through forests of fir sagging under the weight of snow. Filled with young families and tourists keen to meet the big man at Santa Claus Village, the train features some of Europe's most comfortable compartments with wide berths, underfloor heating, and toilets that fold down into showers. Pro tip: Hop on, dump bags, and dash to the tinsel-covered dining car for smoked reindeer stew and steaming bowls of meatballs and mash before it fills up with drinkers who won't shift until dawn. From the windows passengers can watch as nativity scenes twinkle through the woods, foxes dart through empty car parks, and Finland's freshwater lakes gleam like pools of black ink.
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
New Sleeper Trains With Private Cabins To Connect 100 European Cities
Nox Mobility Double Vista Room Nox Mobilit Over the past decade, the resurgence of sleeper trains has been one of the most notable developments in European rail. The recent announcement of a new player in the space is a significant development. A Berlin-based startup called Nox Mobility has entered the fray, with a plan to operate European overnight sleeper trains starting in 2027. What makes theirs an audacious move is that these trains will be designed and configured as one- or two-person compartments, or 'rooms,' as Nox prefers to call them. 'Sleeping while a train gets you across Europe is a great concept. But today people have to share their cabins with strangers, beds are tight, and it's often more expensive than air travel. We want to change that and make night trains an essential part of European travel.' I covered the new breed of sleeper trains in my forthcoming book, National Geographic's 100 Train Journeys of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Rides (which will be published in October 2025). Offering dedicated single and double compartments is a significant advantage. So is making them affordable. Nox Mobility Single Loft Room Seat Nox Mobility Currently, most travelers on European sleeper trains – unless they book a rare single room – need to share compartments with upwards of four berths. Unless four people are traveling together, you're sharing with total strangers. Nox aims to offer a choice for single travelers and couples with its sleekly designed cabins that double as spaces for relaxed sightseeing and workspaces. 'Sleeping while a train gets you across Europe is a great concept. But today people have to share their cabins with strangers, beds are tight, and it's often more expensive than air travel. We want to change that and make night trains an essential part of European travel,' said Thibault Constant, Co-Founder of Nox, in a press statement. Constant is known on YouTube and Instagram as 'Simply Railway', with more than half a million followers and a claim to making over 400 night train trips worldwide. His cofounder is Janek Smalla, who co-launched FlixTrain and led the German ridesharing market for Bolt. In terms of cost, Nox plans to operate Europe-wide overnight trains with private rooms for one or two people, competing with the cost of a short-haul flight. The aim is to offer train fares that are competitive with air fares. Nox has announced that single cabins will be priced from 79 Euros ($92) and double cabins from 149 Euros ($173). Nox Mobility Single Loft Room Bed Nox Mobility Sleeper trains are considered to be far more sustainable than short-haul flights. Nox aims to reduce the carbon footprint of short-haul flights by offering this environmentally friendly alternative for travelers. Sleeper trains enable you to travel from city center to city center, eliminating the need for airport transfers. Passengers can choose between single and double rooms, guaranteeing privacy and comfort during their journey. On the new Nox trains, there will be three room configurations. Single and Double Loft rooms have upper beds, reachable by a ladder. They both feature separate seating and table areas. Loft rooms feature wide single and double beds, allowing you to sleep vertically to the travel direction and enjoy a loft-like view over your room and window. Double Vista rooms offer a low floor and a chest-height bed for easy access. The bed converts into two seats. In Double Vista rooms, you sleep parallel to the direction of travel, with outside views directly from your bed. The beds in all three configurations will be two meters long (78.74 inches). Nox has also announced an even more radical plan to connect more than 100 European cities with its sleeper network by 2035. Among the cities they've targeted are Stockholm, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Munich, Budapest, Amsterdam, and Paris. Go to Nox Mobility for updates.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Startup unveils ambitious plan for European sleeper trains
Berlin -based startup Nox plans to launch a network of overnight trains connecting more than 100 European cities by 2035, starting operations in 2027. Nox says it aims to provide an affordable alternative to short-haul flights with private rooms on sleeper trains. Fares will cost from €79 for a single room and €149 for a double room. The proposed routes include connections to major cities such as Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Budapest. Nox says passengers will board in the evening, sleep in private rooms with 2m long beds, separate seats, and window views, and arrive rested in the morning.
