Night Trains are Back in Europe
Here's the latest scoop on night trains in and out of Paris
Back in the late seventies through the nineties, traveling at night was quite popular in Europe. Quite a few pages in my new book Paris for Life are spent describing the excitement of sleeping in couchettes on the night trains in 1977-1979. Later, in 1996, my wife Debbie and I traveled in a private sleeper car from Paris to Venice, with the steward delivering our breakfast along with hot coffee and a newspaper in the morning. While we slept, we were transported from the City of Light to the City of Water. After brushing the last crumbs of our Parisian pastries off our faces, we stepped off the train and into Venice, refreshed and ready to explore.
But alas, these glorious night trains were replaced by two-hour flights on economy airlines, and the nightly routes quickly disappeared from the train schedules. Now, however, interest in train travel has surged, and reliable train services such as France’s SNCF have brought back the night trains. New companies are also rolling out exciting offerings throughout 2024 and 2025.
Debbie and I decided to take the SNCF night train from Nice to Paris in late January 2024. We chose the economy route, and using the Trainline app we reserved two lower berths (also called couchettes or bunk beds) in a room with six berths. The total price for the round trip including the couchettes was 106 euro per person.
We arrived at the Nice station at 6:30PM and went directly to the track where our train was waiting. Check-in took less than a minute, giving us plenty of time to walk to car #11, find room #4, and set up our beds for the night.
At this point a dining car or bar would be ideal, and they are available on many night trains. Unfortunately on this particular train, there was neither. Only a small closet-sized room occupied by a train employee existed in car #7. In the hallway outside his closet, we could buy instant coffee, a muffin, and maybe potato chips, but he was only open in the final hour before arrival in Paris, and there was no place to sit to drink the coffee. We went back to our rooms.
Each bed came with a sleeping bag, pillow, bottle of water, eye shades, ear plugs, a bed light, power plug, and a really interesting tablet to dissolve in your mouth in the morning which sort of but not really made you feel like you had brushed your teeth.
By 9:00PM most of the passengers had settled in their beds, and the lights went out. Other than the occasional sound of someone leaving the room to use the toilet down the hall, there was nothing to disturb us from being lulled to sleep by the sound of our train moving down the tracks. Some of the passengers covered themselves completely, like the one shown below.
At 7:00AM, an announcement came over the speakers informing us that we would be arriving in Paris in a little less than an hour. We raised the blinds on the window and watched the scenery change from rolling farmland to suburbs. As the sun rose, Paris came into full view.
Each train car has two rooms with a sink and a mirror where we could brush our teeth, wash our face, shave, and change clothes. These rooms were in addition to the two restrooms. We arrived at Paris Gare d’Austerlitz shortly before 8:00 in the morning, ready to start our day in the center of Paris.
A short walk took us to the Train Bleu restaurant across the Seine at Gare de Lyon, where we feasted on omelettes, French bread, and cheeses before starting our most recent trip to my favorite city.
Where do YOU want to go on a night train? Leave me a message below and let me know!
I highly recommend the night trains. They are convenient, clean, and cheap. By taking night trains, we saved the cost of two nights in a hotel in Paris. There were no long check-in lines, no security hassles, and the train dropped us off right in the center of the city, unlike those discount airlines who leave you an hour out of town. If economy is not for you, there are also first class couchettes and private sleeper cars. Also check out the offerings by the new companies in 2024 and 2025. Here are a few links, or just search “Europe night trains” to see more.
SNCF: Click here
ItaliaRail: Click here
NightJet Trains: Click Here
(Note: I am not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned above)
Bon voyage!
So much different than a night train in China. I was going to take one from Shanghai to Xian. We boarded and located shared our compartment only to find someone already in it smoking despite the no smoking sign. I left to find someone in authority, and located a policeman-type on board, sitting under another no smoking sign…and smoking. Since I am quite allergic to cigarette smoke my wife looked at me and wisely said if “we stay here you are going to die.” We headed back across town to the hotel we checked out of, called an airline, and got tickets for a flight to Xian the next morning.
Great article Barry! Would be a fun way to travel with the family. I’m not too keen on sleeping with strangers 😳