does a sleeper in an night train measure up to a room?
 

I am interested in using a night train in my travels in europe this spring. I will be taking a 1st class room for my husband and I. I am not quite sure how the service is? 1- WIll there be 2 bed next to eachother or bunk bed?<BR>2- Will there be seats as well as the beds?<BR>3- IS there service as in someone looking after us?<BR>4- Is the compartment like a hotel? Will I like it if I am used to 1st class hotels?<BR><BR>IF I go with it I will be taking the train from Barcelona to Paris and also Paris to Rome.

And the toiilette is down the hall. First class? Hardly.

Forget the trains!You can be enjoying many extra hours in Rome and Paris.I also question the logic of Barcelona to Paris to Rome?<BR> Again,lots of wasted time,where are you flying into?

In response to the Barcelona to Paris trip, you will be taking the Trenhotel, which is a very pleasant ride. The first class accommodations are: 1. Bunk beds, NOT side by side. 2. The seat in the compartment turns into the lower bed, so there will not be both. 3. There is a porter in each car, but they take your tickets and bring you breakfast in the morning. If you need help, you ask for it. They do not bring you other services. You go down to the saloon car. 4. It is nothing like a hotel, the compartments are very small, but cosy. There is no t.v. or other amenities you'd find in a 1st class hotel. You will get a towel and little amenities for cleaning and brushing your teeth hidden behind the mirror. Whether you will like it not is hard to say, but based upon your questions, I suspect you will not. I'm not saying that to be rude, but because it sounds like you prefer to be pampered a bit more than you will be on the train. It is a fun experience, though, and should not be missed.

Beth<BR>My wife and I were discussing the overnight train from Rome to Nice and agreed it was a unique experience and we were glad we tried it. However, it is not very comfortable and you won't get much sleep unless you are medicated or inebriated when you board the train. It is not luxury by any stretch of the imagination!<BR>As you go through the tunnels you are in a vacuum and your ears are about to burst at times.Also you tend to slide in your bunk as the train goes around the curves and up and down the mountains.<BR>I agree with Shannon, it is an experience not to be missed, but only once, unless you are very young.<BR>The cost was about as much as we would have paid for a Hotel that night so we figured it really didn't cost much for the experience.<BR>If you try it remember to lock your door because at some stops people will walk through the sleeper car and try to find an unoccupied sleeper and sneak in when the porter is not paying attention. This will wake you up also.<BR>

I've only taken an overnight train once, and it was first class, but it's nothing like a hotel. It's a train, the main purpose is transportation. I would judge the first class private compartment to be about the equivalent space and comfort of a 1-2 star hotel, maybe. It was noisier, though, and the bed not as comfortable, so I didn't sleep as well as I would in a hotel. I wouldn't ever take an overnight train unless it really make a lot of sense logistically and saved a lot of time on a trip, but nowadays with cheaper air fares, that's unlikely--if there were no air fares within a few hundred dollars, I might. I like trains a lot for travel in the daytime, especially the high-speed ones, but don't find sleeping on them of interest because you can't see anything, so there's little point to me. I'd rather stay in a 2-star hotel for the cost of those sleeper cars.

I'm going to be traveling from Paris to Rome and I was thinking about taking the train. I found a train deal that is about the same price as RyanAir, and I won't have to worry about the baggage issue or the &quot;getting to the airport&quot; issue. However, I'm a little nervous. I am doing 3 cities in Europe in 12 days (including travel days to and from Europe). I'm concerned that if I have a really bad night's sleep, I will have a hard time touring around all day the next day. And with such a limited time in Europe, I won't be able to make up a day.

Is the sleep that uncomfortable and difficult? Will earplugs and some wine before bed help? Also, is it better to get a sleeper or is the risk of getting little sleep just as high as it would be in a couchette? Finally, are the beds clean? I know that is an odd question. I'm not looking for luxury, but I'm not a fan of dirty sheets and such.

Thanks for your help. I hope I don't sound like a snob. I'm just trying to make the best decision.

See my post on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34553733

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi ewt,

&gt;..Also, is it better to get a sleeper or is the risk of getting little sleep just as high as it would be in a couchette? &lt;

Considering your post, you don't want to even think about a couchette.

((I))

hahaha...ok, so I guess its a bad night's sleep, eh? If that's the case, perhaps I should just get a regular sleep and pay less than the train or the plane, I guess.

Actually, Rex, thanks for your link. That helped with my questions. It sounded like if I got the top bunk, I would be fine in a couchette as long as I had a couple of glasses of wine. Although, now I'm reconsidering if Ira is saying it is bad no matter what.

There have been some other threads on this by people who didn't mind it or thought it was okay.

Since I posted above several years ago, might as well answer -- of course it will be harder to sleep in a couchette than a first-class private sleeper car. A couchette is like immigrant steerage, six people piled into one small room all sleeping together. I believe there are three bunks on each side (on top of each other), so you can imagine not much head room and certainly not luxury. Regardless of comfort, I simply could not sleep in a room with five strangers, and definitely not if they were very close to me. This is just psychological and what you are used to. You know how it's hard to sleep with someone for the first time even if you are tired.

so, yes, earplugs will help and a private compartment. Of course sheets should be clean, they don't reuse sheets between guests without laundering. This isn't some third world country. Actually, I've taken first class sleepers in one of those (or close to it) and the sheets were clean there.

If you'd like to see pictures of the accommodations go to www.seat61.com and navigate from there. A lot of your questions will be answered.

On Italian trains, the more recent couchette cars have FOUR bunks per compartment rather than SIX (still on older versions). The newer cars are referred to as &quot;Comfort Class&quot; or &quot;C4&quot; (sounds like a plastic explosive!!!!!) (to distinguish them from the C6 compartments with 6 bunks).

I've checked seat61, but it doesn't help with figuring out the noise level or cleanliness, really.

I realize it isnt' a third world country, but neither is the US and you can pay $100 a night for a Days Inn where the sheets or towels have stains on them. So, I was just asking. Its a secondary issue though. I work in public health, so I've probably taken too many infectious disease classes. haha. I'm more concerned about the ability to fall asleep than the cleanliness, in all seriousness. Some people have suggested its really noisy, or impossible to sleep.

I was just trying to avoid arriving late at night to my friend's place in Rome or having to potentially pay an overweight fee if I took RyanAir (I plan to get a lot of souveniers for my parents who have never been to Europe, so even if my bag is underweight when I start, it may not be by the time I've gone to 2 cities). So, I thought the train would be better. However, I will probably just have to weight which is better or worse.

I just realized what a ridiculous amount of spelling errors were in my last post. I apologize. I was trying to type quickly in between working. :)

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Thank you to everyone who provided advice about overnight train rides. After talking to a MYRIAD of different people and reading extensively about it, I decided that the cheap fare couldn't be beat. I just booked a 60E first class couchette from Paris to Rome.

I sleep really well on planes, cars, and other moving vehicles, so I'm hoping that works in my favor for this train ride, as well.

Anyway, I still have some other travel plans to finalize, but I'm relieved that this decision is made. Thanks again!

Concerning the issue of sleeping in a night train :

It depends on the person. Personnally, I sleep like a baby because the train is rocking me. Probably also because I like night trains so I'm happy being there. And yes, even in a couchette with 5 strangers.

That said, many people have a hard time sleeping. You can't really know before you try.

One thing that bothered me on a night train to Frankfurt from Paris was the smoke....I guess someone was smoking in another cabin, and it drifted into mine. yuck. It kept me up for a while as I tried not to suffocate.

I thought it would be best to have a cabin to myself, but I slept the best on a night train in which I had a bunkmate. That's a gamble, though. I was lucky to have a nice, low maintenance bunkmate from Denver! I'm sure it's possible to end up with a snoring nightmare.

The worst experience I had was a couchette, though. I usually can sleep anywhere, but there were 5 of us crammed into a cabin and the girl across from me kicked me all night. Again, that's a gamble; you could end up with some easy cabin mates.

Good luck!

There is a note on getting the best from sleepers and couchettes at http://www.geocities.com/rexbickers/...ghttrains.htm/.

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The only problem I ever had in a couchette was one time when I got stuck in the middle bunk (this was a 6 person couchette with 3 on each side.) I woke up in the middle of the night and had a (silent) mini anxiety attack. Luckily I was able to just breathe deep and fall back asleep. I've never been claustrophobic, but maybe it was waking up in an unfamiliar place, feeling very enclosed with a low &quot;ceiling&quot; in front of me. Who knows, but ever since then I always make sure to try and get the top bunk (there's more headroom, plus space to store your bag.) Oh, and just for the record, I've even found the reclining chair options very comfortable (much more so than an airline seat.) Ewt - I hope you find your night train experience, if not enjoyable, at least uneventful!