My husband and I plan to travel from Munich to Vienna, to Budapest, to Prague, to Berlin.
It was our plan to leave by 9:00 each morning, arrive in the next city several hours later, spend the remainder of that day plus 2 additional days in each city. (3 nights in each city). We thought that by travelling by day we'd see a bit of the countryside. Now I'm wondering about using night trains. Any advice?

I think your first plan is by far the best. I for one don't sleep well on trains, and would be grumpy as hell arriving in a town after sleeping (or trying to) on a train, and not be able to take a proper shower in a hotel room first thing in the morning, get to the hotel, and have to wait to check in. Besides, I agree with you, I love seeing the countryside from a train.
If these trips were 12 or so hours each, it might be different, but I still doubt I'd do the night trains -- that's just me.

Thanks Patrick. I guess the important piece of information I left out is that both my husband and I are 62 years old. We don't need a 5 star hotel but do like a decent bed and a shower. You have confirmed my initial thoughts.
Barbara

A lot MAY depend on which trains (night) you plan to take. For example, if you use some of the CityNightLine services within Germany you can actually get accommodations that have a shower, have comfortable beds, etc.

However, the route of your currently proposed itinerary precludes that and besides, the trip from Prague to Berlin, for example, only takes five hours or so (sit on the RIGHT side of the train facing forward for the best river views on that leg).

The other routes don't necessarily offer so-called "spectacular" scenery but I think you'll be glad you went by rail.

How about <i>evening</i> trains? I like to take the last train of the day to get to the next location. In summer, there's plenty of daylight left to see the countryside, and you can relax a little bit more in the morning if you don't have to meet a schedule. If you do it this way, you will have three <u>full</u> days in each destination rather than &quot;remainder plus 2 additional.&quot;