Dallas

Family of 9 planning to spend night on train between Paris & Interlaken. Can we sleep comfortably on couchettes? <BR> <BR>If we reserve a couchette, do we still have option of going back to regular seats if we choose? <BR> <BR>Help!!

Chris

Couchettes sleep 6 people in a pretty small cabin of 3 bunks on either side. We did 2 overnight trains in couchettes and didn't sleep well on either one, though it was kind of fun. We met some nice Europeans on them which was certainly interesting. If you reserve a couchette, you do so in advance and pay at the time. Your reservation will have your cabin and bed numbers on it and that is where you stay. Most have a restaurant car and I suppose you'd be free to sit in a regular seating area - you're free to walk about the train. If you do decide to do this, you must reserve in advance and I can recommend DER Travel Services. I used them with no difficulty whereas, I tried reserving first with Rail Europe and had great difficulty. If you have any more questions about train travel or anything else, you can email me and I'll try to help. Good luck!

Ben Haines

You can sleep comfortably in couchettes if you close shutters and curtains and ask the conductor to wake you as late as possible. I go into detail in a note I have on disc, and am taking the liberty of copying that to you by e-mail. <BR> <BR>If you're booked on a couchette you can go along the train to normal seats if there are normal seats still empty. But summer night trains get full, so there may be no choice but to stay in your couchettes. <BR> <BR>Can you help me by telling me the times and perhaps route fyour night journey ? I ask because table 42 (summer) of the Thomas Cook European Timetable shows no night train from Paris to Interlaken, but only day TGV trains at 0718 and 1652, with changes at Bern, and arrival at 1320or 2223. You could make a night of it from Paris to Zurich, and a short night of Paris o Basel, but that would be a fairly indirect route. <BR> <BR>I'm afraid that few night trains in western Europe still have restaurant cars. Those that do include the long distance trains from Paris to Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Venice, Vienna and Budapest, the England to Scotland sleepers in Britain. They are commoner in Central Europe. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR>

Caryn

I want to add that while it could be fun, sleeping in a couchette is never easy. The couchette cars do have regular seats. They are turned into couchettes whenever the people in the cabin feel like going to bed and they are put up again in the morning. So you will be able to sit in regular seats in your compartment.

Ben Haines

<BR> <BR>I have put the following note onto Fodors Forum. <BR> <BR>On short trips, such as Paris to Zurich, you find the couchette cars laid out with berths, not seats, when you board the train, and they stay that way until seven or even eight in the morning. The conductors seldom have the time to turn a compartment from berths to seats during the night, or the reverse. So you are likely to need to walk along the train to a non-couchette car: as I have said this may be full. <BR> <BR>But all this is off the point if there's no night train from Paris to Interlaken. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Ben Haines

<BR> <BR> <BR>On short trips, such as Paris to Zurich, you find the couchette cars laid out with berths, not seats, when you board the train, and they stay that way until seven or even eight in the morning. The conductors seldom have the time to turn a compartment from berths to seats during the night, or the reverse. So you are likely to need to walk along the train to a non-couchette car: as I have said this may be full. <BR> <BR>But all this is off the point if there's no night train from Paris to Interlaken. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

mary

hi <BR>we took a couchette from paris to rome. slept like a rock! have to agree with ben, the bench seats are turned into bunks at bedtime. one point though. i get carsick so i took some bonine with me.it definitely came in handy on the train. have a nice trip!