It’s not quite a hotel on wheels, more a hostel on wheels.
But a £118 cabin for six (breakfast included) on the Nightjet sleeper train is, I discovered, very much a worthwhile option for crossing long distances in Europe in cost-effective comfort.
I boarded one after being asked to chair the mobility section of a pre-COP climate conference in Trento, northern Italy. I dug my heels in and said I would only attend if I spent the bulk of the journey overnight on a sleeper train.
The conference’s budget didn’t stretch to a solo cabin so my ticket was for travel with up to six others in a reserved couchette cabin.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me describe my journey from Newcastle via a Eurostar from London’s St Pancras International.
I do the train journey to London regularly, although usually not quite so blisteringly fast.
By skipping the stops in Durham, York, and Peterborough, the 7.04 LNER service takes just 2 hours 36 minutes to get to King’s Cross from Newcastle.
It was then a saunter across the road to St Pancras to check in for the Eurostar to Brussels for a Nightjet to Munich, before taking another train to Trento.
Carlton Reid travelled in a six-person couchette cabin on the Nightjet sleeper service from Brussels to Munich (above)
Seats on this service cost from 79.90 euros/£67/$86, couchettes from 139.90 euros/£118/$152 and sleeper cabins from 189.90 euros/£160/$207
Bruxelles Suid/Brussels Midi is not the nicest of stations, but if you’ve got a little time to while away here, head to the Pullman Hotel connected to the station. Here, you can relax in five-star comfort in the hotel’s first-floor bar.
The hotel loos are also luxe and free – spending a penny in the station costs a euro.
I had assumed my Nightjet sleeper train ended at my destination of Munich but, in fact, it trundles on to Vienna five hours further down the track.
So, it was the 7.06pm Wien train I was looking for, but the one to Wien/Vienna on the departures board was three minutes later than the service on my ticket. It was also a different train number and there was no mention of Munich/Munchen.
However, staff in the international booking office assured me the train arriving soon on platform 11 was the one I was booked on.
There weren’t many people on platform 11. I’d been girding myself to fight my way into a six-person couchette, yet here there was just a smattering of people hanging around.
Above is Carlton’s six-person cabin, which he describes as a ‘hostel on wheels’
Above is a publicity picture of a six-person Nightjet couchette cabin
Pictured left is the window in Carlton’s couchette cabin, while the image on the right shows the bottom bunk
The arrival of staff with Nightjet logos emblazoned on their backs reassured me I didn’t have to make a mad dash to find another platform.
The train arrived early, and still, there was hardly anybody on the platform ready to board. This doesn’t bode well for the revival of sleeper services across Europe, I thought, although it also meant I’d likely have a six-person couchette to myself.
The guard put me right on that when I got on and settled down for what I thought was going to be a quieter journey than I’d steeled myself for – my carriage would fill during the night, he said, with occupants joining at Bonn and Koblenz in a few hours.
Tired, I made up a top bunk with sheets, a blanket, and a pillow and hunkered down. I’d come prepared: I had black-out eye shades and Loop Dream ear plugs, the Belgian company’s most sound-deadening, with 27 decibels of noise reduction.
Above is a sign showing the stops on Carlton’s Nightjet service, which terminated in Vienna
Carlton’s complimentary couchette breakfast – a sachet of milk and a tea bag, a small stick of butter, two crusty rolls and a mini pot of jam
TRAVEL FACTS
Carlton travelled with LNER, Eurostar and Austria’s national railway company, OBB.
He travelled on OBB’s Nightjet service from Brussels to Munich.
Seats on this service cost from 79.90 euros/£67/$86, couchettes from 139.90 euros/£118/$152 and sleeper cabins from 189.90 euros/£160/$207.
Solo cabins feature a toilet and shower. Those in shared cabins have to use a loo at end of the carriage.
Dining car refreshments are available.
Visit www.nightjet.com/en/#/home.
Lulled by rocking, I fell asleep. I could say I was rudely awakened by fellow passengers at midnight, but their custom is helping to keep this service afloat, so I was glad of their company.
The joining couple were Dutch. Sweetly, they dropped their voices to a whisper and I soon fell back asleep.
At 5:15am, we were all awakened by the guard telling me and another passenger that the train was approaching Munich.
I don’t know where that passenger got on, so the earplugs must have worked because I didn’t hear him arrive.
I dressed and clambered down the bunk -bed ladder as quietly as I could, but the only way to shut the door behind me was to slam it.
I hope the Dutch couple had earplugs.
In the train passageway, the guard handed departing passengers plates of food and a boiling hot paper cup of water.
On the plate there was a sachet of milk and a tea bag. There was also a small stick of butter, two crusty rolls and a mini pot of jam – breakfast.
‘Save the climate while you sleep,’ an information card in the couchette said.
It continued: ‘In terms of CO2 emissions, the railways are 31 times more environmentally friendly than travelling by plane. ‘
Travelling a long distance in Europe? Check to see if there’s a sleeper service.
Pack earplugs.
