The 15 Best Night Train Journeys in Europe
These are the 15 best night train journeys in Europe, ranked by the quality of the sleeper compartments, on-board facilities, price-quality ratio, and the route itself.
Travel by night train
I love train travel, especially when it involves a night train, and to date I have taken well over 100 such journeys.
There is just something magical about night train travel — from settling into your cosy sleeper compartment, drinking a nightcap, and enjoying a good night’s rest to waking up the next morning to a landscape entirely different from the one you left behind.
Moreover, a night train can be both time- and cost-efficient, saving you the expense of a hotel stay and allowing you to arrive refreshed at a new destination, ready for a day of sightseeing or work.
Best European night trains
Before we get to the list of what I believe are the 15 best night trains in Europe, let’s first clarify what exactly a night train is, and outline the factors I’ve considered in the rankings.
A night train is a train that offers special sleeper accommodation on board — whether in open-plan bunks, couchettes, or private sleeper compartments — and travels overnight between its origin and destination.
Although a night train may also offer standard seats, a train that only provides such seating cannot be considered a true sleeper train.
For what it’s worth, in my definition of Europe, I also include Turkey, the three Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), and Russia up to the Ural Mountains, as these are transcontinental countries that are as much European as Asian.
As for the factors I consider when ranking night trains, I look at the following:
1. Comfort of the couchette or sleeper compartments and whether you can actually have a good night’s sleep.
2. Special amenities and facilities on board the train, such as Wi-Fi internet, or a dining car.
3. The journey itself, in terms of scenery along the route or other unique elements that make the trip special.
4. Price-quality ratio.
I started by selecting what I consider to be the 15 best night trains in Europe based on my own travel experience, then graded them according to the above criteria on a scale from 1 to 10, with the average score determining their position in my ranking.
That said, let’s move on to my top 10 list of the best European night trains!
15. Vienna to Rome, ÖBB Nightjet
Comfort: 9/10, Amenities & facilities: 8/10, Journey: 6/10, Price-quality ratio: 2/10
Total score: 6.3/10
When you think of night trains in Europe, you probably first think of Nightjet, the sleeper train service operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).
After the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) discontinued all its night trains in December 2016, it was ÖBB that took over the operation of some of these routes, as the company still believed in their future.
It’s thanks to ÖBB’s perseverance and vision that night train travel has experienced a significant renaissance in Europe.
Not only did they manage to reverse the trend of routes being closed in the early 21st century, but they also expanded the European night train network by launching new services.
Although the older generation of Nightjet sleeper trains is perfectly adequate, it’s the new-generation Nightjet trains, purpose-built for ÖBB by Siemens, that truly offer an outstanding experience.
All sleeper compartments on the new-generation Nightjet trains now feature en-suite bathrooms, while the couchette cars offer both 4-berth compartments and an entirely new product, which ÖBB calls mini-cabins.
These innovative mini-cabins resemble a capsule hotel on rails and are designed to provide budget travellers with more privacy than a berth in a shared couchette.
The new-generation Nightjet carriages made their debut on the Vienna–Hamburg route and can now also be found on the Hamburg–Munich–Innsbruck route, on the domestic Austrian night train service from Vienna to Feldkirch and Bregenz, and the route from Vienna to Bologna, Florence, and Rome in Italy.
As ÖBB continues to take delivery of more new Nightjet coaches, these state-of-the-art sleeper carriages are expected to soon replace the older generation on routes linking Munich with Bologna, Florence, and Rome, as well as on the routes from Vienna.
So why the relatively low ranking for what is the most modern night train you’ll find on Europe’s railways?
Nightjet is sadly let down by its often prohibitively expensive ticket prices, as even a business class flight and a stay at a good hotel can sometimes be booked for less than a private sleeper compartment, while the new mini cabins also aren’t competitively priced.
14. Sofia to Varna night train, BDZ
Comfort: 7.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 4/10, Journey: 5/10, Price-quality ratio: 10/10
Total score: 6.6/10
The Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) operates daily night trains linking the capital of Sofia with the coastal cities of Varna and Burgas.
It’s a relatively short overnight journey, with an arrival in the early hours of the morning, but you can get a good night’s sleep on the modern Turkish-built sleeper coaches used by Bulgarian Railways on their night train routes.
What’s best about these Bulgarian night trains (and train travel in Bulgaria in general) is how affordable they are.
Last summer, I paid just 65.90 Bulgarian leva (33.70 euros) for my trip from Sofia to Varna in a private sleeper compartment, which is quite a bargain.
Although these Bulgarian night trains lack amenities or facilities apart from a washbasin in your cabin, and you won’t see much scenery due to the late departure and early arrival, the outstanding price-quality ratio easily places this sleeper train in the top 15.
13. Zurich to Zagreb EuroNight, HŽPP
Comfort: 7.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 5.5/10, Journey: 8.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 6.5/10
Total score: 7/10
The Croatian Railways (HŽPP) operates both domestic night trains between Split and Zagreb, Osijek, and Vukovar, as well as two international night trains linking Zagreb with other European cities.
One of these international night train routes links Zagreb with Munich and Stuttgart in Germany, and another with Zurich in Switzerland.
The night train route from Zurich to Zagreb is one of the best in Europe in my opinion, mostly due to its wonderful route.
If you travel this route in summer, you will still be able to enjoy views over Lake Zurich and Lake Walen with its mountainous backdrop in the last hours of daylight, while in the morning, you’ll wake up in the Balkans as the train winds through the gorge of the River Sava.
The Croatian couchettes and sleepers are your European average, neither exceptional nor disappointing.
If you’re travelling in a sleeper, you can expect a basic complimentary breakfast served in your compartment when you wake up, though don’t expect a dining car or any other facilities on board.
12. Zurich to Prague ‘Canopus’ night train, České Dráhy (ČD)
Comfort: 7.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 9/10, Journey: 7.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 5/10
Total score: 7.3/10
The Czech Railways (České Dráhy) operates international night trains linking Prague to Košice and other towns in eastern Slovakia, as well as major European cities like Warsaw, Budapest, and Zurich.
The the best night train journey you can experience with the Czech Railways is arguably on the ‘Canopus’ sleeper train between Zurich and Prague.
This train takes a roundabout route between Zurich and Prague via Basel, Frankfurt, and Dresden, giving you plenty of time to get a good night’s rest.
In the early hours of the morning when the Canopus reaches Leipzig, a Czech dining car is attached to the train, allowing you to enjoy a cooked breakfast while admiring the scenic views of the Elbe River valley between Dresden and Prague.
Czech night trains offer good comfort and excellent amenities and facilities, with Wi-Fi internet in the sleeping cars, and deluxe sleepers featuring an en-suite toilet and shower.
The only downside is that ticket prices for a private sleeper on the Canopus are much higher compared to other Czech night train routes.
11. Warsaw to Budapest ‘Chopin’ EuroNight, PKP
Comfort: 8/10, Amenities & facilities: 7/10, Journey: 6.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 7.4/10
The EuroNight ‘Chopin’ is a night train run by the Polish State Railways (PKP) that operates between Budapest and Warsaw, although this service also includes through sleeper coaches to Krakow.
This comfortable Polish train offers on-board accommodation in standard seats, couchettes, and sleepers, which come either with a washbasin or as deluxe compartments with an en-suite toilet and shower.
Compared to many other night trains across Europe, this sleeper train is quite affordable, with even the sleeper compartments reasonably priced.
Although the daytime EuroCity train between Warsaw and Budapest is a great option too, the Chopin night train offers a more time-efficient way to travel from Poland to Hungary.
You won’t miss much scenery by taking the night train, as the route is fairly uneventful apart from the scenic final stretch along the Danube in Hungary, which you’ll still be able to catch in the morning light when travelling on the sleeper.
10. Bucharest to Chisinau ‘Prietenia’ night train, CFM
Comfort: 7/10, Amenities & facilities: 6/10, Journey: 8/10, Price-quality ratio: 9/10
Total score: 7.5/10
The ‘Prietenia’ night train, which means friendship in Romanian, runs between Bucharest and Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and is operated by Moldovan Railways (CFM).
This train is a major throwback to Soviet times, with its 4-berth and 2-berth sleeper carriages built in the 1980s in communist East Germany.
Although you can certainly get a decent night’s sleep on board, don’t expect much in terms of comfort or modern amenities, as the compartments lack even a washbasin and the ride can be a bit bumpy.
That said, there’s a lot of charm to be found on the Prietenia night train — whether it’s the gaudy interior of the sleeper compartments or the basic dining car, where you can enjoy quality Moldovan beer or even an entire bottle of sparkling wine for just a few euros.
As you might expect from train travel in Moldova, this night train is highly affordable, with even a private sleeper compartment costing just over 50 euro.
The Bucharest–Chisinau night train is also one of the few in Europe where each carriage is jacked up individually at the border for a bogie exchange, which is needed to overcome the difference in track gauge between Romania’s standard gauge and Moldova’s broad gauge railways, and is certainly quite a spectacle to watch!
9. London to Penzance ‘Night Riviera’, Great Western Railway (GWR)
Comfort: 8/10, Amenities & facilities: 8.5/10, Journey: 7/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 7.9/10
The Night Riviera sleeper train, run by GWR, is one of only two night trains in the United Kingdom.
This night train offers a leisurely and time-effective way to travel from London to Cornwall, with on-board accommodation in standard 2nd class seats or sleeper compartments with a washbasin, suitable for one or two people.
If you’re travelling in a sleeper, you can enjoy access to the GWR lounge at London Paddington station before boarding.
Boarding typically begins an hour before departure, giving you extra time to settle into your compartment or get some additional sleep, which is much appreciated on this relatively short overnight journey.
The Night Riviera sleeper train has a lounge car where you can purchase drinks and snacks, and if you’re travelling in a sleeper, a complimentary breakfast is brought to your compartment in the morning.
The following morning, you’ll wake up to pleasant views of Truro and its cathedral, St Michael’s Mount, and the Cornish coastline, before arriving in Penzance, where you can take a shower in the GWR lounge to freshen up.
GWR’s Night Riviera sleeper train also gets good marks for its amazing staff and for being relatively well-priced compared to typically expensive British train fares.
8. Vienna to Kyiv night train, Ukrzaliznytsia
Comfort: 8/10, Amenities & facilities: 7.5/10, Journey: 8.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 8/10
I always love travelling on the night trains of Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian Railways, as they offer good comfort, are well-priced, and have an excellent on-time record.
This remains true even today in wartime Ukraine, as the country bravely faces a Russian war of aggression and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure, making it a true testament to the dedication of Ukrzaliznytsia workers that they can still deliver a quality train service in such challenging times.
There are many great train rides in Ukraine, and I have especially fond memories of taking the Rakhiv to Mariupol night train, which used to be the longest route in the country.
Unfortunately, that route is currently not running due to the Russian invasion and the temporary occupation of the Donbas, so instead I’ll highlight another excellent Ukrainian train journey, the international night train linking Vienna with Kyiv via Chop, Mukachevo, and Lviv.
This night train offers comfortable second class compartments with four berths, as well as first class compartments that can be booked for triple, double, or single occupancy.
Although there is no dining car on board, you can order steaming hot tea from the provodnitsa (female carriage attendant), or make your own tea, coffee, or noodles using the hot water from the samovar.
If you travel in a first class sleeper, you can make use of the ÖBB lounge at Wien Hbf (Vienna main station) or, in the reverse direction, the palatial lounge at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station.
Perhaps best of all is the lovely route of the Vienna-Kyiv night train, which takes you across the Carpathian Mountains between Mukachevo and Lviv in the early morning hours, crossing some impressive railway viaducts and tunnels.
Just like the Prietenia night train, the Vienna-Kyiv night train also makes a lengthy stop at the border to have its wagons jacked up and the wheelsets changed to overcome the break of gauge between Hungary (standard gauge) and Ukraine (broad gauge), which adds another unique feature to this journey.
7. Milan to Sicily ‘InterCity Notte’, Trenitalia
Comfort: 8/10, Amenities & facilities: 6.5/10, Journey: 10/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 8.1/10
Italian night trains, run by national railway Trenitalia under the brand name ‘InterCity Notte’, are among the most underrated in Europe, despite being some of the best in terms of comfort and price-quality ratio.
The night train linking Milan with Sicily – with the main part of the train heading to Catania and Syracuse, and another portion splitting off at Messina towards Palermo – is by far the most unique in Italy, and possibly in all of Europe.
What makes this night train so special is that it travels on a train ferry between Villa San Giovanni on the Italian mainland and the Sicilian port of Messina, where you can either stay in your sleeper compartment or head out on deck during the crossing.
It’s an absolutely unique way to arrive on Sicily, and even before and after the ferry ride, the views from the train window are stunning, offering amazing views over the coastal mountains and sea.
The Milan to Sicily night train features both 4-berth couchettes and sleepers with washbasin that can be booked as triple, double, or single (either shared or private occupancy).
On the Milan to Catania and Syracuse route (but not to Palermo), you can also book a ‘superior’ sleeper compartment with an en-suite bathroom, including a toilet and shower, which can be reserved as either a double or single.
When you travel in a sleeper, some small snacks and bottled water, along with a light breakfast and an Italian newspaper in the morning, are served in your compartment.
Note that there is also a night train linking Rome with Palermo, Catania, and Syracuse on Sicily, which also goes on a train ferry, although the much shorter ride makes it a bit less epic than taking the sleeper all the way from Milan.
6. London to Fort William, Caledonian Sleeper
Comfort: 9.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 10/10, Journey: 10/10, Price-quality ratio: 3/10
Total score: 8.2/10
In many aspects, the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Fort William in the Scottish Highlands is the best night train in Europe.
First of all, the quality of the sleeper compartments on the Caledonian Sleeper is excellent, and the amenities and facilities on board are top-notch, whether it’s the fantastic dining car where you can enjoy haggis for dinner or a cooked breakfast in the morning, or the small touches like an amenity kit that even includes a pillow spray.
The Caledonian Sleeper train between London and Fort William is also known as the ‘Deerstalker’ and offers some of the best views you’ll get on any train in Europe.
When you wake up in the Scottish Highlands in the morning, you’re greeted with stunning views of barren moors and mountains, as well as beautiful lochs nestled in the valleys.
The Caledonian Sleeper offers basic reclining seats, classic rooms (with upper and lower berths) featuring only a washbasin, club rooms (with upper and lower berths) including an en-suite toilet and shower, and double rooms with an en-suite toilet and shower.
Booking a club or double room also grants you access to the Caledonian Sleeper lounges at London Euston and Fort William stations.
The only reason why the Caledonian Sleeper doesn’t rank higher than sixth in my rankings of the 15 best night trains in Europe is its poor price-quality ratio, as booking a sleeper can be prohibitively expensive, with the train being tailored more towards the London business crowd and well-off tourists rather than the average Scotsman or international traveller.
5. Moscow to Murmansk ‘Arktika’ night train, RZD
Comfort: 8.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 8.5/10, Journey: 8/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 8.3/10
For a country as vast as Russia, it’s not surprising that there are many fantastic night train journeys to be made.
A journey along the Trans-Siberian Railway wouldn’t quite qualify as the best night train in Europe, given that most of the route is across the Urals in the Asian part of Russia.
That said, there are some epic night train rides in the European part of Russia, with the most special probably being the ‘Arktika’ sleeper train, which links Moscow with Murmansk above the Arctic Circle.
This night train, operated by the Russian Railways (RZD), is one of the “firmeny” category trains, which refers to branded long-distance trains offering a higher quality of service on board compared to standard sleeper trains.
On the Arktika night train, there are 4-berth ‘kupé’ compartments as well as 2-berth ‘spalny vagon’ compartments, which I found extremely comfortable in both daytime mode and with the bed made up at night for sleeping.
The Arktika night train has a dining car, although if you travel in a spalny vagon, you’ll be served a complimentary premium meal inside your compartment, which was of surprisingly good quality.
The views from the train are great too, with the landscape near Murmansk being surprisingly diverse, as pine forests give way to lakes, wild rivers, and distant mountains.
For what it’s worth, my trip on the Arktika train took place before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone travel to Russia at the moment, both for moral and safety reasons.
Western travellers in particular should exercise extreme caution, due to the high risk of politically motivated arrests and the possibility of being used as a bargaining chip.
4. Vienna to Bucharest ‘Dacia’ night train, CFR
Comfort: 8/10, Amenities & facilities: 9/10, Journey: 8.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 8.4/10
CFR, the Romanian Railways, operates a few international night trains, among which are the ‘Muntenia’ and ‘Ister‘ services between Bucharest and Budapest, as well as the ‘Dacia’ night train between Bucharest, Budapest, and Vienna.
The Dacia night train is the best of the Romanian sleeper services, as it is affordably priced, offers good facilities, and provides beautiful views of rural Transylvania and the Carpathian Mountains.
The Dacia offers standard second-class seats, 6- and 4-berth couchettes, as well as sleeper compartments available for triple, double, or single occupancy.
Some of the sleeper compartments on the Dacia night train are en-suite, featuring their own toilet and shower, although you can’t select one during booking and essentially have to rely on the luck of the draw to be assigned one.
Although the Dacia night train no longer features its excellent Romanian dining car, a Hungarian dining car is attached between Vienna and Budapest, serving breakfast when travelling towards Austria or dinner when travelling in the opposite direction to Romania.
Yet it’s the fabulous ride across Romania that makes the Dacia one of the best night train journeys in Europe, and since it’s a long distance between Vienna and Bucharest with a relatively low average speed, there’s plenty of time to enjoy the scenery in daylight.
On the stretch between Alba Iulia, Sighișoara, and Brașov, you can admire the beautiful rolling hills and some of the Saxon fortified churches of Transylvania from the window, while between Brașov and Bucharest, you’ll have stunning views of the majestic peaks of the Carpathians.
3. Budapest to Brasov ‘Corona’ night train, MÁV
Comfort: 7.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 8.5/10, Journey: 9/10, Price-quality ratio: 9/10
Total score: 8.5/10
There are three different night trains you can take if you want to travel between Budapest in Hungary and Brașov in Romania.
Two of these trains — the Bucharest to Budapest ‘Ister’ service and the Bucharest to Vienna ‘Dacia’ — are operated by the Romanian Railways (CFR), while the Budapest to Brașov ‘Corona’ night train is operated by the Hungarian Railways (MÁV).
The Corona night train, named after the Latin name for Brașov (and not the Mexican beer or the virus), ranks among the best in Europe for many reasons, particularly for its excellent price-quality ratio and scenic route.
This Hungarian sleeper train takes what might seem like a circuitous route through Romania, although it makes perfect sense once you realise that it stops in nearly all the main towns of the Székelyföld, the part of Transylvania predominantly inhabited by the ethnic Hungarian Székely people.
It’s therefore mostly Hungarians, rather than Romanians or foreign tourists, who patronise this night train, which gives it a distinctly authentic local feel on board.
Nowhere can you soak up the train travel vibe better than in the beautiful dining car of the Corona, where you can enjoy excellent Hungarian dishes — the goulash soup, pork lecsó, and palacsinta are my favourites — along with affordable yet superb bottles of wine from regions such as Tokaj and Villány.
As the dining car remains attached to the Corona night train for the entire journey, you can return in the morning for an excellent cooked breakfast, which is complimentary for those travelling in a sleeper compartment.
The Corona night train offers second-class seats, 6- and 4-berth couchettes, as well as 1-, 2-, and 3-bed sleeper compartments with a washbasin.
The sleeper car typically used on the Corona is a vintage coach from the 1980s, featuring wooden furnishings and burgundy red carpets and curtains, so don’t expect any modern amenities beyond a single power socket.
That said, MÁV makes an effort to make its sleepers more appealing by offering complimentary bottled water, sparkling wine, nuts, and a Hungarian chocolate roll as a welcome gift.
Although your sleeper compartment will be a bit basic, it has plenty of old-fashioned railway charm, including windows that can actually open, which is great for those who love to lean out to admire the scenery or simply feel a fresh breeze flowing through their hair.
During the morning, you can enjoy splendid views over the Carpathian Mountains, quaint villages, and dense forests before arriving in the picturesque medieval town of Brașov.
It’s an amazing train ride, and just as train travel in Hungary is generally affordable, so is this night train, with a sleeper costing around €100 per person and a three-course meal with a bottle of wine coming in at around €30 to €40.
2. Helsinki to Rovaniemi night train, VR
Comfort: 9.5/10, Amenities & facilities: 9.5/10, Journey: 8.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 8/10
Total score: 8.9/10
One of the best night train journeys you can make in Europe is the one in Finland between Helsinki and Rovaniemi in the northern region of Lapland.
This train is also known by foreign tourists as the “Santa Claus Express”, as it takes you to the doorstep of Santa’s Village on the Arctic Circle, just a few kilometres north-east of Rovaniemi itself.
The Helsinki–Rovaniemi night train is operated by VR, the Finnish State Railways, and features what is the best rolling stock of any European sleeper train.
These modern double-deck carriages offer two-berth sleepers, with the slightly cheaper compartments on the lower floor featuring just a washbasin, and those on the upper floor equipped with an en-suite bathroom including a shower and toilet.
If you’re a solo traveller and book a two-berth compartment, you automatically get it assigned for private use, so you don’t need to share it with a stranger.
For budget travellers, second class seats are available on the Finnish night train between Helsinki and Rovaniemi, although if you book your ticket well in advance, prices for a sleeper can be well-priced, especially when you consider the high prices of nearly everything else this far north in Europe.
The Finnish night train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi features a dining car offering reasonably priced drinks and good-quality meals — I particularly enjoyed both the meatballs and the pesto pasta with salmon during my two trips on this train.
VR also excels in the small details that matter greatly in creating the ultimate travel experience, whether by providing accessible compartments and Wi-Fi internet on the train or offering one of the best apps of any European railway company.
The journey to Lapland feels like a real adventure and is beautiful as well — especially in winter — though the views from the train window are not the most diverse.
1. Ankara to Kars ‘Doğu Ekspresi’, TCDD
Comfort: 9/10, Amenities & facilities: 8.5/10, Journey: 9.5/10, Price-quality ratio: 9/10
Total score: 9/10
The best night train in Europe, in my opinion, is Turkey’s ‘Doğu Ekspresi’ (Eastern Express), which links Ankara with Kars in the far east of Turkey in what is one of the world’s most spectacular rail journeys.
Although the winner of the ‘best night train in Europe’ competition might come as a surprise to many, given the many other great contenders, the Doğu Express consistently scores highly across all ranking factors, including on-board comfort, amenities and facilities, the journey itself, and the price-quality ratio.
This Turkish night train is not the highest ranked in any single category, but when we add up all the scores and calculate the average, it emerges as the winner, beating Finland’s Helsinki–Rovaniemi night train by just 0.1 point.
Due to the great popularity of the Doğu Express, there are now two night trains linking Ankara with Kars: the regular Doğu Ekspresi, featuring reclining Pullman seats and 4-berth couchettes, and the newly launched Turistik Doğu Ekspresi, which offers sleeping cars with 1- and 2-bed compartments, as well as a restaurant wagon.
The Turkish sleeper compartments aren’t the most modern you’ll find on European railway tracks, but they are well equipped, being air-conditioned and featuring a washbasin and a fridge that doubles as a complimentary minibar, stocked with water, juice, and some sweets for you to enjoy.
Although I find the seats in the Turkish sleeper compartments a bit uncomfortable in daytime mode, once flipped over and converted into a bed, it’s a completely different story, as the comfort of the bed, pillow, and duvet is unrivalled on European night trains.
The Doğu Ekspresi night train is very affordably priced, although I had to deduct a point due to the frequent difficulties in obtaining a ticket, as it sells out quickly once the booking window for a particular departure date opens, with many tickets bought by travel agents who then resell them at higher prices.
The single best aspect of the Doğu Express will always be its long and epic route across the Turkish interior, offering stunning views of the Euphrates River gorge, deep blue waters of artificial lakes contrasting beautifully with barren rocks, grasslands on the high plateau, and mountain passes.
Once you reach the pleasant city of Kars, don’t forget to take a half-day trip to the nearby ancient Armenian city of Ani, which is a spectacular sight, before perhaps continuing onwards to Georgia by bus from Kars to Batumi.
Other contenders
There are a few other contenders for the top 15 best night trains that I haven’t travelled on myself yet, but which I believe have a strong chance of making the list based on what I know and the experiences I’ve heard from other travellers.
The sleeper train operated by SJ (Swedish State Railways) from Stockholm in Sweden to Narvik in Norway should be a strong contender for the top 15 best night trains, as it runs an epic, relatively long route that takes you above the Arctic Circle.
This train features en-suite sleepers and a dining car, so it should rank highly for comfort as well as on-board amenities and facilities.
Another contender for Europe’s best night train is the seasonal service from Budapest to Split, operated by MÁV, the Hungarian Railways.
Although this train offers fairly average-quality couchettes and sleepers, it follows an epic route that takes you past Lake Balaton in the evening and through the rugged Croatian mountains the next morning, with the final stretch to Split offering superb views of the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea.
This seasonal night train also features a historic dining car, arguably the most atmospheric in all of Europe.
Besides these sleeper trains I have yet to try, there are a few others I have travelled on and briefly considered for my top 15, but ultimately left out for various reasons.
As I didn’t want to include more than one train per operator, I left out a few other fantastic night train routes that I can highly recommend, such as the one in Romania from Bucharest to Sighetu Marmației, which also offers some stunning views.
For similar reasons, I wanted my list to include as many different parts of Europe as possible without overrepresenting any one country.
This is why I left out the Astra Trans Carpatic night train between Bucharest and Timișoara and Arad, which would rank highly for its modern en-suite sleepers and good price-quality ratio, but not for its rather boring journey.
As much as I enjoyed the comfort of the Norwegian night train between Oslo and Stavanger, it isn’t exactly cheap, and journeys in Norway are probably best done during the day to fully appreciate the country’s stunning scenery.
The same definitely applies to the route from Belgrade in Serbia to Bar in Montenegro, as the seasonal daytime train is a far better choice than the year-round night service when visiting in summer, since this railway line offers some of the best scenery in all of Europe.
Although I aimed to rank each train objectively based on four different factors, my own preferences and experiences inevitably influenced the results, making this ultimately a personal list of what I consider the best night trains in Europe.
I’m sure other rail experts will agree with many of my arguments and rankings, but also disagree with just as many — which is perfectly fine, since no individual or organisation can claim the authority to decide for everyone what the best night train in Europe is.
If you agree or disagree with some of my choices, or want to suggest a sleeper train I didn’t include in my rankings, please feel free to leave a comment!
Conclusion
The best night train in Europe is Turkey’s ‘Doğu Ekspresi’ (Eastern Express) which links Ankara with Kars, narrowly beating Finland’s Helsinki-Rovaniemi sleeper train, with Hungary’s ‘Corona’ night train trailing in third place.
In my ranking of the 15 best night trains in Europe, I took into account factors such as on-board comfort, special amenities and facilities, the journey itself — including scenery or other unique elements that make the trip special — as well as the price-quality ratio.
Although you can look objectively at what makes a night train great, personal opinions and preferences inevitably play a role too, so it’s perfectly possible that you might have a different view on some of the trains included.
What matters most is that, in the end, a good night train offers a comfortable and time-effective way to travel, letting you go to sleep in one country and wake up to a completely different landscape the next morning.
It’s moments like these that capture what travel is really all about and why night trains will always feel magical.
Wow, great stuff. Thanks so much for the detailed analysis. I’ve been thinking about just this subject and now I have something to help in my searches.