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bahn.de city night line

  • 13-09-2012 10:42am
    #1
    boredatwork82
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,220 ✭✭✭


    Has anyone any experience of the overnight sleeper trains. What kind of accomadtion do you recommend, and is it worth or should one just fly? Will be going solo.
    Thanks


Comments

  • #2
    munchkin_utd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,921 ✭✭✭munchkin_utd


    boredatwork82 wrote: »
    Has anyone any experience of the overnight sleeper trains. What kind of accomadtion do you recommend, and is it worth or should one just fly? Will be going solo.
    Thanks
    Where are you thinking of going from and to? And whats your budget?

    To be honest I'd fly quicker or take a day train BUT the night train has its advantages.
    a) you save on a nights accomodation, so if going from place to place you can do sightseeing during the day and then wake up in a new place every day! The folks form america/ australia/ asia do this a lot to minimise time wasted/ save cash.
    b) you often land good and early in your destination and right in the city centre so normally better than an early morning flight. Also, accomodation in some city centres like Amsterdam can be dear so the cheapest way of waking up near the centre there can be to arrive on a night train.
    c) it can be extremely cheap - most connections can be got for 19 or 29 euro booking in advance, even really long distance international trips. To put it in perspective, you'd probably spend 19euros just getting to and from the airport both sides so it really is a good deal.
    d) linked to c ! Deals on overnight trains are normally more frequently available than on day trains as they dont sell out as quickly!

    on the negative side, the really cheap seats are actual seats so not great for sleeping. The cabins with beds arent bad, but its a pain if the train leaves at say 7pm as you are wide awake but cant sit anywhere so you must lye in your bed for hours.

    I never went in the swish single/ double cabins but a work colleague did and reckons it wasnt a bad way to travel. They though are pretty expensive so at that stage a flight is as cheap IF the times work for you (which in his case at the time didnt as he needed to do a days work yet wake up at the other end of germany at the crack of dawn for the arrival of a cruise ship!)

    anyhow, tell us what you are planning and it might be easier to give advice!


  • #3
    boredatwork82
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,220 ✭✭✭boredatwork82


    Thanks for the reply munchkin. I have a week off in November so looking to do something. One of the ideas was fly to Prague, spend 3 nights there. Get the overnight train from Prague to Amsterdam and then spend the next 3 nights there, before flying back to Dublin. I suppose looking at the train as more an activity than as a cost saving thing. Not penny pinching but If i can reasonable comfort for low prices i would be happy. No need for fancy luxuries really.


  • #4
    munchkin_utd
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,921 ✭✭✭munchkin_utd


    well, looking at the timetable the train leaves at 7pm.

    If you get a 6 berth sleeper then you may have up to 5 other dry arse folks intent on sleeping at that unholy time of the evening meaning a pretty crap journey.

    If you are travelling with company (or even on your own) then maybe just opt for a seat in the regular carraige. Booking now it costs only 29 euro and you can spend the rest on a carry out to help you sleep! Depending on how things go you might meet a few sound heads and have the crakc till early in the morning.

    NOTE: those trains normally have no buffet carraige but theres a limited supply of beer in a stash in the conductors cabin but not enough to keep an amount of thirsty folks supplied for an evening.
    And even if youre tee total, at least bring some grub as you dont want to go hungry!


  • #5
    mimihops
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 437 ✭✭mimihops


    I got a city night line train this summer, would definitely recommend it actually. I wasn't doing it for the cheapness factor, I love train journeys and was travelling around Eastern Europe on train and this was a little luxury journey as the rest were a bit rough and ready. I went for the ensuite cabin, it would be far more expensive than flying I imagine, but to me nothing could beat it, I was doing it for the experience, there's something old fashioned and romantic about train travel I think and especially when you are given a bottle of wine when you are leaving in the night and bubbles for your breakfast the next day! It's something I'd love to do again & would really recommend it, there seemed to be lots of different options for compartments/seats etc and as the poster above said if you met the right people you could have fierce craic. Definitely bring more drink with you though as they didn't have much onboard.


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