After years of announcements of new routes, Europe’s night train revival is now in full swing. All across the continent, trains are providing a much more comfortable, eco-friendly and sometimes even cheaper alternative to planes.
One of the continent’s most exciting new rail projects is the new European Sleeper train, which launched a brand-new route between Brussels and Berlin last year (we even tried it out ourselves). And next month, the rail company is expanding its sleeper service even further, with a route that will link up two of Europe’s most culture-packed capitals (Brussels and Prague).
European Sleeper’s Brussels-Prague route is an extension of that Brussels-Berlin route. Currently, the ‘Good Night Train’ stops at Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Berlin; the new service will also stop at Dresden, Saxon Switzerland, and the Elbe Valley before arriving in Prague. The whole route is expected to take around 15 hours, leaving Brussels at 7:22pm and arriving in Prague at 10:56am the following day. Thanks to the Eurostar connection in Brussels, the journey from London to Prague will be doable with just one same-station change in the Belgian capital.
According to European Sleeper’s website, the prices for European Sleeper’s upcoming service will start at €129 (£110) for seats and couchettes, and €169 (£144.50) for sleeper carriages. Excitingly, Interrail tickets will be accepted on the company’s routes. Since July 1, 2023, Interrailers have been able to reserve seats, couchettes and beds on European Sleeper trains.
The new, extended European Sleeper route from Brussels to Prague will launch on March 25 – and you can book tickets now. The service will run twice a week initially, on Mondays and Wednesdays, but is expected to run daily from March 2025.
The start-up wants to eventually increase its Brussels-Berlin service to once per day (it currently runs three times per week) and it also intends to launch a service from Amsterdam all the way down to Barcelona, in 2025 or 2026.
Find out more on the official European Sleeper website here, then read about why there’s no better time than now to ditch planes for travelling over land and sea.
The revival of rail travel in Europe
It’s clear that major change is happening in how we travel, with many of us becoming more conscious about travelling sustainably. Choosing flight-free travel is one of the most impactful ways to become a more sustainable tourist, and Europe’s rail revival is making that easier than ever. Time Out has extensively covered Europe’s train travel renaissance, from the brand-new sleeper trains that have launched this year to new high-speed services.
And it’s not just about convenience: many European countries are ensuring train travel can be done affordably. Countries such as Germany, Portugal and France have launched budget-friendly monthly transport passes.
Did you see that a new rail project will slash journey times between these European cities?
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