Ross McQueen

I’ve taken many overnight trips on Europe’s railways – always in shared compartments. And while I love the idea of sleeper trains, when you’re pressed in between snoring strangers, it can be impossible to sleep at all. So when I booked an overnight trip from Brussels to Prague – a new-ish extension of European Sleeper’s cross-continental route – I decided enough was enough. I gritted my teeth and booked a private couchette, and spoiler alert: it was better. Photograph: Ross McQueen for Time Out At the end of June, on the warmest day of the year so far, I arrive at Brussels Midi station to find out if my private berth on the European Sleeper is all it’s cracked up to be. My expectations are high. Past journeys have found me in six-seater compartments on the NightJet from Amsterdam to Innsbruck, or full-size carriages on the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Glasgow. And on first glance, tonight’s room looks a lot like the seater compartments I’ve come to know too well: six seats facing each other, about a metre apart. Photograph: European Sleeper The difference here is that the backs of the seats push further into the wall, and a set of crisp sheets and plump pillows are stashed overhead, waiting to be draped across the seats. All the same, it looks a bit rough-and-ready – the Orient Express, this is not. But the sheer novelty of having the room to myself already makes me optimistic. I settle in, open the window, and prepare for the train to depart. The Orient Express, th