Venice to Vienna on the Nightjet: what the NYTimes got wrong

I’m shockingly on trend this week having traveled from Venice to Vienna on the Nightjet, an overnight train service offered by the Austrian railway ÖBB, three days before the New York Times wrote an article about the same route and train. (ÖBB’s PR department has been working overtime — their sleeper train also popped up in a Bloomberg article.) The NYTimes article featured bright-eyed travelers arriving in Venice in the morning after their all-night journey feeling rested and refreshed. I would have liked to meet those people.

I have a bit of a thing about overnight trains which has deepened with the Greta-induced “flight shaming” trend. My journeys have ranged from the sitting upright on a night train across Spain in a compartment filled with soldiers (Eurail pass days) to a rather lovely single room with a bed and bath on a night train from Vienna to Paris years ago. I was looking forward to sharing a sleeper train experience with Donella and Sebastian.

When John was out of town — he’s less than enthusiastic about the overnight train concept — I got the idea that the kids and I, plus Lola the dog, would take a pre-holiday jaunt to Vienna to look at Christmas markets and take the Nightjet. Venice to Vienna sounded nicely alliterative so we packed up the car, drove to Venice, had dinner in one of our favorite places (a Jewish restaurant called Gam Gam), and boarded the Nightjet which leaves at 9:10. We were ready for adventure.

I’d booked a cabin for three people, but it would have been tight for one. The three of us stood in the corridor for a few minutes trying to figure out how we could physically fit in the space with our one small suitcase each and the dog. One at a time we squeezed in sideways between the sink and the ladder, passing bags over our heads, and scrambled to our bunks. The three couchette-type beds were set up one over the other. Sebastian took the top, which was really high up and needed a ladder to access. This gave him a bit of room to stash stuff over the top of the sink cabinet as well as a spot to stretch his legs. I took the middle, which also needed a ladder to get to, and Donella and Lola took the bottom. There wasn’t enough room to sit upright in the bunks so all of us assumed semi-prone positions as we negotiated over the order in which we’d get our stuff and use the sink in our cabin.

The bunks did come with sheets, a little duvet, and the thinnest and smallest pillow I’ve ever seen. And there was a breakfast menu to fill out with choices of bread, cheese, ham, yogurt, and a few other options.

We finally turned out the lights to settle in. But after five minutes they turned back on by themselves for about an hour until the staff could figure out the problem. Darkness came and we finally rolled over to go to sleep. At least some of us did. Our neighbors on both sides were very talkative and we could hear every word through the thin walls. They finally quieted down. And then around two in the morning the lights came back on by themselves.

Seemed like the higher the elevation of the bunk the sounder the sleep. Despite everything Sebastian went right to sleep and woke up the next morning rested. On the bottom Donella and Lola spent the whole night sleepless. Lola seemed to share John’s security concerns despite the fact that our door had a hotel-style key and several locks, and she was wide awake guarding the pack. Donella heroically prevented her from disturbing anyone else. I was literally, and experientially, somewhere in the middle.

They pick a slow route for night trains so that the times are more convenient, leaving at 9pm and getting in Vienna around 8am, so there was plenty of time to relax and sleep. (The Caledonian Sleeper from London, which I’ve also taken, even pulls to a side track and stops for several hours a night to avoid arriving in Edinburgh in the wee hours of the morning.)

John joined us a day later in Vienna from the States and we all returned to Venice on Christmas Eve taking ÖBB’s daytime express train which was a seven and a half hour trip.

Pros and cons? If I were to do it over again I’d book more cabins — three in one cabin was too many and it would be nice not to have the middle bunk — if they were available. I’d put essentials in an easier to get to place than my suitcase, which was almost impossible to access in such a tiny space. I’d bring my own pillow and much better ear plugs than the ones they provided. And I’d probably not bring Lola. Bottom line? Mid-range cabin sleeper trains are still a bit rough.

I enjoyed the speedy day train on the return more because the scenery in Austria was gorgeous which we missed on the sleeper train. We’d also provisioned an epic picnic in Vienna which made the middle of the trip really nurturing.

But despite all the downsides there is still something romantic and alluring about a night train. Even had a crazy idea of going from Finland to Sicily by sleeper train. But I think I’d have to get fresh traveling companions.