A new European Sleeper night train will connect Brussels, Cologne, Munich and Venice from February 5. Here’s what prospective passengers need to know.
A new European Sleeper train route connecting Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy will begin service on February 5, the night train company has announced.
Southbound, the train will stop in Brussels, Breda, Eindhoven, Cologne, Munich, Innsbruck, Verona, Bolzano and Venice, departing from Brussels Midi / Zuid at 6:06pm and arriving in Venice at 3:00pm the following day.
Northbound, the train will leave Venice at 4:15pm, stop in Munich at 11:45pm, in Cologne at 7:07am and arrive in Brussels by 12:38pm the following afternoon.
For now, the rail company has only published travel dates for February and March. Timetable information from April onwards should follow shortly.
The southbound service will run between Brussels and Venice on February 5 and 14, and additional but limited services between Brussels and Innsbruck will run on February 21 and 28. The southbound service will then resume the entire Brussels-Venice route on March 4 and 12.
The northbound route between Venice and Brussels will run on February 9 and 18, then on March 8 and 16. The additional but limited service between Innsbruck and Brussels will run on February 22 and March 1.
How much your ticket will cost for the Brussels-Venice route largely depends on how comfortable you’d like your night’s sleep to be.
For the service running southbound between Brussels and Venice on March 4, you can expect to pay around 100 euros for an upright seat in a compartment of six or 120 euros for a couchette bed in a six-person cabin.
The most expensive option, a bed in a private cabin for two, fitted with a sink, extra seat and breakfast service, will set you back around 200 euros.
Speaking to The Local, professional train passenger and blogger The Man in Seat 61 advised, “Like anything, book as far ahead as you can and the booking horizon allows, mid-week is cheaper than weekends, February is cheaper than June.”
For more information head to the European Sleeper website.
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