6 of the best European sleeper trains for 2025

The joy of the journey and the pleasure of slow travel has mixed with increasing eco-consciousness to set off a new era of train travel. Sleeper trains are slowly catching up with the expansion in high-speed rail, providing intriguing travel opportunities across Europe that mix convenience with scenic and memorable rides on the rails. Here are new routes worth booking this year and beyond.

European Sleeper is the new start-up shaking up the snoozy world of sleeper trains on the continent, with the aim of eventually challenging the decades old dynasties of rail like OBB. The company’s first route linked Brussels to Berlin and this new addition is an extension of that initial venture, stopping in the wonderfully reconstructed city of Dresden on its way south. You’ll wake up at the perfect time as the train winds through the stunning valleys of so-called ‘Saxon Switzerland’ on its way past Bad Schandau and Děčín, before arriving in Prague. Seats from €79 (£66), shared couchettes from €109 (£91) and private cabins from €219 (£184).

OBB has had faith in sleepers when other railway companies around Europe had given up on them — the company has made it a key part of its strategy, even buying new trains recently. You can experience the Austrian state operator’s new Nightjet trains, which feature Lilliputian private ‘pods’, on the 12-hour route up through Germany to Hamburg, which passes through rolling fields before its arrival in the hip port city. Watch out for the dynamic pricing, which has fired up rail forum users, and look to book as far in advance as possible to get that famed €39 (£33) discount fare.

(Here’s what to expect from Europe’s new age of high-speed train travel.)

Britain has two regular sleeper trains: the GWR Night Riviera Sleeper from London to Penzance, and the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Scotland. Soon, a luxurious new entrant to the market will be offering stylish surroundings in which to live out your Agatha Christie fantasies from July 2025. The Belmond Britannic Explorer will be like no other sleeper train the UK has ever seen. Sumptuous interiors and fine dining mark out this special train, with journeys designed as a once-in-a-lifetime treat rather than a quotidian slog from A to B. With tickets from £5,800, journeys will take in the beauty spots of Britain: Cornwall, the mountains of Wales and the Lake District — the perfect place to hike off the calories from all the delicious food.

OBB began running its new Nightjet trains on this route in September 2024, meaning you can experience the sleeping pods or larger private compartments — from €39 (£33) and €159 (£133), respectively — as you journey through the mighty Alps. Waking up on the northbound journey is more fun, as you’ll get to see the mountains and rivers of the Alps on the approach to Munich and the rolling Austrian countryside as the train reaches the Austrian capital and OBB’s hub at Vienna HBF. New Nightjet trains contain enhanced power outlets for charging your gizmos as well as wi-fi and showers.

The fully revived Eurostar snow train from London St Pancras to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in France is running again and this year, there are various new winter sports services across the continent. European Sleeper has a new February and March 2025 service from Brussels, Breda, Eindhoven, Venlo and Cologne down to Munich (for the Bavarian Alps) and Bolzano (for Sud Tirol), before continuing to Verona and Venice. This route is also likely to return for the winter 2026 season. Prices TBC. European Sleeper has also introduced a new dining car after initial complaints from hungry travellers. Separately, Trenitalia is running winter sports services north from Rome to the Dolomites at the start of 2025 in partnership with Vialattea.

Trenitalia runs a good network of affordable sleepers across Italy, but for that extra extravagance, there’s the Orient Express La Dolce Vita, run in conjunction with Accor and separate to Belmond’s Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express train. Various multi-day itineraries will run around Italy, with the Sicily trains setting off from April 2025 and offering incredible comfort in new carriages designed by Dimorestudio. Prices start from £6,000 per person based on two sharing. The journey south will include the famous crossing of the Strait of Messina, where the train trundles onto the ferry, before stopping in picture-postcard Taormina and Palermo.

(Where to go and how to plan a family rail adventure around Europe.)