# Night trains in Europe: the routes worth booking this winter Paris lost its Nightjets in 2026, but new sleepers opened to Berlin, Milan and Poland. Here is what is worth booking this winter with a trip planner app. Canonical: https://www.go-guided.com/en/posts/night-trains-in-europe Published: 2026-09-25T12:38:00.000Z Author: Sandra Romano Europe's sleeper map got better and worse in the same twelve months, and public subsidies decided most of it. France stopped funding its half of the Paris Nightjets, and Switzerland's parliament voted down a sleeper that was already selling tickets. Meanwhile, an independent Belgian-Dutch operator opened two new international routes and Poland started building a corridor of its own. Demand looks healthy. Night trains in Europe are widely described as popular, and the advocacy group Back-on-Track estimates that a fully built-out network could cut up to 3% of EU greenhouse gas emissions by diverting flights. That figure comes from a campaign group, so read it with that in mind. In practice, subsidies decide almost everything. Private operators run old, expensive rolling stock (much of the fleet dates from the 1950s to the 1970s), and they have to apply for track capacity again every year in each country. Midnight Trains, a French premium start-up, gave up on its launch plans in 2024 because of funding difficulties. Below is what's actually running this winter, and the routes we'd happily spend a night on. ## 1\. What Europe lost in December 2025 ÖBB's Paris-Vienna and Paris-Berlin Nightjets ran for the last time on 14-15 December 2025. Austria's railway operated both jointly with SNCF. When the French government withdrew the subsidy that paid for SNCF's side, SNCF confirmed there would be no contract extension into 2026. Paris-Vienna had run since 2021 and Paris-Berlin since 2023. For just over three months afterwards, mainland France had no international night trains at all. The only sleepers left were the domestic Intercités de Nuit services in the south. Two more losses belong on the same list. ÖBB's Munich/Vienna-La Spezia Nightjets were discontinued at the same December change, and reports disagree on the reason. Separately, Switzerland's parliament rejected a 47 million Swiss franc subsidy for SBB's planned Basel-Copenhagen/Malmö night train. That cancelled the route even though tickets were already on sale for an April 2026 launch, and SBB refunded everyone who had booked. Nobody has replaced Paris-Vienna, and we wouldn't hold a winter trip open waiting for it. ÖBB's remaining network is smaller. Vienna-Brussels runs three nights a week, and Vienna-Amsterdam and Munich-Rome are still on the timetable. ÖBB is putting 24 new-generation Nightjet trains onto these routes, down from the 33 it originally planned. ## 2\. European Sleeper, the operator filling the gap On 26 March 2026, European Sleeper's first Paris-Berlin train ran on schedule, with around 25,000 bookings made before launch. The Belgian-Dutch operator, which is partly community-funded, had opened ticket sales on 16 December 2025, the same week the Nightjets stopped. It wasn't new to this. Its Brussels-Prague train has run since 2023, going via Amsterdam and Berlin two to three times a week, and the trip takes more than 16 hours. When ÖBB ended its own Brussels-Berlin Nightjet in March 2025, European Sleeper became the only night train on that stretch. ### Paris-Berlin This is the most useful new sleeper in western Europe right now, and the timetable is the main reason. It leaves Paris Gare du Nord at 18:03 and reaches Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 09:02. The return leaves Berlin at 18:31 and arrives in Paris at 11:00. It runs three nights a week in each direction, and it has also stopped at Hamburg since 12-13 July 2026. The old Nightjet went via Strasbourg and Frankfurt, but this train runs through Brussels. Together with Brussels-Prague, that gives six nights a week of sleeper service between Brussels and Berlin. Keep your comfort expectations modest. Euronews reported from the launch train and described German-rented 1990s rolling stock that was functional and not luxurious. There's no dining car and no Wi-Fi. Some cabins had a couple of USB-A ports. Berths measured about 60cm wide and between 175cm and 185cm long, and quiet hours run from 23:00 to 07:00. Some toilets were out of order on that first run. The carriages were full of families and couples. ```json:object { "_key": "9323dd79453c", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "Two bunk beds inside a train sleeper cabin, similar to a European night-train couchette.", "asset": { "_ref": "image-ed8b13e0082ac0afb51e9773ce18b3627880c72e-1080x621-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "M7Am-n~VDiNM9tDgnenNMxx^JEx^-;xuxB", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.7391304347826086, "height": 621, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#38484f", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 2.75, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#09445a", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.23, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#81817e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 6.65, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#b8aa88", "foreground": "#000", "population": 5.86, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#d9cca0", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0, "title": "#000" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#81817e", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 6.65, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#76662f", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.16, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "FOgFFIIuV6lwWHunm2PMr7NvSQ==" } } ``` > Guided tip: Pack dinner and breakfast before you board, because there's no dining car on this train. Bring a charged power bank too. Sockets are limited to a couple of USB-A ports in some cabins, and there's no Wi-Fi to fill the evening. ### Brussels-Milan Brussels-Milan launched on 9 September 2026, three months after its original June target and without Amsterdam. The operator pointed to summer trackworks in Germany and to the extra Swiss certification it needed to run in a new country. It also judged that launching in peak summer was too risky. The train runs from Brussels to Cologne and then crosses Switzerland. It calls at Zürich (some accounts now list Aarau instead, because of morning rush-hour congestion), then Göschenen and Lugano. It enters Italy at Chiasso and ends in Milan. The full journey takes 17 hours 8 minutes, and the train runs three nights a week in each direction. Several independent outlets, including Il Sole 24 Ore and The Local Italy, confirmed it launched on its revised date, and it's running now. If you're starting in Belgium or western Germany, we'd pick this over flying to Milan. ## 3\. Poland is building while others cut Poland is the one country on this map adding night trains without hedging, and it deserves more attention than it gets. The Euronight Carpatia launched on 14 December 2025 and runs from Przemyśl in Poland via Vienna and Salzburg to Munich. It has a proper sleeping car along with its couchettes, so it's a full overnight service and not a seats-only train. ```json:object { "_key": "dffd15e625b5", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "A narrow sleeper-car corridor on a European night train, leading toward a window.", "asset": { "_ref": "image-97686b67504237b8531f76bd91611ad01baa51bd-1080x608-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "MNH0|f+u^jbI0f~VMx%2xaROE+Vs%1t7V@", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.7763157894736843, "height": 608, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,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", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#584a39", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 2.47, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#8e1e04", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.01, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#d06118", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 4.96, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#b29e7e", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0.69, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#f5b47e", "foreground": "#000", "population": 2.23, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#a4876a", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 4.95, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#d06118", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 4.96, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "lkkKFITpF0xfmaZ0iojvqvKdOg==" } } ``` ### Also new from the same December 2025 change ČD's new Euronight from Prague to Przemyśl has seats and couchettes but no sleeping car. PKP's Gdynia-Prague “Baltic Express” gained a permanent sleeping car and a new route via Bydgoszcz, Toruń and Iława. Two new PKP/DB night services, Berlin-Przemyśl and Berlin-Chełm, are seating only. We wouldn't sit up all night on either unless price was the only thing that mattered. The Warsaw-Vilnius link may matter most. It's now about an hour faster, it has a second daily service, and it's timed to connect in Warsaw with the Chopin Euronight (train 406/407) arriving from Munich and Vienna. Taken together, these services form a Munich-Vienna-Warsaw-Vilnius corridor. ## 4\. Stockholm-Berlin changed hands SJ ran its own share of the Stockholm-Berlin Euronight for the last time on 31 August 2026, after Sweden's 2026 budget didn't renew its subsidy. SJ had operated the route with Germany's RDC Deutschland, which has kept it running since September. RDC Deutschland now shares the route with Snälltåget, a private Swedish operator. Between them they run it every other night, where SJ used to run it nightly. Snälltåget also runs a long-standing seasonal Berlin-Hamburg-Stockholm service on more than 200 days a year, with some departures starting in Dresden. It has said it plans more frequent Stockholm-Berlin night trains for autumn and winter 2026-27, but the exact frequency wasn't confirmed when we wrote this. Until it is, we'd wait to book this one. ### Don't mix this up with the day train Snälltåget's new Stockholm-Hamburg train is a different service entirely. It launched in May 2026, runs via Copenhagen and Malmö, takes about 11 hours each way, and travels entirely by day. ## 5\. What changes at the December 2026 timetable switch? Why does mid-December matter? It's when the annual timetable change arrives, and this year it brings real additions. Switzerland's new SBB timetable starts on 13 December 2026. The next day, Brussels-Milan adds stops at Breda and Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and Antwerp joins the route from December too. Tickets for the 14 December to 3 January period have been on sale since 2 June 2026. That doesn't mean Amsterdam is back. One report says a full Amsterdam stop may slip to 2027, because a standalone off-peak Amsterdam service isn't commercially viable on its own. This winter, Dutch travellers board at Breda or Eindhoven, and we'd do that rather than wait. ```json:object { "_key": "3f2c275b1e69", "_type": "mainImage", "alt": "A traveller walking along a platform under the historic roof of Amsterdam Centraal station.", "asset": { "_ref": "image-ef43a9dfb942d91eacab7b39150cde83245028d9-1080x811-jpg", "_type": "reference" }, "markDefs": null, "metadata": { "_type": "sanity.imageMetadata", "blurHash": "V49QjiD$IAM|-;00bwVq9a%M~W?bI9-;WA.8Vrg5M_bH", "dimensions": { "_type": "sanity.imageDimensions", "aspectRatio": 1.3316892725030827, "height": 811, "width": 1080 }, "hasAlpha": false, "isOpaque": true, "lqip": "data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAPABQDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAGAAAAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGBAf/xAAgEAABAwQDAQEAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMEAAURMRIhQQYT/8QAFwEAAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECA//EABkRAQEBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAANBUf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A4XGvZ/oADGAh5aUt1uu91J+aRRYSMsqqIjQ9pqqFv5y3wFByK0pKmV5Gue/KatWZp2CbzeAeXHIse0TaZMDp22Q3XYTZoOM+LRTSRfr/AA3iZSLBIR0uE7SioYj3anLR1v/Z", "palette": { "_type": "sanity.imagePalette", "darkMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#543930", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.94, "title": "#fff" }, "darkVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#154563", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0.09, "title": "#fff" }, "dominant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7f7a77", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 6.55, "title": "#fff" }, "lightMuted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#b9bbbe", "foreground": "#000", "population": 3.76, "title": "#fff" }, "lightVibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#91c6e7", "foreground": "#000", "population": 0, "title": "#fff" }, "muted": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#7f7a77", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 6.55, "title": "#fff" }, "vibrant": { "_type": "sanity.imagePaletteSwatch", "background": "#2c92d2", "foreground": "#fff", "population": 0, "title": "#fff" } }, "thumbHash": "EPgFDYBUpndwWInPprZ3Zutghh90" } } ``` ÖBB's next-generation Nightjets also start serving an Amsterdam-Zürich route at this change. ÖBB describes it as carrying overnight travellers from Amsterdam, Hamburg and Vienna on three lines. The individual line details weren't public when we wrote this. Two daytime additions from 13 December are worth knowing about. Switzerland adds a second daily direct Venice-Zürich service, up from one, and a new year-round daily connection from La Spezia via Genoa to Zürich. Neither runs overnight. We wouldn't call the La Spezia connection a replacement for the Nightjet that city lost, since swapping a sleeper for a day train is a different trip, but it's worth knowing about if an overnight berth was never the point for you. ## 6\. How to book a night train in Europe There's no single booking site covering Europe's night trains. For European Sleeper, search on nightride.com, which sends you to europeansleeper.eu to finish the purchase on the operator's own site. Paris-Berlin launch fares started at these levels: - Budget seat: from €39.99 - Classic couchette: from €59.99 - Comfort standard: from €99.99 - Comfort plus: from €129.99 - Private full compartment: from €279.99 Brussels-Milan is priced on its own scale. Seats start from €30 and sleeping-car berths from €130, with couchettes between €50 and €100. Every European Sleeper route offers the same flexibility tiers: - Easy Night: no changes or refunds - Good Night: 100% refund up to one month before travel, 50% up to 15 days before - Flex Night: 100% refund up to 48 hours before travel If you're booking months ahead, we'd pay for Good Night. Easy Night only makes sense once your dates are fixed. > Guided tip: An Interrail or Eurail pass doesn't cover the berth on its own. You still pay a separate reservation, from €11 to €21 for a seat up to €229 to €269 for a private couchette compartment, and every traveller in a private compartment needs their own pass. Compare that with the €279.99 private compartment fare on Paris-Berlin before you assume the pass is cheaper. ## 7\. Which night trains in Europe are worth booking this winter? Book Paris-Berlin. If you only take one sleeper this winter, make it this one. It has been running since March, the 09:02 Berlin arrival leaves you most of the day, and couchettes started from €59.99 at launch. With Brussels-Prague on the same corridor, there's a Brussels-Berlin departure six nights a week. Our second pick is Brussels-Milan, especially once the 14 December stops open it to travellers from the southern Netherlands. If you're heading east instead, the Carpatia is the most complete new sleeper on the continent, and it comes with a sleeping car. Wait on Stockholm-Berlin until Snälltåget's winter frequency is confirmed. Skip the seats-only Berlin-Poland services unless the fare is the deciding factor. Don't plan around Paris-Vienna coming back. Longer term, the rebuild is slow but real. In 2023, Trenitalia and Škoda signed a €732 million deal for 370 new night-train coaches, and France's government plans to order 180 new carriages, with an option for 160 more. ## 8\. Ready to plan your night-train trip? Got a route picked? Check the operator's own site for exact departure dates first. Both European Sleeper routes run three nights a week in each direction, and sources list slightly different day patterns. Once a departure is confirmed, build the rest of the trip around it in the Guided trip planner, from the evening before you board in Paris to your first morning in Berlin. If you're adding a second sleeper later in the trip, the Guided travel planning app keeps both legs and the days between them in one place. ## Enjoyed This Blog? Continue Reading![horizontalScroll: non-text section]