Sleeper trains on the continent how much and can you get single rooms?

[colc1]

Hi Guys,

Just wonndering if anyone knows how much on top of an inter-rail ticket approximately does it cost to get a single/sharing cabin on a sleeper train. Any knowledge on any prices,etc. in France, Spain, Germany much appreciated, thanks,

C

 

[capricorn]

i think you can only get single cabins in first class which are quite pricey as you'd expect. i've used them before in non-first class and it was six people per cabin. Not much room and the cabins were small and the beds uncomfortable.

for prices check the websites of the various euro rail companies eg. http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

 

[michaelm]

If you've never looked at http://www.seat61.com/ you should do so, lots of train related information.

 

[zag]

Seat61 is very usefull. Apart from anything else you will find out there that different countries have different classes of sleeping accommodation - so for example if going from Berlin to Warsaw you might want to go for a train with German accommodation instead of Polish (unless things have changed since my interrail days)

Also note that there are several different types of 'sleepers' and alternative types of carriages. The normal compartment with 3 facing 3 seats turns into a free 3 'bed' compartment because the seats pull together, but this only works on the less busy route where you don't have people getting on a mostly full train inthe middle of the night and telling you loudly to turn your bed back into seats so they can sit down.

Ah, the good old days of interrailing . . . remember the smellier you can make your compartment (while still being able to bear it yourself) the more likely you are to get a compartment to yourself.

Have fun . . . I did a good few interrails and enjoyed it all. There are just so many mad things you can do with a pass like an interrail, but it helps to like travel. We travelled from the very far south of Greece to the very far north of Norway in a few days just because we could . . . that was after seeing lots of the bits in between too.

z

 

[z102]

Zag gave you good advice. Remember that most interrailers have no money to spare on expensive city center hotels, those next to the station. It's common standard to sleep in the night train, anywhere. The six seats in a cabin turned to a three bed "sofa" are rather short, about 1.7 m as far as I remember. And both of the headrests of the joining seats can't be leveled fully, so you sleep with the feet and the head upwards.
So sleeping on the floor in the corridor, between the carriages or -with the older trains- in the luggage compartment above the seats if you're slim is what you've to expect. But wine and beer is cheap on the continent, the lulling rattle of the train and a bottle will get you asleep. But stay away from the toilet when unfolding your sleeping bag.