Last year, sleeper trains were on the rise owing to concerns about climate change, and a post-pandemic desire to slow down and take in our surroundings as we move from place to place. Private companies like European Sleeper enticed romantics back onto the rails, and Austria’s ÖBB launched a brand new fleet of high-tech trains, unveiling several new routes. And the luxury market has followed suit, with a new version of the Orient Express due towards the end of the year, and an old favorite in Southeast Asia up and running once again. Here are six of the newest sleeper trains to look out for this year.
European Sleeper: Brussels, Belgium to Prague, Czech Republic
Last May, the long-awaited Good Night Train made its inaugural journey from Brussels to Berlin via Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, offering travelers a slightly cheaper, no-frills rival to the ÖBB Nightjet service that has just launched the same route (the Good Night Train runs on Mondays and Fridays, the Nightjet on Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday). Crowdfunded and launched by a Belgian-Dutch collective, European Sleeper is now extending the route to Prague from the end of March. Running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the service will depart from Brussels Midi station at around 7:20 p.m. and pull into Prague just before 11 the next morning—perfect timing for passengers to enjoy lunch and a stroll around the Czech capital before checking into a hotel. The company is looking into attaching a dining car to the train, but currently, there is only an attendant serving drinks, sandwiches, crisps and instant noodles—with a decent breakfast box of Ardennes pâté, crackers, yoghurt and juice for passengers in sleeper compartments – so you will need to dine beforehand or come equipped for the ride.
Eastern and Oriental Express, a Belmond train: Singapore-Malaysia-Singapore
After a hiatus, Belmond is restarting the Eastern and Oriental Express in Southeast Asia. It first ran 30 years ago between Singapore and Bangkok. Now, passengers can embark upon the Wild Malaysia itinerary, a three-night round-trip from Singapore that travels north through Malaysia’s jungles, allowing passengers to disembark in the rainforests of Taman Negara National Park and wander the smoky backstreets and old quarters of Penang Island. With three classes of accommodation on board, passengers can sit at the windows of vintage cabins paneled with polished cherrywood and draped with blush pink silks as the train rumbles through rubber and palm plantations, giant leaves thwacking the sides. Dress early for dinner and take a cocktail to the tail end of the train where an open observation car lets passengers stand against warm wind, the smell of wet jungle rushing by, before sitting down for dinner in one of two dining cars for local Peranakan cuisine and a Singapore Sling or two.
The Eastern & Oriental Express Wild Malaysia route operates from March 4—October 28, 2024, departing Singapore on Mondays. Wexas Travel offers a nine-day luxury rail holiday from $6,200 per person, including flights and hotels.
The Cadore Express: Rome to Cortina, Italy
One for ski and snowboard enthusiasts, the overnight Cadore Express debuted just before Christmas last year, taking passengers from Rome to the snowy Dolomites. It was already possible to do this journey during the day, but the sleeper service, which departs Roma Termini on Friday at 9:40 p.m., provides passengers with a direct line with no changes and the chance to hobnob in the dining car over plates of steaming Gorgonzola gnocchi followed by sticky beef cheek braised in red wine. With a capacity of 220 sleeper berths, the train has had an overhaul, with both single and double cabins for those wanting privacy—or a choice of the more convivial couchette compartments which sleep between four and six passengers. Smart, clean and cosy, with carpeted floors, bottled water and breakfast included, the Cadore Express is ideal for passengers looking for glorious mountain views over coffee and croissants, and arriving by 8am with a full day to spend on the slopes.
A one-way ticket in a couchette starts from €160 (about $175) at Tren Italia.
Nightjet: Hamburg, Germany to Vienna, Austria
Austria’s state operator, ÖBB, has been a powerhouse in driving the expansion of sleeper-train routes all over Europe, announcing a fleet of 33 new-generation trains last year. The first route to get one of the new trains was Hamburg to Vienna in December, featuring plush “comfort plus-compartments” – with en-suite showers and toilets, fixed beds, ambient lighting and a small bottle of sparkling wine – along with innovative “mini cabins”—designed much like Japanese capsule hotels. For passengers preferring privacy without the eye-watering price of a single compartment, the mini cabins contain just enough room for you to crawl in and lie down, with an adjoining locker for hand luggage and shoes. Air-conditioned, sound-proofed and with a key card to gain access, the cabins cost around half the price of a private comfort compartment. Departing around 8 p.m., the train sweeps out of the old city, with most passengers mingling over paper cups of wine in the corridors (owing to the lack of a dining car on board) before retiring by midnight as the train winds south towards Austria, arriving into the capital just after 9 a.m.
A seat costs from €34.90 (about $38) one way, a couchette from €79.90 (about $87) and a private compartment from €134.90 (about $145) at Nightjet.
Orient Express La Dolce Vita
Slated for launch towards the end of 2024, the latest embodiment of the fabled luxury train comes from the Accor Group, paying homage to the glorious excess and glamour of the 1960s. Designed by Dimorestudio, a Milan-based architecture and design studio founded by duo Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran, the train comprises 12 deluxe cabins, 18 suites and one Honor suite, featuring bold, block colors, geometric designs and glossy wooden slats on the ceilings. Decked out with smoked mirror walls, sofas that open into double beds and bespoke uplighters, the accommodation is ideal for passengers wanting to unwind in solitude as the train whips along the Italian countryside. Six different itineraries—featuring one or two nights on board—begin in Roma Ostiense station and two in Palermo Centrale, giving travelers a choice of options off the train that includes truffle-tasting in Piedmont, a private tour of Venice’s Basilica di San Marco by night, and riding horses in Abruzzo.
Prices start at €2,500 (about $2,725) per person per night in a deluxe cabin, and €3,700 (about $4,037.31) per person per night in a suite with Orient Express.
EuroNight: Warsaw, Poland to Munich, Germany
In partnership with a few other countries’ national railways, ÖBB runs another sleeper service, known as EuroNight, whose routes connect Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with coaches and services run by each partner—so the quality of sleeper berths, design and amenities can vary from one service to the next. Setting off from the Polish capital at 7.20 p.m., the EuroNight service rolls west out of the city, giving passengers the chance to peek into the backs of apartment blocks where families have dinner, and children’s nightlights glow softly behind thin curtains. The train soon picks up pace, thumping towards the countryside, at which point Kindles come out, phones are plugged in, and socked feet clamber up to berths. In the morning, there’s a good two hours to sit at the window, coffee in hand, watching the Bavarian countryside fly by before the train arrives in Munich at 10 a.m.
A couchette starts from €99.90 (about $108) one way with Nightjet.
Monisha Rajesh is the author of Around the World in 80 Trains. A version of this article originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller.