I would give European Sleeper zero stars if I could. This is genuinely one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with.
I booked their highest available fare class months in advance, paying a premium of more than €100 per ticket for better accommodations. On the very day of our departure, European Sleeper unilaterally downgraded us to their lowest fare class.
What we received was absolutely disgraceful. Our cabin was filthy, with stains covering the interior. There wasn’t even a ladder to access the upper bunks. The drinking water provided in our cabin had already been opened and was half empty. The accommodations were disgusting, unacceptable, and nowhere close to what we had paid for.
Despite selling us premium accommodations and then providing their lowest-class service, European Sleeper refused to offer more than a €25 refund. They wouldn’t even refund the substantial difference between the fare class we purchased and the inferior accommodations they actually provided.
Their customer service somehow managed to make the experience even worse.
The contact information published on their own website was INCORRECT. After tracking down a working phone number, I encountered an automated recording repeatedly telling me they were extremely busy, while simultaneously informing me that I was first in the queue. After approximately 15 minutes, the recording announced that nobody was available and disconnected my call. I tried calling back multiple times, only to experience the exact same ridiculous sequence.
After another 20–30 minutes of searching the internet, I finally located their WhatsApp contact information. Their response was essentially a polite way of telling me to get lost. They were “terribly sorry” about the filthy accommodations and last-minute downgrade, but steadfastly refused to provide a refund remotely commensurate with the difference between what I paid for and what they delivered.
European Sleeper charged premium prices, delivered their lowest-tier accommodations in appalling condition, and then refused to take meaningful responsibility.
I have rarely encountered a company so utterly indifferent to its customers or so unwilling to stand behind the services it sells.
Avoid European Sleeper. Based on my experience, paying extra for premium accommodations means absolutely nothing, and if something goes wrong, don’t expect this company to make it right.

Going interrailing next year! While doing my route i am a bit uncertain on the itinerary days.

My main start was to be in barcelona (20-24 july) and then travel to paris. However, the hotel prices in the 24th in paris was double the price and it would be cheaper to stay on the 25th instead… l

My main question is; Is it worth staying those amount of days and then our other destination “Prague” where we would stay 4 days and 3 nights? I’ve heard many enjoyed prague and wished they stay longer.

thank you!

Hi guys, I'm planning on going interrailing with my friend next summer - we will both be 17. We are aware of the limitations surrounding this ie having to book private hostel rooms and such. I also went to Paris by myself with a couple of friends last summer aged 16 plus the summer before I went interrailing with my parents so I am definitely well versed. We are looking into cheap places to go - and I just saw how cheap hostels in Turkey are. Is there a reason people don't really talk about Turkey much as their interrail route?

Also, I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations of cheap routes with a good nightlife. We will be coming from London so need to start somewhere with train connections from London. We are open to the possibility of getting a cheao flight back from where we finish so we dont have to spend loads of time travelling home. We do have the unlimited travel within a month pass though, so as long as it's cheap we're not too limited!!

Thanks in advance!

I am going to be going next year. I am wondering why I commonly see people taking backpacks instead of suitcases. I personally think a suitcase would be easier and fit more but would love to have n opinion off someone who has been before! TIA

Hey all!!

I am travelling to Madrid through Nice and Marseille, and will be in Nice tomorrow (27/10). I am trying to get to Madrid by 31/10, and would be looking to take the AVE that departs from Marseille Saint-Charles at 08:04.

I have read that it is only possible to reserve seats for this train in Spain, or directly with the conductors at the platform in Marseille.

My question is: do any of you have experience with this connection, and if so, how easy do you think it will be to get this seat? I am also open to any other methods that would improve my chances at getting a seat (though I suspect approaching the conductor at the platform will be the only viable option).

Thanks in advance for the help! :)

Me and my friend are backpacking and are trying to find the cheapest and easiest way to navigate this route: Dublin → Rome → Croatia → Venice → the Dolomites → Switzerland → Paris → Amsterdam . We also are needing help if anyone knows the best app to navigate as we’re there and any general advice you guys might have.*
Thank! Anything’s helpful

The first tickets have gone on sale from MAV. At the moment, only the EuroCity through trains from Vienna have gone on sale. They are not yet available from OBB and do not yet appear in the OBB timetable.

Some trains are marked as full already, but some dates have trains available.

Interrail reso costs 2 euros.

As above. We have a first class 7 days in a month trip planned for March. We are flying into Verona and have our return seats on Eurostar from Brussels and the UK portion booked. I've kind of got planning fatigue on this one and would rather just wing it day by day (ish) or book much closer to the time.

Is anything going to sell out or am I risking anything by leaving it to the last minute?

Hi,

Anyone travelled from London - Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris - Geneva - Milan or similar route before?

Would like to know what's the best way to travel (economy) across these countries? Eurostar can be expensive and does not connect to Swiss and beyond.

What's the best rail connection and website to book the tickets?

I'm traveling with a group of 4 from London and end at Milan next Apr 27.

Thanks

I have booked this €169 sleeper train ticket (Zürich-Villach, single occipancy, the Croatian one), and I’m considering using a shared sleeper or a couchette one. I have used sleeper trains many times, alone or with my friend, but not a chouchette.

Is a couchette that uncomfortable compared to a sleeper bed? I thought about using a two-person sleeper, but as long as I have to share the space with others, I think I’d rather choose a couchette.

Any advice please? I’ll be travelling with a 28-inch wheeled suitcase and a normal backpack with me. I hope there is enough space to store my bag under the lower couchette berth?

I'm trying to book a train from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Kraków Główny for December 18, 2026, ideally via Berlin Hbf or Leipzig Hbf, and I've been checking DB and PKP Intercity for the past couple of weeks.

The problem is that I can't seem to book the journey for my travel date.

DB doesn't let me book anything after December 9. When I search for December 18, I get:

Reservation cannot be made

Unfortunately, a reservation is not possible for this connection. Due to compulsory reservation, a booking is therefore not possible. Please choose another connection.

There isn't even an option to reserve seats separately.

I know there's a timetable change on December 13, and DB supposedly allows international bookings up to 180 days in advance. PKP Intercity also sells tickets well in advance, so I'm not sure what's going on.

Since PKP Intercity doesn't allow me to book Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Kraków Główny, I've been checking the Berlin Hbf to Kraków Główny route directly on PKP Intercity instead.

The latest date I can book is November 19. For anything after that, I get:

Communication

No offers fulfil the criteria.

My travel date is December 18, which is only 56 days away, and I'm starting to worry because it's right around Christmas.

I'd normally just keep checking occasionally, but I'm worried the tickets might sell out or get so expensive that I'd rather fly.

I can already see tickets from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Berlin Hbf being booked up. If I wait for PKP Intercity to release the Berlin Hbf to Kraków Główny tickets, there's a possibility that the tickets I need for the first leg will be gone.

I'm considering buying Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Berlin Hbf now and booking the Berlin Hbf to Kraków Główny connection once PKP Intercity finally releases its tickets. The downside is that booking everything separately could end up costing me around 50% more.

Would buying the tickets in person at a DB Reisezentrum in Frankfurt make any difference? Or would third party booking sites like Trainline have access to tickets that aren't showing up on DB or PKP Intercity? From what I've read, they generally sell tickets through the same operators, so I'm not sure there's any point.

What would you do in this situation?

Would you book Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Berlin Hbf now and wait for PKP Intercity to release the Berlin Hbf to Kraków Główny tickets, or wait for the remaining connection and risk the Frankfurt to Berlin tickets selling out?

Would visiting a DB Reisezentrum in Frankfurt actually help?

Is this normal around the December 13 timetable change, or is there something about international train bookings between Germany and Poland that I'm missing?

I'm not particularly attached to travelling through Berlin or Leipzig. I just want to get to Kraków without paying significantly more than necessary or risking being stranded halfway through the journey.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone who's booked international trains between Germany and Poland around Christmas or dealt with the December timetable change.

Would you book Frankfurt (Main) Hbf to Berlin Hbf now or wait for the Berlin Hbf to Kraków Główny tickets to become available?

Hello, we have a reservation for the european sleeper from milano to brussels on october 30th.

Now there is a nationwide strike announced for that day and the information I can find is very confusing.

I found some reports saying international trains are also always cancelled, but also some saying nighttrains will still run during strikes. ES customer support answered, that they expect the train to run, but since it seemed like an automated response, I don't want to rely on that.

Do you have any experience of ES running during strikes?

Hello everyone!

I’m trying to find a ticket online from Istanbul Halkali to Sofia but both the TCDD and BDZ websites don’t show this connection (TCDD gives me an error message during the search query and on BDZ I’m not even able to find a stop named “Istanbul”) - the timetable says it’s running including December 2027.

Does anybody know how to book a ticket for this connection online? I would greatly appreciate any input, thanks in advance!

I’m travelling to Glasgow today and the Eurostar departed 40 min late in Amsterdam. I have reserved a seat on the 15:30 direct train from London Euston but I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it (approx. 14:57 arrival).

Now when I try to make a reservation through TPE or GWR for the 16:30 direct train from Euston or from King’s Cross through Edinburg, I keep on getting the notification “you can sit in any vacant seat”. Does that mean there are no seats left on the train?

Any tips to get a seat number assigned? I am still recovering from an injury and cannot stand for a long amount of time.

As said in the title, I rebooted my phone and when i wanted to log in again the trip and the pass were gone and i was told that it was already on another device. Submiting a request on interrail only got me an unhelpful automated answer.

Any Idea how to deal with the situation?

I bought an Interrail pass at full price and had already used its pass number to book my seat reservations. Not long after, Interrail started a sale, so I wanted to refund my original pass and buy a discounted one instead.

The problem was that my seat reservations were non-refundable, and I wasn't sure if they would still be valid with a new pass number.

I contacted Interrail customer support, and they told me that as long as the name on the seat reservations matches the name on my passport, I can still use them. According to their reply, the pass number itself doesn't affect the validity of the reservations.

This was really helpful because it meant I might not have to pay for the seat reservations all over again just to take advantage of the discount.

I'd still recommend checking with Interrail support before doing this yourself, especially if you have reservations with specific operators, but I thought I'd share in case anyone else is in the same situation!

Posting in the hope it helps others. When buying my Interrail pass I entered a different passport number than the passport I travelled on. Didn't spot it until the first time I used the pass, in Denmark, and the conductor noticed I had a different passport and while I could use the pass that day, told me to fix it. The Interrail site says you can't change the passport number once the pass has been activated, so I thought I was screwed. But I used the chat on the Interrail site, and an agent fixed it within minutes, once I closed and reopened the app the new passport number was there. Super easy. Of course, I've used the pass five times since then and nobody has asked for my passport! But when they do, I'll be ready.

I've used Interrail passes many times but never just after a new timetable launch. The example I'm looking at is 26th December, Berlin to Poznan. Interrail doesn't show anything in most countries (including Poland) around that date due to the lack of updated timetable but Bahn.de does show routes and ticket prices.

When is Interrail website going to reflect the new timetable and can I safely plan around the times shown on Bahn?

I'm just back home after a short trip to Spain. One of my old uni mates has an apartment in Jerez, and we tend to go visit for a couple of days every other year or so, without wives or kids, to sample the local drinks (sherry, and beers) etc. This year we decided to go by train; he was sure that buying individual advance tickets would be cheapest, I thought an Interrail pass would be.. Comparison at the end!

I live in Norwich, he in Colchester, so I took a Greater Anglia train early on Saturday morning to Colchester where he joined. We then went to Stratford, walked through the shopping centre to International station for the hop to St Pancras before the Eurostar to Lille. We had 2 1/2h in Lille, so walked through the city centre to a brasserie for a steak frites, say the protest marches before getting some snacks (cheese, wine, ham) for the long train to Perpignan. Of the near 7h journey, it got dark just around Paris so we didn't get to see the most scenic portions around the Med coast. We had a twin room booked at Apart'City Perpignan, at €55 and literally across the road from the station, couldn't be beaten.

The following morning we took the AVE to Madrid (the cafe car was a bit of a palaver but eventually got a sandwich!) and with another 3h there, went over to a chicken and cider place that my friend knows (Casa Mingo, near Principe Pio - Interrail valid on the Cercanias train, but then so was the point to point AVE ticket). Then back to Atocha for Seville and a quick 20 minute transfer to the last train to Jerez - at 10 minutes delayed, the only delay on the whole route.

We had two days in Jerez in the sunshine before I left him to wait for his wife and kids, I took another Media Distancia train back to Seville for the airport, where a flight back to Heathrow left me with the Interrail on the Elizabeth line to Liverpool St and a Greater Anglia train back home.

And the thing you're all waiting for: Total cost (converted to £): Advance tickets: £318. Interrail: £297 - and only used 3 days of a 4 day second class pass, but I'm unlikely to use the last day.

American tourist here. I need to travel from Frankfurt to Strasbourg the morning of December 18. Typically there is a direct ICE train for this route taking ~2 hours. However, I have been unable to find any direct tickets for this route for this date and the routes I can find are taking nearly 5 hours. Is anyone aware of construction or time table change that makes me unable to obtain route or ticket information for this date? Appreciate anyones guidance here. I want to avoid needing a car rental. Thanks in advance!

Hello !

Planning an inter-railing trip with my friend around a few european countries with my friend this summer and wondering if anyone had any advice to keep costs down?

I saw someone say it’s cheaper to pay for train tickets than an inter-rail pass and am wondering if that’s true also

Thanks!