European night trains are having a moment as travellers seek to avoid airport queues, travel more sustainably, carry more baggage and avoid accommodation costs.
As a result, an increasing number of routes are appearing, among them Paris-Berlin, Paris-Vienna, Brussels-Milan, Amsterdam-Zurich, London-Inverness and Milan-Catania.
The Austrian railway company OBB runs the biggest fleet of sleeper trains, which travel at a maximum speed of 230 km/h. For an idea of prices, I looked up the Nightjet fare between Vienna and Berlin on May 20, 2026.
A ticket costs from €34.90 ($61) in a seat, €49.90 ($83) in a couchette or €114.90 ($190) in a sleeper, all including breakfast. The train departs at 22.10 and arrives at 07.41 the next morning, stopping 13 times along the way.
The cheapest direct flight on that date costs $421. That is however an anomaly in Europe, since Vienna is poorly served by budget airlines.
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If you’re prepared to sleep upright, a seat is a decent deal, but full sleeper class will certainly be more expensive than flying on most routes. However, cost depends on a number of factors, including the age of the carriages and class of travel.
Research by Greenpeace concluded that European trains cost on average twice as much as flights on the same route. Cheaper rail options often included long connection times, not something you’d want to face in the middle of the night.
The biggest price difference the Greenpeace study revealed was Barcelona-London, booked a week in advance, which cost €384 by train and just €13 by plane.
That said, prices have been falling, and sleeper travel is about to get even cheaper as more competition emerges. A German startup called Nox aims to start services in 2027 which it claims will rival budget airlines for price. It says a single sleeper cabin will cost €79.
According to travel booking site Omio the best-value sleeper train is Paris-Nice, where tickets sometimes cost as little as €19 in a seat. Other good-value routes are Bratislava-Split, Berlin-Brussels, Brussels-Vienna and Munich-La Spezia, which is north of Pisa.
Needless to say, the comparison isn’t just between two forms of transport, since an overnight train offers a saving in accommodation, although sleeper trains are far less comfortable than even budget hotel rooms.
At Berlin’s main station, the Motel One costs from €90 and the Ibis from €75 – and that’s for two, so not much more than two overnight seat tickets. You’ll likely get a far better sleep. The price saving on overnight trains isn’t that obvious, therefore, especially if you book into couchette or sleeper class.
However, there are non-monetary advantages in sleeper travel. Trains are more eco-friendly than planes, they usually deposit you in the centre of town, and you gain an entire day of sightseeing rather than spending it in transit – though whether you take full advantage might depend on how well you slept.
Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.
