City Night Line is the high-speed sleeper service of Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German rail network. Its overnight trains link not only Germany's main cities but also extend to cities in other countries like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, Prague, Rome and Zurich.
City Night Line's Sleeper Trains Are Much More Relaxing Than Flying
“Close your eyes and arrive refreshed” is City Night Line's motto. Certainly a journey on it is much more relaxing than flying. It is also city-centre to city-centre, involves no wearyingly long check-in times and has plenty of space to move about on board.
I tried it on the ‘Andromeda’ from Hamburg to Paris at the end of a visit to the German Riviera on the Baltic coast in the north-east corner of Germany. It was the middle section of a 24-hour journey which began on a DB express train from Binz to Hamburg and ended on Eurostar from Paris to St Pancras in London. As well as being a delightfully calm way to travel, it saved me the cost of a hotel on the way.
Grades of Accommodation on City Night Line's Sleeper Trains
Passengers on City Night Line have a choice of several grades of accommodation. Best of all is a deluxe sleeping compartment with shower, washbasin, toilet and up to three beds with pillow, sheet and duvet. A standard (economy) sleeping compartment is similar but without its own toilet.
Passengers in either of these are served with a continental breakfast in the morning. Simpler accommodation is available in couchette compartments which have four or six bunks with pillow, sheet and blanket or you can travel in a carriage with ordinary seats.
Standard Apartment
I was travelling with my husband and chose the standard sleeping compartment. As we boarded, our carriage’s attendant asked if we wanted tea or coffee with our breakfast and at what time we would like him to bring it. He also had a small selection of drinks and snacks for sale.
In the compartment, two bunks were made-up ready. Spotlessly clean and reasonably sized, they meant we would have a reasonably comfortable night. A toilet and shower were at the end of the carriage. Further along the train, a smart buffet car had a wide selection of dishes, snacks and drinks.
Controls and Lights Aboard City Night Line's Sleeper Trains
The compartment had controls for ventilation and temperature and several lights including a blue night light if we did not want to sleep in complete darkness. The washbasin, tucked away in a cupboard in one corner, had a large mirror, towels, soap and cartons of drinking water.
Overnight we slept well, despite being woken occasionally as we clattered over points or when part of the train including the buffet car was detached to go to Zurich or when other sections from Munich and Berlin were joined to us.
Sleeper Train Changes Direction
At some stage the train also changed direction - a surprise when we opened the window blind in the morning. Before serving our breakfast, the attendant folded up the bunks and pulled out seats and a table.
We had left Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at 7.17pm and arrived at the Gare de l'Est in Paris punctually at 9.23am. It had been a most relaxing 14 hours.
Gillian Thomas - Having left the BBC's Paris news office to return to England and get married over 20 years ago, I have freelanced as a journalist ever ...
