Travel enthusiasts can rejoice as their plans for the perfect European summer have just been immaculately laid out.
With the European railway renaissance far from over, a spanking new mega service connecting the Mediterranean with the North Sea has finally launched. Running all the way between the vast expanse of Brussels and Venice, the new night train service was announced by rail operator European Sleeper last year and finally set off on its maiden voyage on Wednesday, February 5.
The train journey includes Eindhoven, Cologne, Munich, Innsbruck and Verona as stops along the way and was created to provide a convenient, and most importantly sustainable, travel option between cities and major winter sports destinations.
Chris Engelsmen, co-founder of European Sleeper, said in a statement to the press: “Passengers will be able to board our train from Belgium and the Netherlands, and relax in the comfort of the restaurant car, while the train transports them through Germany and Austria, and across the Alps, ending in the historic cities of Verona and Venice the following day.”
However, this new service will operate twice a week over the course of only two months – February and March. The schedule has reportedly been made in order to accommodate “school holidays and the peak winter sports season” as well as to provide a “sustainable and enjoyable travel option” to Venice’s famous carnival, which will run from February 14 to March 4 this year.
As per the official press release, a provisional timetable has been drafted which sees the train depart from Bruxelles/Brussels in the direction of Venice at 5pm, arriving in Venezia at 2pm the following day. Inversely, the service is expected to depart from Venezia at 3pm and arrive in Bruxelles/Brussels by 11am the following morning.
Other stops along the way include Antwerp, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Köln (Cologne), Munich, Innsbruck, Bolzano, and Verona.
This picturesque journey will cost passengers €119 (£99) for seats and berths, and can go up to €239 (£198.91) for a far more opulent experience which includes your own bed to sprawl on. Working out at £9.40 per hour, it makes for a pretty sweet deal as far as budget planning goes.
Last year, European Sleeper launched the first direct overnight train between Brussels and Berlin in over 10 years.
For avid travellers, the launch of this new train service excitingly coincides with confirmation by European Sleeper that their Brussels-Prague route will continue to run throughout the summer and autumn of 2025.
It had previously seemed that due to some scheduling issues in Germany, the service might have halted after June, however, on January 28, it was announced by the operator that the issues had been resolved and smoothened.
