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My one and only sleeper train experience involved being woken up at 3am by police with guns to check passports. Never again.

casenmgreen 2y ago
Which route was this?
lionkor 2y ago
My one and only 6 hour sleeper train was in Russia. It was cozy, amazing views at night, and they wake you when your destination is coming up. I think when you share anecdotes like yours, its good to share anecdotes like mine, to balance it out :)
- leobg 2y ago
  Which route? Does it still exist?
  - chupasaurus 2y ago
    6 hours is too short for any special trains (i.e. #001/2 is Moscow - St.Petersburg 8 hour night train) so you can expect that at any route, also attendants have to wake up passengers by a rule. Added: GP is probably talking about a train that didn't cross a border.
  - lionkor 2y ago
    I believe it was Krasnodar to Sochi, along the sea, so you'd wake up and look out and see nothing but ocean on one side. This was like two years ago or so, so still exists probably
TypingOutBugs 2y ago
I just took a sleeper train last night from Helsinki to the arctic circle and they had non-reclining seats with no light dimming. Got around an hours nap between 6am and 7am this morning. Took around 14 hours to go 1000km. Very much regret not paying for a proper cabin…
- Freak_NL 2y ago
  Yeah, that's sleeper train travel 101. Either be young and not too tall and on a budget, or pay for a private cabin.
CalRobert 2y ago
To counter that, the best sleeper train I ever took was from Beijing to Shanghai, and it felt like I'd travelled to the future (this was in 2008). Second best might be Portland, OR to Sacramento, though I might have liked it if had been more like travelling to the past (I miss proper dining cars). European ones have been cheap, cheerful, and uncomfortable, but this was 15 years ago for trips like Florence to Prague, IIRC.
- TypingOutBugs 2y ago
  The Zephyr route from San Francisco to Chicago still has a proper dining cart, viewing cart, and is 52 hours long. Surprisingly comfortable and the only way you can access the Ruby Canyon in Colorado outside of a kayak.

casenmgreen 2y ago

Which route was this?

lionkor 2y ago

My one and only 6 hour sleeper train was in Russia. It was cozy, amazing views at night, and they wake you when your destination is coming up. I think when you share anecdotes like yours, its good to share anecdotes like mine, to balance it out :)

leobg 2y ago
Which route? Does it still exist?
- chupasaurus 2y ago
  6 hours is too short for any special trains (i.e. #001/2 is Moscow - St.Petersburg 8 hour night train) so you can expect that at any route, also attendants have to wake up passengers by a rule. Added: GP is probably talking about a train that didn't cross a border.
- lionkor 2y ago
  I believe it was Krasnodar to Sochi, along the sea, so you'd wake up and look out and see nothing but ocean on one side. This was like two years ago or so, so still exists probably

TypingOutBugs 2y ago

I just took a sleeper train last night from Helsinki to the arctic circle and they had non-reclining seats with no light dimming. Got around an hours nap between 6am and 7am this morning. Took around 14 hours to go 1000km. Very much regret not paying for a proper cabin…

Freak_NL 2y ago
Yeah, that's sleeper train travel 101. Either be young and not too tall and on a budget, or pay for a private cabin.

CalRobert 2y ago

To counter that, the best sleeper train I ever took was from Beijing to Shanghai, and it felt like I'd travelled to the future (this was in 2008). Second best might be Portland, OR to Sacramento, though I might have liked it if had been more like travelling to the past (I miss proper dining cars). European ones have been cheap, cheerful, and uncomfortable, but this was 15 years ago for trips like Florence to Prague, IIRC.

TypingOutBugs 2y ago
The Zephyr route from San Francisco to Chicago still has a proper dining cart, viewing cart, and is 52 hours long. Surprisingly comfortable and the only way you can access the Ruby Canyon in Colorado outside of a kayak.