Sleeper and scenic rail journeys
Europe, at the speed of a window.
Small-group journeys by night train and mountain railway. We book the berths, carry the bags and know which side to sit on.
Why the train
We plan journeys for people who would rather watch a country go by than fly over it. You board in the evening, eat dinner as the suburbs thin out, and wake up somewhere with mountains.
routes across eleven countries
guests at most, with one host
flights, transfers by coach or queues
carbon against flying the same trip
The routes
Six lines across a continent.
SL 01
5 days
ZRH
Zurich
MIL
Milan
The Alpine Crossing
From
£1,480
Next
14 Mar
SL 02
6 days
OSL
Oslo
BGO
Bergen
Fjord Line North
From
£1,720
Next
2 May
SL 03
4 days
LON
London
MLG
Mallaig
The Highland Sleeper
From
£980
Next
21 Mar
SL 04
7 days
NCE
Nice
FLR
Florence
Riviera Slow
From
£1,640
Next
11 Apr
SL 05
6 days
MAD
Madrid
OPO
Porto
Atlantic Night Train
From
£1,260
Next
28 Mar
SL 06
5 days
MUC
Munich
BUD
Budapest
Danube Nights
From
£1,180
Next
4 Apr
A night on board
Fall asleep in one country. Wake in the next.
Board at Euston
Your host meets you on the platform with cabin keys and a cold drink.
Dinner in the dining car
Three courses, white tablecloths, and the last of the daylight over the Chilterns.
Berths made up
Proper sheets, a reading light and a blind you will want to leave open.
Wake on Rannoch Moor
Coffee is brought to your door. Outside there are deer and no roads at all.
Arrive Fort William
Bags go ahead to the hotel. You go straight to breakfast by the loch.
Stop by stop
The Alpine Crossing, station by station.
Day 1
Zurich
Evening welcome dinner by the lake.
Day 2
Chur
The oldest town in Switzerland, then the Albula line.
Day 3
St. Moritz
A free day at 1,800 metres.
Day 4
Tirano
Over the Bernina Pass by panorama car.
Day 5
Milan
Arrive for lunch. Home, or stay on.
Postcards home
Written on the way back.
Your hosts
Someone who knows the guard by name.
Host, Nordic routes
Maren Solberg
Grew up beside the Bergen line. Knows which side of the train to sit on.
Host, Iberia and Italy
Rafael Quint
Former dining-car chef. Books the lunch stops first and the hotels second.
Founder
Edith Marlow
Took her first sleeper at nine and has been planning the next one ever since.
From the journal
Notes from the corridor.
How to actually sleep on a sleeper
Bottom berth, earplugs, and one glass of wine rather than three.
The left side of the Bernina line
Sit on the right going south. We will explain, and you will thank us at Alp Grüm.
Packing for a week without a car boot
One bag you can lift over your head. Everything else is negotiable.