After the year 2021 without visiting my sister Florence in Zug in Switzerland, I finally returned to the Confoederatio Helvetica in March 2022. I stayed over a week. More than a family visit, I organised an excursion to French-speaking Switzerland, also known as Romandy to visit Maxime and the vineyards of Lavaux in the canton of Vaud, near Lausanne. I also booked a journey on the world-famous Glacier Express from Sankt Moritz to Brig. Furthermore, I looked for a nice way in and out. The ÖBB Nightjet night train from Amsterdam to Zurich and the voyage home via Lyon in France.
I’m always on the look-out for ‘new’ ways to go to Switzerland and it was Danny who came with the idea I should take the Nightjet from Amsterdam Central Station to Zürich HB. And sure, why not? Even after the Innsbruck – Aachen debacle, we still love night trains.
Itinerary
- Amsterdam Centraal Station.
- Utrecht.
- Arnhem.
- Oberhausen Hbf.
- Duisburg Hbf.
- Düsseldorf Hbf.
- Cologne (Köln Hbf).
- Bonn Hbf.
- Offenburg.
- Freiburg im Breisgau Hbf.
- Basel Bf.
- Basel SBB.
- Zurich (Zürich HB).
About
The NJ403 was scheduled for a 8.28 PM departure. It arrived at platform 10 just after 8 PM. So it gave me time to make this Instagram reel.
The train consists of Nightjet couchette cars and Nightjet sleeping cars. There are Deutsche Bahn seating cars and SBB-CFF-FFS seating cars. This train is a real Austro-Swiss-German collaboration.
There is no restaurant, bistro or bar car. But there is a menu. Staff can provide you with these items.
Cabin
My car was built in 1975 but has been refurbished. I booked a solo bed, so only one bed was made up. There is no shower but there is a sink.
As you can see, there is a quite large table and a seat. There is one power outlet hidden next to the seat and there is a lot of light. There’s a closet. The wastebin is under de seat.
Perhaps it’s dated but it’s clean and functional.
Amenities
The goodie bag provided includes a towel, slippers, an eye mask, a pen, salty (bird seeds?) and sweet (chocolate and berry) snacks. You get two bottles of water.
Breakfast
You order breakfast the night before on a form.
Experience
Contrary to the before mentioned Innsbruck – Aachen debacle, staff was friendly, jovial and helpful. I did get my complimentary prosecco. I had to ask, but I had it. I received a key to be able to lock my cabin when going to the toilet.
That toilet was clean, put there was a persistent smell.
Sleep
Perhaps the 160 euro question: how do you sleep? I slept okay. I woke up a few time, but then again, I always do when it’s a ‘new’ bed. The bed is comfortable and the pillows are firm. The duvet is warm and cosy. You do hear and feel the train moving, but I can shut that down mentally.
So?
Will I travel by night train again? Definitely. On this route? Perhaps not, because it is an expensive detour. But I enjoyed it. On to the next night train.
More on trains
- RegioJet from Prague to Bratislava.
- Thalys Brussels – Paris – Brussels – Antwerp in 2022.
- Eight train connections between the Netherlands and Belgium by 2030?.
- The return of a Brussels – Luxembourg – Strasbourg – Basel train?.
- 33 European railway companies call for massive investment in rail travel.
- Trans Europ Express 2.0 advocates a renewed extensive European train network.
- SWITZERLAND | GoldenPass Montreux – Gstaad – Interlaken without changing at Zweisimmen thanks to dual-gauge trains.
- International Railway Union working on facilitating night trains, but very aware of the many challenges.
- RIDE & DINE | Orient Dining Express by Stoomtrein Maldegem-Eeklo.
- Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Prague RegioJet / European Sleeper night train service delayed.
- EUROPEAN UNION | The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and the European Transport Corridors.
- European Commission wants booking train tickets to be as easy as booking flights.
- Trenitalia Frecciarossa high speed train between Florence and Venice in Business Executive class.
- Orient Express La Dolce Vita: luxury train travel in Italy from 2023.
- ITALY | Turin hosts 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
- By Red Arrow to Milan.
- Future Benelux ICNG trains complete test rides for Belgium.
- PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
- Trenitalia aspires to run trains from Milan to Brussels and Amsterdam.
- Green light for ‘Green Speed’ Eurostar and Thalys merger.
- ‘Green Speed’: Train operators Thalys and Eurostar to become one.
- GREEN SPEED | 2024 Eurostar – Thalys merger marks the end of Thalys brand.
- ‘Disney Express’ by Thalys to Disneyland Paris / Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy.
- REVIEW | Thalys Lounge at Brussels South/Midi station.
- Antwerp – Brussels – Paris in Thalys Comfort 1.
- Travelling in Thalys Premium.
- TGV Inoui Brussels to Lyon in Corona times.
- SNCF inOui (ex-TGV) Marseille to Lille.
- Eurostar ex-Thalys trains will keep ‘ruby’ red livery after 2024 merger.
- On board a TGV Atlantique from Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean.
- Travelling on TGV to Avignon.
- Paris – Geneva – Lausanne with TGV Lyria first class on an Alstom TGV Duplex.
- Eurostar post-Brexit.
- London – Lille – Brussels in Eurostar’s refurbished e300 / Class 373 / TMST.
- EUROCITY EC-8 | Zürich to Cologne in SBB’s Panoramic Car.
- Brussels – London with Eurostar in Standard Premier.
- SJ EuroNight announces 2022 night train service from Stockholm to Hamburg, no Malmö – Brussels for now.
- NIGHT TRAINS TO BERLIN | Stronger European Sleeper effectively takes over Moonlight Express.
- Malmö – Brussels night train to become Malmö – Brussels – Paris?.
- Ostende-Vienne Orient Experience plans tourist season night trains from Brussels and Antwerp to Salzburg, Innsbruck and Milan.
- GreenCityTrip: chartered night trains from Breda in the Netherlands to Venice, Prague, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Verona and Innsbruck.
- GreenCityTrip launches new destinations for its chartered night trains: Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Bologna, Firenze, Bolzano, Como, Salzburg, Linz.
- Moonlight Express to offer night train services between Brussels, Liège and Berlin from April 2022.
- The couchette and sleeping cars for the Ostend – Brussels – Amsterdam – Berlin – Prague European Sleeper by RegioJet.
- ‘Hotel on rails’ Midnight Trains to link Paris to Edinburgh, Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Porto.
- The couchette and sleeping cars for the Brussels – Liège – Berlin Moonlight Express.
- Moonlight Express to include bar / restaurant coaches and sustainable quality food on Brussels – Liège – Berlin night train.
- 2021, European Year of Rail.
- Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
- NIGHTJET | Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB and Swiss Federal Railways SBB-CFF-FFS present 2024 Austro-Swiss night train plans for Europe.
- Why the expensive ÖBB Nightjet is really not that expensive.
- Reliving the era of the great railway journeys, travelling overnight on Nightjet.
- How we plan a big rail trip.
- Ticket Distribution: the failure of railways to sell themselves.
- Malmö – Cologne – Brussels Night train.
- BOOK REVIEW | ‘Night Trains, The Rise and Fall of the Sleeper’ by Andrew Martin.
- To use night trains in Portugal and Spain or not?.
- Night trains in Europe.
- Low-cost, long-haul trains to conquer Europe?.
- Fly now before it’s taxed and consider using the train instead.
- 2013 Scotland Rail Trip.
- 2016 America Rail Adventure.
- 2017 Eastern Europe, Balkan and Greece Rail Trip.
- 2018 Poland Trip.
- 2018 Rail Tour of France, Italy and Switzerland.
- 2020 Saxony, Bavaria and Tyrol Getaway.
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