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.
European night train operator European Sleeper is aiming to build a vast network of overnight rail services across Europe, with plans for up to 40…
GoVolta has announced that it has secured a “more favourable than expected” timetable for its new train service between Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Paris…
There will be no Arriva train from Groningen in the north of the Netherlands or Amsterdam in Holland, via Antwerp in Belgium, to Paris in…
November and December 2017. During my solo trip to Taiwan – the vacation which was a catalyst to start Trip By Trip – I met…
Eurostar passengers at London St Pancras International in the United Kingdom could soon be allowed to arrive much closer to departure time, as plans are…
Eurostar passengers at London St Pancras International in the United Kingdom could soon be allowed to arrive much closer to departure time, as plans are…
A (new) overnight train service connecting the Netherlands and Belgium to the French Alps will begin operating this winter, offering skiers and snowboarders a sustainable…
A (new) overnight train service connecting the Netherlands and Belgium to the French Alps will begin operating this winter, offering skiers and snowboarders a sustainable…
Two recent analyses, one by independent rail commentator Jon Worth, the other by Nico Callens on the website Duurzaam Mobiel (Sustainably Mobile) have debated the…
ational transport authority, Trafikverket, signed a landmark €756 million contract with Spanish manufacturer Talgo on 20 April 2026, securing a new fleet of modern night…
Sweden’s national transport authority, Trafikverket, signed a landmark €756 million contract with Spanish manufacturer Talgo on 20 April 2026, securing a new fleet of modern…
Nox Mobility, a Berlin-based startup, has secured €2 million in pre-seed funding to develop a new generation of overnight rail services featuring fully private rooms.…
Nox Mobility, a Berlin-based startup, has secured €2 million in pre-seed funding to develop a new generation of overnight rail services featuring fully private rooms.…
Spain‘s state-owned operator Renfe has introduced its Talgo VI rolling stock in Central Europe, enabling its subsidiary Leo Express to launch new international services between…
enabling its subsidiary Leo Express to launch new international services between Czechia and Slovakia. The trains, which have now received authorisation to operate on both…
Italian high-speed rail operator Italo is preparing a major expansion into Germany with a €3.6 billion investment plan aimed at challenging Deutsche Bahn’s dominance of…
Italian high-speed rail operator Italo is preparing a major expansion into Germany with a €3.6 billion investment plan aimed at challenging Deutsche Bahn’s dominance of…
Dutch private train operator GoVolta will stop running trains from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Hamburg in Germany, train spotter Martijn van Vulpen reports. Since…
Dutch private train operator GoVolta will stop running trains from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Hamburg in Germany, train spotter Martijn van Vulpen reports. Since…
Dutch train operator GoVolta has announced a major expansion of its cross-border services, with a new daily Amsterdam to Paris route set to launch on…
Dutch train operator GoVolta has announced a major expansion of its cross-border services, with a new daily Amsterdam to Paris route set to launch on…
Dutch train operator GoVolta has announced a major expansion of its cross-border services, with a new daily Amsterdam to Paris route set to launch on…
Dutch train operator GoVolta has announced a major expansion of its cross-border services, with a new daily Amsterdam to Paris route set to launch on…
The Hague, the Dutch seat of government and home to over 500 international organisations, is pushing to restore its direct rail connection to Brussels in…
The Hague, the Dutch seat of government and home to over 500 international organisations, is pushing to restore its direct rail connection to Brussels in…
Cross-border rail travel in Europe is at a crossroads, says the European Rail Passengers Union. While trains are the most sustainable option for connecting communities…
Cross-border rail travel in Europe is at a crossroads, says the European Rail Passengers Union. While trains are the most sustainable option for connecting communities…
Deutsche Bahn (DB) will launch a new daily direct connection between Berlin and Oslo via Hamburg, Copenhagen, Malmö, and Gothenburg from summer 2028. This initiative,…
Deutsche Bahn (DB) will launch a new daily direct connection between Berlin and Oslo via Hamburg, Copenhagen, Malmö, and Gothenburg from summer 2028. This initiative,…
A memorandum of understanding for a possible direct rail connection between Switzerland and London in the United Kingdom was signed today by SBB-CFF-FFS, SNCF Voyageurs…
A memorandum of understanding for a possible direct rail connection between Switzerland and London in the United Kingdom was signed today by SBB-CFF-FFS, SNCF Voyageurs…
A memorandum of understanding for a possible direct rail connection between Switzerland and London in the United Kingdom was signed today by SBB-CFF-FFS, SNCF Voyageurs…
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission has unveiled sweeping plans to make rail travel across Europe simpler and more integrated, promising easier booking, stronger…
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission has unveiled sweeping plans to make rail travel across Europe simpler and more integrated, promising easier booking, stronger…
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission has unveiled sweeping plans to make rail travel across Europe simpler and more integrated, promising easier booking, stronger…
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission has unveiled sweeping plans to make rail travel across Europe simpler and more integrated, promising easier booking, stronger…
The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is not adopting Dutch train passengers union Rover‘s proposal to extend the EuroCity Brussels-South to Breda route to Eindhoven Central instead…
The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) is not adopting Dutch train passengers union Rover‘s proposal to extend the EuroCity Brussels-South to Breda route to Eindhoven Central instead…
On Wednesday 13 May 2026, the European Commission proposed new rules to simplify train travel, enabling single-ticket booking across Europe. The move aims to boost…
On Wednesday 13 May 2026, the European Commission proposed new rules to simplify train travel, enabling single-ticket booking across Europe. The move aims to boost…
The European Commission wants to make international train travel in Europe much simpler. Its newly unveiled Passenger Package promises easier booking, stronger passenger rights and…
The European Commission wants to make international train travel in Europe much simpler. Its newly unveiled Passenger Package promises easier booking, stronger passenger rights and…
In 2024, Europe’s rail networks experienced unprecedented demand, with passengers embarking on 8.7 billion trips, accumulating a total of 444.5 billion passenger-kilometres. This surge marked…
In 2024, Europe’s rail networks experienced unprecedented demand, with passengers embarking on 8.7 billion trips, accumulating a total of 444.5 billion passenger-kilometres. This surge marked…
From Sunday 13 December 2026, the ÖBB Nightjet connecting Amsterdam and Zurich will operate with the latest Nightjet New Generation rolling stock (with individual pod!),…
From Sunday 13 December 2026, the ÖBB Nightjet connecting Amsterdam and Zurich will operate with the latest Nightjet New Generation rolling stock (with individual pod!),…
In December 2025, European Sleeper announced a new night train connection: Brussels in Belgium and Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Milan in Italy. Independent railway…
In December 2025, European Sleeper announced a new night train connection: Brussels in Belgium and Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Milan in Italy. Independent railway…
Belgian-Dutch railway cooperative European Sleeper has announced in its newsletter changes to the route of its new Brussels in Belgium to Milan in Italy night…