ALL aboard the Good Night Train.
A new sleeper service connects Brussels and Berlin in a sustainable and retro way.
Have you ever flown on a budget airline with a mortal hangover? It’s highly overrated.
But being gently lulled to sleep by the clickety-clack of a trundling train is far more civilised, as I soon find out.
Last weekend, Dutch/Belgian startup European Sleeper launched the Good Night Train, an overnight service connecting Brussels to Berlin.
The three-times-a-week train was due to depart at 19.22 from Brussels-Midi — an easy transfer from Eurostar services — stopping at Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam before rolling into Berlin at 06.28 the next morning.
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My friend Rhonda and I rock up to the station expecting the shiny new route to have shiny new trains. But no.
The sustainable startup currently leases rolling stock from a German train company and some carriages even date back to 1955.
But founders Chris Engelsman and Elmer Van Buuren don’t pretend it’s a luxury sleeper service.
On the way out, we’re in a private cabin which sleeps three. There’s no air conditioning (although the windows do open a little), the toilets are shared between the carriage, plus there’s a small sink with temperamental taps and only one plug socket.
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But there’s something charming about its lack of polish and the clunky carriages have a retro vibe which is catnip for train enthusiasts.
There’s no dining car — I was hoping for a party carriage — but you can order drinks and snacks, including beer, wine and instant noodles to the cabin. And a light breakfast is also provided in the morning.
After enjoying our own train picnic of red wine and Pringles, Rhonda and I hunker down in our cosy bunk beds.
As we’re travelling through the Schengen area, we don’t have to wake for passport checks, instead we wake up to fresh coffee from our coach host, Abigail.
We’re decanted on to one of Berlin’s outer lying stations instead of Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the capital’s main station (there are still some teething problems), but I’m feeling surprisingly bright-eyed, bushy-haired and ready to explore.
Our base for the next day and a half is the hotel Nhow Berlin in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg on the north bank of the Spree, moments from the East Side Gallery.
Arriving in Europe’s clubbing capital on a Saturday offers a rare opportunity to try our luck getting into Berghain, the most notorious techno club in the world.
With very fussy bouncers, there are reports that it’s hard to get into even when you’re young and hip, so when you’re the wrong side of fifty with a penchant for disco, it’s nigh on impossible (spoiler alert: we didn’t get in).
Instead, we find our people at Monster Ronson’s Ichiban Karaoke Bar rocking out to Fleetwood Mac with a live band.
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Before long, we’re boarding the Sleeper for our return journey, this time bunking down on couchettes in a shared cabin where pillows, sheets and a blanket are supplied.
After 36 beer-soaked hours in the German capital, I collapse into the top bunk and wait for the clickety-clack of the Good Night Train to soothe my hangover. See? Much more civilised.
GO: BERLIN
GETTING THERE: European Sleeper offers seats from £42 (€49), couchettes from £68 (€79), and private cabins from £103 (€119) each way. See europeansleeper.eu.
STAYING THERE: One night at nhow Berlin from £79 (€91) room-only. See nh-hotels.com.
For more info on what to see and do in Berlin, see berlin.de.
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