There is something beautifully transitional about a sleeper train. You go from morning to night, city to country, one place to another, all within a blink of an eye. The feeling is one of being totally transported. Not just to another place, but a different state of mind as you settle into the rhythm of slow travel. Long train journeys are spaces for reflection: they offer time to trace rivers as they wind outside your window, watch cities dissolve into countryside and let your thoughts unspool. There is a kind of freedom in having your direction decided; life rarely offers such clear tracks. In the meantime, your mind is free to wander.
All of this makes sleeper trains a natural choice for spring, the season of change. I’ve always believed travel should offer an opportunity to slow down, and destinations are best enjoyed when you stay open to surprises rather than focusing on arriving efficiently. That philosophy is usually lost somewhere between the Ryanair baggage policy and squinting at a departure board in Stansted airport at 4am, whereas on a sleeper train, the journey changes something in you before you’ve even arrived. It becomes part of the adventure.
‘Slow travel reclaims “lost” travel time,’ says Sarah Marks, a travel influencer. ‘It transforms the journey away from being a means to an end to a valuable part of the experience.’ Sarah’s content focuses on climate-conscious travel and trains are significantly more environmentally friendly than flights, typically cutting CO2 emissions by 70 to 90 per cent per passenger. ‘You’re also helping to protect the landscapes you’re passing through by choosing a climate-conscious alternative to a polluting flight,’ she says. ‘Then there’s the convenience of travelling directly from city centre to city centre having combined your travel with accommodation.’
Last February, I travelled with friends to Fort William on the west coast of Scotland on the Caledonian Sleeper. We left London Euston at dinner time and by morning it had carried us hundreds of miles north of the border. We stopped at Fort William but could have gone on to Inverness or Aberdeen. The cabins were simple and charming, dressed (inevitably) in tartan. In the drinks carriage, the novelty of essentially having a sleepover on a train meant encounters with strangers suddenly seemed more appealing than they might normally. A chat with a fellow passenger was all part of the fun, which is probably why we got talking to a train enthusiast who told us that if he listened closely he could identify each approaching station by the sound of the tracks.
I fell asleep that night to the rhythmic chug of the engine, broken only by the occasional tinkling of the drinks trolley – rather like that false memory so many of us hold onto from childhood of sleigh bells on Christmas Eve. The next morning we woke early (not entirely well rested but immediately excited), as one of my friends declared that his week ‘would be made’ if we saw a stag. We were just beginning to consider breakfast when a herd sprinted past the window, dancing across golden fields and bruised-purple mountains.
Typically, I find the journey to get to a holiday is a functional, unglamorous affair. More often than not I arrive harried. But this time the journey became part of the adventure. Our trip to Scotland was lovely, but when we reminisce about that holiday we often talk about the magic of the sleeper train.
For Sarah, who is more accustomed to this way of travelling, it’s the way a long train journey brings you closer to the landscape that appeals. ‘There’s a sense of heightened connection as you’re moving through the world rather than above it,’ she says. ‘Being able to curl up in bed as the landscape quietly shifts outside the window of a cosy couchette feels so romantic in a way that airplane cabins and airport terminals cannot replicate. Nothing quite matches up to that moment of waking up, drawing back the curtains and discovering what kind of views await you. They truly encapsulate the romance of travel.’
Of course, train travel is easily romanticised, and it should be said that getting a train in Britain in 2026 can be a frustrating business, with high prices and regular delays. But a sleeper train is a different beast somehow – it seems to hark back to a different time. From Celia Johnson stealing glances at a stranger on a platform in Brief Encounter and Agatha Christie's murders on the Orient Express to Wes Anderson's soul-searching brothers in The Darjeeling Limited and Richard Linklater's accidental love story in Before Sunrise, there is a reason why so many stories have been built around sleeper trains.
This spring, why not book a ticket on one yourself? Look out the window, follow your friends in single file down the aisle to the drinks carriage and fall asleep to the rhythm of the tracks. But where to go first?
To the Highlands on the Caledonian Sleeper
The Caledonian Sleeper departs London Euston late in the evening and by morning it has carried you hundreds of miles north into Scotland. The longest route covers an epic 566 miles, but you might as well be in another world with high rises swapped for mountains in less than 13 hours. The train splits at Edinburgh in the early hours, so ticket attendants will ensure you’re in the right carriage before you fall asleep. The Fort William route is the one to take this spring. After Edinburgh, the train joins the West Highland Line (widely considered the most scenic railway in Britain) and the Highlands announce themselves gradually as dawn breaks.
Cabins range from a classic room with bunks to a club en-suite with shower and breakfast included, but the Club Car is the place to be for socialising and taking in the scenery. Sit on the left side northbound and you’ll see Rannoch Moor unfold first, a vast and otherworldly wilderness of lochs and peatland miles from any road. Then Loch Treig appears like mirror glass beneath two towering mountains.
In spring, the summits are still snow-capped while the glens below are turning green. Golden eagles and ospreys hunt above, cattle graze indifferently below and, if you’re lucky, you’ll spot deer. The final view is a majestic one – Ben Nevis appears just as the train curves into Fort William after 10am.
Classic rooms start from £99 one-way
To Penzance on the Night Riviera
Board the train at London Paddington just before midnight and by the time you wake, the Thames Valley has given way to the Atlantic. The Night Riviera has been carrying sleepy Londoners to Cornwall since 1877 and remains one of Britain’s most beloved train journeys. Cabins are compact and cosy, so it’s just a washbasin, crisp bedding and the gentle sway of the train threading through Devon in the dark. There are no en-suites, but first-class lounges with showers at Paddington, Truro and Penzance mean you can arrive feeling considerably more human than the hour suggests.
Order a complimentary breakfast to your cabin but save your coffee for the lounge car. The train hugs the Devon coastline at Dawlish, where the tracks run so close to the sea that the Channel fills the window. Then, on the final approach into Penzance, Mount’s Bay opens up and St Michael’s Mount appears with its castle rising from a tidal island like something straight out of a fairytale. It’s a view worth setting an alarm for.
Arriving in Penzance at 7:50am, the day is entirely yours. Enjoy the independent cafes and galleries in town or continue your adventure. From Penzance you can catch the ferry to the Isles of Scilly or follow the coast path east towards the tidal pools and fishing villages that make Cornwall so extraordinary. Spring is the finest time to make this journey: the coastal paths are frothing with fragrant wild garlic, sea temperatures are good for swimming and the crowds are yet to arrive.
Cabin supplements start from £49
To Wales on the Britannic Explorer
The Britannic Explorer is less of a sleeper train and more a hotel that happens to move. Belmond’s debut luxury train launched last year and heads west towards Wales. You board at London Victoria on a Monday and return on Thursday, spending three nights aboard one of only 18 suites dressed in velvet, brass and botanical prints. Cuisine is by three-Michelin-starred chef Simon Rogan, whose menus shift with each region. Think Welsh teacakes at afternoon tea and seasonal produce at dinner, all served in flower-strewn dining cars.
The route travels through the Cotswolds at golden hour before crossing into Wales, winding through Pembrokeshire and up the Heart of Wales Line into the peaks and waterfalls of Snowdonia. Spring is a particularly fine time as the valleys are that impossible Welsh green, Snowdonia’s peaks are emerging from their winter mist and the Pembrokeshire coastal path is fizzing with sea thrift and wild orchids.
The train also stops for off-train excursions including guided hikes through Eryri and visits to Machynlleth, Wales’s creative capital, though you may be so comfortable in the observation bar (stocked, helpfully, with artisanal gins) that you don’t want to leave.
Prices start from £11,000 per cabin for a three-night journey, inclusive of all meals, drinks and excursions
To Berlin and beyond, on a European Sleeper
While there is no sleeper train you can board directly from the UK into Europe, the Eurostar is the gateway to a whole host of extraordinary overnight rail connections. Fares include a generous luggage allowance and no restrictions on liquids – practical advantages when packing for a long onward journey. Direct Eurostar destinations from London include Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, all of which unlock a constellation of sleeper routes.
From Brussels or Amsterdam, the European Sleeper runs overnight to Berlin, Dresden and Prague. A new Paris-Brussels-Berlin route also launches on March 26, making the months ahead the perfect moment to try it first. From Vienna, the Nightjet network fans out across the continent (to Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome, Venice and beyond) – a map that rewards the adventurous planner.
Sarah describes two moments that have stayed with her on European trips: ‘The first was on the sleeper from Palermo to Rome, waking up in the middle of the night and peering out of our cabin window to watch as our carriage was shunted onto a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. The second was waking up to views of the Elbe River and Saxon villages on the sleeper from Brussels to Prague and glimpsing a 14th century castle perched on a clifftop above it all.’
Spring is a particularly beautiful time to travel by European sleeper: the days are getting longer so you can expect more sun-drenched vistas from the window. The landscapes are waking up and you arrive in a new city with the whole day ahead of you.
Prices start from £39 each way
