In From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming lamented, “The great trains are going out all over Europe, one by one”. That was in 1957. Bond was about to board the Orient Express – the ‘real’ Istanbul-Paris one, not one of the abridged luxury options.
That stopped running in 1977, and other sections were hacked off until nothing much remains of the once thrilling north-west/south-east network. The Russian invasion has cut off epic eastward expeditions by rail. France, Spain, Germany have all let their international routes lapse. Cheap flights have killed off many sleepers.
There is some good news for lovers of long rail journeys, however: this summer, a new link between Haparanda in Sweden and Tornio in Finland means these two countries are connected for the first time in 30 years – though, irritatingly, Finland uses the Russian gauge so passengers will have to alight for a minute and walk along the platform to reboard.
For those who fancy a long-haul joyride (or challenge), the new cross-border link means you can ride from Kolari, Finland’s northernmost station, to Lagos in the Algarve – a journey of more than 3,000 miles and around three and a half days. The catch? This joyride requires between a dozen and 15 train changes, according to Deutsche Bahn’s booking site.
But take heart. Europe is still replete with long train journeys which require no changes. Not one. In fact, not counting the odd loo break, these routes don’t require you to leave your seat even once. Here are the top 10, ranked by duration: Europe’s last grand international rail journeys in the very truest sense.
Optima Express: Villach-Edirne
From where to where? This oddball with a name that conflates the Orient Express with a word that seems lifted from a management training booklet for would-be opticians, packaging bosses or time-and-motion agents also runs on a line that could almost be part of the Orient Express network.
But it’s not, as the routing through Ljubljana and Zagreb runs between the more classical Belgrade-Trieste and Belgrade-Vienna lines. The service was launched in 1989 as a motorail train through the Balkans, transporting passengers and their cars to Thessaloniki and Istanbul. The Greek service was dropped somewhere along the way. Motorail services in the UK often used non-main stations, because, after all, who wants to drive out into Istanbul?
Second-class coaches have 10 compartments in each – six seats by day, six couchette bunks by night. Sleeping cars are first-class, with two beds per compartment. A single person in the sleeping car pays €676 while they pay €880 for second-class – which is weird. Why would anyone want to be surrounded by five folded away beds?
How to do it
Book at optimatours.de; the train passes through lots of great places, but you can’t book tickets or get off there. This is a motorail, designed to get drivers from A to B. A small car costs €437.
Stockholm to Innsbruck
Once a year, a train run by Snälltåget, an open-access firm, departs Stockholm’s main station and travels approximately 1,460 miles to Innsbruck, via København Syd, Odense, Kolding, Hamburg and Munich, dropping skiers off at Zell am See and Bad Gastein to St Anton, Sölden and Ischgl for slopes and bus connections. The journey coincides with the Stockholm school half-term holiday, which this past year began on Feb 20, with the return journey from Austria on Feb 28.
How to do it
See the dedicated webpage on the winter train, with a map.
Malmö to Innsbruck
This is a truncated version of the above service, but with far more departures offered. Also operated by Snälltåget, it runs from Malmö on the Copenhagen-Hamburg-Munich route to the same Austrian towns. It departs from Malmö on Fridays and arrives in Austria on Saturday morning. The return journey takes place the following Saturday evening (unless you plan to leave on the day you arrive), arriving in Denmark and Sweden on Sunday. This summer, the train will depart from Malmö on the following Fridays: July 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31.
How to do it
See the dedicated Night Train to the Austrian Alps webpage for the timetable and room layout. Interrail is only valid for travel in a seat, except for the departure from Austria on 4 July 2026 and the departure to Austria on 31 July 2026.
Stockholm to Dresden
Snälltåget’s service is mainly for Berlin (see below), but also occasionally connects Stockholm, Hamburg, Copenhagen and Malmö with Dresden, the “Florence of the Elbe” that was rebuilt after the Allied bombings razed it. Reunification hastened the reconstruction of past glories and, as the The Telegraph’s 2025 guide makes clear, Dresden is now a complete destination for art and architecture lovers.
How to do it
See Snälltåget’s dedicated Stockholm-Berlin webpage.
Dacia Express: Vienna to Bucharest
A mini Orient Express heading east to Romania, via Arad, Sighișoara and Brasov – the latter handy for a castle which the Transylvanian tourist board has done its best to brand as Dracula’s den. It leaves at 19:08 and arrives at 13:38, and has couchettes and comfier sleepers, as well as a Romanian dining car from Arad.
How to do it
Go to the ticket counter in Vienna. No one sells advance tickets for this journey. We tried Austrian, Czech and Romanian national websites, RailEurope and Trainline. The European Commission recently announced a commitment to simplify rail transport and ticketing. Trains in Romania are slow – as are EU rail changes.
Stockholm to Berlin
Since its opening in 2006, Berlin Hauptbahnhof has become the main European hub for travel. It rivals Paris and closer to more varied and arguably more interesting countries. Two Swedish firms offer night trains to the German capital, travelling via Copenhagen and Hamburg.
SJ also runs EuroNight services from Stockholm to Berlin apparently on most nights; the infuriating website has no timetable tab and, despite the branding/name, the service is not featured on the main EuroNight website (which is Austrian). In May and June 2026, SJ also offers Gothenburg to Berlin (at least 13 hours 18 minutes). The June departures are June 5-13.
How to do it
Book at the dedicated Snälltåge Stockholm-to-Berlin webpage or at SJ’s English-language website. Seated tickets with Snälltåge start from 499 Swedish kronor (£40); a private compartment for two is priced from SEK 1,999 (£159).
Vienna to Brussels
This is the longest Nightjet sleeper train operated by ÖBB – Austrian Federal Railways – which has established itself as the most important operator of night services in the Continent – to the chagrin of France and, especially, Germany. Vienna is the most exciting hub for night trains. There are ÖBB Nightjets to Amsterdam (15 hours 36 minutes – which would qualify as No. 8 in this ranking), Rome (14 hours) and Zurich (10 hours 41 mins). See the map for more ideas.
How to do it
Book directly with Nightjet. There’s a full list of Euronight (Nightjet partner) trains here, including services such as Vienna–Split, Munich–Warsaw and Zagreb–Stuttgart.
EuroNight Carpatia: Munich to Przemyśl
Launched in November 2025 by Polish state rail operator PKP Intercity, this overnight sleeper passes through Vienna, Linz and Salzburg (with a separate feeder line from Budapest and Bratislava, hooked on to the train at Bohumín in Czech Republic), with a final stop at Przemyśl on the Poland–Ukraine border. Intrepid Kyiv-bound backpackers rub shoulders with refugees in this outpost.
How to do it
Tickets can be booked easily on PKP’s excellent website. Second-class, one-way is priced at 1,048.13 zlotys – or £212. Add £140 for a bed.
Brussels to Prague
Operated by European Sleeper – a Belgian–Dutch firm launched in 2023, operating international open-access night trains – this train leaves Brussels for Prague on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 19.22, routing via Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Berlin and Dresden. The return journey is Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, leaving the Czech capital at 18.15. The classes of ticket range from “Budget” seats in a compartment (which sell out quickly) through to “Classic” couchettes that accommodate five passengers, and “Comfort Standard” for just three; solo travellers can book both of the latter exclusively.
How to do it
Book directly at europeansleeper.eu; guide price €179.99 (£153) one-way in a Classic couchette; Classic Private (ie. for one person) €809.99 (£689). Breakfast €14 (£12).
Vienna to Hamburg
Another long ride in an Austrian sleeper, via Linz, Munich and Nuremberg. There’s a separate service from Innsbruck.
How to do it
Book directly with Nightjet.
Caledonian Sleeper: Euston to Fort William
Ignoring the Vienna-Amsterdam and Vienna-Rome services alluded to above – because we want variety as well as length – the UK’s longest international service just sneaks in. It’s only 521 miles, but the clunky night train huffs and puffs its way along the West Coast main line like an ancient steamer, making stops at Preston and Carlisle and, after Glasgow, halting at 14 stations that all sound like single malts.
Wikipedia lists Budapest-Kiel, Münster-Graz and Brussels-Perpignan on its long journey list, but the first two seem to have disappeared without a trace, and the latter is a sub-eight-hour ride. Aberdeen-Plymouth is 11 hours 27 minutes direct, but faster if you change trains – only in the UK!
How to do it
Book a chair or bed at sleeper.scot.
Booking and planning your rail holiday
RailEurope is an established retailer of European rail tickets. InterRail sells a range of passes for different age groups. Most sleeper trains, high-speed and international services involve supplements.
If you want to book a leisurely holiday with train trips built in – as part of an InterRail or as a series of separate tickets – check out Byway, a B Corp-certified “slow travel” planning service that can design flexible pan-European journeys and book accommodation between rail (and bus) legs.
The rails not taken: Ukraine’s big miles
Europe’s longest international train ride outside Scandinavia is the No. 40347 night train from Vienna Central (Wien Hauptbahnhof) to Kyiv Pasazhyrskyi, a journey of 22 hours and 36 minutes, and around 830 miles, with stops at Budapest-Kelenföld and Lviv.
As Ukraine is currently either orange or red on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website – meaning the UK Government advises against all but essential travel or all travel – we haven’t included the service in our round-up.
Some large or long countries have long journeys that don’t cross borders. Milan to Siracusa takes 21 hours and six minutes. Kolari to Helsinki in Finland takes 14 hours 52 minutes.
Romania, Finland and Poland have services taking more than 17, 16, 15 hours, though the mileage is often middling. Ukraine also has the longest journey in this category. The Rakhiv to Mariupol train takes 29 hours as it travels 1,122 miles from the Carpathian Mountains to the Sea of Azov.