Europe is getting a new winter sleeper train connecting 10 different destinations — including Venice
Rail operator European Sleeper will launch a new route in early 2025, connecting Brussels with Venice, Italy, and providing transportation to other standout cities and ski destinations, including Antwerp, Belgium; Rotterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands; Munich and Cologne in Germany; Innsbruck, Austria; and Bolzano and Verona in Italy.
The inaugural service is set to depart Feb. 5, 2025, and booking will open Sept. 1, 2024. Details regarding the ticket prices have yet to be announced.
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"Passengers will be able to board our train from Belgium and the Netherlands and relax in the comfort of the restaurant car, while the train transports them through Germany and Austria, and across the Alps, ending in the historic cities of Verona and Venice the following day," said Chris Engelsmen, co-founder of European Sleeper.
An early timetable released by European Sleeper shows that the February through March service will depart Brussels and Venice twice weekly, leaving at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
The 21-hour route will offer a new way to reach Venice's iconic canals and open up a new way to reach popular winter travel hubs such as the Austrian Alps and the Dolomites via Munich, Innsbruck and Bolzano.
For U.K. travelers, the route launch will also mean that, when combined with a Eurostar ticket between London and Brussels, passengers can travel by rail between the U.K. and Venice in around 24 hours.
Bottom line
European Sleeper has been a leader in the overnight train revival in Europe, connecting a slew of destinations via new routes, including its Brussels-Prague service that the operator launched in 2024. Building upon its already expansive network, European Sleeper will launch a new service connecting Brussels to Venice in 2025, adding more rail connections for European travelers.
But if this particular route doesn't work for your travel plans or you're not willing to wait until 2025, we've written at length about the great rail renaissance in Europe — the slow-travel revolution isn't losing any momentum.