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Travel + Leisure

This Overnight Train in Italy Might Be the Best (and Most Affordable) Way to See the Country

Train travel in general is having a major renaissance right now, and night trains are particularly popular. That's because overnight trains give travelers the best of both worlds: they allow people to travel a bit slower and more sustainably and they're a major time and money saver. Instead of spending money on accommodation and using precious daylight hours on travel from one city to another, you can pay for a train ticket that lets you sleep and travel at the same time. This is definitely the case for Trenitalia's Intercity Notte, the overnight train that connects major cities all over Italy. Currently, there are 24 connections between the north and south of Italy, including routes between Milan and Palermo, Rome and Trieste, and Turin and Salerno. Here's everything you need to know about Italy's night train to plan your next trip. The 24 connections on Intercity Notte really can take you from one end of Italy to the other—plus plenty of worthy stops in between. Whether your home base is in Rome, Sicily, or Milan, you can use the train to take day trips to plenty of other parts of the country. Here are the routes as listed by Trenitalia, and how many trains run for each route per day. To and from Turin and Salerno, four trains a day To and from Turin and Reggio Calabria, two trains a day To and from Turin and Lecce, two trains a day To and from Milan and Lecce, four trains a day To and from Milan and Messina, Syracuse, Palermo, two trains a day To and from Rome and Messina, Syracuse, Palermo, four trains a day To and from Rome and Trieste, two trains a day To and from Rome and Lecce, two trains on the weekend To and from Rome and Bolzano, S. Candido, two weekend trains You can book the tickets directly through the Trenitalia website—just make sure you know which route you plan on traveling, as the station names are listed in Italian. You can also use the site which allows you to filter routes specifically for the overnight train, or the Eurail website. Each route has between two and four trains per day, but even with multiple daily options, you will still want to book as far in advance as you can to ensure you get a spot. Some of these trains can take quite a long time—the overnight route between Rome and Palermo takes nearly 13 hours. You'll want to make sure that you are picking the best option for travel, which might mean spending a little extra money so that you have the comfort and privacy you'll want during your travels. There are four different types of tickets you can book for the train: the Basic Seat, the Comfort Couchette, Deluxe Sleeping Cars, and the Excelsior Cabin. The Basic Seat is the most affordable option and is just as it is described: it only includes a seat. It also has a fold-out table, footrests, luggage space, and outlets to charge your stuff—but in reviews across the internet, there's not a lot of privacy or comfort in these seats. The Comfort Couchette fits up to four people and includes full lie-flat sleeping spaces, but if you're traveling alone, you may be sharing the space with strangers. They do have women-only bookings available for the couchette option. The Deluxe Sleeping Cars and the Excelsior Cabin are where the real bells and whistles come out with more spacious beds, freebies, and other amenities. The Excelsior Cabin even includes a free breakfast, which might be worth it for those who want as much of a hotel experience as possible. Tickets for the overnight train for longer routes start at around $45. But the prices will vary widely depending on which route you book, which type of seating you select, and your date of travel. For example, browsing for a ticket from Rome to Palermo in mid-June, I found tickets for between $69 and $160. Make sure to book in advance to give yourself the best range of options and prices for the night train.