With a night train through Europe, you can fall asleep in Paris and wake up in Venice – without the hustle and bustle and high CO2 emissions. Find out which other connections will take you comfortably through Europe at night in this article.
It doesn’t always have to be an airplane: In Europe, you can also explore many exciting cities by train and save considerable amounts of CO2 emissions in the process. And you also are able to enjoy online slots. The Federal Environment Agency also recommends using trains and buses within Germany and Europe wherever possible.
Night train through Europe: advantages of traveling by train
According to the Federal Environment Agency, air travel is the most climate-damaging means of transportation. This is not only due to the high CO2 emissions, but also to other substances that are released when kerosene fuel is burned and act as powerful greenhouse gases.
Rail travel, on the other hand, is much more climate-friendly. Long-distance rail travel releases 32 grams of greenhouse gases per passenger kilometer, while domestic air travel releases 230 grams. You can find out more about this topic here: Long-distance bus, train, car, plane – which is more environmentally friendly?
Another advantage of rail travel for many people is that they find the journey more relaxed. There is no long layover at the airport, including check-in, security check and boarding. You also have many more opportunities to observe the landscape around you or work during the train journey. With an overnight train, the hours of a train journey pass even faster: you can comfortably fall asleep in one European capital and wake up in another without being lifted off the ground.
Travel through Europe by night train – from Hamburg to Zurich
You can travel in comfort from Hamburg to Zurich on the ÖBB night train. You can travel overnight between Hamburg and Zurich on the Night Jet operated by the Austrian railroad company ÖBB. This night train through Europe departs from Hamburg every day at around 10 pm and travels via Hanover, Frankfurt and Basel to Zurich. It arrives there at around 10 am the next morning. If you want to travel in the other direction, you start at 9 pm in Zurich and arrive in Hamburg at around 8 am.
When buying your tickets, you have the choice between couchette cars or the slightly more comfortable and correspondingly more expensive sleeping cars. In the couchette cars, you sleep in a compartment with three or five other people. WC and washrooms are in the carriage. In the sleeper carriages, you can choose between a single, double or triple compartment. In the Deluxe sleeping car, you even have your own small bathroom in the compartment.
If you book your ticket about two months in advance and settle for a seat in a 6-seater couchette carriage, you can get a ticket for some days from as little as 69.90 euros. You can buy tickets on the ÖBB Night Jet website.
CO2 emissions (per person) by train: 33 kg
CO2 emissions (per person) by plane: 148 kg
Please note: The values are only estimates and refer to the specific route of the night train. In the case of CO2 emissions by airplane, the direct air route was calculated. Any stopovers and deviating flight routes were not included.