Paris-Florence Artesia Night Train

I%26#39;m planning to travel this summer on the Artesia night train from Paris to Florence. I found some pictures of the couchettes on seat61.com. The more expensive sleeper seems pretty dated compared to the 1st class couchette. Is it worth it to get a sink or is it better to just buy out a 1st class couchette?

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It%26#39;s been two years since we last took this train but... For us it comes down to sharing a small chamber with strangers overnight. A coachette has 4 to 6 seats depending on the train/class so unless you buy every seat in the coachette, you may be sleeping with strangers. It comes down to what premium are you willing to pay for your privacy at bedtime. There%26#39;s more to it than a sink.

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True, there%26#39;s more to it than a sink -- but not much more! We did this in Sept. 2005, and were unhappy with what we got for what we paid BUT would not have done it differently in light of all the variables.

Among other things, even for two people the sleeper is very cramped (can%26#39;t imagine if we had to share with a third -- and there was indeed a third bunk above. By the time we go the luggage in (we don%26#39;t travel light, but also not excessive) we could barely turn around. We booked through Rail Europe only because we were concerned whether, given that it does hold three, we might get stuck wtih a stranger in cramped quarters, just because we might not understand something about the booking process; through Rail Europe, we were able to speak to a live human and be sure what we were getting.

Things to be aware of: the food service is slow and spotty! I would strongly suggest bringing bottles of water (and/or wine, if you wish), and some snacks, because the lines were extremely long and the available supplies sold out early except for a few weird things.

All that said -- we found it a convenient way to arrive in Florence in the morning without taking up a day getting there from Paris (which, whether by air or day train, otherwise would have been pretty much the case by the time you factor in getting to/from airports, arriving very early for security reasons, etc.). If you are towing big bags out of the Florence train station, you might want to have one person go ahead to scout out whether the esclators are working, however, as that was a problem for us!

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Have you considered a European hopper (flight) in lieu of the more expensive train? It only takes two hours, and is cheap.

If interested, try easyjet.

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