“Hurry up love, we’re going to miss our night train!” I shouted down the stairs at my husband, shuffling my timid feet back and forth for the journey ahead. I was familiar with train travel in Europe from our adventures in Spain and London, but what about in Eastern Europe travel?
Would the trains be any different at these off the beaten-path destinations? All of sudden, practicing sustainable travel by taking trains seemed unobtainable. However, an adventure lied ahead in the road less traveled via train from a quaint town in Romanian Transylvania, then switching to a night train to arrive at our blissful Eastern European city.
A tale of a night train adventure
The thought
After our overseas adventure travel visiting the enchanting European Christmas markets and seeing Advent in Zagreb, Evan and I wanted to explore Kiev, Ukraine. Flying was a great option, but we wanted to explore train travel within Eastern Europe and try sustainable international travel.
Hostel World explains sustainable tourism as being considerate of your carbon footprint with respect to the environment, culture, and supporting local businesses. The main goal of sustainability, as National Geographic states, is to provide a framework to protect our globe physically, socially, and economically.
While there’s plenty of options for responsible travel — using refillable water bottle, refueling with healthy food options at different local health food restaurants, wellness travel, and many more, we opted for taking the night train to travel. We fly a decent amount, so exploring other options was an eye opening experience that offered other ways to lessen our carbon footprint on the road.
Related post: 10 Simple Wellness Tips for Traveling
Side note: Many airlines do have flight options that emit less CO2 emission. Skyscanner will highlight the greener choice with a green highlighted box, taking the guesswork out of it for you. Cool, right? Other airlines and websites do this too.
The route to the night train
“Morning, we’re looking to book train tickets from Romania to Ukraine, but we’re having difficulty finding the train schedule online. Can you help us?” Evan asked with a polite smile.
Flabbergasted by his question, the tour agent immediately removed themselves from the conversation to consult with their colleagues. Their eyes rapidly shifted to where he was standing, bewildered by the question. “You don’t want to fly?” they asked puzzled. “Nope,” Evan replied and went into our plan for our “train travel within Europe” adventure idea. Silenced by our answer, they replied, “Wow! You sure? Well, here would be your best options.”
Plan A: rent a car Plan B: take a bus (which leaves very infrequently, maybe once a week) Plan C: take a train and bus
With adventure on the forefront of our mind, we choose the last option. From Romania to Ukraine, it took a total of 48 whopping hours!
Before this trip started, I was 100% in. The idea of coasting through the country side and witnessing the beautiful scenery sounded enticing. The exhilarating thrill of taking a night train and waking up at your destination sounded like an once-in-a-lifetime experience.
As the trip drew closer, and it was the morning of our departure, I didn’t want to do it. Knowing we had a 48 hour trek through public transportation, stopping at multiple Romania cities and towns, with little information about times, seemed unrealistic. There was a language barrier and what if we missed our train?
The bus
The first leg of our journey began on a tiny crowded bus that ran from the city of Sibiu, Romania to the border town of Iaşi, Romania. This bus was extremely popular as tickets were sold faster than people were boarding. Luckily, the tour company booked two reservations for us beforehand.
Driving through the countryside, seeing the natural terrain of Romania was both stunning and sensational. In particular, the woodsy green terrain with the mountains entranced our vision on one side. While the other side was filled with large trees naked from the winter breeze.
Not only was it ravishing, but it fed my emotional well-being and wilder spirit.
Every two hours, the bus stopped at random coffee and dessert shops or gas stations. These usually lasted about ten minutes, as well as a longer stop of 20-30 minutes in the middle of the trip. There you can stretch your legs, use a non-moving toilet (thank God!) and buy a snack. But most importantly, you get to breathe in as much crisp fresh air as possible during the break. Goodbye to the breeze from the bus window!
After the bus ride we stayed the night in the city of Iaşi. There we were able to rest and get ready for our train ride tomorrow at 7:00 am, followed by the night train.
The train(s)
The first train ride took us to one of the cities of Romania that directly borders Ukraine. From there we switched to another train and crossed the border into Ukraine. The train was extremely desolate, with only one other passenger besides us.
About an hour later, we arrived at border patrol. Officials came to collect the passports and then check each individual’s luggage. The officer who checked us was friendly and gave us helpful tips for exploring Kiev. He suggested beers to try, must-see sights, day trip ideas, restaurants with Ukrainian food, and restaurants we couldn’t miss while there—i.e. “Chicken Kiev”, a famous chicken filet dish coated in breadcrumbs and stuffed with buttery lemon herbs.
After border control we switched trains again, but this time there was a four hour layover in a small, yet open train station. To pass the time by we channeled our inner child by playing a distorted vision of tag. Then walked around and stretched to get some good physical activity in for our health and wellness for the day. (Basically, we flailed around to make waiting fun. And it worked!)
Finally, the train arrived as we kissed the stunning tangy orange sunset goodbye in the Eastern Europe winter weather. We hopped on for an hour and a half, then transferred for the last time at Chernivsti, Ukraine, the last train stop before the night train to Kiev.
The night train
We finally arrived at the night train, curious about what laid inside this gigantic long tubular train. People were rushing to find their cable car as the horn tooted and hollered a piercingly loud whistle. I had never been on a night train before but I have seen movies of it, i.e. “Murder on the Orient Express.”
A movie about a fascinating train in a picturesque scenery, riding through the frosty Eastern Europe winter weather as they investigated a murder. It’s probably not the best movie you’d want to be thinking of on your first night train abroad. However, it was the first movie that came to mind about European trains, specifically night trains.
After entering the train, the Christmas movie “Polar Express” came to mind since we were visiting Christmas markets in Europe. This journey to Kiev in the Ukraine was an extension of our holiday travel to visit Kiev’s charming holiday markets. The breathtaking Christmas lights, trying the pungent cabbage and sausages (vegan for me), while sipping on some cinnamon-orange mulled wine.
In fact, I could go on and on about Christmas and how visiting German style Christmas markets are one of the best places for winter travel. I love Christmas that much! (I’m that person who listens to Christmas music at the end of October.)
What the night train looks like
While “Polar Express” and “Murder on the Orient Express” were the basis on what I expected from a night train, it wasn’t far off. Similar to these movies, the night train consisted of two sections, first class and second class.
First class had long corridors for people to move about the train. The rooms were actual rooms with a sliding door to separate the corridor from the room. No one could peek in, and no one could peek out. The bunks were stable and already secured to the wall, with two sets of bunk style beds in the room.
Second class, on the other hand, didn’t have a door between the corridor and the room. Instead, the corridor was wider and had a coffee and dessert table with two flat stools bolted to the ground. This area also converted into an additional bed by folding up the table and opening up the stool to allow for a mattress topper.
How to make your bed on a night train
After familiarizing ourselves with the train, we got to work making our beds. We looked around, confused about the process worked. A kind stranger on the train who spoke some English saw our fleeting confusion and offered to show us the ropes.
We quietly followed her to the bundle area, grabbing a bedding bundle precisely folded in the way your bed should be made. Within the bundle, each passenger receives a clean mattress topper, flat sheet, fitted sheet, pillow, pillowcase and a hand towel. She quietly demonstrated how to make the bed, and we quickly followed suit, then thanked her tremendously for her random act of kindness.
Here’s some tips for making your bed:
- Grab what you need from your luggage for the night
- Put your luggage away
- Bottom bunks have a trundle so you have to completely lift the bed up, which will ruin your awesome bed making skills
- Top bunks have luggage storage overhead, but as the train fills up it can be a hassle to grab it, especially if its a big bag (ours were both huge!)
- Grab your bed set from the from of your train car
- Place the mat down first, then the fitted sheet
- Add your flat sheet next, then throw on your blanket
- Snuggle up!
Tip: If you’re planning on a taking a night train consider creating a travel checklist. (You can even download one free checklist here) It’s a simple way to make sure you have all your necessities on hand. In this case, pack your favorite self-care goodies, calming essential oils for sleep, and whatever else you need in a small bag!
Related post: 6 Best Essential Oils To Take On Vacation
What to expect aboard the train
While making your bed is one part of the experience, the other part is partying the night away. Not “club partying,” think more wining and dining with bold-flavored wines, smorgasbord boards, crackers, small sandwiches, fancy popcorn and whatever else catches your fancy. This is when happiness begins to be the status quo in this lively yet buoyant ambiance on the night train.
Our night train party consisted of Christmas Netflix films, vegan sweet popcorn, dairy-free cranberry kale salads, kombuchas and other health food snacks to boost our well being after a long days travel. We were set to have an unforgettable night aboard the night train.
Tip: Pack a picnic for the train ride! It makes for an enjoyable experience aboard the train, and it is actually very common to see families wining and dining themselves aboard.
Arriving in Kiev, Ukraine
Thirteen hours later, we arrived to our destination in Ukraine, Kiev, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Another adventure down and our trek of taking the most sustainable route to Ukraine was accomplished.
Related post: How to Visit Kiev: An Tasty Food Guide
A tale of a night train adventure
“We’re here!” I shouted excitedly, as I unpacked my suitcase in the Airbnb in Kiev, Ukraine. Evidence that this whimsical delusion of an easy greener travel had led to forty eight hours of constant movement, yet now the trek from Romania to Ukraine was over.
In brief, it started by hopping on a bus. Followed by train travel in Eastern Europe, then ended with a night train. We were experts on the tale of a night train adventure express.
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Kiev sounds like an exciting place to check out! You can never go wrong with seeing the sights outside of the train’s window. Glad you enjoyed your time out there!
Nancy ✨ exquisitely.me
The night trained sounded like a lot of fun. I like your tip on bring a picnic. Can you bring a bottle of wine on too?
Those overnight trains are an experience. I had a couple in China and dealt with the bunk beds 3 high on each side and all the fun that comes with it. Such an interesting post. I usually opt for train if given an option, it’s (usually) a much more comfortable way to travel and you often go through areas that aren’t just along a boring highway.
Haven’t experience an overnight trip into a train. This idea seems so fun and the night view is so majestic. There’s no train like that in our country though, hope I can try it soon.
I love to travel by train and this looks like a really exciting trip! The sleeper trains look similar to ones in India…maybe we’ll get to explore Europe by train someday. The Christmas markets sound interesting!
This looks SO awesome! It’s nothing something I’ve ever done but what a great way to get from A-B. I could never do a bus haha – I’d get so carsick! Glad you had someone there to show you how to do the beds – I’d be just as confused! I hope to get to Ukraine one day too.
Oh this is the kind of trip I would love to experience! And Kiev is so on my bucket list. Will save this post for when I can go.
Wow, travelling on the night train looks like an interesting experience! I’ve never travelled through Europe by train but it really looks like a memorable experience! Thanks for the great guide!
This is an awesome story! Love that you chose the option that would make for the best adventure 🙂 Taking a night train sounds like so much fun and a great experience!
We definitely need more train trips in our life!! They make it so easy in Europe. Thanks for sharing.
I would love to travel on a night train! It looks so fun!