Introduction

Nightjet, a brand of sleeper trains established by Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB), the Austrian national railway, in 2016 enjoy an excellent reputation for comfort and safety as well as their typically Austrian focus on service and hospitality. This trip was on their garden variety of rolling stock, I’ll keep this review brief with a fokus on the experience.

As this is a pretty common route, booking tickets should have been uncomplicated, however, international tickets tend to produce some glitches. I booked tickets for my wife and myself via ÖBB’s website about 4 1/2 months in advance. For some reason, I couldn’t find tickets from Dresden, which would have been more convenient, but only from Berlin. Not a huge deal but annoying nevertheless as it added a bit of travel time and a few extra euros.

The one-way trip for 2x people in a 2nd class sleeper with shared bathroom cost 279.80 EUR. For comparison, the return trip on a regular EuroCity train was 140.80 EUR

When booking via ÖBB, always make sure to download your ticket right before you travel, as it will not be refundable once the PDF is generated.

   

Trip Report

Night trains routes in Europe are usually short and start late at night and/or end very early in the morning.

Nightjet #457 departs Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) relatively early at 19:21 and arrives at Wien Hauptbahnhof (Vienna Central Station) early at 07:00.   

The early departure means there is plenty of time to settle in and enjoy your compartment in its daytime setting.

Traveling in a private train compartment on those old school seats is one of the hidden perks of sleeper train travel and we both enjoyed sitting in those plush chairs sipping on a beer an reading the weekend paper.

A quick look around the compartment confirmed that we were in the familiar surroundings of a former Deutsche Bahn comfortline sleeping car, with up to three bunk beds and a small wash-stand. They were acquired by ÖBB in 2016 and they keep them in good shape.

The compartments offer a comfortable space for two travelers. Luggage can be placed under the lowest or near the top berth. Our two suitcases fitted there without problems, a third one would have been a problem, however. In general soft bags are better options on Nightjets as there are no luggage racks available in the public areas and ÖBB also doesn’t have baggage cars.

After leaving Berlin our train attendant came by to introduce us to the features of our compartment and offered some sparkling wine as a welcome drink – and happily swapped for apple juice, when we told her that we were not into bubbly. She was genuinely friendly, polished, and made us feel right at home.

In addition to the welcome drinks there were water bottles and an amenity-kit stocked with a small towel, slippers, earplugs, a sleeping mask, fruits gums, a small pack of mixed seeds, and a pen.

The kit was literary a mixed bag. While the slippers and towel where of pretty good quality, the rest of the contents as well as the paper bag they came in felt cheap. The fruit gums and snack mix tasted truly awful.

Breakfast menus were also waiting in our compartment. ÖBB offers a continental breakfast in its sleeper trains and you can chose from a wide range of options including cold cuts of ham and cheese, bread spreads, yogurt, bakery items, jams, honey, as well a tea, coffee and juices.

You can choose up to 6 items. I highly suggest the bircher muesli, which is super-delicious.

The journey towards Dresden was on very smooth tracks and we arrived there on time around 22:00. Most passengers had their bunks set up after leaving Dresden and retired to their compartments for the night portion of the trip.

We joined in, even as it was a little early, as there isn’t much else to do – none of the Nightjets has a restaurant or bar car, unfortunately.

Wandering through the train was frowned upon by the attendants, but we checked out the public showers and bathrooms, which were fine.

Beyond Dresden the ride becomes a little rougher as the train tracks follow the winding Elbe river valley, crossing into the Czech Republic in Usti nad Labem. The trains also stops in Praha, Brno and a few more times along the line.

ÖBB uses WLABmz sleeper trains on this route which are quite comfortable. The were custom-built as sleeper trains and are noise-insulated, fully air conditioned, with individual controls in every compartment and have air suspension bogeys that smooth out rough tracks.

Still, my night’s sleep wasn’t as good as on other nighttime train journeys, probably due to the early departure.

Our car attendant set us an alarm, which sounded like an abandon-ship warning, at 06:00, a rather ungodly hour before our arrival in Vienna. She served our breakfasts a few minutes later, which were nicely presented on a tray with china plates and cutlery. The hot drinks came in a clever china cup with a seal. Too bad, they contained lukewarm instant coffee.

After crossing the Danube river, our train pulled into Wien Hauptbahnhof (central station) a few minutes after 07:00.

Unlike central stations in other European cities, the one in Vienna is not right in the heart of downtown, but well-connected by public transport.

All Things Considered

This was a pleasant and placid way to get from the capital of Germany to the capital of Austria. I’d recommend it especially, if you are looking for some downtime between those bustling cities. However, regular trains are strong contenders here: They cost about half, there are some really scenic parts along the way and travel times are much shorter during the day.

Travelled in May 2025