After MONTHS of going online finding reviews of the THELLO Night Train ... the night finally arrived for us to take the train from Venice To Paris.
Most of the reviews I saw were a "little" negative ... but this train was something we needed to ride to get to Paris.
It was an experience.
The most important advice I could give is TRAVEL LIGHT. Unfortunately, we each needed luggage for a two week trip. Traveling light in winter was not an option. There is NO LUGGAGE STORAGE in the train .. basically your couchette or sleeper is where you will put your luggages. You will be going up steps to load your luggage ... and the doorway is narrow.
There were FIVE of us in my family in a 6-couchette.
Water bottles are given to passengers. See how the bottom seat slants .. whoever sleeps in the bottom needs to be used to not sleeping flat. I slept on the bottom, and it wasn't comfortable. OH... and see those head rests?? That is basically going to be something right above your body. I'm a small person, so it didn't bother me much.
Top bunk has a safety harness. Most space to get up ... and actually sit up.
There are two overhead racks to put belongings ... one right above window, and one above doorway.
The ladder can be moved from one side to another.
We basically used the overhead racks for our smaller "carry on" items. Our luggages were too heavy and big to actually lift up and store on those racks.
Two of our medium...size 24... luggages were able to fit on the floor. We had to shove it.
Another two we decided to put on one of the bottom "beds" ~ these are larger luggages. Probably a size 28, another a size 24. See how those headrests are above the luggage .. imagine your body there instead.
Five ladies and their four luggages !
Here is where it got interesting. Because we were a family of five booked in a 6-couchette, I didn't think someone else would actually be in the couchette with us ... I thought there could be a SLIGHT possibility ... but who would actually want to book themselves in a room with 5 strangers??? Someone did !! The Thello attendant had informed us when she took our passports that a woman will be joining us in Milan !! It would have actually been nice to have the bottom "bed" be used for our luggages.
So the big red luggage was placed behind the ladder ... we moved the other luggage to the far side of my "bed" and I slept curled up. When the woman boarded in Milan ... sad to say there really wasn't any space avail for her duffle/luggage so she just placed in on the floor right by her bed.
I would recommend using "spinner" luggages" just because they are easier to maneuver. The hallway is narrow.
So what else do you need to know about this trip??
We brought snacks of our own ... so we didn't go to the cafe area.
The restrooms weren't that bad ... at least toilet paper didn't run out.
On one of the stops ... a large group boarded ... and they were loud.
Would I travel on this train again??
Maybe. It only cost us 35 euros each. If we had to pay more next time, maybe not. I might try to book a sleeper if traveling with just two people ... if I had to pay more.
I basically didn't have the highest expectations. With all the "Don't Do It" reviews ... I already thought that "if it's bad...it's bad" ~ It wasn't actually that bad ... the only thing that was a disappointment was the 6th person sharing the couchette with us. Boarding the train and figuring out how to store the luggages in the couchette was the stressful part ... but when we got things settled we were fine.
