The best new European train journeys for 2023

You might expect European train timetables for 2023 to start on January 1, 2023. This is not the case. The new schedules come into effect on December 11 this year, bringing a myriad of new travel opportunities for the year ahead. Highlights include Genoa and Dresden which have both secured new international overnight services, a new daily train between Poland and Lithuania and improved connections between Oslo and Stockholm.

Night trains have been in the spotlight for the past year or two. A collective determination to limit thefts has boosted demand for night trains, but there is another key factor. The pandemic has encouraged us all to rethink the way we enjoy personal space, and suddenly the possibility of comfortable overnight travel in a private compartment has particular appeal, be it a couchette solo or double occupancy or a sleeper compartment for the whole family.

Stuttgart was once a major hub for European night trains: 50 years ago it was served by the Orient Express. The south-west German city escaped nighttime timetables but came back with a bang with a new daily night train departure at 8.29pm, which will carry sleeping cars to Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Ljubljana and Zagreb. The roll call of attractive destinations is completed with a sleeping car to Rijeka over Christmas and Easter, then again from mid-May to early October 2023. Stuttgart to Rijeka takes just under 15 hours, culminating in a wonderful ride through the hills of Istria before a steep drop to the Gulf of Kvarner. An overnight trip with pristine white sheets in sleep...