The best new European train journeys for 2023

Overnight trains between Stuttgart and Vienna and Bordeaux and Freiburg are among several new services that have launched in recent days

You might expect Europe’s 2023 train schedules to debut on 1 January 2023. They don’t. The new timetables kick in on 11 December this year, bringing myriad new travel opportunities for the year ahead. Highlights include Genoa and Dresden both securing new international night sleeper services, a new daily train between Poland and Lithuania and improved links between Oslo and Stockholm.

Night trains have been in the spotlight this past year or two. A collective determination to curb flying has driven demand for overnight trains, but there’s another key factor. The pandemic encouraged us all to rethink how we value personal space, and suddenly the possibility of a comfortable overnight journey in a private compartment holds special appeal, be it a solo or twin-occupancy sleeper or a couchette compartment for a whole family.