We got ourselves a new sleeper, you guys!
It’s never been a more exciting time to be a train enthusiast in Europe, with routes launching left, right, and center, and if you’re headed across the northern half of the continent from spring 2028 onward, you’ll have a fresh 15-hour overnight service linking 4 of Europe’s most beautiful cities…
While helping you avoid all that airport chaos completely.
After debuting Paris–Berlin and Brussels–Prague, European Sleeper is taking its network into Scandinavia for the first time, launching a new sleeper from Belgium through the Netherlands and Germany to Denmark and Sweden in April 2028:
From Central Europe To Scandinavia Without Changes
The new route is being developed in partnership with German rail operator RDC, and the plan is for trains to depart from the Belgian capital of Brussels at around 7 p.m., reaching Malmö, Sweden, the following morning at around 10 a.m.
Departures from the other end of the route are planned for roughly the same time.
Beyond the start and end points, major destinations along the way include Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and its spiritual sister Copenhagen, in Denmark.
European Sleeper’s published plans also name Antwerp, Rotterdam, and The Hague as stops.
At this early stage, we don’t yet know which days of the week the train will run, but its planned frequency has already been confirmed: three departures in each direction every week.
This will give passengers a no-change overnight link from Belgium and the Netherlands to Denmark and southern Sweden. Today, the same journey generally requires multiple trains, so being able to board in Brussels and wake up in Copenhagen or Malmö is a proper game-changer.
As for the train itself, the final carriage lineup has not been locked in yet, but it is expected to include the usual European Sleeper options:
- Budget seats for the cheapest possible ride—though these are still seats, mind, not beds
- Shared Classic couchettes for more budget-conscious travelers who still want to lie flat
- More comfortable sleeper compartments that can be booked by solo travelers or couples
How Much Do Tickets Cost?
Deluxe sleeper rooms are also being considered for this route, and those could include double beds and private en-suite bathrooms.
Hopefully that does come through, as I don’t know about you lot, but my days of traveling overnight, crammed into a six-berth couchette, just to shave $50 off a tight budget are well and truly over.
I’m picking the deluxe option any day, especially on a 15-hour sleeper.
Speaking of prices, similar to the exact timetable and carriage configurations, these have not yet been announced.
Current European Sleeper fares can give us a very rough idea, though: a shared Classic compartment from Paris to Berlin starts from €79.99, or roughly $93 one-way per person.
Comfort Standard currently starts from €119.99, or around $140 per person, while Comfort Plus starts from €149.99, or roughly $175.
A whole private Classic compartment on the Paris–Berlin route is advertised from €279.99, or approximately $326, though none of these should be treated as confirmed Brussels–Malmö prices. For now, they’re merely a ballpark.
Check Travel Rules Before Flying To Europe Right Now
Before you go ahead and make plans, make sure you’re up to speed with Europe’s new travel regulations, especially before entering the Schengen Area.
The continent has rolled out a new Entry/Exit System, or EES, under which non-European short-stay visitors have their passport information, facial image, and fingerprints registered when crossing the Schengen Area’s external border.
The system then digitally logs their entries, exits, and any refusals of entry.
Because every country crossed by this train belongs to the Schengen Area, you will not normally undergo a full immigration check at every border along the route, though temporary ID checks can still take place.
In case you didn’t know, Americans are only allowed to remain in the Schengen Area—a passport-free zone comprising 29 European countries—for 90 days within any rolling 180-day period.
By early July 2026, the EES had recorded roughly 44,500 refusals of entry, for reasons ranging from insufficient justification for a stay and previous overstays to expired or fraudulent documents.
Head over to the Entry Requirement Checker and double-check your European destination’s entry and stay regulations to avoid the same fate.
4 Epic City Breaks Along The Way
Brussels, Belgium
The artsy Belgian capital, Brussels, is best known for its stately Grand-Place, a cobbled rectangle lined with gilded Baroque guildhalls and dominated by a soaring Gothic Town Hall that comfortably ranks among Europe’s prettiest squares.
From here, you’re a short walk from the cheeky, pint-sized Manneken Pis, a bronze fountain figure depicting a little boy having a wee—and you genuinely never know what outfit, if any, he’ll be wearing that day.
There’s also Choco-Story Brussels, where the regular museum visit includes chocolate tastings and a live praline-making demonstration. If you’d like to make your own chocolate bar, lollipops, and decorations, you’ll need to book one of the separate workshops.
Then there’s the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula, a Brabantine Gothic masterpiece many tourists somehow breeze past while rushing between the Old Town and Royal Quarter.
I’m not the biggest Brussels enthusiast out there, as those of you who’ve been following my European escapades will know, but I gotta give it to them: one of the few worthy rivals I’ve found to my beloved Le Marais, a historic neighborhood in Paris, is the grittier Marolles.
Think hip little cafés, trendy clubs, street art, vintage boutiques, and shops selling antiques and rare records, plus a sprawling daily flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle.
This is Brussels at its most effortlessly-cool and rough around the edges.
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How Safe Is Brussels, Belgium In 2026?
U.S. Department of State advisory: Level 2—exercise increased caution due to crime, terrorism, and unrest
Travel Off Path Traveler Safety Index: 80/100, based on reports from recent visitors
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ahhh, the Venice of the North.
Except this one is not traversed by haphazard, winding canals, but rather meticulously planned, concentric waterways, and you’d be wise to look both ways if you fancy avoiding getting flattened by a no-nonsense Dutch cyclist.
Amsterdam is truly gorgeous, from the narrow canal houses clad in aged, darkened brick, with their signature stepped gables, to the world-class museums and… ahem, the infamous Red Light District.
Known locally as De Wallen, it’s a magnet for debauchery and probably every Brit weekender’s go-to stomping ground in town, but my favorite thing about the Dutch capital actually lies around 11 miles outside the urban perimeter.
Zaanse Schans isn’t technically an Amsterdam suburb or an open-air museum: it’s a lived-in historic neighborhood and working heritage site.
Picture vast open fields sprinkled with working wooden windmills, green timber houses strung along narrow lanes, and quiet waterways flowing past flower beds and the banks of the Zaan River.
This is the Netherlands at its most peaceful and postcard-perfect, and whenever I’m in North Holland, I keep finding my way back here for a wedge of Gouda cheese and a wander around the mills.
How Safe Is Amsterdam, The Netherlands In 2026?
U.S. Department of State advisory: Level 2—exercise increased caution due to terrorism
Travel Off Path Traveler Safety Index: 86/100, based on reports from recent visitors
Copenhagen, Denmark
Amsterdam’s Nordic cousin, Copenhagen is also the capital of a low-lying, seafaring country, and in a way, it too revolves around water and bikes.
Nyhavn, in the center of town, feels like a mini ‘Dam with more colorful gabled houses, and the canalside palaces and church spires don’t feel too far removed from the Dutch architectural language.
Did I mention the endless bikes and flat-as-a-pancake terrain?
There’s no Red Light District here, true enough, but Christiania offers a close-enough dose of alternative culture: no sex workers beckoning you through neon-lit windows, but rather a former military zone transformed into a community-run, countercultural enclave.
It’s peppered with mural-splashed lanes, artists’ workshops, craft shops, cafés, and live-music venues.
If you’re getting peckish, make a beeline for POPL on nearby Strandgade, a Noma-linked neighborhood spot serving some killer beef burgers.
If coffee and pastries are involved, kaffehygge is probably the word you’re looking for.
Nothing beats sitting down at an Espresso House, sipping a golden-orange Pumpkin Latte when it lands on the seasonal menu, tearing into a cinnamon bun, and watching the leaves turn amber and drift along the edge of a canal on a crisp autumn day.
How Safe Is Copenhagen, The Netherlands In 2026?
U.S. Department of State advisory: Level 2—exercise increased caution due to terrorism
Travel Off Path Traveler Safety Index: 83/100, based on reports from recent visitors
Malmö, Sweden
A short, 35-minute train ride from Copenhagen across the Øresund Bridge, Malmö is the first Swedish city you’ll meet after crossing over from Denmark.
It’s also Sweden’s third-largest city, with around 368,000 people living in the municipality, and an understated cultural heavyweight that’s long overdue its flowers.
The mix of Danish-era medieval bones and ultra-modern cityscapes is particularly striking, with a compact Old Town packed with half-timbered buildings and cobbled lanes lying less than a mile from a rapidly redeveloped waterfront punctuated by high-rises and some seriously bold postindustrial architecture.
Malmö is great, alright, and it’s home to a fair few landmarks, including the moated, red-brick Malmöhus Castle—the oldest surviving Renaissance castle in the Nordic region—and the neo-futuristic, twisting 623-foot skyscraper, the Turning Torso.
Still, it works best as a base for exploring southern Sweden.
From here, you can easily board a train bound for Lund, just over 10 miles away and little more than 10 minutes by the fastest direct services.
It’s one of Scandinavia’s prettiest university towns, centered around a monumental Romanesque cathedral and a maze of cobbled lanes lined with pastel historic houses.
How Safe Is Sweden In 2026?
U.S. Department of State advisory: Level 2—exercise increased caution due to terrorism
Travel Off Path Traveler Safety Index: 86/100, based on reports from recent visitors
What Else Has European Sleeper Got In Store?
Besides the Brussels–Amsterdam–Copenhagen–Malmö train, European Sleeper is launching a roughly 18-hour overnight service connecting Brussels to Milan, Italy, a little earlier, on September 9, 2026.
It’s also preparing a new Brussels–Barcelona sleeper, currently targeting a launch at some point in 2028.
As far as the Scandinavian route is concerned, if you’re traveling with European Sleeper between Brussels and Malmö, you can connect to other major destinations from either end of the line, including London and Paris from Brussels or Amsterdam, and Stockholm or Oslo from Copenhagen or Malmö.
Depending on the timetable, each can be reached with one additional onward train at the relevant end of the journey.
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