How to sleep sans seatmates
Trying to bed down for a nap, but without those blasted seat and compartment mates?
From Maria Argyropoulos:
"When you get in one of the cars where the seats pull out toward each other and make a little bed kinda deally, pull them out immediately, throw your stuff around and act like you're sleeping. Most people when they peek in will continue walking on to another car as they are hesitant to wake someone.
I made some eurail friends and three of us would jump in a car and do this and 75% of the time end up with the whole compartment."
It is a good trick and it still works. Two things to know before you count on it.
Compartments are rarer now
The six-seat compartment with a sliding door and seats that pull together is mostly a thing of older rolling stock. Newer intercity trains are open carriages in airline rows, and there is nothing to pull out and nobody to hide from. You will still find compartments on regional trains and on plenty of central and eastern European services, which is where this is worth trying.
And the seat may not be yours to spread out in
In France, Spain and Italy nearly every fast train is fully reserved, so the person peering through the door has a printed seat number and is not going to wander off politely. Try it there and you will simply be asked to move.
Where it works is where reservations are optional: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czechia, Hungary. Look for the little card slot or screen by the compartment door showing which seats are booked for which legs. Empty slots mean a free run.
If you actually want to sleep lying down, book a couchette on a night train and stop fighting for it. But for an afternoon and a bit of cheek, Maria's method is still sound.
Posted 07 May 2003 by Ant in BootsnAll Travel Community, Eurail Planning · updated by Chris