18-hour sleeper train from Bucharest to Vienna

subscribe & join the patreon for more / tomthornton :)
This is the story of the time I tried to ride a Romanian sleeper train called the Dacia from Bucharest to Vienna. The ride from Romania to Austria should have been a nice and relaxing one, especially since I had a first-class private compartment with a private bathroom and shower. However, as you'll see by what happens after I get a knock at my room's door from the train guard, it was anything but relaxing...
You can stay in the same hotel as I did in Romania via Agoda: agoda.tp.st/REOyilFK (I earn a small commission from this link)
This is my second video of a journey either ending or beginning in Romania and I have to say, I've complained a lot about the cross-border transport, but the actual Romania part itself has always been wonderful and I would love to go back and have a proper Romania travel adventure soon :)
I hope that you're doing well and staying safe.
insta: / tomth0rnton
Music from Epidemic Sound, feel free to sign up using my referral link if you liked it :) share.epidemicsound.com/nu1tb0
Camera: amzn.to/3bGGrb2
Microphone I use at home: amzn.to/2MtTGTF
My 40L travel backpack: amzn.to/3b3Ywkh
SSD I edit from: amzn.to/3syP7He

[@NerdX151]

The passport thing could easily be made more convinient. I used to travel a lot by night train between Denmark and France before Schengen had been fully implemented. The process was simple: the sleeping car conductor collected all our passports along with the tickets and stored them in safe during the night. When we arrived at the borders, the safe would be handed over to the border police who inspected them in their office and stamped them. If there was anything suspecious they would only wake up the owner of a specific passport. Always got a full night's sleep.

[@af8312]

Over the sea, in the US, it could get great too, if only the US-canada border went back to being practically completely open like it was in the 80s

[@hippiemuslim]

The rail transport has been crippled here in Romania to the point everything barely functions, efficiency isn't their concern.

[@drdewott9154]

Yeah. Shame Denmark has backtracked on this and now wake everyone up for individual passport checks on every train entering the electric mainline into Denmark from Germany and have done so nonstop since 2015. And this is despite being right in the middle of the Schengen zone! 99% of it seems to be driven by political islamophobia.

[@manu.yt25]

Yeah but no they have to check if the passport owner is really the person in question and have also to check for potential migrants in the train, there's still a significant amount of them trying to cross to western Europe even if they mostly do so inside trucks nowadays.

[@zz44ppppp]

Romania is a high risk country for migration issues though

[@xxx_these.flightless.wings_xxx]

Romanian here, and I have to say that this might have been the most Romanian thing I watched in a while

[@AmadeuShinChan]

Shittest ✔️check

[@seekingtravel]

Actually, this was quite the headline in Romania. Hungarian Railways really screwed us and their railways decided not to take us (with their locomotive as they were supposed to) to Vienna. Because of the delay you mentioned. It sucks but is most definitely not a regular occurrence (you had really bad luck) - the not making it to Vienna part not the delay part (that is quite common sadly).

[@thornton]

Oh really?? Do you have a link?

[@manu.yt25]

Yeah I think I've taken this train from Arad to Budapest like 15 times maybe and 90% of the time it went well. Currently it's a bit complicated because they're working on the track right after the Hungarian border (doubling it and renovating it) maybe that's what caused the delay....

[@manu.yt25]

@@thornton Was this on July 9th? Because yeah they indeed made articles about a derailled fret train in Hungary which apparently made them to cancel two trains to/from Romania.... you can search for example "Trenuri internaționale anulate de CFR Călători după deraierea din Ungaria" for romanian news on this

[@trainsandmodelshungary]

@@thorntonit does happen, delayed services are second in priority when it comes to staffing and the carriages/engines. They’ll cancel / merge already significantly delayed services to avoid disruptions to other trains. They just don’t have enough staff and capacity on line 1 (the one going to Vienna) because it’s already on absolute full capacity.

[@Mandarin9900]

Would you like to share this headline with us please? Thank you.

[@edidumitra4916]

As a Romanian myself, I have to take some “shot outs” here: - you’re getting the 2nd class only on that paper because the other paper that you’ve received is your private room reservation which came in addition to the standard 2nd class ticket that you’ve got back before reaching Budapest - the cancelation of the train from Budapest to Vienna is based on MAV’s decision not CFR, MAV is operating the train between the RO-HU border and Vienna. - why haven’t you asked at the ticket office in Budapest Keleti to solve your tickets since you were on their main hub and they were the one responsible for running the train on that part of the journey?

[@zsoltturi6989]

A little pedantry: MAV is running the train from Lökösháza/Curtici (HU/RO) only to Hegyeshalom/Nickelsdorf (HU/AT). From that point to Wien it is operated by ÖBB.

[@XxeXcEnZexX]

Yes, so basicaly there are 3 different companies running that train to Vienna

[@macalcatzipenervi]

he is s tu pi d, that's why.

[@grbadalamenti]

Train was cancelled in Budapest, so hungarian railways were at fault❤

[@mikys5595]

That's happening because Romania is not part of the Schengen area. So maybe talking to your Austrian friends would smoothen our mutual paths to the Western world.😊

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

You might have spent $175 on that trip and thought it was a nightmare journey, but it's a journey you will never forget, and that's what makes travel so interesting. Thinking on your feet when things go wrong. I did the Bucharest-Budapest portion earlier this year, and to be honest, my journey was a little less adventurous than yours. Great video.

[@thornton]

Thanks Scott! Good to hear from you. Hope you’re doing well. Yes, it’s a life experience that I’m glad I had, and a good story - what else is there to travel for, eh? :) 😊

[@gabornagy3888]

Rather have an uneventful journey for this kind of money, especially when on 1st class

[@macalcatzipenervi]

stupid people can not think on their feet ... because they're stupid!

[@mariadominique7180]

The plane ticket is cheaper 😂

[@Nadia1989]

@@mariadominique7180 that's not the point.

[@Lisa_ink]

Only started the video, but the intro remediately remindend me on my journey 18-hour night train journey from Istanbul to Romania. It ended up in a 24 hour journey in a semi broken train, enough alcohol, closed borders, illegal taxis and great company. A journey I will never forget and in the end the best journey I haver had. Even if it ended in a 24 hour long adventure.

[@thornton]

ok that sounds like a real tale

[@LeFauneCornu]

I did it too twenty years ago! It took us 32 hours. A nightmare, with clogged toilets.

[@AC-db4ek]

enough alcohol, great company.....a drunk girl can have an orgy anywhere, anytime and call it the best experience in the life

[@Leonardo-ik9fx]

Have to say Tom watching your struggles is quite entertaining, keep up with the good work!

[@thornton]

Thanks mate, that means a lot!

[@RoScFan]

@@thornton Take the night train between Tbilisi and Baku as i did. Those azeri border guards are REALLY SCARY! Talk about content for youtube....

[@carmenridiche7231]

He complains about everythig

[@slavakaza]

Cool video! :) The timings of the border checks aren't random. Just look in the timetable. Romanian border check is from 1:44 to 2:10 (Romanian time) and Hungarian border check from 1:20 to 2:03 (Central European time). And while on the train you could - beside the timetable - just use Google Maps to see how far you are from the border. Being sensitive about sleep I actually don't take this train if I have the choice. There are 2 more night trains from Bucharest to Budapest (and Vienna is just a short jump from there) having better schedules and border check times.

[@MattLaurie]

When we took the buda-bucharest train we were surprised how exact the border check timings were, and how friendly the guards were!

[@andrasbertalan6139]

I took the same train last week, in a sleeper... The train only went to a Hungarian town, Békéscsaba, because there was an accident. At midnight in Békéscsaba they got everyone off the train... From there to Mezőtúr by passenger train, from there to Szolnok by bus and then to Budapest by another train... from Budapest by Railjet (8:40 am, after 8h on bus and 2 on other trains) which was full of Dacia passengers so there was no seat on the train... now I am waiting for my compensation because a purchased service was not provided. This was the worst journey I have ever had.

[@andiknue]

You won't get any compensation relating to European railway passenger rights, as the disruption was caused by a third party .A truck (or maybe a tractor) not in roadworthy condidtion smashed a ground plate at a railway crossing - this caused a derailment of a freight train passing shortly after the damage occured. And by the way - European railway passenger rights don't provide and have never provided any right for compensation because a purchased service was not provided. When buying a ticket, you only get the right to transportation. All the other nice things, a certain comfort class, a working air condition, a working toilet, a restaurant car, a direct connection without transfer, or a place in a sleeping car or couchette are non-binding. Of course, it you paid extra for the extra services, you might get a refund. But the problem here is problem, all services were provided. Sleeping car and couchette services were provided - the fact that they ended in Bekescsaba does not even create any claim for a refund. Of course, maybe the will issue a voucher - but that would be goodwill. I am quite sure, that Romanian railways will not show any goodwill. I would recommend, don't waste lifetime for trying to claim anything in this case....

[@ministry95]

I was on the same train - in was quite a ride 😅

[@christidiscover]

Don t complain you made a full romanian experience. 😅

[@ianhelps3749]

In 1990 I took the night train from Budapest to Bucharest. Woken up for the border check, but it didn’t tske long. It was about 15 hour journey. Had a great time travelling around Romania. Not the fastest trains, but they took you where you wanted to go. Bucharest was quite run down then, it's improved now.

[@k.s.421]

I would recommend you the train from Berlin to Graz (Austria) via Vienna. We did it several times now, slept the whole time, breakfast there was very good. They gave us towels and 2 bottles of water, shower was working properly. The distance is running by ÖBB (Austrian railways). Very clean and friendly staff.

[@RkR2001]

OBB AUSTRIA IS THE BEST RAILWAY SERVICE IN THE WORLD ! KUDOS TO OBB😅

[@Orson2u]

@@RkR2001 DOUBLE down on that! OBB has the newest and most comfortable train cars in Europe.

[@marci_szell]

The train attendant did not steal your paper ticket. At most railway companies that provide sleeping and couchette car services, it is standard procedure for the attendant to collect your ticket and reservation before you go to sleep, and return it to you upon waking up or before you leave the train. There are a few reasons for this practice. Firstly, the conductor requests all passengers' tickets from the train attendant in the sleeping car to ensure a peaceful and uninterrupted sleep for everyone onboard. This helps guarantee a comfortable journey. Secondly, the conductor's responsibility is limited to the service area of the railway company they work for. In the case of long international trains that traverse multiple countries, the conductor may change at the border station. For your journey, the conductors and railway companies were CFR (1st conductor), MÁV-START (2nd conductor), and intended to be ÖBB (3rd conductor). Another reason for collecting tickets is that the train attendant needs to handle paperwork associated with each ticket. They are required to copy certain information from the ticket as part of their administrative duties. I hope this explanation clarifies the situation. Greetings from a former Hungarian train attendant.

[@cristianhanca8739]

Well, you surely got a rotten deal. Usually, it is not as bad as this: 1) Romanian Railways get delays... alot. There is no info on the train about that. No next stop, schedule... nothing. There are websites, and I even wrote an app for that, but still. 2) Your icket is collected for your convenience. After the borders (HU and AT), the conductor changes, but your attendant does not. He presents the tickets through the night. You get your ticket back normally, and if they forget, just ask. 3) The border crossing is insane but allows for both the RO and AT bound trains to be at the Hungarian Border Station at the same time. This is very important, as people may be denied entry in HU and can return immediately to RO (otherwise, they are stuck in HU). 4) I usually sleep up to the border, get woken up, sleep again, and get woken up again. I am a light sleeper, thoug, and have my Pass ready when I go to sleep. Passport contols may take some time, as reading those Biometric Passports can take like 30s. Also, physical room inspections are a chore. 5) Those showers never work... I have no idea why... 6) The "dining" car is decoupled at Arad. There is no meal service in HU / AT, and no breakfast or drinks. Always bulk up when travelling by train in the east. 7) The train got cancel3d by MAV (the HU state operator) due to a scheduling error on their side. By allowing the train to go to Wien, it would have runined the entire day on that sector (so I heard). Still not an excuse, and the fact that no information was provided is also a horrible situation to be stuck in. At the very least, you got dropped in the main station of Budapest... 8) When buying any night train ticket, you are buying two things: the right to go on the train and the accommodation reservation. The ticket to ride the train will always be 2nd class, equivalent to a seatter. For Single Sleaper, you must buy the Full Fare Flex ticket, hence the expense. Even in a 2-sleeper, you could get the discounted "Europa" ticket, but that is academic right now. 9) Be happy you got the standad ticket... theoretically, a train- bound ticket would not have allowed you to use the RailJet! In these cases, you would have had to get a stamp from a HU Conductor, that your original connectionis not possible, due to a traindelag or cancellation, at which point you may use the ticket as if it were flexible.

[@user-cd9rd7jb2z]

What do you mean by physical room inspections? They take people off the train for room inspection?

[@cristianhanca8739]

No. Usually, a guard would just glance in the room. They do have a mirror-on-a-stick, with which they check the compartment above for any undeclared people. Theoretically, they can also check your bags, but I have never seen that happen.

[@user-cd9rd7jb2z]

@@cristianhanca8739 Thank you. What was confusing was that they stamped this person's passport even when he was crossing from one Schengen to another Schengen. This was confusing because both Romania and Hungary are Schengen countries.

[@victoriaguerin2851]

@@user-cd9rd7jb2z Romania has only been in the Schengen area since the end of March 2024, so maybe his actual travel was before that date.

[@MasterF3]

​@@victoriaguerin2851The video is from 11 months ago, so definitely. But also, it's not full Schengen, I think it's only by air and sea, so I think there might still be checks for trains.

[@dianaw248]

Tom. We love your channel! You present such interesting travels and you seem to take all the bumps with such grace and humor. Travel is a great experience but can at times be such a challenge. Also disregard the negative comments…they are just a few people who seem unable to appreciate the positivity life can bring. Best wishes from the US for many fun travels ahead! 😊

[@plopolp9818]

This guy has the gall to complain about a ride in a Romanian train even after keeping all his organs smh

[@johannesfeigl5309]

Well thats a glowing recoomendation😮😅

[@LB-uo7xy]

I think you're confusing any country in Eastern Europe with some shady Latin American countries.

[@sileniu]

Romania is not Columbia, neither Niger or Congo...we don't steal organs.

[@Oldladysgin]

Romania and Hungary are now in Schengen

[@sileniu]

@@Oldladysgin Just by air :)

[@julianboenisch4542]

Oh my god this is unbelievable timing! I just came with the night train to Bucharest from Vienna. I also booked the sleeper train but sadly the wagon was missing…. I guess it stopped with you in Budapest, because they said, that „there was trouble in Hungary“…😂😂😂 Always great seeing you videos Keep it up man!

[@thornton]

Hahaaa sorry to hear that it never made it to you! Thanks :)

[@budapestkeletistationvoices]

It accrued a huge delay. Passengers were put on the next RJX train and Romanian carriages are transported empty by a later Budapest-Vienna train

[@eedragonr]

​@@thorntonTom one more time in Vienna in the rail station you have showers perhaps not at the quality level of France, but for a few euros I think you have showers in most of the EU bigger cities rail stations.

[@user-cd9rd7jb2z]

Why would they stamp your passport when Romania is also Schengen and you are crossing from one Schengen to another Schengen?

[@silvykara2927]

​@@user-cd9rd7jb2zRomania is not in Schengen...only by air since a few months ago. By road and rail there is no schengen😅

[@CookieKissful100]

I love how you‘re staying so calm?? I would have cried the whole time tbh

[@Armi144]

You still got lucky. On Monday, a freight train derailed in Hungary, so Dacia-Corvin, the sleeper train is really messed up right now, even more than it was before. The damage is insane, it's gonna last for like 2 months. An almost identical accident happened just like 2-3 months ago, they only recently finished fixing it.

[@axelmaas8957]

I used a couple night trains this summer (including Bucharest to Budapest) and on my first one I was the same as you, staying awake for the border control between Turkey and Bulgaria. But I learned my lesson after having a 3 hour delay between the Turkish control and the Bulgarian control to just go to sleep and not stay up for it, its really not worth it, they wake you up and check it. Always abit stressfull when they take your passport for like an hour but you always seem to get it back. Later in my travels on the train from Bucharest to Budapest I just slept and only got woken by the border control when they needed me and I slept great for almost the entire journey, I kinda love these trains A less fun journey was the one train from Sofia to Bucharest, this one went during the day and there where only 2 carriges that went all the way to Bucharest, the rest of the train consistet of carriges from farious railways comming and going, sadly no buffet car for the entire 12 hour journey. The train was empty during the high season so I had the hot, no AC compartment from a carrige that used to belong to the east German railways by myself! Halfway on the journey we waited for 3 hours in the sun for a coach from Istanbul that was delayed, meanwhile we where baking in full sun. Once it arrived we continued our journey, at the border crossing a 'guard' with a 'official' T-shirt that looked more like he was supporting a foorball team apeard to take my passport, the control did not take too long. Then on the Romanian side he re apeared with a Romanian T-shirt this time to take our passports again for the Romanian border control. After this only 3 hours to go! From this point I was really confused becouse on the map it seemed like we had straight tracks from Ruse to Bucharest for like 120 km or something. And the tracks where indeed straight, but apperently so poorly maintained that we only could go over them with 10 to 20 km per hour at a few points! We arrived in Bucharest with only a 2 hour delay, which was not even caused by the Bulgarian railways but the delayed Turkish carrige. One fun thing to know, a FlixBus went multiple times a day, was half the price and took half the time but I wanted to do only rail. To sum up, I love traveling by train, especially in Eastern Europe and the Balkans but you always need to be patient and just kinda go with it (cautiosly), delays are more the norm then the exception so always be flexible and I would try to never have same day connections from these trains if they are not frequent or are long journeys.

[@schaulinnoam]

I'm sorry you had such bad luck with this train. I did it in 2019 and it was one of my favorit night train journeys (and thats saying something as I have done ~110 of them so far). I recomend buying an Interrail Global Pass next time you want to do such a long journey, it is almost always cheaper than single tickets, even with the necessairy reservations. The late night border crossings are really annoying (worst for me was Bulgaria to Turkey), but I almost just go to bed early, if I know one is comming, so I know I'll get my sleep. But luckily in the Schengen area it's no problem on night trains. If you want to do another special night train journey I can recommend all the Italian night trains, especially the one from Milan to Sicily. It is nearly 21h long and goes on a ferry 😅

[@Poutrel]

Any railroad recommendations (night train or not)? I'm going for a 5 month interrail trip in pretty much every European country next year. I have already noted a lot of them, but I could do with some suggestions!

[@radiantflux1432]

@@Poutrel If you are going on night trains make you book ahead. I live in Berlin and am going and taking the night train from Munich to Genoa next week, and train booked out six months ahead of time. I can recommend the night train from Munich to Rome, and Rome you can go to southern Italy very fast.

[@radiantflux1432]

I was thinking of doing the Rome to Sicily night train sometime. Is this the same train?

[@alestra1021]

@@radiantflux1432 Well its definitely the same Route, so i think the experience should be similar

[@Poutrel]

@@radiantflux1432 Thanks for the tip. I indeed couldn't take the night train from Plovdiv to Istanbul last year because it was full. Had to take the bus, uh... But in Italy I booked it just a few hours before it goes and there was still plenty of room.

[@nigelmontague9931]

Love this video Tom. And yes, you always make having bad luck so entertaining. Thanks for making us all smile 😄

[@jlaci84]

The reason of the cancellation is, that this very infamous train (Dacia) is the first train of the day from Budapest to Vienna, which has quite good connections in Vienna, so the Hungarian Railways is selling a bunch of tickets for it. If the train arrives from Romania with considerable delay, they have to send a separate train to Vienna without waiting the romanian stock, not to miss the connections in Vienna. Theoretically the romanian part could be joined to later trains, but in the morning hours they are closed Railjet trains, and in the morning rush hours they could not always find a slot for an extra train. Therefore the decision that the passengers have to switch trains in Budapest is somewhat understandable - but the change should be organized better.

[@BensTakeYT]

Love these videos so much!

[@lorcanbonser-wilton3222]

Always a good day when you upload, another highly enjoyable video 😊

[@alexj9603]

This video was like a time machine to me. Apparently, these international night trains in central/eastern Europe haven't changed at all during the last 35 years. Everything you experienced could have happened on one of my many night train rides to Poland, Romania and Croatia during the 1990s and early 2000s: The special "international" ticket counter, the ticket being kept by the staff during the night, passport controls at 2 a.m., a rather slow train, etc.. The only new thing I noticed it's the option to get an electronic ticket. And the screens in the stations in Bucharest and Budapest.

[@eedragonr]

It seems that the trains are a social necessity for commuting people like pupils and employees and also for people not having a car for different reasons like simple age and health reasons.

[@kristof1230]

tbf, the ticket being kept is for the passengers convenience. For example, the night train between Budapest and Koper has 3 Slovenian ticket conductors. They come at the border in Hodos (at 1:10 am), in Ljubljana (at 6 am) and the last comes around 8 am. Everyone would be woken up by the conductor to check their tickets. We, as night train stewards also have to do a lot of (seemingly pointless) paperwork, using information from the tickets. We're basically stuck in the past.

[@annaf3915]

I took a night train from Vienna to Berlin the summer of 2021 and expected to be woken up a few times because of the COVID regulations - in fact my phone beeped several times asking me to register on some website. But the funny thing was, noone woke me to look at my passport and my "green pass" or whatever it was called. Instead, they switched staff with every border crossing and that staff came barging into the compartment soon after to be shown the ticket again. We got maybe two hours of uninterrupted sleep after entering Poland and then the staff barged in again in the early morning to tell us that due to technical problems we were stuck somewhere in the woods indefinitely (could have slept through a bit of that as well because it took until noon to fix it). They allowed us to climb off the train onto the tracks and wander around in the woods. A nice Syrian family found some blackberries and shared them with all the kids. But the most important reason for letting us out, I think, was that the toilets didn't flush because of the lack of electricity. It was quite the adventure but I hate to say when we visited Hamburg this year and only had 3 days there, we decided to fly 😞

[@Kannot2023]

Only the Romanian railroad travelled back in time others east European rails are fine.

[@TangoMikeLima]

Seriously, that sleeping car was very obviously much newer than anything you might have used 35 years ago.

[@AHMx1995]

Tom, I love your videos, but I especially love how you take on all the bumps in the road with the utmost grace. Keep on keeping on!

[@k.s.421]

Yep. I guess this is the English way. We Germans tend to freak out....😂

[@ChenyeTripp]

Love your sense of humor!

[@wynja77]

Well, at least you got a video out of it that was a heck of a lot more interesting than the similar vids from other people I've seen making this journey WITHOUT the hiccups ;)

[@trainsandmodelshungary]

Oh that shower scene was epic. “I feel so clean now” 😅😂😅😂😅😂 love your content, and I’m sorry you arrived to BUD in a less than ideal situation. Hope and wish that your next journey here will be a much more pleasant one! Stay safe and healthy - and keep bringing us great vids 😎😉

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Well that’s dampened my enthusiasm for sleeper trains, I think I’ll take that one off my bucket list, nice post

[@florianerber8041]

Lets go!! Love your Storytelling good one

[@HUNVilly]

I remember commenting on your Flixbus video too, but here I am again. I also took this ride from Budapest to Bucharest. After that I decided to visit all the major cities along the line, travelling from Hungary each time one stop closer than the last. It was great fun, but I knew what I was getting myself into.

[@johnr3599]

Mr. Never Again, try the Bucharest - Chisinau train. It is a former Soviet train operated by the railways of the Republic of Moldova. An unforgettable experience for someone who has high expectations like you.

[@shadowsxd1452]

Nah , he's doesn't have high expectations , we all Romanians know who CFR works and how this whole country works. So , it's a normality for us. For them is a struggle because in the west you don't have to deal with border with "cancelling" the ride and so on. Of course , it's an experience for anyone to ride such a train to Moldova because nowadays , that's unique.

[@nadalwilson1453]

Haha I guess in Romania high expectations means thinking you get what you pay for and not be scammed.

[@is-ig4ny]

As a Romanian I can say that romania sucks

[@vladpanzer-in3zh]

​@@nadalwilson1453 what do you mean bro, he was complaying that The train didnt teach The border at the corect Time like bro în România if trains are on Time we are happy.

[@maxm7103]

@@shadowsxd1452 nice try... The British train system and timetable is a joke already for the locals, and it's starting to be pretty much the same for most Germany rail service, even their shiny ICEs. Romania has the excuse of their whole train system being completely rebuild on most important parts (including the one that is at fault for most of the delays in this video, between Brasov and Sighisoara). Don't knock down Romania, it's definitely not worst than other countries, it's just the people knowing much better how to deal with such events, unlike westerners that are used to things that "just work" - or at least they used to...

[@pandris]

I used to travel to Romania from Budapest with the sleeping train, best sleeps i ever had. There is something romantic how the train is slowly rocking you to sleep as you listen to the monotonous noise, especially when it's raining or snowing.

[@felixonrails]

Hey Tom, wonderful video! All the best from Switzerland :)

[@JohnnyFD]

It’s not your fault. I’ve take taken trains in both Hungary and Romania and they are both poorly run counties and rails. I’ve had similarly bad experiences on trains there.

[@asozialesnetzwerk]

After graduating school some friends and I took the same night train during our Interrail trip but only from Budapest to Sibiu. Went all surprisingly well. Unfortunately we didn't know back then that Romania wasn't part of the Schengen Area. So we were somewhat surprised that we were woken up twice that night for passport controls.

[@vladimirmihnev9702]

Still not part of Schengen area.

[@asozialesnetzwerk]

@@vladimirmihnev9702 Unfortunately :(

[@paristen8556]

I've taken the Vienna-Bucharest train several times in both directions over the last ten years or so - they're wonderful old-style trains, very solid. A single compartment is a great luxury. I love running through the Romanian countryside, seeing how everything is gradually modernising. Just bring your own food and drink, allow for several hours' delay, be happy to reach Vienna or Bucharest whenever you get there. Both are great cities in their own way. But above all don't get on the train with unrealistic expectations!

[@Skaterboichen]

Last year I went all the way from germany to Ankara and back by train and interrail. I can really recommend it! But you always have to account for the night trains to be late, which is normally no issue as you can sleep and chill and will stay in the next city for at least 1 night. Sadly no of my trains had any restaurant at all 😢. I even went from Budapest du Bucharest on the night train in a normal seat 😅. Best train is from Bucharest to Istanbul! Very scenic and nice turkish sleeper cars!

[@piotr.leniec-lincow5209]

As a child i would travel with father in a sleeping coaches from Warsaw Poland to Constanta Romania every summer . It took 3 days ( 2 nights ), did not have shower ( only sink ) lifting of a rail car at the USSR borders ( twice in one way ) in order to change the wheel units to different sizes , had number of delays standing in hot Romanian sun for hours in the cornfields and nasty border controlls including customs . Still , young man , i recall that time as the most wonderfull in my life .....

[@wyqtor]

Wow! What an experience it must have been! I am curious though, why were you guys coming over here, and not to Crimea or the Soviet Riviera around Sochi and Abkhazia?

[@piotr.leniec-lincow5209]

@@wyqtor we went there too . But my father loved Romania . The grapes , the wine , the mitchi , Mamaia . You should know that Romania was the only country we could go ( im excluding e. Germany ) that was not Slavic and this had a magnetism of its own . I still go there with my son and try to show him how you can live in a beautyfull way even when you dont have a lot of money .... I love Romania . The only thing , l miss those fruit designs in the local markets on displays looking like carpets . Do they do that somwhere still ?

[@sm6allegro]

Couple of remarks: -The carriage attendant collecting the tickets and returning them in the morning is standard procedure on international night trains. They then show them to the guard who is actually responsible for checking them. Especially when the train is run jointly by the served countries' state railways, the guard will change at the border and they would have to wake you up to check your ticket again if you got to keep it. -Nowadays, on most European night trains, all accomodation levels are classified as second class. This allows you to book any level with a 2nd class Interrail pass for example.

[@Nots88]

Why you didn't simply go to sleep? It's not your duty to wait till 3am for the border guard.

[@victoriaguerin2851]

Because no one came by to tell him what time they were actually going to reach the border so he kept thinking that it would happen any minute.

[@marcmonnerat4850]

@@victoriaguerin2851 Well sleep until the border police show up. Not a big deal

[@primusro]

@@victoriaguerin2851it makes no sense mate. It's not like if you sleep when the border patrol comes you are skipped and you wake up abandoned on the side of the road lol. They literally have no other way than to wake you when they reach you. Ironically this is why the patrol was done quickly with him but slowly with the other passengers. People were actually sleeping like any normal person would :))

[@chrisfarmer6893]

Sorry you had a bad experience. I've taken that train in the other direction and we did make it the whole way, although a few hours delayed. My advice is definitely go to sleep, don't wait up for the border crossing! They'll wake you up with the knock, don't worry 😂

[@karmaoutlaw]

Despite the hassles it still resonated as a somewhat romantic journey. 😌

[@thornton]

Yes the Romanian scenery is amazing!

[@piotrfranowo4449]

In the 90s I traveled several times by train from Poland through Budapest to Italy. I used two night trains: Warsaw-Budapest (Express "Bathory") and Budapest-Venice ("Venezia-Express"). In both sleeping it was impossible, because each time it crossed three borders during one night, and each with full passport control (there were pre-EU times :-) ). The best were border officers glowing flashlights in the eyes :-), and another six stamps collected in my passport after each night. What state borders did I cross? For the first train: Polish-Czech (Zebrzydowice-Petrovice), Czech-Slovak (Cadca) and Slovak-Hungarian (Sturovo-Szob). For the second train: Hungarian-Croatian (Gyekenyes-Koprivnica), Croatian-Slovenian (Zagreb-Dobova) and Slovenian-Italian (Seżana-Villa Opicina). At some time, an additional attraction was a blackout on the train while traveling through Croatia (due to the civil war in former Yugoslavia). Anyway, there were very interesting routes, especially from Budapest to Venice (journey along Balaton, Slovenian mountains, very exciting "downhill ride" from Villa Opicina to Trieste).

[@user-ph2sz2oy1k]

This reminded me of why my travels on romanian trains always involved a considerable amount of wine

[@TheTravellingScotsman]

You're crushing the videos Tom! Very creative writing and editing.

[@thornton]

Thanks mate!

[@b.w.9244]

Good post! Just subscribed. Your vids are humorous and enjoyable. It is definitely hard to sleep knowing you will soon be awakened.

[@ulfw]

Oh you so crazy Tom. What a trip!

[@thornton]

when will I learn 😅 thanks!

[@lorij6445]

It’s always fun to see your adventures, good or bad. I thought for sure you were going to tell us the toilet backed up or something. I’m glad you made it safely.

[@Frazsier-lx1gr]

Thanx for another train video. :) You are sort of my role model when it comes to train journeys. 😊 I hope to one day travel further by train myself. From the south of Austria (where I live) to, maybe, Tallin, or Scotland. Something like this.

[@thornton]

Hey thanks mate :) that sounds awesome! I have the same kind of dreams too, for some reason I always end up in cold places like that… viele Grüße nach Österreich ✌️

[@etienne_w]

My girlfriend and I will be travelling all the way from Germany to Constanta for holiday on this very train in exactly one week 🫠 I hope the experience will be better, we also have a first class ticket. Hopefully the train runs all the way and we will definitely shower right after depature :D

[@michielvantspijker7065]

Hey I am taking this train in two weeks, let me know how it goes 😅 good luck on your travels!

[@thornton]

I’m sure it will be fine really :)

[@williamhautekiet9061]

I did both ways last summer and I must say that Vienna - Bucharest was really nice (you get on the train in the evening, border checks in the middle of the night, but after that you can sleep long since you arrive only in the afternoon in Bucharest) while Bucharest - Vienna was closer to this video: one hour delay to start with and "train finished" in Budapest without warning!

[@dergutejunge]

did Hamburg-Constanta (stop in Budapest and Bucarest) last fall, it's great, Romania especially has a beautiful landscape and arriving at the Black Sea coast was incredibly satisfying. Romanian railways has badly serviced toilets though, be prepared.

[@eedragonr]

If someone is on a business trip or traveling for work showering at the rail station will lose their time. That is why especially paid for the shower on train should work. But efficacy does not matter in Europe!!! Effectiveness does not work in Europe!

[@minodoraripa7608]

Never say never! It's your fault that you didn't inform yourself before the trip. My 14 year old nephew did the same trip and did great! Success! Next time will be better!

[@liamtahaney713]

I love the suspense.

[@victorcretu7741]

So many lessons to learn here. 😀 If you plan to have a shower, always carry with you one or two 5-gallon solar shower bags ( black heavy-duty plastic bags with a small shower head at the bottom ). On a summer day, you can have lukewarm water - 100 to 105 degrees (or 40 Celsius) - in about 3 hours. But that's not the point here. When you board the train, you check if there's water. If the water is there, in the evening you fill up your bags and place them into the shower room. You have to reserve your water cause most of the old trains have only a central tank and you might not get any if you wait until 2 am for a passport stamp. After Turkey's snub on Sweden, the EU decided that Romania and Bulgaria must be admitted this year into the Schengen area and even be compensated for discrimination (they met the criteria in 2011). So, you might be luckier next time.

[@didivicky]

Let s see if they re admitted, Austria is still against...

[@DacianRider]

@@didivicky they be racist cucks

[@PrinciaInk]

nice video the sleep train room look cool

[@coolnewpants]

Wow that is so appalling! I am so sorry that happened to you. Thank you so much for sharing your experience so hopefully others may avoid repeating it.

[@thehun1234]

The delay on the Romanian-Hungarian border was probably because of the Ukrainian refugees. Every day thousands of them come to Hungary via Romania, similar numbers through the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. They are taken off the trains (day and night trains) at the border and have to be processed because they enter the Schengen zone. Normally they either have to take the next train if they want to travel further west. Sometimes the Hungarian railway company runs a special train just for the refugees from the border to Budapest. The night train from Bucharest is often late, normally if the delay is more than an hour there is a replacement train between Budapest and Vienna. There are hourly trains to Vienna and the ticket is honoured on the next train, the only problem people might have is finding a seat. Often most of the seats have reservations, so people have to stand for nearly three hours.

[@rain-cy6ve]

I can attest to the Ukrainian refuggees part. I took this train from Bucharest to Vienna and at the Romanian-Hungarian boarder we waited for almost 2 hours cause they had to be registered

[@eedragonr]

I really hope that Austria is not protesting against the extension of the Schengenzone because of these refugees. Even if it's a neutral country.

[@thefareplayer2254]

I was WONDERING how you got back from the FlixBus trip! And you ANSWERED!

[@countdemoney9598]

I use to love taking train rides in the 80's and 90's from Bucharest to Cluj or Budapest

[@semi2893]

175 USD for a train ticket from Bucharest to Vienna? Wow, I must admit, to me as a Swiss, this sounds extremely cheap 😅 But anyway, be happy for all the things that didn't go as planned for these are exactly the kind of memories you'll never forget and you will cherish. From all my journeys I remember those the most that didn't go as smooth as planned 🥰 Thanks for bringing us along with you!

[@Pnod666]

Romanian here, took a similar 11-hour journey with my family from Bucharest to Chisinau. No cancellations for me, but the border procedures were equally slow, and we had a regular room, where there's literally barely any space to stand between the two double beds. The real kicker though was the window, which was for some reason locked shut, and lead the crowded room to become stuffy as all hell! We ended up dubbing it "The Auschwitz Train" due to just how uncomfy it was. We actually did the trip twice, going back the same way a day or two later, so that's fun! Just felt like writing this down because it was just odd seeing someone talking about the same thing in my feed. Also I don't mean literally any offence, but hearing your pronunciation of Romanian words has me keeling over.

[@sophiakanali1]

Wonderful video!

[@popix33]

I went for a 12h journey from western Romania to eastern Romania last summer and it was actually quite good (just a 1h delay). I paid 80 euros for the private sleeping cabin (without shower) but there where no bar on the train.

[@thornton]

The section just in Romania would be great to ride again, and enjoy the scenery 😍

[@timosha21]

Lovely train!!!!

[@michaelscofield2652]

Couldve been a 1 hour flight lol

[@villy27]

I took the train in the other direction a few weeks ago and I loved it. Never had problems to sleep while awaiting the border control. If you do it again, you should try.

[@KingdomOfStars]

Imagine this happens on a daily basis for any Romanian railway operated train. But after 30+ years of this, you kind of get accustomed to it I guess 😉

[@AnaRibeiro]

Reading that, I'm more thankful for Deutsche Bahn

[@IonTraveller]

so true 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@catalinpetrescu8488]

It was even worse back then. At least the cars are modernized nowadays. Struggling to keep up with the standards instead of being sub-par.

[@blackmercury956]

​@@AnaRibeiro Deutsch bahn seems like the Japanese trainsystem (they are almost never more than 20 second late compared to romania lol)

[@mochichichi2458]

@@blackmercury956 Oh my, you mean they are never on time. DB is always late haha

[@GBRf66715_]

Just come across your channel, I love it!

[@dpashutskii]

Thanks for the video. I am taking the night train to Romania in a few weeks. Hopefully, now that Romania is in Schengen, they've fixed it, and it'll be a smooth ride. Going to make video about the trip too ;)

[@CalinFR]

This is an exception what you experienced. Do this trip again and the chances are it'll be much more comfortable and worth the time and money

[@Geldzerstaeuber]

i also take a sleeper train von Bucarest to Budapest - it takes 16 hours

[@thornton]

Doing that while actually wanting to doesn’t sound too bad 😭

[@simonwood3638]

Great video, hope you enjoyed Vienna one of my favourite cities. I took a Nightjet train last month and booked a private sleeper and got downgraded to one with just seats at least it made it to Hamburg. Obb mark all their private sleeper tickets as 2nd class tickets as well. I did Vienna - Munich on a sleeper last year also and although there were no document checks the police checked the compartments at the border crossing.

[@FairyCRat]

This is why I once joined a demonstration in Bucharest to get Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen. I once went on a night train from Zagreb to Zurich, crossing 4 Schengen borders, no issues.

[@fraudebs8786]

Oh well, I spent 3 days on a coach with no toilet non -stop Athens to London in the early 80's so your train journey sounds like luxury to me!!! Lol

[@benphipps6498]

As an English Germophile, I bloody love your videos.

[@rollingtroll]

I wonder if travel insurance would cover something like this. There's no denying though Tom; This is great content. Awesome!

[@darius_alex2043]

I don’t know if they would. As a Romanian myself this made national headlines here. Apparently the Hungarian train company that operates the train from the border of Romania to the border of Austria refused to take the train because of the delay.

[@pbsteamatspeed7683]

So interesting to see how your nighttime experience compared to my daytime one in the opposite direction. It's a lot easier in daylight and quite interesting to watch them shunt the train, look under every seat with mirrors and the dogs outside!

[@TheHungarianOak]

The perks of being an eastern european , hungarian, romanian whatever, is that train delays, cancellations, out-of-order showers are just part of every day life and most of us just shrug it off without being too much angry about it :)

[@manwiththeredface7821]

And then we choose an alternative to get to where we want. Passenger train transportation is dying a slow death in this region.

[@freakymeff]

@@manwiththeredface7821 for internal travel it's still a very popular choice, at least in Romania. But for the life of me i can't understand why anyone would subject themselves to a 16h train ride, for that same price you can get airplane tickets and you're at your destination in 6h, time spent in the airport included.

[@brushfuse]

I would have considered that all an exciting adventure. Things always go awry so just enjoy the bar.

[@lewis72]

Back in 2018, I was close to taking that train from Budapest to Bucharest (having already trained from Vienna to Bratislava and then Bratislava to Budapest). I didn't feel so at ease with staying overnight on a train that looked as though it was still in the Soviet-era, so took the hour flight from Budapest to Bucharest for the same cost as the overnight train (it was around £150 then).

[@joanabug4479]

"Gara de Nord" is the biggest train station in the country. It wouldn't be so bad to get it better designed so that international tourists don't get confused. I've seen a lot of train stations outside Romania and, as a foreigner, I could always find my way around. Even in this clip you can see the sign for "INTERNATIONAL TRIPS" had the biggest font written in romanian and others in foreign languages underneath. Nonsense. As an architecture student in Bucharest, Gara de Nord is particularly frustrating. I can see this misunderstanding happening even if Tom found a couple of his romanian viewers (such as myself and others I see on here) and asked them for details about this route, prior to the trip. Folks here are inclined to say "that's one of the safest routes you can take!" - safe in terms of being sure you arrive there on time, having some comfort on the way there - depending on the ticket, most will suggest the highest comfort one (truthfully, the others are terrible in my opinion - and you'll end up frustrated) and that's because delays for this trip really are a rarity. What an unfortunate experience. Not to say that this isn't bound to happen every so often, so it's better to plan ahead. I'm sure you know this, but it's best to plan for the exceptions! :) Looking forward to see more of Tom's adventures though!

[@thornton]

Hey, thanks for the comment! That's really nice :)

[@notransfat1]

Romania and Bulgaria will likely join the Schengen zone soon, so that will solve many of the problems you experienced. I would rethink "never again".

[@bethyshka]

Duuude, you’re doing my dream youtube content and god damn it I’m too late for it 😂😂😂

[@SilverNightKyle]

“I’m coming home, on a night train” 🎶 Soon as I saw this on my feed, that 80’s hidden gem by Andy Taylor/Steve Jones (guitarists from Duran Duran & Sex Pistols, respectively), Night Train got stuck as an earwig in my head…🤪 Sad to see that your adventure went so poorly, but great to see that as always, you made the best of it… 🚂

[@The2wanderers]

Your experience actually sounds dreamy, what with the bed and everything. Not sure if it was exactly the same route, but we took a night train from Medias to Budapest with similar experience 18 years ago, with similar memories of it being amongst my worst train rides ever. - We couldn't prepurchase tickets because because we weren't starting in Bucharest. Sleeper cars were not available for purchase at the Medias ticket office. This was also before Romanian railways had internet ticketing. - Our seats were occupied when we got there, and in fact the car we were in was solidly packed. I think somewhere someone was selling standing-room-only tickets. - Roughly 2-3 hours at border control. Had exactly zero sleep that night. But ultimately got where we were going, so I guess that's just how it goes sometimes.

[@whereareweofftonow]

I done Budapest to Timisoara and glad I done day trip for it rather than a night train as it sounds a grim trip.

[@eedragonr]

Near the Grim reaper

[@travelandvisaservices9905]

How much does a ticket cost from Bucharest to Vienna in fiest class sleeper wirh shower?

[@heeeeeeeey4064]

Love the Video, last summer I made the same journey from Vienna to Bucharest but in coach. We had to change trains two times and sleeping was definitely not an option because all the lights stayed on and some romainian fella wanted to share his love for polka withe the whole compartment. Over all an awesome experience, 4/10 would still recommend!

[@Mandarin9900]

He did a video about a similar journey on a coach

[@heeeeeeeey4064]

@@Mandarin9900 I meant by coach the second class on a train. Just realised coach does not mean what I thought it would mean haha

[@XxeXcEnZexX]

sorry to hear that, as a local we struggle with those uneducated people too :( at least overall is better than 10 years ago, it will get cool

[@heeeeeeeey4064]

@@XxeXcEnZexX don't worry it was overall an awesome experience and romina is very beautiful, will definitely go back to hike in the mountains by brasov

[@mimipipi120]

You should totally visit the azores islands, Portuguese islands in the middle of atlantic! Beautiful views and the central islands (pico, faial and s jorge) are accessible between each other by ferry. Great hiking spots, amazing views and soooo much lush nature.

[@hannahkai1882]

"We're out of Coach class boys" to "back where we belong" took me out 😂😂😂. I feel bad for laughing.

[@CallumsCorner.]

Really enjoyed this vid! Are you from the Island mate?

[@thornton]

guilty haha, my next video will potentially be from there ;) are you?

[@CallumsCorner.]

@@thornton fantastic! I lived on the Island as a kid then moved back here when Covid kicked off. I've been enjoying Bembridge for the last three years.

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

Twice I did ride "Auto Trains" from Malmö in Sweden and to Luleå and Umeå. They had rented the trains in Germany and for some years it was a possibility. We had 1. class tickets and sometimes people from the lower grades came to look at our fine conditions! It was special to see the growth become lower as we came close to the Polar Circle! Sadly not enough wanted to go back again on trains, so it only lasted few years.

[@wherestheparty_]

damn! this is a great reminder I need an adventure like this soon! slow travel is so much fun if you have a good spirit and know how to make the most out of that time. Alcohol helps 😂

[@kevanhubbard9673]

I use to do those trips across Europe and sometimes the sleeping car attendant would take in passports and tickets overnight to show the border guards and they wouldn't wake you up.By coincidence that happened to me on a Brasov to Vienna train which terminated short in Budapest.It was very dangerous as some of the passengers got off in the throat to Keliti Station and walked down the tracks with trains coming and going! Very disorganised with the Austrian sleeping car attendant constantly pointing out how disorganised Hungary was(he didn't lay into Romania as I recall).

[@Handl3412]

New subscriber 🎉 ,i really like videos like this babout travel, well done👍

[@sidhantchand]

Keep it up, mate.

[@SimonS44]

Took this same train two years ago and had a fine journey with them, although the border crossing is indeed annoying. At least towards Hungary, you get an hour for free ;)

[@H0Simone]

What a bad experience you went thru, Tom. 👎😖 I did not expect CFR to be that much unreliable and unscrupulous. Thanks for this lovely made trip report anyways, it helped me much to go on and overthink my plans to take a night train from Bucharest to Vienna. Wishing you much better luck on all future travel! Simone 🙋

[@wyqtor]

Plane is your friend if you want to visit Romania. We locals mostly know to avoid trains like the plague. It's really disgraceful that we can't get our act together in the railways department.

[@alexia2189]

The Hungarian company was at fault on this, because they take over once the train crosses the border.