6 tips for night train travel with children
On a night train, the whole family travels in comfort. The long journey goes by smoothly when you enjoy activities and a good night's sleep. Get our tips for families with children here!
1. A journey on a night train is an adventure
The atmosphere on the train is unique, for both children and adults. The children will also find night train travel an exciting and memorable adventure. There are several train cars and it is fun to explore them by walking the train corridors, watching the changing scenery from the window and listening to the sounds of the train. Crossing the wagon junctions can feel especially exciting.
Even though the journey is long, it goes quickly on a night train. On the train, children get to move, have fun and get a good night's sleep.
2. A child sleeps for free next to an adult
Children under the age of 11 travel for free in the same berth as an adult. You should consider having your own berth as the berths are not very wide and sharing one with a little more grown child may be uncomfortable. The beds are 0.75 metres wide and 2 metres long. In the cabin, there can be at most one adult and one child per bed. Please also note that with small children, there must always be one adult in the cabin.
A child will not need their own ticket if they share a berth with another passenger. Kindly inform us about the child either via the chat on vr.fi or by calling our customer support 0100 3232 (cost 0,06 €/min + lnc/mcc).
You can order a safety net, an extra blanket and pillow for the berth of your child beforehand from our customer service. The safety net is pre-installed and prevents the child from falling out of bed.
3. Use connecting cabins for your family
Usually the sleeper cabins are for two or three persons, but the downstairs of the new sleeping cabins have cabins that can be connected with a partition door, if needed.
This means that in the new double-deck sleeper cars, a family can reserve adjacent cabins located on the first floor of the car, which can be connected with a partition door. The conductor will open the interconnecting door during the ticket inspection.
The cabins upstairs have their own toilet and shower. This means that if you need to use the toilet at night, you can do so without going through the corridor to get to the bathroom.
The cabin doors are open at the beginning of the journey and the keys can be found in the cabin.
Read more about sleeper cabins
4. Prepare your entertainment in advance – train Wi-Fi is not always able to maintain streaming
Although the night train itself is an exciting experience and exploring it is interesting, you should also pack some entertainment and a few toys for your children. Especially when going north, it takes several hours for the train to reach its destination and children may become bored, as night trains do not have cars with play areas.
Movies and other activities should be downloaded to your own device in advance, as the Wi-Fi connection can at times be so weak that it cannot run programmes through streaming. It is also worth noting that in double-decker sleeper cars, you can charge mobile phones and other devices in the cabins, but in the old three-person cabins, charging is slow.
5. The restaurant car has a children's menu
The restaurant car is the heart of the night train and it is definitely worth visiting with the children. It is also a fun addition to your journey. The restaurant car has a menu for children and there are all kinds of snacks available. You can also bring your own snacks on the night train. Remember to bring enough drinking water with you, as the train's tap water is not suitable for drinking.
6. Packing tips for a night train journey
Suitcases and prams can be pushed under the beds for the duration of the trip. If you have a lot of luggage or a pram, you can also leave it in the luggage storage area, as the bedrooms do not have room for everything. Large luggage is subject to a small surcharge, but the pram can be transported free of charge in the luggage storage area.
It is therefore advisable to pack a separate bag for the night train journey. The bag should have the things you will need on the train journey. This way you do not have to unpack all your luggage on the train.
Connoisseur of Finnish travel gems
Kauko the Conductor Bear- Kauko hands our the best tips for train travel and the destinations you can reach on rails.
Night train adventure awaits
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