Picture the scene: you doze off in Amsterdam, trundling along on a smooth, calming night train, and when you wake up you’re on the balmy beaches of southern France, well rested and ready for a few weeks of sun, sea and sand. Sounds pretty dreamy, right?
Well, that might all become a reality sometime next year. Railway company European Sleeper and tour operator Sunweb want to launch a sleeper service between the Netherlands and France by summer 2023.
The first of European Sleeper and Sunweb’s routes are planned between the Netherlands and French ski resorts for this winter. A line extension to southern France is expected by the following summer.
The project is currently still in its fundraising stage, so it’s unclear exactly which cities will be served by the route and how much the trains will cost. In any case, a statement from the two firms says that they plan to have several stops in both the Netherlands and Belgium before heading through to France.
If you’ve already heard of European Sleeper, it’s likely because they’re supposedly launching another new night-train route between Brussels and Prague (via Antwerp, Amsterdam, Berlin and Dresden). Due to begin services this summer, that project has since been delayed and now has an unknown start date.
So, whether you’re looking for a holiday full of sand or snow, there might well soon be a much comfier, greener way of getting there. To find out more, see Subweb’s press statement here.
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