You may have heard of the 7 p.m. rule—it can be your best friend. A rail day normally lasts from midnight to midnight. But if you're taking an overnight train that leaves after 7 p.m., write the following day's date in the boxes. This way, you don't lose a travel day. Nor do you have to pay for a hotel for that night.
While we're on the subject of overnight trains, some have sleeper cars or "couchettes" for a comfier night. There is an additional charge to book one, and the ticket window at the train station can help you. You'll need to know your departure date and the train number (check the "departures" schedule along the left side of the list). The ticket agent will give you a receipt with the date, train number, train car number, and the compartment number where you'll lay your head that night.
If you're a woman traveling alone - or with a group of women - you can ask if there are any women-only compartments, or book one all to yourself.
Another thing about overnight trains: some of them do things like split in two and go to different destinations. On the train platforms, you may notice a colorful poster entitled "composition of principal trains," which lists the main trains that pass through that station and shows which carriages are first or second class, where the dining car or couchettes are, and which end of the train goes to, say, Berlin, and which goes to Warsaw. If you reserve a couchette, this poster will help you figure out where your carriage will stop when the train arrives. If you skip the reservation, consult this poster to make sure you'll wake up in the city you expect.
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