We are sharing our Trenitalia Intercity Notte Double Deluxe review with you. We rode the train from Milan to Palermo in the Double Deluxe room. There are only a few room types on the Trenitalia Intercity Notte trains. Since we were riding for 21 hours, we decided to get the Double Deluxe room.
What Is Included With Your Fare
- Private Room For Two
- Bottled Water
- Toiletry Kit
- Two Snack Bags
- Continental Breakfast
Trenitalia Intercity Notte Double Deluxe Room Tour
There are lots of great amenities in the Trenitalia Intercity Notte Double Deluxe room. The beds are a good size for adults. You will get a sheet and a soft pillow on your bed. We found the pillows to be a bit small for an adult but we made it work. You can book the room for up to three people but we booked for just the two of us.
Each bed comes equipped with an electrical outlet for charging your electronics. You will each also have a reading light. The room also has a temperature control switch and an attendant call button. There is a hidden sink on the counter by the large mirror. You will see where the sink cut out is, simply flip the panel up and pull the faucet up to access. It is nice to have the extra counter space when the sink is not in use.
There is no storage space under the lower bed but there is storage space above the upper bunk as well as under the counter. We found it easy to store our 21″ bags under the counter. We stored our backpacks above. There are also a couple hooks on the walls to hang light bags or jackets. The window opens into the room but keep in mind not to ever put anything outside of the window, you are constantly passing other trains and this is a dangerous risk.
The rooms can also be made up to sleep three people, and in that case the rooms will look like this.
During the day, the beds will flip up and you’ll have seats that you can sit on.
What Are The Bathrooms Like On The Trenitalia Intercity Notte Double Deluxe
The Deluxe train car has two bathrooms at one end of the hall. Both of these bathrooms are the same. It is a small space. There is a commode, a very small sink, a small shelf and a mirror. It is enough room to do what you need to do. It is nice to have the sink in your room, it’s a bit bigger than the one in the bathroom.
We were on the far end from the bathroom so we decided to try the bathroom nearest to us which was in the Comfort car next to us. We quickly discovered that is was a bit different than the one in the Deluxe car. The bathroom in the Comfort car was about the same size but it had a bit bigger sink although the commode did not have a seat, just the bowl. There was also a separate room with just a sink in it since the Comfort rooms do not have sinks in them.
What We Did
We wanted to ride the train as far as we could so we booked a our trip from one terminus station to the other. We rode from Milano Centrale to Palermo Centrale. This gave us a 21 hour ride on the train. Boarding started around 20 minutes before departure, and we left around 7:40pm, and arrived at 4:55pm the next day. We paid $237 total for the room (not each).
Our hotel checkout was at noon so we spent several hours waiting in the Milan train station. The Milan station is a busy one so it’s hard to find somewhere to sit. We decided to get a day pass to the Freccia Lounge. To buy a day pass you must hold a Freccia or Intercity Notte ticket for that day. With our Trenitalia Intercity Notte tickets we qualified to purchase the day pass. The cost is $20 per person but we were lucky, they were doing a 2 for 1 special so we only paid $20 total.
We were able to enjoy our waiting time in the quiet area of the lounge, as well as being guaranteed a nice clean area to wait. In the Freccia Lounge you also have access to the bathrooms as well as free water, soft drinks, coffee and tea. There are also small sweet and salty snacks you can enjoy while waiting.
We went out to the the main area and purchased some food for dinner as well as food for lunch the next day as lunch is not included with your fare. Once it was time to board we walked out to the main area and through the secure boarding area to our train platform. It was nice to board the train a little early, we were able to settle in and enjoy the ride out from Milan before getting ready for bed.
What Is The Ferry Crossing Like
The ferry crossing is one of the things we were most looking forward to when we booked this train ride. It is very difficult to picture what this will be like if you have never had this experience before. When we arrived at the Villa San Giovanni station we stopped for a bit to let off the passengers who were stopping here. As we looked out the window we noticed the special ferry we would be loaded onto, it was a train ferry, it had train tracks for easy of loading and unloading the train.
The train then prepares to load a few cars at a time onto the ferry. Keep in mind, you will want to go to the bathroom before this process begins as this service is turned off for loading, unloading and while it is on the ferry. But never fear, you can use the bathrooms on the ferry.
Once the whole train is on the ferry and the door to the ferry is shut, you can get off the train and walk up to the top deck to enjoy the views of Sicily and mainland Italy. The views are beautiful, you don’t want to miss this experience. You will also see the train cars below from your view on the upper deck. Once you get close to the other side you will go back to the train to prepare for unloading.
The ferry ride across the Strait of Messina takes about 35 minutes to ferry from one side to the other. Once you arrive to the other side, the train will then unload just at it loaded, in sections. One section will then head to Palermo and the other section will head to Syracuse. Be on the lookout once you leave Messina, the views of the coastline are spectacular.
What Is It Like Inside The Ferry
We did not know what to expect from the ferry ride. We were surprised at how enjoyable the journey was. There are several places from which to enjoy the ride across the Strait of Messina. You can enjoy from the main deck area. There are also seating areas outside as well as inside. The outdoor seats are typical ferry seats but the indoor area was not at all what we were expecting.
The indoor seating area had very comfortable seats, similar to those you would find in Business class on the train. The leather seats were set up in rows except for those on the side where they were set up in groups of four, facing each other with a table in the middle. We also found the restrooms to be more than adequate to use since we could not use the train restrooms while on the ferry. They were nicer than the train bathrooms.
How To Purchase Your Ticket
The best way to book Intercity Notte rooms for a Trenitalia train is on ItaliaRail. This website is designed to help English speakers easily book tickets on the Italian train system. You could also book directly with Trenitalia, but you’ll need to know some Italian, and you’ll also need to know each of the city names in Italian. For instance, on Trenitalia, Florence is called Firenze, so you’ll have trouble booking the correct cities unless you know what they are all called in Italian.
The second benefit to booking on ItaliaRail is that you credit card will work if you are purchasing from the United States or other overseas countries. If you try to book on Trenitalia, there is a good chance your card will not work and the transaction won’t go through.
