Video: This Rare European Train Ride Includes A Journey Through The Sea

Imagine you are on a train ride in Italy and discover that it goes inside a giant ship. This may sound difficult to believe, but it is part of Trenitalia Intercity Notte, considered Europe's last surviving passenger train ferry.

Travel content creator Fallon recently experienced this unusual trip with her mother, travelling overnight from Rome to Sicily. According to the creator, the train moves inside a ferry at the Strait of Messina. The interesting part is that during the crossing, travellers can stay in their cabins or step out to enjoy views of the water from the ship.

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On Instagram, the creator said, “This might be the most unique sleeper train I have ever been on, because the train literally rolls onto a ferry to cross the sea. I took my mom on this trip and for the price of a standard hotel room at $140, we got our own private connecting cabins. We boarded in Rome and travelled all the way down the Italian coast before waking up just before our train was getting onto the ferry towards Sicily.”

“Seeing the inside of a ship ride past our window like nothing was crazy. We booked our route to Palermo, but decided to hop off early to explore the town of Taormina. Then a few days later, we continued the very scenic journey to Palermo.”

Reacting to the post, a user wrote, “It is fabulous and everyone should travel on it at least once in their lifetime.”

Another shared, “There's another one between Denmark and Germany.”

“I've done this trip a couple of times, such an experience. This is now the last one in the world, the other two stopped during Covid and never restarted the service,” a comment read.

An individual stated, "This is not how I expected to learn that the Denmark to Germany train ferry stopped operating."

Another mentioned, “I remember doing a cross-channel train ferry from Dover to Calais in 1972. We changed trains in Paris, then boarded another train that took us down to Rome. One more swap got us to our relatives in Cassino. Great fun as a young child, but I'd appreciate it even more now if it still fully existed in that form.”

One more added, “The life of the locals has become so expensive because of social media.”

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Fallon suggests booking tickets through the official Trenitalia website or app to avoid paying extra fees to other booking sites. Travellers can search for trains from Roma Termini to Taormina-Giardini. Those who want to travel all the way to Palermo can choose Palermo Centrale as their destination. 

Tickets are usually available 90 to 120 days before the journey. The creator also recommends carrying snacks and a bottle of wine, as there are limited food options on the train.