For Easter, we travelled to Lapland. Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, is 800km from Helsinki. To get there faster and in a fun way we decided to take the night train. This was perfect because we'd just watched the Kenneth Branagh version of Agatha Christie's classic "Murder on the Orient Express". In fact for our 11 year old's birthday we'd taken him and a few friends to an Escape room with a similar theme. So we were definitely prepped for our night train experience.
This night train was a "car train" meaning you had the option of bringing your car with you. This is exactly what we did. So we booked tickets for us, the car and got 2 sleeping berth cabins. The total cost of all this this was 411€. Kind of pricey but it basically covers a "hotel night", saves us 10+ hours of driving (i.e. me driving since Joel had a broken arm and couldn't drive) and since gasoline in Finland is pretty pricey, at least 100€ in gas expenses.
We drove up to the Pasila car-train station (a bit tricky to find/poor signs, gps saves the day again) about 45 minutes before the train was due to leave. Joel and the kids got out to board the train and I was instructed to drive up a ramp. Once up on the ramp, I realized I was actually on the top level of a double decker car transport wagon. Two railroad workers showed up, secured the car and I went to join Joel and the kids in the train.
We'd booked 2 cabins thinking they would have a bunk bed each and that two out of our three kids would have to share. Ends up it was a 3 layer bunk bed which was perfect. (Glad it was our 8 year old and not me having to climb up to the top bunk.) The cabins also had a mirror and a table whose cover lifted up to reveal a sink for toothbrushing and facewashing. In addition there was a small stool that folded out of the wall. The toilet was shared for all the "residents" of a given train car. We situated the kids in their room. They were super excited to be left unsupervised with video games and a box of cookies. Joel and I were excited to have a moment of peace and quiet and enjoy a beer and a gin long drink (my favorite Finnish drink) in the small but functional cabin.
Normally there would be a dining car to explore on the train. Not a fancy formal dining room but more like a cafeteria where you could order some warm meals, beer, coffee and pastries and ice cream. Now, we were travelling under Covid. People wore masks, found their rooms and largely stayed put in them. We heard a dog bark somewhere a few times (you could bring pets along with you, I'd see people taking them for a quick walk on the longer train stops) but in general the train crowd was really clean-cut and quiet. (Trains and buses in Europe are very common, mainstream transportation option.) Well, except for the little kid who kept coming by and mistakenly knocking on our door thinking it was his older siblings' cabin... Once the train took off the conductor came by to scan our (electronic) tickets. He also took orders if you wanted to purchase breakfast. We then went to sleep. I slept like a baby lulled into deep sleep by the white noise and the rocking of the train. Joel had a slightly harder time thanks to his 6"3' long body and the broken arm. In the morning we were delivered breakfast: hot coffees, croissants for Joel and the kids and porridge (very popular Finnish breakfast option) for me. We arrived in Rovaniemi at 11am (it was supposed to have been 9am but we'd been warned ahead of time there would be delays due to some technical issue that caused us to leave Helsinki behind schedule too). We felt refreshed and ready for a day of touristy activity (see the Lapland post). All in all it was a fun experience and one we'd like to repeat. Perhaps one day in the real Orient Express!
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