Inside the Caledonian Sleeper

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Sleeper trains can save you time and money, but of the ones I’ve had the opportunity to try, the most that can be said about their comfort level is that they’re tolerable. I’ve been on one of the top bunks of a 6-couchette compartment and I can tell you it’s no fun not being able to sit upright and sleeping with the ceiling barely a foot above my nose.

The Caledonian Sleeper, the overnight train service between London and Scotland, is by far the most luxurious sleeper I’ve ever been on. My sister and I took it both ways — from London to Inverness, and from Fort William back to London. (The photo above was taken at Fort William.)

On the Caledonian Sleeper, you actually feel kind of pampered. There’s a steward who comes to your compartment and orients you if it’s your first time on the sleeper. He also asks you what time you would be like to woken up, what drink you would like to have in the morning, and whether or not you want breakfast.

The hallways are naturally narrow…
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…but that’s probably because they allocated as much space as they could to the compartments themselves.
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This is a standard class compartment — it contains only 2 beds so my sister and I had one all to ourselves. Standard class amenities include a hot drink in the morning, a bottle of mineral water, and a sleep kit containing an eye mask, ear plugs and soap.
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Oh, the joy of being able to sit upright. 😀 The bed is super comfortable to sleep in too. Each one has a reading light in addition to the main light and a night light. There’s ample space for storing luggage and plenty of hooks and hangers for coats and stuff. There’s also a washbasin which, when closed, can double as a seat with a view. (There are, of course, more comfortable seating options at the lounge car.)
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At £66.30 and £81.80 per person for London-Inverness and Fort William-London, respectively, the Caledonian Sleeper isn’t exactly cheap but considering its comfort level and the time saved by sleeping and traveling all at once, if you can find room for it in your budget, I think it’s absolutely worth it. The best part is the Caledonian Sleeper has a policy of refunding you 100% of your fare if you arrive more than 2 hours late at your destination. And what do you know: on our journey from London to the Highlands, the sleeper had a rare breakdown at Edinburgh and we arrived in Inverness 4 hours late. First time I’ve ever been overjoyed to be four hours late for anything! Luckily we didn’t have anything planned for that day so the delay didn’t affect us at all and it was a great way to get a virtual free ride on the sleeper.

I actually found myself wishing the Fort William-London leg would get delayed too, but it didn’t, which is okay. This was my view when we left Fort William…
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…and the view when we approached London the next morning.
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Worth it.

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See seat61.com for detailed information on the Caledonian Sleeper and practically every other train in the world. | Inside the Caledonian Sleeper | © Small-Town Girls, Midnight Trains. All rights reserved.

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