How to connect to the new Brussels–Milan night train
28 April 2026
With one smooth connection, you can travel from your own city to Switzerland or Italy overnight.It starts simply. In the late afternoon, you take a train to Brussels or Cologne. From there, you board our night train to Zürich, Como and Milan, travelling south as the evening settles in. This new route begins on 9 September 2026.
In this guide, we show how to make the connection work smoothly, with recommended timetables and practical tips:
- Book early to secure the best fares, including for connecting trains
- We have selected the most suitable direct connections as examples
- We have allowed for extra transfer time, so in most cases you can make your connection without stress and avoid missing your (night) train.
- If you prefer more certainty, you may choose to allow additional time between trains.
- Please note that responsibility for making the connection remains with you as the traveller.
Whether you are travelling from London, the Netherlands or Germany, reaching Milan by train is more straightforward than it might seem.
Connecting from/to London
From London, reaching the Brussels–Milan night train is simple. Take an early afternoon Eurostar (book here) to Brussels, where you’ll have enough time to change trains comfortably before boarding European Sleeper (book here) to Milan in the evening. From there, the night train carries you south while you sleep. Your return trip will follow the same connection but in reverse.
From/to the Netherlands
From the Netherlands, the connection is straightforward. From Amsterdam and Utrecht, an early evening ICE train (book here) takes you comfortably to Cologne. A mid-afternoon EuroCity (book here) departure brings you from Rotterdam to Brussels in time to catch the European Sleeper night train (book here). From Rotterdam, you can also travel via Utrecht and Cologne, with one additional transfer. From Eindhoven and Maastricht, suitable options via Liège are available.
From/to Germany
From cities across northern Germany, it is easy to connect to the night train to Milan, with well-timed routes bringing you to Cologne in time for departure. In the image slider, we share a few examples from Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin and Hannover, all by direct ICE train (book here). The timings are planned to make your transfer to the European Sleeper to Milan (book here) smooth and unhurried.
What makes this journey different is how the travel fits around you. There’s no need for airports, queues or waiting in terminals. You leave during the day, make a simple connection, and settle in for the night.
While you sleep, the distance is covered. The connection in Brussels or Cologne isn’t a disruption, but a natural shift, from day travel into night travel. By morning, you’ve arrived somewhere new.
After your connecting train and night train, you wake up somewhere new. Where would you like to wake up?
Zurich offers a calm morning arrival, with the lake just beyond the station. Further along, Como brings a softer landscape, water, hills, and a slower pace. And then Milan, where the journey opens into a different rhythm altogether. Cafés, streets, and the particular energy of northern Italy.
