Bucket List / Experience Goals
Take An Indian Overnight Train
Still to do
Fall asleep on a rattling sleeper berth in Delhi and wake to sweet chai and a completely different India.
The adventure
The platform is a show in itself: porters balancing trunks on their heads, families camped on blankets, vendors selling samosas through barred windows, and announcements echoing over it all. You find your name on the passenger list pasted to the side of the carriage, climb aboard and claim your berth as the train lurches off into the evening.
By night the carriage becomes a dormitory on wheels. Bunks fold down, sheets and blankets are handed out, and the rhythmic clatter of the rails rocks you to sleep between stations whose names you'll never pronounce. Before dawn the cry of "chai, chai" comes down the aisle, and a few rupees buys a tiny cup of sweet, spiced tea. Neighbours share their breakfast, ask where you're from and want to see photos of your family, and outside the window, villages and fields slide by in the morning mist.
Why it’s epic
- One of the world's largest railway networks, carrying over 20 million passengers a day.
- Classes from crowded sleeper class to air-conditioned 2-tier and private 1st AC cabins.
- Classic overnight routes such as Delhi to Varanasi, Agra or Jaipur to Udaipur, and Mumbai to Goa.
- The Vivek Express from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari covers over 4,000 kilometres, one of the longest train journeys in the world.
What it is
Indian Railways overnight trains are a great way to travel.
How to do it
Book through IRCTC or an agent.
Top tip
Bring a padlock for your bag.
Need to know
- Book through IRCTC, which accepts foreign tourists, or through an agent; popular trains sell out weeks ahead.
- A foreign tourist quota on some trains can help when standard tickets are gone.
- AC 2-tier (2A) is a good balance of comfort and price for a first trip, and lower berths are easiest.
- UK citizens need an Indian e-Visa or visa before travelling.
Plan this trip
- Rough cost
- Under £750 per person, including flights from the UK
- Time needed
- 1 night
- Best time to go
- October to March
- Fly into
- DEL airport
Even air-conditioned overnight berths are cheap; the flights to India are the main expense.
Make it happen
Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.
Why it’s on my list
India is well famed for its overnight trains. They are an experience more than just a mode of transport. Some 12,000 trains carry approximately 23 million passengers per day. The rail network is an incredibly cheap way to travel around this fascinating country.
No visit to India is complete without experiencing the bustle of Indian railway stations and a journey on an Indian express train with the tea seller’s cry of Chai, chai, coming down the aisle.
On long distance expresses in an AC Chair Car or an AC1 or AC2 sleeper, all seats and berths are reserved and it’s a safe, civilised, inexpensive & comfortable way to get around India. Even long distances such as Bombay to Delhi, Delhi to Varanasi or Delhi to Udaipur can be covered time-effectively using overnight AC Sleeper trains. Also a great way to save on hotel bills!
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