Italy: What it’s like to take a rare 13-hour overnight train where carriages ‘detach’ and are loaded onto a boat that crosses the sea

Rome: For some travelers, trains – not planes – are the preferred mode of transportation.

Sarah Marks, who told Insider her passion for train travel is rooted in her environmentalism, is one such traveler. Since 2016, she has for the most part sworn off flying in favor of traveling by rail.

Throughout the years, Marks has taken all sorts of trains across Europe, some of which have involved longer distances and traveling overnight. But no journey has been quite as memorable as a recent trip in Italy that involved an overnight train that gets broken up by carriage and loaded onto a boat.

Marks shared a glimpse of what the unique train experience is like in a TikTok on August 14 that has received over 1.7 million views.

Speaking to Insider, she said that she booked the journey via Italia Rail. Accompanied by her mother, Marks said they spent roughly 59 euros, or around $64, each on tickets for a double cabin that came equipped with bunk beds, plenty of storage, and windows that provided sweeping views of the Italian countryside.

“I’ve wanted to take this one for so long,” Marks said, adding that the “wild” combination of boat and train travel is what intrigued her to book the trip in the first place.

“It was almost 13 hours,” she said of the train journey. While that duration might seem lengthy, Marks said it’s actually ideal for overnight train travel. “When it’s too short, you don’t really get to enjoy it as much,” she added.

Boarding began in Palermo, Sicily, at 8:30 p.m., she added. It wasn’t until 1 a.m., however, that the main event began.

Marks, who was celebrating her 30th birthday during the journey, said she woke up on purpose to watch the crossing through the Straits of Medina, a narrow body of water connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Ionian Sea between Sicily and mainland Italy.

Before the crossing, the train carriages “detach” and get “shunted on” to the boat, according to Marks.

“It was amazing. Definitely worth getting up for it,” she said.

Once on the boat, Marks said she could see other passengers exiting their cabins, “which was so surreal.”

The crossing is relatively short, around 20 minutes, and Marks spent it walking around the boat. There was a restaurant on board. However, she said it was closed due to the journey taking place overnight.

Marks said she and her mother booked the relatively more “expensive” cabin option – adding that further information about the variety of options can be found on the Italia Rail website.

“I picked this one because it was kind of for a special occasion,” she said.

Her cabin featured two bunk beds equipped with fresh sheets, firm mattresses, reading lights, and storage above the windows.

The cabin also came with a large mirror, a sink, temperature controls, and windows that passengers can open up to enjoy fresh air. There was also a door connecting to another cabin. While she said it was useful for families or bigger groups, Marks said she was able to lock the door as she was just traveling with her mother.

In the morning, when the train was making its way through the Italian countryside to Rome, Marks said train staff delivered a breakfast that included pastry and a coffee to their cabin.

Bathrooms were located just down the hall, which Marks said were relatively clean besides “a bit of pee on the seat.”

“But it had everything you needed. There was enough toilet paper, there was soap, the water worked, the toilet flushed,” she added.

Overall, Marks said the experience lived up to her expectations and given it’s one of the last to combine rail and boat travel, she’d recommend the journey to other train enthusiasts.

“It’s bringing back the romance of train travel,” she said.