Night trains with no food on board, and what to bring

Most night trains in Europe sell you something to eat, but that can mean anything from a restaurant car open half the night to a menu card in your compartment and a crew member who brings you a snack. One Swedish night train serves nothing at all, and on the French night trains the operator lists only meals you order in advance and breakfast. This guide sets out what each operator says about food on board, checked 16 October 2026, and ends with what is worth packing.

A restaurant car or café through the night

• VR, Helsinki to Lapland: VR says there is a restaurant car on every night train, open until 2 a.m. and again from 4 a.m. It takes no table bookings. Breakfast in your cabin can be pre-ordered at least five days ahead and is delivered 120 to 30 minutes before the last stop. According to VR's restaurant car page, alcohol service ends at 1:30 a.m.
• Vy, Oslo to Bergen: on the night trains the café is open all night with a light evening menu, and closes about 30 minutes before the train reaches its last stop.
• SJ Nord, Oslo to Trondheim: SJ Nord says the café on its night train is open around the clock, with hot and cold dishes, snacks and drinks. Sleeper passengers get a small welcome pack with a bottle of water, and a free coffee in the café in the morning when they show their key card.
• Go-Ahead, Oslo to Stavanger: the trains on this line have a café car with hot and cold food. Go-Ahead adds that on some departures the café is staffed by the conductor and offers only cold food, drinks and snacks. Its night train page says you check in at the café car from 22:05, but gives no café hours for the night.
• SJ, Stockholm to Jämtland, Umeå and Luleå: these trains have a bistro with the same range as on SJ's high speed trains: salads, sandwiches and hot dishes. It is open from 05:30 to 23:00, may close for a while at station stops, and on train 70 opens from 22:10 to midnight. In first class breakfast is included; you collect it from the bistro by 09:00 by showing your reservation.
• Snälltåget, Malmö to Innsbruck: the restaurant car, Krogen, has its own menu for the night trains to Austria. You need a table booking for hot meals, breakfast and alcohol in Krogen, while the self service counter sells coffee, sandwiches and snacks to take to your seat.

Only what the crew can bring you

• ÖBB Nightjet: Nightjet's food and drink page describes no dining car. Instead the crew sells drinks and snacks from a menu and serves them at your seat. A couchette ticket includes mineral water and a "Viennese breakfast", which the Nightjet FAQ describes as coffee or tea, one bread roll, butter and jam. A sleeper ticket includes a welcome drink, an evening snack, mineral water and a breakfast you choose from a menu. Special diets, such as gluten free, must be requested from the caterer by email at least 72 hours before departure. On the EuroNight trains run with partner railways, ÖBB says the service may differ, and breakfast is included in couchettes and sleepers except on Zurich to Prague and Munich or Vienna to Warsaw.
• European Sleeper: the company says it is not running its dining car at the moment. You order from a QR code menu in the compartment, which offers hot and cold drinks, snacks and alcohol. The menu itself lists crisps, nuts, instant noodles and pasta pots, and a breakfast at €14.50 with orange juice and a hot drink. According to its service page, evening service stops at 23:00 or 23:30 depending on the train and morning service starts at 6:30. Breakfast is included only in Comfort Plus; in other classes you buy it through the website.
• Snälltåget to Berlin: Krogen does not run on the night train between Malmö, Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden. That train has Lönnkrogen instead, a smaller kiosk with drinks and snacks. Snälltåget says that on its night trains you can take a breakfast bag to your compartment, with a cheese sandwich, cinnamon bun, juice and a hot drink, and that it can be pre-ordered with your ticket.

Pre-ordered meals and breakfast only

• SNCF Intercités de Nuit: SNCF's catering page lists two things for its night trains. One is a meal box you order ahead, until 12:00 on the day of travel for night trains from Paris, delivered to your seat. The other is breakfast, which you book with your ticket or order from the staff on board and collect from them. SNCF's night train page mentions breakfast for first class.

No food at all

• SJ, Stockholm to Malmö: SJ says plainly that there is no service on board on this line, and points travellers to its breakfast places near the stations instead. Of the night trains in our register, it is the only one where the operator says nothing is sold on board.

What to bring

• Drinking water on VR and SJ Nord. VR says the tap water is not drinkable and should not be used for brushing your teeth, and its sleeper cabins have one 0.35 litre bottle per berth. SJ Nord also says the tap water on its night train should not be drunk.
• Dinner and breakfast for SJ's Stockholm to Malmö train. Nothing is sold on board.
• A proper evening meal for Snälltåget to Berlin. The kiosk has drinks and snacks only.
• Food for late evening on European Sleeper. Service stops before midnight and the menu is mostly snacks. European Sleeper says you may bring your own food and drink, but not cook or heat it on board.
• Your own dinner on the French night trains, unless you have ordered the meal box in time.

Read more: The night train from Helsinki to Kolari