This is a joke, right? Today's Amtrak is a far cry from those shown in old movies.

@Palmetto: and the US is the only country on earth and sleeper cars don't exist anywhere else, right?
I don't know about the US, but I always loved them and found it very easy to fall asleep in them- and I am a very bad sleeper.

Love sleeper cars - and yes - there are some nice ones with Amtrak, they are just expensive.

Four yrs ago, I rented a sleeper car in Germany for my fam (4 of us), and you can imagine my surprise when 2 additional people came into our box, and opened bunks between our beds - I hadn't even seen these extra beds! We were stacked 3 high, kids on the top, parents on the bottom, and with strangers in the middle! I felt so awkwardly american at that point. But the sway of the train had its way with me, and we all slept well.

Oh goodness. While sleeper cars sound amazing- try riding in one for 18 hours in China. Even having lived there for a year at the time I took one, I was still appalled with the cigarette smoke (which was technically against the rules) and body odor smell... with that being said, I rode in a 1st class seat on at least a dozen trains and it is definitely my favorite way to travel while on vacation!

I've taken the sleeper to London a couple of times and it's great. It's two bunks per compartment though so if you're travelling alone then you usually have to share with a stranger which can be mildly disconcerting, depending on the stranger in question.

Yes - I live in Europe and have traveled a lot by sleeper car and much prefer it to flying. Plus you arrive in the morning - well rested and save a hotel night. It's not cheap (unless you sleep in the 6-bed compartments which are a bit cramped) but worth it.

Don't forget sleeper ferries. The one from Scotland (Aberdeen, if I recall) to Lerwick, Shetland Islands, was super efficient, if you can live without portholes. I'm used to them, from working on ships, so it was slightly claustrophobic. But not for long, I passed out in seconds after hitting the pillow from the gentle rocking of the ship.

I love train travel but the 'chic' in the title made me laugh! I instantly recalled sleeping in an 8 berth platskartny-class train in Russia with 6 drunk, snoring Russian soldiers.... tres chic indeed.....

I have taken sleeper ferries (in japan) but they are not sexy in any way (at the fare level I was paying, anyway!) Hm... somehow the bunkbeds-for-adults only seem to work when one assumes the adult does not thrash around in their sleep—the safety rails RUIN EVERYTHING. Also important is being able to draw the door shut on the whole thing. But in reality, what is this? Maybe a guest room?

Somehow, I just can't picture Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint sharing a cheap Chinese-made bunkbed...

@lazy_lurker - you booked a couchette, I think, which is a bit cheaper than a sleeper car. The Deutsche Bahn sleeper cars Paris-Munich are AMAZING. Once travelled in a couchette with boyfriend and 5 strangers Paris-Milan and that was hellish, but the sleepers on that train looked OK too (as I dragged my suitcase past them having nearly missed the train - thank you, Metro).

Crossed the US on the Southwest Chief with my family as a teenager and that was brilliant - viewing car, movies, etc.

London-Penzance is a bit on the 80s retro side but perfectly comfortable. Planning to try London-Fort William sometime soon...

But I'm not decorating any room in my house like a train.

i took a train from milan to venice, had the seats that fold down into a giant bed in mini carrages a-la harry potter style, was very cosy.

Sleepers in India, Vietnam, China and Eastern Europe are anything but chic. The 1970s Orient Express was horrific on the way back from Istanbul I like sleepers - but chic? Nope.

Expert backpacker; worst memories of sleep ever. It's like sleeping on a crowded plane, only hot. And then there's pickpockets...

I travel by sleeper car about twice a year (18 hr trip each way); the bunks are only 1/2 the height depicted in the picture above; but it does have its own bathroom. The Via Rail East-bound sleeper cars are depicted here. I love traveling this way.

Traveled in a sleeper car in Egypt -- NEVER again! My partner hung off the top bunk (diagonally) because he's 6'2" and didn't fit. It was horribly noisy, rocked like mad, too tight, miserable food... worst part of the trip!

my husband and I took the first few days of our honeymoon taking Amtrak across the US in sleeper cars. They're not too bad, we did it to have fun. In the US it's not a cheaper way to travel, just a more scenic one. We did get to meet some interesting people along the way, and many older folks were so excited to hear that a young couple was taking their honeymoon by train. It was cute, but I wouldn't go for more than 2 days, there's not enough room to take a real shower, IMHO.

I travelled from Turin to Paris with 3 friends (and 2 strangers) in a couchette car. We had a lovely time. I had one of the top bunks. In the morning, we all just stayed in bed, eating fresh bread and Nutella for breakfast.

I was surfing the Orient Express website the other day, now those are sleeper cars! That would be a dream vacation, but I'd need a bigger clothing budget to look respectable enough to board!

Gross! Filled with perverts and cockroaches in Italy and India!