Antwerp to Milan by Night Train
Direct European Sleeper from December 2026

From the December 2026 timetable change, European Sleeper re-routes its Brussels to Milan night train north through Antwerp and the Netherlands. The train starts at Brussels-Midi and calls at Antwerpen-Centraal a little under an hour later, so from Antwerp you skip the trip to Brussels and are already aboard when the train heads north. It runs three nights a week and is booked only through European Sleeper.

You board in the evening, sleep through Germany and wake up in Switzerland, arriving in Milan in the late morning. On the published timetable the journey from Antwerp takes about 17 hours 20 minutes. Arrive at Antwerpen-Centraal a little before departure: there is no check-in, so find your coach on the platform and board with your booking.

Until the December 2026 timetable change, the Milan night train runs from Brussels-Midi east towards Cologne, not through Antwerp, and leaves Brussels on Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings. From Antwerp, take one of the frequent domestic trains to Brussels-Midi, a journey of under an hour, and board there. Leave plenty of time, as the night train will not wait for a late connection.

European Sleeper does not sell journeys within Belgium, so buy the Antwerp to Brussels ticket separately from SNCB. The days of operation change with the new timetable too, so check which pattern applies to your date. For the full picture of the Brussels departure and the current route, see Railero's Brussels to Milan guide.

After Antwerp the train heads north into the Netherlands, calling at Breda and Eindhoven in the early evening, then turns east into Germany and reaches Köln Hauptbahnhof late in the evening. Through the night it runs south across Germany into Switzerland.

The Swiss stops come in the morning: Aarau, Arth-Goldau and Göschenen in the Alps, then Bellinzona and Lugano in Ticino, the Italian-speaking south. The train crosses into Italy, calls at Como San Giovanni beside Lake Como and arrives in Milan. Keep the blind up for the Swiss section, the most scenic part of the trip. Railero's Brussels to Milan guide covers the Alpine part of the journey in more detail.

European Sleeper sells places rather than open tickets, so your seat, couchette or bed is included in the booking and there is no separate reservation to add. Budget is a seat. Classic is a compartment with seats by day and couchettes by night, booked as a shared berth or as a private compartment for your group. Comfort Standard and Comfort Plus are three-person compartments with beds, and Comfort Plus adds a private washbasin. Luggage is included, but you carry and store it yourself.

Interrail passes are valid, but a pass alone is not enough: you also need a paid reservation for your place, booked on europeansleeper.eu by choosing the Interrail reservation option. In a private compartment, every traveller needs their own pass. Beds and private compartments are limited and sell out first, so book early whichever way you travel.

The train arrives at Milano Porta Garibaldi, not Milano Centrale. Porta Garibaldi is a large, modern station in the Porta Nuova district north of the centre, on metro lines M2 and M5, so the Duomo and the old centre are a short metro ride away. It is also a hub for regional and long-distance trains if you are continuing across Italy.

Going home, the train leaves Milan on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from the December 2026 timetable change and reaches Antwerpen-Centraal mid-morning the next day, before it continues to Brussels. On days the night train does not run, the alternative is a long daytime journey with several changes, so it pays to plan around the sleeper's days.