My party of 2 paid $160 for a cabin on a 12-hour train ride from Rome to Sicily. We'll definitely stick to flying next time.

• My partner and I booked $160 tickets for a sleeper train from Rome to Sicily.

• The ride wasn't what I expected, as it was pretty bumpy and I couldn't sleep comfortably.

• Next time, I think we'll skip the sleeper train and stick to flying to Sicily.

Since my partner and I bought a house in Sicily, we've frequently been flying between our place in the United Kingdom to Palermo, Italy.

Instead, for this trip, we took a cheaper flight to Rome and spent 12 hours on a sleeper ItaliaRail train to Palermo.

I haven't traveled across Europe by train much in recent years, but this felt like a low-risk alternative to flying.

Here's how it went.

Booking the train was fairly straightforward

We bought two individual bunks in a cabin that slept four passengers through the ItaliaRail website. I could also request a women-only cabin, which seemed like a reassuring option for some solo travelers.

My partner and I booked two of the four spots in a cabin for about £130, or $160.

The ItaliaRail website states that partially booked cabins will be shared with other passengers when you buy your ticket. Still, we didn't realize we might be sharing our cabin until we boarded the train.

We arrived at the train station in Rome fairly early

After spending the night in Rome, we headed to the Roma Termini station at about 4 p.m., ready to set up camp in the indoor food market.

We spent a few hours catching up on work, picking up dinner, and waiting to find out which platform our train was due to arrive at.

Our assigned platform wasn't displayed on a screen in the station until about 20 minutes prior to departure. We briefly panicked, but it wasn't too much of a bother. If we'd been traveling with children, I probably would've asked the staff for guidance to give us more time to get to the right place.

At this point, my main concern was sharing a room and bathroom with strangers for the first time since my pre-coronavirus-pandemic hostel stays.

Our cabin was small but pretty functional

We found our train car fairly easily, and our bunks were numbered, so we knew which side to set up on. It was fairly cramped, but we were able to store our rucksacks above and below the bunks.

There were also plug sockets and a table by the window with a small bin below it. There were switches for the main shared lights and individual lamps, though the one by my bunk didn't work.

We made up our beds using the provided bedding, which was wrapped and sanitized.

As we departed, a train attendant came through the car to provide drinks and snacks and check our tickets and passports.

I thought the snacks, which consisted of crackers, cookies, water, and juice, were a bit underwhelming.

I definitely would've wanted to eat something more substantial if we had boarded the train at an earlier time.

The nighttime train ride wasn't quite what I was expecting

After brushing my teeth in the shared bathroom, which included a small sink, toilet, and mirror, I headed to bed.

At this point, we noticed that the top bunk had seat-belt-like straps running from the ceiling to mitigate the risk of any potential falling-out-of-bed situations.

Once we stopped in Naples, the other two passengers sharing our room boarded the train.

As we all got ready for bed, I expected the small space to turn humid and warm, but it was surprisingly cold (even when I used the small provided blanket).

For the rest of the night, I regretted not bringing earplugs or an eye mask.

The ride was bumpy and loud, and at 3 a.m., when our train boarded a ferry, I was convinced I was going to fall out of bed. I felt as if I was being jostled around a tin can.

After a long night, we finally arrived in Sicily

I was woken up by the train attendant handing me an espresso at around 6 a.m.

Breakfast in bed is usually a treat, but I thought it was a shock to the system on such little sleep. About half an hour later, our bunkmates rushed off the train, having almost missed their stop.

After a brief caffeine spike, I dozed off for another three hours.

We arrived at the Palermo Centrale station at 9:30 a.m., which was a great time to have a larger breakfast and head to our Airbnb.

I wouldn't ride the sleeper train from Rome to Sicily again

Overall, the general discomfort of a shared room and lack of filling meals was a letdown for me. Next time, I think my partner and I will stick to what we know and take the three-hour flight to Sicily.

The £130 train ride, along with the £60 flight from the UK to Rome, cost a total of £190 for two of us. By comparison, two flights from London to Palermo through Ryanair or Wizz Air are typically about £120 to £300 if we don't check bags.

I'm still keen to try out other sleeper train experiences, though perhaps we'll save some money for a more spacious option that wouldn't require us to share with other passengers.

We'd love to explore more of Italy by train but would prefer to travel during the day when we can count on staying awake.

Correction: October 24, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated that the room was private. It is technically considered a shared room.

Read the original article on Insider