Santa Claus Express Top Bunk: What Surprised Us

Riding Santa’s train (we said train! We know what you were thinking, you naughty mushroom!) sounds super magical—you’ll go to sleep somewhere beyond Helsinki and wake up in snowy Lapland.

Here’s the thing though.

What is sleeping on the Santa Claus Express top bunk really like?

Is it safe?

And comfortable?

That’s what we’re here to tell you!

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Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Btw, even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful travel tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own epic adventures too!

Tips for taking the Santa Claus Express train

If you’re thinking about travelling on the Santa Claus Express sleeper train, this will help:

• We wrote a full guide on taking the overnight train – from cabin types, to prices and bonus tips.
• Want to avoid making silly mistakes when taking Santa Claus Express? Read this.
• We also wrote what travelling on the train is really like – check out our honest review.

And if you wish you could chat to us about your concerns—you can! Just book a call with us and we can make sure planning your Lapland holiday is magical and stress-free!

Santa Claus Express top bunk

We travelled on the 265 service from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, in upstairs cabins which come with their own shower. Yep. Total luxury.

Our travel party on this Lapland trip was the two of us and Mirka’s sister.

That meant that we had to book 2 cabins (no sharing with strangers!), but only 1 person had to sleep on the top bunk of Santa’s train.

You can probably guess that that person was Daniel. 😄

We did all try climbing into the upper berth, though, to see what it’s like (and to be able to share the experience here with you!).

So if you’re worried about having to sleep on the Santa Claus Express top bunk, keep reading.

Is the top bunk on the Santa Claus Express safe?

Safety is probably your no. 1 priority, right?

You’re in luck—we talk about safety and unusual travel safety tips all the time.

We were also concerned about how safe the top bunk will be—after all, you’ll be sleeping on a moving train!

Turns out, there is nothing to worry about.

The top bunk has a railing, albeit pretty low and short.

The real safety measure are the seat-belt-like straps that are attached to the railing, as you can see in the pic below.

These will catch you if you roll in your sleep or should the train break unexpectedly.

Pro tip: Make sure the two straps are spaced out along the railing—they might have got grouped together by previous travellers or when the beds were being changed. (You can actually see this in the very first pic in the intro.)

Is the top bunk on the Santa Claus Express comfortable?

Yes! We talked about how comfortable the beds are (and how it surprised us) in our Santa Claus Express review.

Check it out, you’ll find even more tips and info there!

How hard is it to climb into the Santa Claus Express top bunk?

This is where things start getting really interesting.

Cause, as we said, we all climbed into the top bunk on the Santa Claus Express.

Not at the same time!! 

That wouldn’t even have been possible! 😅

But even solo it was… challenging, let’s say.

Problem no. 1: climbing into the top bunk

The first issue is getting into the top bunk.

Here is why it was a struggle:

• The stairs are pretty small
• There is a table right next to one of the steps. If you’re like us, and the thought of stepping on a table yucks you out, you will have to try and avoid it. Similarly, if you have stuff on the table, like drinks, you will have to make sure you avoid it
• There isn’t a lot to hold on to
• You will have to somehow turn around and take your shoes off before getting into the bed, unless, again, you’re okay with shoes in bed, you filthy animal (this is why we think slippers are a must-pack for the train)

Sounds easy? Onto problem no. 2!

Problem no. 2: getting down from the top bunk

So you got yourself into the upper bunk?

Okay, now the same, but in reverse!

This is actually trickier than getting in.

From our experience, we can tell you that going down facing forwards is not the best idea, since you’ll end up not having anything to hold on to.

It’s much easier turning around in the top bunk and then going down that way, backwards—but then you don’t see where you are stepping (again, the table issue).

A few things to know before you attempt the climb

• Everything depends on your size and how “athletic” you are. Athletic here means how okay you’re with climbing ladders and turning around mid-air. Basically mobility matters.
• Mirka spent half her childhood sleeping in a top bunk, so she’s a pretty experienced climber. And yet she didn’t manage to avoid stepping on the attention-seeking table when getting down. (What a fail!)
• As long as no one gets injured, watching the different members of your travel party climbing in and out of the top bunk might be the funniest thing you do on the Santa Claus Express train. We had a great laugh, seeing who is the most agile of us (spoiler alert: Daniel).

A warning about accidents and injuries

What a fun heading, right?

If you’re concerned about anything going wrong (which is fair enough, Lapland is a pretty dangerous place), make sure you have good travel insurance.

We trust True Traveller when we are out exploring the world (their low prices are also something we happily get on board with!).

If you want to find out more about them, here is a full review.

Or just check out their mind-blowing claims process—you won’t believe what happened to us.

Who should avoid the top bunk on the Santa Claus Express?

By now you’ve probably figured out whether the Santa Claus Express top bunk is for you or not.

You might want to consider sleeping on the bottom bed, if:

• You have reduced mobility
• You need to use the bathroom a lot at night (in that case, make sure you get the upstairs cabin)
• You are scared of heights (the upper bunk is not that high up, but it’s still different than sleeping near ground)
• You spend your nights sleepwalking. If that’s the case, make sure you put one of the key cards into your pocket, so you don’t get locked out of your cabin, if you go for a little adventure!

It goes without saying that if you’re a family, consider whether the top bunk is suitable for your kids, based on their age and personality. (Will being on the Santa Claus Express top bunk make them go wild and you’ll struggle to get them to sleep because HOW MUCH FUN IS THIS?? 🤩 Decide carefully, if you want to get at least some sleep!)

Pro tip: what to do if you’re really worried

Okay, this heading should really say: what to do if you’re really worried and are rich.

Because this tip doesn’t work if you’re doing Lapland on a budget, like we did.

But if money is not a concern?

And you just want to avoid sleeping on the top bunk, while travelling as two people?

Here are your two options:

• Book two upstairs cabins. Remember, sharing with strangers is not a thing here (thankfully), so you will have a whole cabin to yourself, even as a solo traveller. This is the more expensive option, but comes with your own toilet and a shower.
• Book interconnecting cabins downstairs: These cabins don’t come with a bathroom, but they have a door between them that you can open up. That way you can still hang out with your person, while you both get to sleep on the bottom bunk!

Would you dare to sleep on the Santa Claus Express top bunk? Or are you more of a bottom-bunk-just-in-case kinda traveller? Let us know in the comments or on our Instagram!