If you are a non-EU citizen, with exception of US, Australia, NZ, you should be extra careful when taking this night train which runs from Budapest directly to Venice. The catch is the train often passes through Croatia, a non-schengen country, which means that you must apply for a Croatian transit visa, well before at the embassy. I heard many complaints that many surprise passport and customs checks are carried out in the Croatia and Slovenia border and you may be subjected to lots of inconvenience.
This is because Hungary (schengen) to Croatia (non-schengen) means passport control on out of schengen border and again Croatia (non-schengen) to Slovenia (schengen passport control), so all in all 2 checks.
View Train-routes in a larger map
Check in google maps, for the rail route and notice how train often touches and passes through the croatian border.
Be careful, you should be aware of visa requirements and rail companies do not inform you about any visa requirement. You are better off flying by air or taking a connecting train elsewhere (salzburg/vienna) and just make sure that you don’t go through Croatia or Serbia.
