Let’s start with the practical:
DO double check your overnight bus schedule.
The task seemed simple enough: my friend and I had to travel from Cinque Terre to Zurich by bus. We booked a bus from Milan to Zurich that left at 12:15 p.m. so all that was left was to book a train ticket to Milan. The cheapest ticket left Cinque Terre at 1 a.m. and since an overnight bus ride meant we didn't have to pay for lodging that night, it seemed like a great option. Excitedly, we booked the ticket. The night of the train ride, we realized that we hadn’t booked a seven hour continuous train ride to Milan. Rather, we had to take one train ride to Sestri Levante (somewhere in the north of Italy) that got in at two in the morning, and another train that left Sestri Levante at four thirty in the morning. That meant spending two and a half hours in a train station in the middle of the night, somewhere in Italy. As it was too late to change anything, we boarded the train and tried to get what little sleep we could. Unfortunately, the two and a half hour break at a strange train station really put a dent in our efforts, as did the singing and screaming bridal party that boarded our second train at six in the morning.
If you can avoid overnight train rides, do it. If you can’t, be sure to check your tickets beforehand, or bring earplugs in case of the occasional singing bridesmaid.