Vienna - Prague overnight sleeper or day trip?

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Does anyone have any experience of the only overnight sleeper connection from Venice to Prague - http://czech-transport.com/index.php?id=465 - buying tickets, waiting in Břeclav for the sleeper etc? Help - need to decide whether to stay overnight in Vienna and catch a train the next day or not.

So Venice or Vienna?

If we are talking about Vienna-Prague overnight, then we deal with direct carriages, that only get reattached from one train to another in Breclav, you don't need to get off train.
In terms of tariffs OEBB unfortunately doesn't sell discounted tickets for those overnight carriages (ups... just rechecked it differently and found out that OEBB actually sells those as well, same 29 euro as to Dresden, sorry), so in addition you have a number of solutions: 1) to buy regular fare ticket (app. 60 euro); 2) buy discounted ticket from Vienna to Dresden on OEBB website (from 29 euro seats, 39 euro couchette), but get off train in Prague; 3) buy regular international Vienna-Breclav/Brno ticket + Czech domestic Breclav/Brno-Prague (this one here - https://www.cd.cz/eshop/search.aspx), both for the same train; 4) go Vienna-Bratislava (train from 14 euro) and catch there overnight to Prague (around 23 euro for the ticket + 9 euro for couchette or app. 11.3 euro for 3 bed sleeper).

Fares for daytime trains Vienna-Prague start from 29 euro (seats), if purchased some time in advance.

Yep - Vienna ... Venice: sheeesh. No wonder I've had trouble ...

And as to your response to my query: WOW.

Thank you very much for your quick reply and thank you for your information and the links. I've spent the last four days trying to understand trains in Eastern Europe and finally found this forum. 

Can I ask for your help and get some more advice?

Since I first posted the query, we have booked a hotel in Vienna for a night and have decided to catch a day train to Prague. Can you direct me to the on-line booking for the best way to do this? Any advice on best timing/seats/trains/anything?

We will also be catching an overnight train from Prague to Budapest later in the week. Are there different classes of sleepers for this, and can these be booked in advance? This year marks our 25th wedding anniversary and I've put enough money away to make it as special as possible, so again, I'd be most grateful if you have any advice on best timing/seats/trains/anything?

Can you direct me to the on-line booking for the best way to do this?

https://ticket.oebb.at/bin/frame_ticket.pl?ticket=jticket.pl&LANG=EN, enter "Wien Meidling" and "Praha hl."

Any advice on best timing/seats/trains/anything?

There are two types of trains on this route, regular (air type - http://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/foto/200701/DSCF1879.jpg or compartment - http://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/foto/200702/R0012900.jpg) and Pendolino train (http://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/foto/200704/PICT2780.jpg (outside), http://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/foto/200704/DSC03610.jpg (inside). So you can choose carriage type + reserve seats yo want while buying the ticket.

About best timing... well, it depends on your preferences. You can just check the timetable and decide which train you want.

Are there different classes of sleepers for this, and can these be booked in advance?

Yes, there are 6 berth couchettes, 4 berth couchettes, 3 bed sleepers, double sleeper and single. And no, you can't book overnight train from Prague to Budapest online (only daytime), but you can book Dresden-Budapest via Prague from DB website, discounted tickets available (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&), but board the train already in Prague.

Have just returned from a meeting and found your reply - the scope of your knowledge is breath-taking - thank you for the time and trouble you've taken to respond. I'll follow your lines of inquiry over the next day and let you know hoe it goes.