When taking the train from München / Munich to Hamburg, there is a a choice available between travelling during the day on a sleek ICE train, or travelling through the night on a Nightjet.
When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.
5hr 30min - 6hr 10min (approx)
Daily
1 x train per hour on the faster route with a journey time of around 5hr 30min.
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.
It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.
On journeys within Germany and on most international journeys from and to Germany on trains operated by DB:
When booking both types of the discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets seat reservations are an optional extra, so need to be added when booking if you want an assigned seat(s).
Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.
The three key advantages of using Omio are
The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.
Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.
HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona (or Kiel)
All trains also call at: Hannover, Hamburg-Harburg and Hamburg-Dammtor
All of these trains will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre - Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor
So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey.
The alternative route:
On arrival at Muchen Hbf you may see trains to Hamburg on the departure screens, leaving at a different time to the train that will be on your ticket.
That's because there also are trains to Hamburg via Berlin from Munchen; so avoid confusing them with the train via Hannover that you will likely be taking.
The trains via Berlin are predominantly slower than these trains - though two 'Sprinter' services have been added to the timetable, which only make station calls in Nurnberg and Berlin, when travelling from Munchen to Hamburg.
So they have a travel time of 5hr 55mins and they typically depart at around 07:55 and 11:55.
The slower trains travel via Augsburg and those trains also call at Munchen-Passing.
The faster trains use the high speed line between Ingolstadt and Nurnberg.
Also some of these trains from Munchen to Hamburg are joined to trains heading to Bremen for the journey between Munchen and Hannover.
If you haven't reserved take care that you're in the part of the train which will be heading to Hamburg.
The trains
A variety of different types of ICE trains are used on this route, some departures are by the ICE 1 trains a few departures will be by the brand new ICE 4 trains; if you want to travel with a bicycle you will need to take the ICE 4 trains.
ICE 2 and ICE T trains are also used on this route, particularly at weekends.
These two types of ICE trains are more typically used on the departures which divide at Hannover, to serve both Hamburg and Bremen, the ICE 1 and ICE-4 trains are not used on the departures that serve both cities.
This is a journey of five distinct phases
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Book early and save:** Yes
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.
A choice of tickets
Four types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus
A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:
The other key difference is that both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking, but both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date.
Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for Flexpreis tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.
When travelling to and from the major cities, the Sparpreis, Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in the city centres of Munich / Hamburg and the stations where the trains depart and arrive.
Seat reservations
Seat reservations are optional on ICE trains for journeys within Germany - take note if you will be using a rail pass.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class.
When a journey involves two or more trains on which seat reservations are available, the fees when first booking, cover all trains.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Though despite seats being automatically assigned when booking these three types of ticket - and these tickets being valid on any departure, you will need to pay to re-book the reservations, if you subsequently decide to travel on an alternative train.
So because you won't save by booking these types of tickets in advance, it can be a good idea to wait until you are sure when you will want to travel.
When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.
1st Class tickets
No matter what type of ticket booked, if you choose to travel 1st class, you will have access to the same seating areas on the train, ICE trains do not have Business or Executive lounges.
Though only those who have booked 1st class Flexpreis or Flexpreis Plus tickets can access the DB Lounges at the major stations.
Booking on the DB website
You can find these trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.
Or to see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.
Using rail passes
Rail pass users should ignore the ICE trains that travel from Munchen to Hamburg via Berlin, the journey time will be longer compared to these trains that travel via Hannover.
Tickets for Munchen to Hamburg journeys can't be booked on those trains via Berlin.
9hr 44min
Nightly
1 x train per night
OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.
It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.
OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.
DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.
It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.
A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Munchen Hbf at around 22:50 and arrive in Hamburg Hbf shortly after 09:00.
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona
This train also calls at: Hannover
This train will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre; Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor.
So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
These Nightjet trains are managed by the Austrian national rail operator OBB, hence its sells tickets for this route, which doesn't travel through Austria.
The train conveys:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains and these can be booked in advance on the OBB website, without paying booking fees.
Though the required steps are far from obvious, hence their inclusion in the step-by-step guide to using the OBB website.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
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