Berlin Hbf (Berlin)

The Berlin to Amsterdam train journey lacks a wow factor, but it's a comparatively easy trip.

And now there is both a day and night option on this route

There are direct day and night trains to choose from when travelling between Berlin and Basel.
By day you will be travelling on either ultra-smart ICE trains, or more basic Flix trains, but if you opt to travel overnight you won't miss out on seeing fabulous scenery; it's a pleasant but not spectacular journey,

Beds in sleeping cabins and bunks in couchettes are available on the overnight train.

Despite the distance, the only direct trains from Berlin to Bern are the daily daytime ICE trains.
If you want to travel overnight, the best option is to take the Nightjet train from Berlin to Basel SBB station; and then connect there for Bern.

Despite the distance there is a daily direct train available between these capital cities.

There aren't any direct daytime trains from Bruxelles/Brussels to Berlin (they're near the top of SMTJ's European travel wish list), but it's usually a straightforward journey, most of which is on high speed lines.

Though on three nights per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) it's now possible to take a direct overnight train - and travel on the European Sleeper service.

And from December 131h a full service Nightjet train will also be available, when heading to Berlin from Bruxelles by train on Monday Wednesday and Friday

The daytime train between Berlin and Budapest has been restored so travellers can now once again choose between travelling overnight or during the day, when making the journey between the capitals of Germany and Hungary.

How to make the easy day trip by train from Berlin to Dessau in order to explore the city's Bauhaus architecture and design

There's no getting away from the fact that taking the train from Berlin to Dresden is something of an anomaly.
Once you're on board its a very easy trip, it's the timetable that's odd, as it tends to alternate between two departures in one hour and then nothing in the next, so there can be big gaps between trains.
Scenically it's a dull journey, but what can make this trip an interesting experience is that Dresden is on an international rail route from Berlin, so some of the departures are by Austrian, Czech and Hungarian trains.

The frequency of the ICE trains from Berlin to Dusseldorf has been increased on the latest timetable, because what had been a long established hourly service has been enhanced by additional trains that depart the German capital in the odd hours

Erfurt is a great location for a holiday, particularly for those with an interest in railways, and thanks to a relatively new high speed line, it's never been so easy to reach the city from Berlin by train.

What won't be obvious when looking up a journey by train from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) is that the ICE trains between the two cities now take three different routes:

1. Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Frankfurt (these are the fastest services)
2. Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Fulda Frankfurt
3. Berlin - Braunschweig - Kassel - Fulda - Frankfurt (this route is longest in terms of distance, but much more of this journey is on high speed lines, so journey times are comparable with the route through Erfurt).

However, the departures are not evenly distributed, there can no departures at all in certain hours, while in others there are trains leaving on all three routes, though two trains per hour is most typical.

The cheaper tickets on the faster ICE trains inevitably sell out faster, but other factors worth keeping in mind when planning this journey are:

• The trains all arrive at the same station in Frankfurt (Main), the main hauptbahnhof (there are some other ICE trains from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) Sud station, but avoid those if you will be heading to the city centre).
• The trains all depart from the main central station in the capital, Berlin Hbf, but the other stations they call at in the city depends on the route; the trains on that third route via Kassel also depart from Berlin Ost and Berlin Spandau; while the trains on the other two routes also call at Berlin Sudkreuz.
• If you want to travel with a non-folding bicycle you will need to take the ICE 4 trains.

There also slower, but typically cheaper, non high speed trains from Berlin to Frankfurt which are operated by Flix.
But they arrive at a station named Frankfurt (Main) Sud, which lives up to its name with a location to the south of the city centre.

Also note that Frankfurt (Oder) is a different town, which also has direct trains from Berlin, so make sure that you are looking at trains to Frankfurt (Main) when booking tickets online and ignore any info you see for Frankfurt (Oder) when you're at the station.

There isn't high speed railway between Berlin and Hamburg as the line has always been engineered for higher than average speeds, but over the years €billions have been spent on improving it, so that trains can spend the majority of the journey travelling at 200 km/h.

Slower than the maximum speed of the ICE trains; which is why the IC and EC trains can come close to matching their journey times.
It's the number of station calls made which has the greater impact on the journey times.
The fastest trains are non-stop between Berlin-Spandau and Hamburg hbf, while other trains make up to three additional calls.

The timetable is arranged so that there is at least once ICE train departure in every hour, with most hours also having an additional ICE or an EC train, or an IC train

Though which type of train you travel by tends to make no difference to the ticket prices; the most popular departure times will be more expensive, irrespective of what train is used.

If you want to travel with a non-folding bicycle you will need to take the IC or EC trains, or now the ICE 4 trains, but need to avoid the ICE 1, ICE 2 or ICE 3 trains.

The ICE trains from Berlin to Hannover spend the majority of their journey between the two cities on a high speed line, so they're the fastest option.

It can be possible to save money by taking the slower, but less frequent IC trains

Despite the distance there are only daytime trains available from Berlin to Innsbruck.
From December 10th, a new direct ICE train will be available, but the journeys with a connection on from Munich are faster - and they also enable an earlier arrival into Innsbruck.
Connect at Worgl for access to ski resorts including Kitzbuhel and St Jonhann.

Rather remarkably there are direct ICE trains which make the epic journey from the German capital to the stunningly beautiful Bernese-Oberland in Switzerland.

On Mon - Fri a journey by train from the German capital to The Rhine Gorge is made easier by taking a direct afternoon train from Berlin.

If its timings don't suit then Koblenz is a simple journey from Berlin with one change of train required in Koln/Cologne.

Every hour during the day a swish ICE train travels from Berlin to Köln / Cologne so this is an exceptionally easy journey.
And now there are also two 'Sprinter' services per day which are non-stop from the German capital to Koln.
Then for travel overnight, sleeper trains aren't available on this route, but one of the ICE trains is made available.

Cities including Aachen, Bonn and Koblenz have less frequent trains from Berlin, so when the timings of those trains don't suit, connections are available in Köln hbf.

The direct daytime train journey from Berlin to Krakow has transformed for the better, as it has been doubled on the new timetable!

Direct journeys by day aren't an option when travelling by train between Berlin and Copenhagen/København.

Though from early April to mid September and overnight train will be an option, thanks to the new summer Snalltaget train from Berlin to Sweden, which will be arriving at Hoje Taastrup station on the outskirts of Kobenhavn at 06:20.
Connect there for local 'S-Tog' trains to multiple stations in the city centre.

The journey by train from Berlin to Leipzig has been transformed for the better in recent years, with a big increase in the number of direct connections between the two cities

The German capital and the charming city on The Danube are now linked by a daily direct ICE train, so taking this journey is super easy, despite the distance.

From the timetable change on December 10th 2023, on any day, but Saturday, you choose between:
1 - travelling by day from Berlin to London on a combination of high speed trains
2 - travel overnight to Amsterdam or Bruxelles and make just one connection into a Eurostar

The option of travelling overnight when leaving the German capital on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday is already available.
It is the soon to be introduced Nightjet service, which will be departing on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

When departing Berlin on a Saturday, travelling by the day trains on to London is the only option.

It's a good idea to pay attention to the journey times when looking up a journey by train from Berlin to München / Munich.
Because there are multiple 'groups' of ICE services on this route.

1. Berlin - Nurnberg - München; Three fastest ever 'Sprinter' trains per day have been added to the timetable, which are non-stop between Berlin and Nurnberg!
2. Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Nurnberg - München; which are also known as 'Sprinter' services.
3. Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Nurnberg - München; diverting off the direct route in order to serve Leipzig only adds around 30 mins to the journey time.
4. Trains that divert off the most direct route after Nurnberg to serve Augsburg - which are best avoided as they are more than an hour slower than the regular 'Sprinter' services.
5. Other trains that take a Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt - Stuttgart - Munich route - which is much longer, so it has been excluded from the options below.
   Take care to avoid these trains if you will be travelling with a rail pass.

The departure pattern is typically:
even hours = the trains which travel via Leipzig + the three new fastest 'Sprinter' services.
odd hours = the regular 'Sprinter' services = the trains which take the route via Augsburg between Nurnberg and Munchen.

The cheaper tickets on the faster trains inevitably sell out faster, so if you won't be booking weeks ahead, the slower a particular departure is, the more likely it is that you'll save money by travelling by it.
But if you'll be using Eurail or InterRail passes you may as well target the faster trains.

Another unusual feature of this route is the variety of the types of ICE trains used.
If you want to have a meal in the restaurant car during the journey, you'll need to take the ICE 1, ICE 3or ICE 4 trains; if you want to travel with a non-folding bicycle, you'll need to take an ICE 4 train.

The journey by train from Berlin to Nürnberg / Nuremberg has been transformed for the better in recent years by the opening of a high speed line.
So this journey is not only faster than it ever has been, there's also never been so many departures to choose from.

Though it's a good idea to pay attention to the journey times when looking up a journey by train from Berlin to München / Munich.
Because there are multiple 'groups' of ICE services on this route.

1. Three fastest ever 'Sprinter' trains per day have been added to the timetable, which are non-stop between Berlin and Nurnberg!
2. Trains which travel Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Nurnberg - which are also known as 'Sprinter' services.
3. Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Nurnberg; diverting off the direct route in order to serve Leipzig only adds around 30 mins to the journey time.

The departure pattern is typically:
even hours = the trains which travel via Leipzig + the three new fastest 'Sprinter' services.
odd hours = the regular 'Sprinter' services + trains which make up to four additional calls

The cheaper tickets on the faster trains inevitably sell out faster, so if you won't be booking weeks ahead, the slower a particular departure is, the more likely it is that you'll save money by travelling by it.
But if you'll be using Eurail or InterRail passes you may as well target the faster trains.

Another unusual feature of this route is the variety of the types of ICE trains used.
If you want to have a meal in the restaurant car during the journey, you'll need to take the ICE 1, ICE 3or ICE 4 trains; if you want to travel with a non-folding bicycle, you'll need to take an ICE 4 train.

From December 11th 2023, when travelling by train from Berlin to Paris, there will be a choice between

• travelling direct on an overnight train, though it will only be initially available when departing Berlin on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays
• travelling during the day on a combination of high speed trains.

What may not be obvious when looking up the daytime train journey from Berlin to Paris on the ticket booking websites, is that the journey options follow two routes:

1. An ICE train from Berlin to Koln hbf and then connecting there for a Thalys train on Paris, the Thalys trains arrive at the Gare Du Nord.

2. An ICE train from Berlin to a station where connections are possible into the 'DB-SNCF trains to Paris, which arrive at the Gare de l'Est.
   Connections between trains can be a available at different stations including Frankfurt (Main) hbf, Mannheim hbf and Karlsruhe hbf -as per the route guide below.
   The ticket agents will offer a combination of connections which provide for the fastest end-to-end journey time.
   However, it's easier to make the transfer between trains at Frankfurt (Main) hbf, at that station all the platforms/tracks are on the same level, so making the connection there simply involves walking from one train to the other.

In times of distance travelled this second combination of trains is further than the options via Koln/Cologne, but the high-speed lines and the fastest connections mean that journey times can be similar; if you're willing to gamble on making connections of under 30 minutes.
However, DB offers its 'Europa Spezial' ticket deals on this route, so this routing is usually cheaper
DB doesn't do this on the route via Koln as it doesn't operate the Thalys trains.

In Berlin the local commuter trains are the S-Bahn trains, and they're included on the Metro-style map along with the U-bahn (subway trains).
Potsdam station is on this map, but if you'll be heading to see the palaces on a day trip, the Regio trains will not only get you there faster, they also go to a more convenient station.
And they call at multiple stations in central Berlin.

Not only is the train journey from Berlin to Praha / Prague very straightforward the second half of the train ride is wonderfully scenic.

There are no direct trains from Berlin to beautiful Salzburg, but it's a straightforward journey.
The connection can be made in Munchen hbf, which is a particularly easy station in which to change trains and there will be typically two trains per hour from there on to Salzburg

Year round the Swedish national rail operator, SJ, is now providing a nightly full service sleeper train from Berlin to Stockholm.

Also on these dates in 2024 , there will be a choice between taking the SJ train or the Berlin Night Express, which is operated by Snälltåget - Jan 2nd-4th, March 25th-29th and then on every night except Saturday from Apr 1st to November 3rd.

When taking the train to Stralsund from Berlin the most frequent option are the Regio trains, but it can be worth targeting the less frequent ICE trains.
They're faster, more comfortable and can be cheaper if you book ahead.
Also if you'll be heading to on the island of Rugen, those ICE trains provide a direct service, but if you take the Regio (RE) trains you'll have to make a connection in Stralsund

Taking the train from Berlin to Stuttgart is very straightforward thanks to the direct ICE trains which leave Berlin every other hour on a route via Leipzig.

Though something to watch out for is that there also slower direct ICE trains from Berlin to Stuttgart and they will stand out on the departure info at the station because they terminate at Stuttgart.
However, as they take a slower route via Kassel and Frankfurt flughafen (airport) DB does not sell tickets for journeys by these trains.

Taking the train from Berlin to Warsaw is blissfully simple as direct trains link the German and Polish capitals.

Not very many years ago the direct trains between the German and Austrian capitals had disappeared from the timetables, but now there are four very different options to choose from when taking the train from Berlin to Wien / Vienna.
When you look up this journey on the ticket booking websites you'll also see a swathe of other journeys which involve making connections between trains.
So these direct trains can be tricky to spot amidst all of those other options, so you can use this info to find them more easily.
(1) The first train of the day is an Austrian Railjet train, which take a more scenic river valley route between Dresden and Prague.
(2) There is an ICE train - but it spends less than 25% of its journey travelling at high speed.
(3) In the early evening there is departure by a Nightjet and this is the train to take if you want to travel from Berlin to Vienna/Wien in a bed in a sleeping cabin, or on a bunk in a couchette.
(4) The final departure is a nightly IC train, it's a train usually used for daytime services, which happens to travel through the night.

Until March 1st:
Multiple routes taken by ICE trains are being altered)due to maintenance work closing the main north <> south high-speed line.
So that Germany and Zurich can remain linked by trains which won't have to be diverted on to slower, alternative routes, which risks delays, the trains which normally travel between Berlin and Bern are being diverted in Switzerland, so that they can head to Zurich.
So until March 1st there will be 5 x direct ICE trains per day from Berlin to Zurich.

After March 1st:
The only direct train from Berlin to Zurich is the Nightjet service, but there are two options for making the journey by day with only one connection.
The fastest and easiest of which is travel via Basel, the tick in the box for this route as there a minimum of two trains per hour from Basel to Zurich and tickets will be valid on any onward train.

The other route with one connection involves travelling via Munich, but it is typically an hour longer, which is why it hasn't been included below.
But if you can find an exceptionally cheap price on the route via Munich then book it.
The journey from Munich on to Zurich is also more scenic than the route via Basel.

The Amsterdam to Berlin train journey lacks a wow factor, but it's a comparatively easy trip.
And now there is both a day and night option on this route

When taking a rail journey from Basel to Berlin, travellers can choose between making the journey by day on a sleek ICE train, or travelling through the night on a smart Nightjet service.

Yes it's a long journey from Bern to Berlin by train, but it couldn't be easier thanks to a direct service of smart and stylish ICE trains, which also give it a wow factor.

There aren't any direct daytime trains from Bruxelles/Brussels to Berlin (they're near the top of SMTJ's European travel wish list), but it's usually a straightforward journey, most of which is on high speed lines.

Though on three nights per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) it's now possible to take a direct overnight train - and travel on the European Sleeper service.

A full service Nightjet train is also available, when heading to Berlin from Bruxelles by train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

So Sundays is the only day of the week when there won't be a choice between travelling by day or night trains from Bruxelles to Berlin.

Despite the 875 km between the two cities, Budapest and Berlin are linked by both direct day and night trains, which take one of Europe's most epic rail routes.
So whether traveling by day or night it's a straightforward and fascinating journey through four countries; Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Germany.

When looking up a journey by train from Frankfurt (Main) to Berlin, it can be worth looking out for the 'Sprinter' (S) services, they live up to their name by being faster than the regular services, but they are not automatically more expensive.

There isn't a high speed line between Hamburg and the German capital, but the 'classic railway' has been re-engineered to enable the ICE trains to travel at up to 230 km/h.
This is the highest speed in Europe achieved for a sustained length of time on a line that hasn't been specifically constructed for high-speed.

An addition to the annual new pan-European rail timetable. which commences on December 10th, is this epic new journey by train from Innsbruck across Germany to Berlin.

Though if you will be happy to make a connection in München / Munich, the travel time will be more than an hour faster.

There are no sleeper trains from Innsbruck, or München / Munich to Berlin.

As is the norm when travelling between major German cities by train, smart ICE trains provide hourly direct connections throughout the day on this route, so this is typically a very straightforward journey.

And now there are also three additional 'Sprinter' services per day which are non-stop from Köln to Berlin
Then for travel overnight, sleeper trains aren't available on this route, but one of the ICE trains is made available.

Cities including Aachen, Bonn and Koblenz have less frequent trains from Berlin, so when the timings of those trains don't suit, connections are available in Koln hbf.

When travelling by train from London to Berlin and departing the UK on Monday, Wednesday and Friday there is a choice between:

• making the journey by day on a string of three high speed trains
• connecting in Bruxelles for an overnight train.
  Though from December 13th this choice between travelling by day or overnight will also be available when heading to Berlin from London by train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Thanks to a relatively new high speed line in Germany the train journey from Munchen / Munich to Berlin has never been faster - and on the latest timetable yet more improvements have been made to the train service from Bavaria to the German capital.

Three new 'Sprinter' services now make only one station call during the journey, to provide a fastest ever journey time of only 3hr 45mins!~
Plus the frequency of the other 'Sprinter' services on the most direct route has been virtually doubled.

So taking these 'Sprinter' services now become the logical choice for the rail journey between the two cities.
There are trains which are only around 30 mins slower, because they divert off the direct route to call in Leipzig - but they usually depart München Hbf within 5 mins of a 'Sprinter' service.
So those trains only become a good choice if they are much cheaper.

There are also other services that are more than an hour slower than the regular 'Sprinter' services, because they travel via Augsburg (and Frankfurt) - so are best avoided.

From December 12th 2023, when travelling by train from Paris to Berlin, there will be a choice between

• travelling direct on an overnight train, though it will only be initially available when departing Paris on Tues, Thurs and Sat.
• travelling during the day on a combination of high speed trains.

What may not be obvious when looking up the daytime train journey from Paris to Berlin on the ticket booking websites is that the options follow two routes:

1: Taking Thalys train services from the Gare Du Nord in Paris to Koln hbf and then connecting there for an ICE train on to Berlin

2: Taking A DB-SNCF train service from the Gare de l'Est in Paris to one of several stations in central Germany; from where connections by ICE train are available on to Berlin.
When travelling from Gare de l'Est the connections between trains can be available at different stations - including Frankfurt (Main) hbf, Mannheim hbf or Karlsruhe hbf.
The ticket agents will offer a combination of connections which provide for the fastest end-to-end journey time.
However, it's easier to make the transfer between trains at Frankfurt (Main) hbf, because at that station all the platforms/tracks are on the same level, so making the connection there simply involves walking from one train to the other.

Year round the Swedish national rail operator, SJ, is now providing a nightly full service sleeper train from Berlin to Stockholm.

Also on these dates in 2024 , there will be a choice between taking the SJ train or the Berlin Night Express, which is operated by Snälltåget - Jan 1st-3rd, March 24th-27th and then on every night except Saturday from March 31st to November 1st.

This train service between the Polish and German capital cities is the primary east <> west rail link across northern Europe.
And thanks to completed improvements on the railway the journey time has come down by more than 30 minutes!

Not very many years ago the direct trains between the German and Austrian capitals had disappeared from the timetables, but now there are four very different options to choose from when taking the train from Wien/Vienna to Berlin.

When you look up this journey on the ticket booking websites you'll also see a swathe of other journeys which involve making connections between trains.
So these direct trains can be tricky to spot amidst all of those other options, so you can use this info to find them more easily.

(1) The first daytime direct train is an ICE train, but it spends less than 25% of its journey travelling at high speed.

(2) A Railjet train which takes an entirely different route across Czechia.

(3) In the early evening there is a nightly IC train, it's a train usually used for daytime services, which happens to travel through the night.
(4) The final departure is a Nightjet and this is the train to take if you want to travel from Berlin to Vienna/Wien in a bed in a sleeping cabin, or in a bunk on a couchette.

Until March 30th the only option for a direct journey by train from Zurich to Berlin is to travel through the night on the Nightjet service.
However, until December 9th the ICE trains which usually head to Hamburg from Zurich, are being temporarily replaced with trains going to the German capital, due to maintenance work on the German rail network.