How to take a train journey from Berlin to Paris

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Berlin to Paris by 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.

Routes you can take to go from Berlin to Paris

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.

Choose one of the following options:

Route Information

Option 1- taking a direct night train
Travel Time (approx)

from 14hr 10min (approx)

Frequency

Three nights per week

Travel Info

Departs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Route Information

Via stations: Karlsruhe Hbf

Option 2: travel by day and arrive at Paris Est

Route Information

Via stations: Köln/Cologne Hbf

Option3: travel by day and arrive at Paris Nord
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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.