How to take new direct journey from the German capital to south west Switzerland

Share this journey with a friend...

Berlin to Brig by train

For the first time ever, sleek ICE trains now travel between Berlin and Brig

Routes you can take to go from Berlin to Brig / Brigue

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:

Looking for connections?

Journey guides for travel to Berlin

Route Information

Station Guides

Some of the escalators that link the multiple levels in Berlin Hbf

Berlin Hbf Rail Station Guide

Brig Rail Station Guide

Travel Time (approx)

10hr 20min

Frequency

Daily

Travel Info

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 Aktion and Flexpreis

A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:

Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
Flexpreis tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.
Flexpreis Aktion tickets can't be refunded either - but their higher cost is due to...

...the other key difference is that both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date - in contrast, both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking,

Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for both types of 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 Aktion and Flexpreis tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in Köln city centre and Köln Hbf.

Seat reservations

For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be using tickets or rail passes they cost €5.50 when travelling in 2nd Class and €6.90 when travelling in 1st class.

They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.

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.
Although if you do book your reservations later and your journey involves more than one train, you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.
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.

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey, particularly if you'll be travelling 2nd class* or with a rail pass - it's worth it to ensure that you have an assigned seat for the entire trip.

Booking on the DB website

To see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.

Travel Information

Final Destination: Brig

**This train also calls: at Basel SBB and Bern and Thun and Spiez (connect for Interlaken) and [Visp](/train-travel-info/countries/switzerland/cities/visp-for-saas-fee-and-saas-grund/rail-stations/visp/)

This train typically departs at around 14:30 and doesn't arrive into Brig until shortly before 01:00am

Though an odd feature of the new timetable is that there are two daily direct ICE trains which travel in the opposite direction back from Brig.

This train commences its journey at Berlin Ostbanhof and they usually depart from the upper level (tief) in Berlin Hbf.

If your journey is commencing in West Berlin, the quickest option is to take a Regio or S-Bahn train from Berlin Zoologischer Garten station to Berlin-Spandau station and join these trains there

This is a direct journey

You will be travelling on one of these trains...

ICE 4 (Germany / Switzerland / Austria) Train Guide

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)Scenic - YesLandscape (Hills / Mountains)

Good to Know

The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) and Basel SBB and Bern.

The train will travel on no less than three high speed lines during the course of its journey and during these sections of the trip the speeds should reach more than 250 km/h, but most of the journey is on conventional railway lines.

It is a journey of eleven distinct phases:

(1) One of the highlights of the journey comes right at the beginning of the trip when the train travels on a viaduct across Berlin with great views over the city centre.

(2) Then between Berlin-Spandau until around 10 mins before arrival in Braunschweig the train will be on a high speed line across dull farmland.

(3) Shortly after Hildeshiem until Fulda, the train will make use of Germany's first high speed line; this is the part of the journey with a wow factor as the trains will travel across dozens of viaducts and bridges, which occur as flashes between numerous tunnels.

(4) Between Fulda and Frankfurt comes a scenic part of the trip, as the railway twists through a forested landscape.

(5) The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and then between Frankfurt (Main) and Karlrsruhe the train will race through a string of towns.

(6) Then from Baden Baden to Offenburg a high speed line has been constructed right beside the conventional route, which will be on the left.

(7) From Offenburg to the suburbs of Basel, the railway travels through a rolling landscape.

(8) The train will reverse direction on departure from Basel SBB station

(9) Then for around 30mins the train will take the Swiss main line to Olten, which isn't one of Switzerland's most scenic routes, though there are some nice moments.

(10) The next part of the trip on to Bern is on the fastest Swiss rail route.

(11) The train will again reverse direction on departure from Bern and will then set off on the most scenic section of the route, with the highlight being the view over the Thunersee which can be seen on the left.

On departure from Thun station...

...and then on departure from Speiz station...

... though these videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction, but they showcase how fine the views can be on a sunny day...

Then after exiting the Lotschberg Base Tunnel, the train will travel through a steep valley for the final part of the journey on to
Brig.

Again this video was taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

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.

See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.

Leaving From

Going To

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.

Related Content