Berlin Hbf

Bern to Berlin by train

How to take the direct journey by train from the Swiss capital to the capital of Germany

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.

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Routes

From the Swiss capital to the German capital by direct train

Travel Information

Arriving in Berlin:

Final destination of these trains: Berlin Ost

All trains also call at: Berlin-Spandau

Note that these trains also usually call at three different stations in Berlin; Berlin Spandau, Berlin Hbf and Berlin Ost.
So before booking tickets or boarding, work out which of these stations has the optimum access to your final destination in the city.

If your final destination is in West Berlin, the fastest option is usually to leave these trains at Berlin-Spandau and connect there into S-Bahn commuter trains or Regio trains.
The station in the heart of West Berlin is Zoologischer-Garten, but these ICE trains do not call there.

If your final destination is to the east of the city centre, then it's likely that your best option is to take this train to Berlin-Ostbahnhof station.
Check your onward connections in Berlin on this public transport map.

2 x trains per day

Due to the length of this route the journey times are susceptible to being extended due top works on the railways.

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.

On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:

  • 0 in the Chg. column
  • ICE (and only ICE) in the Products column.
    These trains typically depart from Bern daily at 07:04 and 11:04.

Seat Reservations:

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey; book a 1st class ticket and your seat will be assigned, but not if you book 2nd class - or will be travelling with a rail pass.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB

DB Guide

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.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
Save A Train

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail

Happy rail Guide

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.

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

There is no direct overnight train service from Bern to Berlin, but a Nightjet train to the German capital typically departs from Basel SBB station at 21:13.
The train which typically departs from Bern at 19:36 usually offers the optimum connection at Basel into the Nightjet service.

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

It is a journey of ten distinct phases, with a dramatic beginning.

  1. Between Bern and Olten a fast straight railway has been constructed which allows trains to travel at 200 km/h, though some of the best views of the entire journey are just to the north of Bern station
  2. The most scenic part of the journey is between Olten and Liestal, though its fairy average journey by Swiss standards.
  3. The train will reverse direction on departure from Basel SBB station
  4. From the suburbs of Basel until Offenburg, the railway travels through a rolling landscape.
  5. Then from Offenburg to Karlsruhe to a high speed line has been constructed right beside the conventional route, which will be on the right.
  6. Between Karlrsruhe and Frankfurt (Main) and the train will race through a string of towns
  7. The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
  8. Between Fulda and Hildesheim, 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.
  9. Then 10 mins after departure from Braunschweig until Berlin-Spandau the train will be on a high speed line across dull farmland.
  10. One of the highlights of the journey comes right at the end of the trip when the train travels on a viaduct across Berlin with great views over the city centre.
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