Basel / Bâle to Berlin by train

How to take direct trains from north-west Switzerland to the capital of Germany

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.

Share

Routes

Option 1: travelling by day

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.

Departing from Basel:

These trains depart from Basel SBB station and then go on to also call at Basel Bad Bf station.

If the starting point for journey is in Basel city centre, the quicker and cheaper option is to opt for Basel Bad Bf as your departure station.

However, board these trains at Basel SBB station, if
(1) you will be making a connection into these trains from elsewhere in Switzerland.
(2) you will be making this journey with a rail pass and want to gamble on not making the optional reservations; you'll be more likely to find the available seats if you board at Basel SBB.

Until March 31st:

Mon-Fri: 7 x trains per day
Sat/Sun: 6 x trains per day

From Apr 1st to December 9th

6 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

Choosing your departure station:

These trains depart from Basel SBB station and then go on to also call at Basel Bad Bf station
If the starting point for journey is in Basel city centre, the cheaper option is to choose Basel Bad Bf. as your departure station.

Booking this journey:

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.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.

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 from €29

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 from €29

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €29

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

It's not a beautiful journey, so you won't be missing out on a special experience, if you opt to take the overnight train instead.

What gives this daytime journey a wow factor is the comparative comfort of the ICE trains and their speed.
The newer ICE 4 trains are typically used on the services which commence their journeys further south within Switzerland; while the ICE 1 trains are typically used on the services which begin in Basel.

These trains will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) station - around three hours into the journey

From Apr 1st to December 9th

Due to construction work on the high speed line in Germany between Kassel and Gottingen, between these dates these trains will be diverted on to an alternative route.
The journey time will be 7hr 20min, but the trains will be calling in Erfurt and Leipzig - they will reverse direction on departure from Leipzig.

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, but most of the journey is on conventional railway lines.

It is a journey of seven distinct phases:

  1. From the suburbs of Basel to Offenburg, the railway travels through a rolling landscape.
  2. Then from Offenburg to Karlsruhe a high speed line has been constructed beside the conventional route.
  3. Between Karlsruhe and Frankfurt (Main) the train will race through a string of towns.
  4. The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
  5. After 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.
  6. Then 10 mins after departure from Braunschweig until Berlin-Spandau, the train will be on a high speed line across dull farmland.
  7. One of the highlights of the journey comes at the very end of the trip when the train travels on a viaduct across Berlin with great views over the city centre, particularly from the right.

Option 2: travelling overnight

Travel Information

Departing From Basel:

This train is usually scheduled to depart from Basel Bad Bf station at 21:22, but before calling here, it also usually departs from Basel SBB station at 21:13.

If the starting point for journey is in Basel city centre, the quicker and cheaper option is to opt for Basel Bad Bf as your departure station.
However, board these trains at Basel SBB station, if you will be making a connection into this train from elsewhere in Switzerland.

This train is in effect two trains combined into one departure:

  1. A Nightjet (NJ) train which conveys the sleeping cabins and couchettes
  2. An EC train, which uses the same types of coaches as those used on daytime services.
    When booking tickets if you want to sit in a seat(s) choose the EC options.

Arriving in Berlin:

Final Destination: Berlin Hbf

This trains also calls at: Berlin-Sudkreuz
The daytime ICE trains don't call at this station as they take a different route.

1 x train per night

Tickets

Choosing A Departure Station:

Prior to departing from Basel Bad Bf. station, this train will also call at Basel SBB station.
Though if you will be usually cheaper to book from Basel Bad Bf.

This train is usually scheduled to depart from Basel Bf station at 21:22, so target that departure time when looking up this journey.

Booking Tickets:

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

Our guide to booking night train tickets on the OBB (Austrian national railways) website is available HERE.

Our guide to booking night train tickets on the DB (German national railways) website is available HERE.

*This train doesn't travel through Austria, but OBB manages the Nightjet trains used on this route.

The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.

The train conveys:
- Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
- Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
- Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

Click the train info button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

Travelling With A Rail Pass:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains

However, these rail pass reservations can NO longer be booked online the DB website, but you can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).
Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.

If you will be travelling with a rail pass, the reservation fees will be the same whether you join the train at Basel Bad Bf station, or at Basel SBB station.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
OBB *

OBB Guide

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 Bahn *

DB Bahn 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.

SBB *

SBB Guide

SBB is the main national rail operator in Switzerland, but tickets for journeys by the other significant operators including BLS and SOB can be be booked on the SBB website.

SBB also sells tickets for journeys to many destinations which involve a combination of SBB trains and services provided by the many independent operators who serve the Alpine resort towns.
However, if you will be making a long-distance return day trip, look out for he possibility of SaverDay passes being cheaper than tickets.

Though if you download the SBB app, booking tickets on SBB's mobile services can be simper than using the website.
Also watch out for the fact that booking international tickets can be comparatively quirky.

On this journey

Journey Features

Night

Good to Know

On departure from Basel, these coaches heading to Berlin, will be joined to another part of the train which will be heading to Praha
Don't be overly concerned about this as your reservations will be in the part of the train which will be heading to Berlin.

However, if you happen to see a train departing for Praha on the departure screens, then the info will also apply to this train heading to Berlin.

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

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
ShowMeTheJourney

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.