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How to take direct trains from north-west Switzerland to northern Germany
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Basel / Bâle to Hamburg by train
When taking a rail journey from Basel to Hamburg, travellers can choose between making the journey by day on a sleek ICE train, or travelling through the night on a smart Nightjet service.
Routes you can take to go from Basel / Bâle to Hamburg
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?
Route Information
Option 1: travelling by day
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
6hr 20min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
5 x trains per day
Purchase Tickets
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.
On journeys within Germany and on most international journeys from and to Germany on trains operated by DB:
- For journeys by the express trains, EC. IC and ICE trains an adult (on German railways an adult is a person aged 15 and over) can take up to four children aged 6 - 14 with them at no additional charge.
- Tickets need to be booked for children aged 0 - 5, but there is no charge for them.
- Those aged 65 and over can take journeys at a discounted rate.
- Dogs, which are too large to be placed in pet carriers, require tickets which cost 50% of the adult rate.
When booking both types of the discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets seat reservations are an optional extra, so need to be added when booking if you want an assigned seat(s).
Omio Guide
Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.
The three key advantages of using Omio are
- it offers prices in multiple currencies
- it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
- when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.
The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.
Save A Train Guide
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.
Travel Information
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona (or Kiel)
All trains also call at: Frankfurt (Main); Hannover; Hamburg-Harburg, and Hamburg-Dammtor.
Arriving in Hamburg:
All of these trains will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre; Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor.
So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey.
Avoid leaving the train at Hamburg-Harburg, the first station call in the city, this station is in the southern suburbs.
Departing from Basel:
These trains will also call at Basel SBB station before they depart from Basel Bad bf.
If you'll be setting off from Basel city centre, then joining these trains at Basel Bad Bdf station is usually a quicker, easier and cheaper option.
Join these trains at Basel SBB, if you'll be making connections from trains that will be heading to Basel from other destinations in Switzerland.
Also if you're a rail pass user and have gambled on not making a reservation - then head to Basel SBB station to join these trains.
You'll have a better chance of finding spare seats at Basel SBB than at Basel Bad bf.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Avoid the morning EC train, which will be heading to Hamburg via Koln, it is more than three hours slower than these ICE trains.
Until February 29th
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 between these stations, which will increase the journey time to around 7hr 15mins,
ICE trains on an alternative route
There are now also up to five ICE trains per day which take an alternative route to Hamburg via Koln, but these trains have a typical journey time of around 7h 45mins
This is a journey of six distinct phases:
- From the suburbs of Basel to Offenburg, the railway travels through a rolling landscape.
- Then from Offenburg to Karlsruhe a high speed line has been constructed beside the conventional route.
- Between Karlrsruhe and Frankfurt (Main) the train will race through a string of towns.
- The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
- 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.
- Then the remainder of the journey on from Hannover is through the largely flat landscape of northern Germany.
So you won't be missing out on a particularly memorable journey if you opt to take the overnight train.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Choosing your departure station:
This train commences its journey at Basel SBB station and then calls at Basel Bad Bf.
So use Basel Bad Bf as the 'from' station when looking up tickets for this train; they can be much cheaper than journeys from Basel SBB.
A choice of tickets on the DB website
Three types of tickets are always available: Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis 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.
The other key difference is that both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking, but the Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date.
Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for 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.
Seat reservations
Seat reservations are optional on ICE trains on this route - take note if you will be using a rail pass.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 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.
Booking on the DB website
You can find these direct trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.
Or to see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.
Route Information
Option 2: travelling overnight
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
10hr 38min
Frequency
Nightly
Travel Info
1 x train per night
Purchase Tickets
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 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 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.
Travel Information
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona
This train also calls at: Hannover; Luneberg and Hamburg-Dammtor
Arriving in Hamburg:
All of these trains will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre; Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor.
So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey.
Avoid leaving the train at Hamburg-Harburg, the first station call in the city, this station is in the southern suburbs.
Departing from Basel:
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Basel Bad Bf station at 22:13, but before calling here, it also usually departs from Basel SBB station at 21:33.
It is typically due to arrive in Hamburg Hbf shortly after 08:00.
In contrast the first of the daytime trains, isn't due to arrive in Hamburg until after 13:30.
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 is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
This train is in effect two trains combined into one departure:
- A Nightjet train which conveys the sleeping cabins and couchettes
- 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.
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.
These Nightjet trains are managed by the Austrian national rail operator OBB, hence it sells tickets for this route, which doesn't travel through Austria.
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
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.
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.
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