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How to travel from Berlin to Basel by train
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Berlin to Basel / Bâle by train
There are direct day and night trains to choose from when travelling between Berlin and Basel.
By day you will be travelling on ultra-smart ICE trains, but if you opt to travel overnight you won't miss out on seeing fabulous scenery; it's a pleasant but not spectacular journey,
Beds in sleeping cabins and bunks in couchettes are available on the overnight train.
Routes you can take to go from Berlin to Basel / Bâle
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: Travel during the day on an ICE train
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
7hr - 7hr 15min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
Mon-Fri: 7 x trains per day
Sat/Sun: 6 x trains per day
Purchase Tickets
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.
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.
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
Travel Information
Departing from Berlin:
Final Destination: Basel SBB or Interlaken Ost.
These trains commence their journey at Berlin Ostbanhof and they usually depart from the upper level 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 to Basel there.
This train also calls at: Karlsruhe; Freiburg: Basel SBB
Arriving in Basel:
If you're heading for Basel city centre, the quickest option is to leave the train at Basel Bad Bahnhof; the first of two stations in the city that the train will arrive at.
Stay on the train to Basel SBB if your final destination is to the south of the city centre, or if you'll be making connections in Basel to reach other destinations across Switzerland by train.
Connect in Basel for Biel, Bellinzona, Lugano, Luzern, Chur and Zurich.
The trains
The newer ICE 4 trains are now scheduled to be used on all the departures which continue beyond Basel, but ICE 1 trains can be used on some of the departures which don't travel beyond Basel.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Until March 1st the high speed line between Kassel and Fulda, which these trains use, is closed due to maintenance work.
However, so that Berlin and Basel can be linked by trains which won't travel in the area affected by the disruption, during this time the trains which normally head from Berlin to Stuttgart are being diverted so that they can serve Basel.
Therefore the same number of trains will be available and the journey time will be 7hr 20mins, so only around 5 mins slower than the regular service.
Though the trains on this alternative route will reverse direction on departure from Leipzig and Frankfurt (Main)
Journey description:
It's an interesting rather than beautiful train journey from Berlin to Basel, but it does give straightforward access to Switzerland, when travelling from the German capital.
So you won't be missing out on wonderful travel experience if you opt to take the night train instead of these daytime trains.
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:
- 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
- Then between Berlin-Spandau until around 10 mins before arrival in Braunschweig the train will be on a high speed line across dull farmland.
- 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.
- The train will reverse direction on departure from Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
- Between Frankfurt (Main) and Karlrsruhe the train will race through a string of towns.
- Then from Karlsruhe to Offenburg a high speed line has been constructed right beside the conventional route, which will be on the left.
- From Offenburg to the suburbs of Basel, the railway travels through a rolling landscape.
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Tickets
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 stations in Basel:
These trains call first at Basel Bad Bf station before going on to terminate at Basel SBB station.
If you want to travel to Basel Bad Bf - the city centre station, then select it from the station options in the 'To' Box.
If you want to travel to Basel SBB, select this station in the 'To' box.
However, tickets booked to Basel Bad Bahnhof are not valid to Basel SBB, so work out which of the two main stations in Basel suits your needs BEFORE you buy a ticket.
And because DB categorises the journey on to Basel SBB as an international journey, tickets can be more expensive if you book to Basel SBB.
In contrast, despite its location in Switzerland, DB applies the same fare rules for journeys to Basel Bad Bf as it does to other journeys wholly within Germany; hence tickets to Basel Bad Bf being cheaper.
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 and Flexpreis Plus
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 and Flexpreis Plus 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 both types of 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.
The Sparpreis and Flexpreis tickets also include 'City tickets' for Berlin which can be used on public transport between locations in the city centre and Berlin hbf.
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.
When a journey involves two or more trains on which seat reservations are available, the fees cover all trains.
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.
Though despite seats being automatically assigned when booking these three types of ticket - and these tickets being valid on any departure, you will need to pay to re-book the reservations, if you subsequently decide to travel on an alternative train.
So because you won't save by booking these types of tickets in advance, it can be a good idea to wait until you are sure when you will want to travel.
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.
1st Class tickets
No matter what type of ticket booked, if you choose to travel 1st class, you will have access to the same seating areas on the train, ICE trains do not have Business or Executive lounges.
Though only those who have booked 1st class Flexpreis or Flexpreis Plus tickets can access the DB Lounges at the major stations.
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: Travel through the night on a Nightjet
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
10hr 5min
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.
Travel Information
Departing From Berlin:
This train is usually scheduled to depart from the upper level in Berlin Hbf nightly at 20:51
Final Destination: Zurich
This train also calls at: Freiburg:
This train is also scheduled to depart from Berlin Ostbanhof at 20:56. and unlike the daytime trains from Berlin to Basel, it also departs from Berlin Zoologischer Garten, the main station in West Berlin - it is due to depart from there at 21:16
Arriving in Basel:
If you're heading for Basel city centre, the quickest option is to leave the train at Basel Bad Bahnhof;the first of two stations in the city that the train will arrive at.
Stay on the train to Basel SBB if your final destination is to the south of the city centre, or if you'll be making connections in Basel to reach other destinations across Switzerland by train.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
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 (Schlafwagen) with showers, with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
So you can make sure your selection of your choice of accommodation when booking
Using rail passes:
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.
Or you can avoid the booking fees by arranging the reservations when you arrive in Germany, by purchasing them at a Reisezentrum travel desk, which you will find in any hauptbahnhof.
Though it's best to do this at the first hauptbahnhof (city centre station) that you will arrive at, the later you leave booking your accommodation, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.
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.
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