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Berlin to Basel / Bâle by train
How to travel from Berlin to Basel 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.
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Routes
Option 1: Travel during the day on an ICE train
Journey Summary
7hr - 7hr 15min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
Departing from Berlin:
Final Destination: Basel SBB or Interlaken Ost.
The new ICE 4 trains are now scheduled to be used on all the departures which continue beyond Basel.
They convey restaurant cars, family compartments and have bike storage.
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.
Mon-Fri: 7 x trains per day
Sat/Sun: 6 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.
On the DB, German national railways, 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:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on and your seat reservation is included, but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
Opting to reserve is particularly recommended for a long journey such as this one, at busy times you'll be fortunate to be able to remain in the same seat all the way from Berlin to Basel if you don't reserve.
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.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €27.90 | |
| Happy rail | from €27.90 | |
| Omio | from €27.90 | |
| Save A Train | from €27.90 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
From April 1st to December 9th 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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Option 2: Travel through the night on a Nightjet
Journey Summary
10hr 5min
Nightly
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.
1 x train per night
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.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| OBB | * | |
| DB Bahn | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
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.
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.
