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How to travel from Berlin to Budapest by train
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Berlin to Budapest by train
The daytime train between Berlin and Budapest has been restored so travellers can now once again choose between travelling overnight or during the day, when making the journey between the capitals of Germany and Hungary.
Routes you can take to go from Berlin to Budapest
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: the direct journey by day
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
11hr 5min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
1 x direct train 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).
Travel Information
Final Destination: Budapest-Nyugati
This train now arrives at Nyugati station in Budapest and not Budapest-Keleti
This train also calls at: Brno, Bratislava and Vac
Come on board for one of Europe's most epic daytime train journeys; this train usually departs Berlin Hbf at around 09:00 and arrives in the Hungarian capital shortly before 20:30.
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Journey description:
Take this train and you will be on the EC train that is provided by MAV (Hungarian) Railways.
The majority of the journey by this EC train from Berlin to Budapest isn't particularly scintillating.
As far as Dresden you will be travelling across flat farm land, but try to stay awake!
The highlight of the journey comes between Dresden and Prague.
For more than two hours the train travels through the beautiful Elbe River valley, but sit on the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel) for the best views.
The most scenic section of the Czech part of the trip is when the train travels through the valleys to the east of Pardubice.
Then in summer, when the train crosses the Hungarian border in daylight, there are views of The Danube on the left to the east of the station call at Vac.
This journey is so epic that it's also included on Thrillist's guide to Europe's Most Beautiful Train Rides.
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
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 go here to say thank you.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date
A choice of tickets
Three types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis
One type of non-discounted ticket - 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 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 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.
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.
Though despite seats being automatically assigned when booking these tickets, which are 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 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.
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.
Though only those who have booked 1st class Flexpreis 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.
Route Information
Option 2: the direct journey by night
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
13hr 55min
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 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).
Travel Information
This train is due to arrive in Budapest-Nyugati station shortly before 08:30 and it also calls in Vac - where it is due to arrive shortly before 08:00.
Final Destination: Budapest-Nyugati
Until December 9th
This train also calls at: Berlin Ostbahnhof
If you will be commencing your journey in Berlin city centre, then it's likely that your best option will be to join this train at Berlin Ostbahnhof station; heading there on one of the frequent S-Bahn trains from Alexanderplatz or Friedrichstrabe stations.
From December 10th
The train will typically be scheduled to depart from Berlin Hbf at around 19:20 and will also call at Berlin Sudkreuz.
It will also be switched to a new route traveling via Dresden and Praha,
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
On departure from Berlin, the train heading to Budapest will be joined to another train heading to Graz or Wien, so if you see either of these destinations on the departure screens at Berlin Hbf, the info will also apply to this train heading to Budapest.
On departure from Berlin, the coaches heading to Budapest will be joined to another part of the train, which will be heading to Wien.
If you see Wien shown as a destination on the departure boards in Berlin, then the information will also apply to this overnight train from Berlin to Budapest.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Berlin at 18:43, so target that time when looking up this journey.
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
The choice of accommodation - summary:
- Compartment Seats
- Couchettes; 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard (2nd class) sleeping cars with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
Click the yellow train button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
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.
If you want to reserve seats, berths in couchettes or beds in the sleeping cabins before you arrive in Germany, the best option is to pay a booking fee and use the Eurail or InterRail reservation services.
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.
Route Information
Via stations: Wien Hbf/Hauptbahnhof
Option 3: by day, connecting in Wien
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
11hr 15min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
1 x optimum connection 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).
Travel Information
This indirect journey becomes the default best option when the direct train from Berlin to Budapest isn't available - it can be compromised due to the length of its route.
But in any case, this indirect journey option can be worth considering because;
- it enables a later departure from Berlin, as the train to Wien will typically depart shortly after 10:00
- the end-to-end journey is faster than the direct train
- of the arrival into different stations in Budapest
The direct train arrives into Nyugati station, which is on line M3 of the Budapest Metro, but this routing arrives into Kelenfold staton on line M4 and Keleti station, which is on line M2.
The connecting time between trains in Wien Hbf is usually scheduled to be an easy 55 mins.
The alternative combinations of ICE train + Railjet train
There are usually journey options available, which involve departing Berlin at around 06:30 and 08:30 with a connecting time between trains at Munchen Hbf of under 30mins.
However, because that route through Munchen is longer when travelling via Wien, the end-to-end journey time is usually 11hr 50mins.
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Berlin Hbf and Wien Hbf/HauptbahnhofYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Journey description:
This is a journey of six distinct phases:
- Between Berlin and Halle the train will travel across mainly flat farmland and this is the dullest part of the trip
- Then from Halle to Bamberg the train will be travelling at more than 270 km/h on the high speed line.
- On to Nurnberg the train will be on conventional railway tracks.
- Between Nurnberg and Regensburg the train travels across a rolling landscape of hills.
- Between Regensburg and Passau the railway line is beside the River Danube, which can be seen on the left.
- The highlight of the journey comes to the south of Passau, between there and the Austrian border, the railway line is by the banks of the River Inn, but on this part of the journey the river is over to the right.
- Between Wels and Vienna the train will race across the Austrian countryside either side of Linz, this railway isn't a high speed route, but it has been straightened so that trains can travel at around 200 km/h
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
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 go here to say thank you.
Train 2
Between Wien Hbf/Hauptbahnhof and Budapest KeletiYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Good to Know
Arriving in Budapest:
These trains call at Budapest-Kelenfold station around 10 mins before arriving at Budapest-Keleti.
If the end point of your journey in Budapest is on Metro Line 4, or has an easy connection from Line 4, then leave the train at Kelenfold station and transfer to the Metro there.
Not only will your journey be quicker overall, the Metro transfer at Kelenfold is much easier than at Keleti station, particularly if you have luggage.
This is a particularly dull journey across a featureless landscape, so have something to read or watch with you.
The fact that the only thing which gives any interest to the train ride, is looking at the wind turbines which can be seen by the railway line, says it all.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date
A choice of tickets
Three types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis
One type of non-discounted ticket - 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 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 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.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
If you add a reservation to the ticket booking, the reservation will cover both trains.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets.
Though despite seats being automatically assigned when booking these tickets, which are 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 tickets in advance, it can be a good idea to wait until you are sure when you will want to travel.
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.
Though only those who have booked 1st class Flexpreis tickets can access the DB Lounge in Berlin
Booking on the DB website
To see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default
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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