Related Content
Content
Berlin to Erfurt by train
How to travel from Berlin to Erfurt by train
Erfurt is a great location for a holiday, particularly for those with an interest in railways, and thanks to a relatively new high speed line, it's never been so easy to reach the city from Berlin by train.
Share
Routes
From Berlin Hbf to Erfurt Hbf
Journey Summary
1hr 40min - 2hr
Daily
Travel Information
Departing from Berlin:
These trains depart from the lower level (tief) in Berlin Hbf.
Final Destination: Munchen; Frankfurt (Main); Augsburg or Wien
All trains also call at: Berlin Sudkreuz - which is to the south of the city centre
Connections are available at Berlin Sudkreuz from S-Bahn trains from the eastern and western edges of the city centre, as well as S-Bahn (local) trains from Brandenburger Tor and Postdamer Platz and Anhalter stations.
S-Bahn trains on line S45 now also link Brandemburg Airport to Sudkreuz.
Check your connections in Berlin on this public transport map.
The trains
Multiple types of of ICE trains are used on this route, but the ICE 4 trains are most common, with the ICE 1 trains used on the fewest number of departures.
Tickets
TBook 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 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, Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in the city centre and the stations in Berlin and Erfurt.
Seat reservations
Seat reservations are optional on ICE trains for journeys within Germany.
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 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.
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'.
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.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB | from €17.90 |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
A mix of ICE trains are used on this route, but the ICE 3 trains are typically used on the fastest departures, with ICE 4 trains more often found on the departures which travel via Leipzig.
ICE-1 trains are also used on a few departures, particularly seemingly in the mornings, but the ICE-T trains can also be used
The trains with a journey time of around 1hr 40/45 mins take the direct route, but those with a journey time of around 2hrs travel via Leipzig; where they reverse direction.
Since the opening of the high speed line between Halle and Bamberg; Erfurt Hbf has become a major interchange station on the German rail network.
Primarily because the express trains from Berlin now inevitably take the high speed line, so other towns in Thuringia including Jena, Eisenach, Gotha and Weimar have lost most or all of their direct trains from Berlin.
Hence the usual need to make connections in Erfurt when travelling from the capital to these other towns and cities by train
Scenically this is a dull journey, but shortly after the trains on the direct route depart from Halle, they accelerate to more than 280 km/h as the remainder of the journey is on a high speed line.
Trains which divert off the direct route to travel via Leipzig, reach the high speed line around 10 minutes after they depart from there.
No matter which route the trains take, they will spend the final 40 minutes of the journey travelling at high speed.
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.
