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Berlin to London by train
How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from Berlin to London
If you can leave Berlin on a Tuesday, a Thursday, or a Sunday, you can now choose between travelling by day on high speed trains, or travel overnight to Belgium and make just one connection in Bruxelles.
Tough if you will be departing on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, you can only travel on the day trains.
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Routes
Option 1: travelling by day
Journey Summary
9hr 55min - 11hr 15min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
When looking up a Berlin to London train journey, it's likely that you will also see options for travelling an alternative route via Mannheim or Frankfurt and Paris, particularly on Saturdays.
Though the key advantage of taking this route via Bruxelles is that it avoids the need to make a transfer between stations in Paris, which is why is has been singled out.
Though the connecting time between trains in Koln hbf will be around 35mins, but these connections cannot be guaranteed.
On this journey option the connecting time in Bruxelles-Midi/Zuid station between the arrival of the ICE train and departure of the Eurostar trains will be from around 1hr 10 mins - 1hr 20 mins, the end-to-end journey times of more than 11hrs to make the connection in Bruxelles.
The transfer of 1hr 10 mins allow sufficient time to check-in for the Eurostar even if the ICE train from Koln/Cologne arrives in Bruxelles/Brussels more than 45 mins late.
This guide has more information re: making the connection into the Eurostar train at Bruxellles-Midi station.
Monday to Friday: 5 x connections per day
Saturday: 3 x connections
Sunday: 4 x connections
Change trains in: Koln/Cologne and Bruxelles/Brussels
The longer end-to-end journey times allow an additional hour to make the connections in Bruxeles
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: usually open around 6 months ahead of the travel date.
Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.
Selecting a combination of trains:
The train service between Koln/Cologne and Bruxelles is provided by both ICE trains, operated by the German national operator DB, and by Thalys trains; and the journey options which involve taking a Thalys trains on this part of the route tend to be more expensive.
Seat Reservations:
The tickets will be train specific, but seat reservations are OPTIONAL on both the ICE train between Berlin and Koln/Cologne AND the ICE train between Koln/Cologne and Bruxelles/Brussel.
The reservation fee is 2nd class = €4, 1st class = €5.30; but the reservation charges cover BOTH of the ICE trains on this journey.
When making a booking with DB or Trainline, you will have to add the reservations.
In contrast seat reservations are mandatory on the Thalys trains, so the ticket prices on all of the agents automatically include this reservation fee,
Reservations are also compulsory on the Eurostar and this is included when booking point2point journey tickets; your Eurostar seats will be automatically assigned.
The alternative route:
When looking up the rail journey from Berlin to London, you will also see options for travelling an alternative route via Mannheim or Frankfurt and Paris.
This route is slower and more awkward, due to the need to make a transfer between stations in Paris, but it is typically cheaper.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Trainline | * | |
| DB | * | |
| B-Europe | * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Departing From Berlin:
Final Destination: Koln Hbf/Dusseldorf Hbf or Koblenz Hbf
These trains commence their journey at Berlin Gesunbrunnen station which is to the north of the city centre.
They also usually depart from the lower level (tief) in Berlin Hbf.
f 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 Koln there.
Check your connections in Berlin on this public transport map.
The train heading to Koln or Koblenz will be joined to another train heading to Dusseldorf.
The trains are separated on arrival at Hamm (West).
So check the electronic departure screens on the gleis/platform at Berlin Hbf, so that you're waiting in the right zone for easy boarding into the part of the train heading to Koln/Cologne.
Trains travel at more than 250 km/h on the high speed line between Berlin-Spandau and Wolfsburg.
But aside from that this is an exceptionally uneventful journey, so having something to read or watch with you, is recommended.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: BruxellesMidi/Brussel Zuid
All trains also call at: Aachen
For virtually the entire train journey from Koln to Bruxelles the trains, will either be travelling at up to 290 km/h on purpose built high speed lines, or up to 200km/h on section of railway, that has been re-engineered to allow trains to travel faster.
It is a journey of six distinct phases:
- Between Koln and Aachen the trains travel at up to 200 km/h on a re-engineered stretch of railway.
- Then for most of the the 25 min journey between Aachen and Liege the train will travel at up to 290 km/h on a high speed line; this is also the most scenic part of the trip.
- Then for around five minutes after departure from Liege, the train will travel fairly slowly on a route which ascends from the city.
- Next up is the HS2 Belgian high speed route as far as Leuven, in theory the ICE and Thalys trains can accelerate back up to around 290 km/h on this part of the trip.
- From Leuven to just north of Brussel-Nord station the maximum speed is 200 km/h.
- For most of the journey between Brussel-Nord and Brussel-Zuid the railway crosses the city centre in a tunnel.
Train 3
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Most of the departures between Bruxelles/Brussels and London will be by the e320 trains, but the e300 trains are still used on some departures (they are to be re-introduced in 2022).
Our guide to taking the Eurostar from Bruxelles/Brussels has more information including details of check-in and how to connect into the Eurostar from other train services.
Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.on).
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with distinct phases and highlights:
1: There is little to see from the high speed lines in Belgium and France.
2: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
3: As the train nears Ebbsfleet International station, comes the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway on a high bridge.
4: After Ebbsfleet International (which can only be seen from the right) the train will enter a tunnel under the River Thames.
As the train exits this tunnel, from the left, the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge can be seen.
5: For most of the final 8 -10 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to enter London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
Option 2: travelling overnight
Journey Summary
12hr 47min
Not Every Day
Travel Information
European Sleeper is a new train operating company with a mission to provide overnight trains on new routes across Europe
It's trains aren't brand new, though they have been refreshed, but if you:
- will want to make this journey by making only one connection
- need a morning arrival in London
- won't need to depart Berlin on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday.
then this service provides a new option for the journey by train from Berlin to London
The train departs on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
The train from Berlin will be heading to Bruxelles-Midi station, but it is due to arrive there only 30 mins before the departure of the Eurostar to London - which will have traveled from Amsterdam.
And the train from Berlin will be scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam around 1hr 15mins before the departure of that same Eurostar to London.
So making the connection in Amsterdam instead of Bruxelles allow more contingency time, in the event of a delay, but with the same arrival time into London.
Tickets
Online bookings open from up to 6 months ahead
You will need to book each journey separately; the details of how to do this are included on each of the respective journey guides:
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| European Sleeper Train | * | |
| Eurostar | * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
The train is typically scheduled to depart from Berlin Hbf at 22:56
Connecting trains typically depart from:
- Dresden Hbf at 19:55
- Munchen Hbf at 17:54
- Poznan Glowny at 19:26
- Praha hln at 17:28
- Wien Hbf at 13:10
- Warszawa Centralna at 16:32
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: London St. Pancras International
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour shorter.
Boarding the Eurostar in Amsterdam:
Here is Eurostar's guide to departing by these trains from Amsterdam Centraal.
The key things to know are:
- The train will depart from spoor (platform/track) 15b, which is at the far end of the station from the main entrance.
- On the other side of check-in you will wait for boarding to commence in the departure lounge, it houses seating areas, plugs, re-charge points and vending machines for drinks and snacks.
- Particularly worth knowing is that if you will be travelling with Standard or Standard Premier tickets, is that Eurostar is currently stating that check-in will close 45 mins before departure; and for Business Premier ticket holders it will close 30 mins before
No other train service from Amsterdam has these departure restrictions, so remember that you will need to be at Amsterdam Centraal ahead of the departure time; Eurostar's recommendation is to be at the departure area 60-90mins ahead of departure if you have Standard or Standard Premier tickets; and 45mins prior to departure if you have Business Premier tickets.
This will allow time for an easy transfer to platform/track 15b .
Though if you're at the station particularly early, an option is to while away the time in the bars/cafés in the main station building; and then to make your way over to platform/track 15b at the suggested ti
It's not a particularly scenic ride, but it is a fascinating journey through three countries with eight distinct phases and highlights:
1: Between Schiphol and Antwerpen the train will travel on high speed lines; look out for the windmills north of Rotterdam and the crossing of the Rhine estuary north of Antwerpen.
2: The train will travel on ordinary lines between Antwerpen and Bruxelles (this fairly short 25 min section of the route is the only part of the route, which isn't on a high speed line)
3: On departure from Bruxelles the best views over the city are on the left of the train.
4: There is little to see from the high speed lines in between Bruxelles and the tunnel.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: As the train nears Ebbsfleet International station, comes the scenic highlight of the journey; the crossing of the River Medway on a high bridge.
7: After Ebbsfleet International (which can only be seen from the right) the train will enter a tunnel under the River Thames.
As the train exits this tunnel, from the left, the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge can be seen.
8: For most of the final 8 -10 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to enter London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
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