How to take a train journey from Berlin to Paris

Final Destination: Paris-Est

It is typically scheduled to depart daily from Berlin Hbf shortly before 11:55.

This train also calls at: **Berlin Spandau and Strasbourg

This train commences its journey at Berlin Ostbanhof - and it usually departs from the upper level (tief) 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 Amsterdam there.

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 tickets

Four types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa.

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 Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa 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 Europa tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis Europa 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 Europa 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 Berlin Hbf and locations in Berlin city centre/

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.
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.

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.

Departing From Berlin:

This train is usually scheduled to depart from the lower level in Berlin Hbf at around either 19:35 or around 20:15, depending on the travel date - due to the length of the journey the schedule often has to altered due to works on the lines.

These 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.

Check your connections in Berlin on this public transport map.

Final Destination: Paris Est

The train is typically scheduled to arrive in Paris at around 10:25.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: from 6 months ahead of the travel date

The train conveys:

• Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
• Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berthsm
• Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
• Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.

Click the train details below for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains,

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.

Two things which are good to know about taking this journey option which arrives at Paris Est:

1. Booking tickets:

DB Bahn tends to offer the cheapest train tickets for journeys between the German and French capital, but it's cheaper Super Saver Fare Europe tickets are only seemingly available on this route.

2: Choosing Your Connection:

However, a complication of taking trains on THIS route via Frankfurt (Main) is that the standard connections between trains that will be offered by the ticket agents are generally less than ideal.

When looking up the journey, if you DON'T adjust the connection time between trains then the options either involve;

• making one connection of less than 15 mins – which is a gamble when travelling long distance by train in Germany, OR,
• making two connections, both of which are under 30 mins and making those connections can’t be guaranteed either.

In the event of missed connections due to late running trains, the tickets/reservations can be transferred free of charge to alternative later departures, but the train service between Germany and Paris Est isn’t particularly frequent.

Therefore ShowMeTheJourney recommends that when looking up journeys on DB increase the connecting time between trains to more than 30 minutes.

Do so and there will only be one viable option, departing Berlin at 08:30, but this option involves spending more than 1hr 30mins at Karlsuhe Hbf between trains.
However, because this connection can be virtually guaranteed, SMTJ has used this option for the journey time above.

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 tickets

Four types of ticket are typically available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa.

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 Europa and Flexpreis Plus Europa 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 Europa tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis Europa 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 Europa 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 to Berlin Hbf from locations in Berlin city centre.

Seat reservations

Reservations are mandatory on the train on to Paris, so will be included, when booking tickets, but if you will be using a rail pass you will need to make a reservation.

Seat reservations are optional on the ICE train from Berlin.
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.

On this journey which involves two trains on which seat reservations are available, the fees cover all trains - if reservations are added when initially booking.

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.
Though if you opt to add reservations later you will have pay the fees 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 lounges at the stations.

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.

Making the connection or extending the transfer time:

These journey times and the associated train specific tickets are dependent on making a transfer between ICE trains in Frankfurt (Main) station of around 15 mins.

This connection is not guaranteed - it is not particularly unusual for the ICE trains from Berlin to arrive late in Frankfurt (Main) hbf station.

IF the ICE does arrive too late - then tickets/reservations can be swapped free of charge to subsequent connections at the Reisezentrum travel desk.
OR minimise your chances of encountering this stressful scenario, by using the transfer tool on the DB home page

You can then book journey options which allow more than 30min to make the transfers between trains; though the connections you will then be offered can involve making the transfer between trains at other stations than Frankfurt (Main() hbf.
And these alternative routings can be more expensive.

Take this route and you will arrive at Paris Nord station.

The connecting time between trains at Koln Hbf will be around 34mins, so it's likely that you will make the connection, but this isn't guaranteed.
(See the Ticket Information below)

Trains on THIS route via Koln are not available on the DB website, as it does not sell tickets online for journeys by Thalys trains, which also involve making connections.

Book in advance and save: YES

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date.

On Trainline look for the options which have a journey time of 8hr 16min AND both the ICE and Thalys logos.
You will have to pay a booking fee on Trainline.

Missing a booked connection at Koln Hbf:

If the ICE from Berlin arrives too late in Koln to make the booked connection into the Thalys train on to Paris, you should be able to transfer your tickets to subsequent departures - IF you have booked the end-to-end journey in a single transaction.

If a delay causes you to miss a connection in Koln/Cologne, it's likely that the quickest alternative option will be to take an ICE train on to Bruxelles/Brussels and then connect there for a Thalys train on to Paris.

If you have booked the end-to-end journey in a single transaction, the Reisezentrum desk in Koln Hbf SHOULD now re-issue tickets/reservations for connections which involve taking a Thalys train on from Bruxellles/Brussels to Paris.

The alternative ticket booking options:

If you want to minimise the risk of encountering this potentially awkward scenario, then an option is to book separate tickets for the Berlin to Koln and Koln to Paris journeys - ensuring that you select an earlier ICE from Berlin, so that you will have more than 1hr 30mins to make the connection at Koln Hbf.

Booking separate tickets for each part of the journey can also be a money saver; because the discounted prices for the Thalys train don't seem to be available when booking end-to-end tickets which combine both trains into one transaction.

But if you do opt for that, keep the connecting time between trains front of mind, because by making a separate booking per train, you will forsake any protection against having to re-book, in the event of a train delay causing a missed connection in Koln/Cologne.
Meaning that if a delay causes you to miss the Thalys train on to Paris that you have booked tickets for, you may have to re-purchase tickets for that part of the journey.