How to take the rail journey from Bruxelles/Brussels to Hamburg

There are no direct trains between Bruxelles/Brussels and Hamburg, but the simplest journey options involve only 1 x change of train at Köln Hbf station.
Making this connection in Köln / Cologne is not absolutely guaranteed, but a typical transfer time between trains is around 50 - 55mins, which should ensure a stress-free connection.
And in the unlikely event of the train from Bruxelles/Brussels having a delayed arrival in Köln / Cologne particularly, tickets will be valid on the next train on to Hamburg - if you have made reservations on the train on to Berlin, they can be transferred to the next departure at the Reisezentrum travel centre.

Alternative connections:

When looking up this routing you'll usually see faster options, but these involve a second, comparatively tightly timed AND non-guaranteed connection in Hannover.
There is no need to make more than one transfer between trains when making this journey.

Between Bruxelles and Koln/Cologne:

ICE and Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains share the service of direct trains between Bruxelles and Koln/Cologne; only ICE trains are used for the direct trains on to Berlin from Köln / Cologne.
This doesn't particularly affect the journey time, or connections, but it matters when booking tickets.
B-Europe and sells tickets for the end-to-end journeys which involve taking the Eurostar (formerly Thalys) + ICE trains, but other ticket agents including DB, Trainline and Rail Europe only sell tickets for taking a combination of 2 x ICE trains.

Departing from Bruxelles:

The ICE trains also depart from Bruxelles-Nord station, but the Eurostar Thalys trains do not.

Neither the ICE or Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains call at Bruxelles-Central station - the quickest option for a Bruxelles-Central to Hamburg journey is to connect at Bruxelles-Nord .

At Bruxelles Midi/Zuid station you will usually* have to pass through security checks before boarding these trains and queues can build up at busy times.
The security checks are at the entrance to platforms/tracks/voies 3 -6 and these ICE and Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains to Koln are usually scheduled to depart from this part of the station.
But check the departure screens before heading for the security checks, these trains can occasionally be scheduled to leave from platforms/tracks/voies 7 or 8.

Arriving in Hamburg:

All of these trains will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre - Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor.

So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey

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.
It can also be worth comparing the prices across the agents, particularly if you want to take a specific trains, as there can be variations in price.

When travelling from Bruxelles/Brussels to Hamburg by train, some journey options involve taking an ICE train between Bruxelles and Koln/Cologne, while others involve taking a Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train between the two cities.
The ticketing terms and conditions vary depending on the trains you will be travelling by.
This impacts on booking tickets.

Taking 2 x ICE trains or an ICE train + an EC / IC train:

All of the tickets agents sell the journey options which involve taking this combination of trains.

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
This booking period tends to be shorter when looking up journeys between mid August and mid October.

Three types of tickets are always available: Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa and Flexpreis 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 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 the 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:
For ticket holders seat reservations are always optional on this route, but if you will be using a rail pass they are now mandatory on the train from Bruxelles when travelling between mid-June and mid-August - check the Train guide for the exact dates.
Regardless of whether you will be booking either type of Sparpreis tickets, or using rail passes, 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 Europa tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus Europa 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 Europa, Sparpreis Europa and 2nd class Flexpreis Europa 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.
Although if you do book your reservations later you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.

Booking on the DB website:
If you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.

Taking a Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train + an ICE train:

Bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date (usually)

B-Europe and Save A Train are seemingly the only ticket agents which sell this combination of trains.
Note that tickets can't be booked on the Eurostar website.

Eurostar (formerly Thalys) ticket terms summary:
'Tickets for travel in Standard and Comfort Class can be can exchanged without paying an exchange fee, as long as tickets are exchanged 7 days or more before the departure time of their individual journey.
Though if the new ticket option is more expensive the difference in price will need to be paid, but if it is cheaper the price difference won't be refunded.
But make the exchange within 7 days of the individual journey and an admin fee of €15 will need to be paid, along with the price difference
Though tickets can be refunded up until 7 days before departure, but are non refundable in the 7 days before departure.
So note that the cheaper tickets to travel by the Thalys trains can be refunded (up until 7 days), but the cheaper tickets for the ICE trains can't.
Tickets for travel in Premium Class are exchangeable without payment of an admin fee up to the departure time, but price difference between the old and new tickets will need to be paid.
Premium Class tickets can up refunded until one hour after the departure time'.

Seat Reservations:
Your seats will automatically be reserved on the Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains, but seat reservations on the ICE trains are optional and are therefore an additional cost - unless you book the most expensive type of ticket.

Using rail passes:

If you will be travelling from Bruxelles to Hamburg with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass, target the ICE trains.

You won't have to pay any rail pass reservation fees to travel by those trains; though the optional fees are €5.90 in 1st class and €.4.90 in
In contrast the rail pass reservation fees for the Thalys trains will be €30 in 1st class and €20 in 2nd class.