A view from one of the newly renovated escalators at Hamburg Hbf

Budapest to Hamburg by train

Share

Routes

From Budapest Nyugati to Hamburg Hbf

Travel Information

Come on board for one of Europe's most epic daytime train journeys.

Note that this train service now departs from Budapest-Nyugati station and NOT Budapest-Keleti station.

It is usually scheduled to depart from Budapest-Nyugati station at 07:41.

Final Destination: Hamburg

Train also calls at: Prague/Praha, Brno, Bratislava, Vac

1  x train per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

This train usually departs Hamburg Hbf at 06:48 (until Aug 31st this may be altered due to works on the line in the Berlin area)

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB Bahn from €49

DB Bahn 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.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.

Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

MAV from €49

MAV Guide

MAV is the national railway operator in Hungary and its newly relaunched website is still at the 'beta' stage, but it can be used to make bookings.
The MAV website also sells tickets for the direct international trains from Hungary and it's booking path for overnight trains is particularly easy to follow.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesRiver views

Good to Know

This train service has been suspended until September 20th due to long term work on the railway lines in Czechia.
Until then numerous alternative journey options are available which involve making a connection between trains, of these the optimum routing is:

  1. Depart Budapest Keleti at 09:40 on a Railjet train to Wien Hbf, which arrives there at 12:21
  2. Depart Wien Hbf at 13:15 on an ICE train to Hamburg, which is typically scheduled to arrive there at 22:11.

Between Dresden and Prague, 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.

From Budapest Keleti to Hamburg Hbf

Tickets

Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for this direct train,

On the DB Bahn booking site look for the journey that has:

0 in the Chg. column

EC (and only EC) in the Products column

and departs Budapest at around 07:41.

Our step-by-step guide to booking train tickets (and reservations) on the DB (German national railways) website is available HERE.

RESERVATIONS:

Seats will actually be assigned when booking tickets online on MAV and if you book 1st class tickets on DB.

Book 2nd class tickets on DB, or if you have a rail pass, reservations are optional for this journey, but this train tends to be particularly busy in 2nd class between Praha and Berlin.

So if you want peace of mind that you will have an assigned seat for the entire journey, adding a reservation when making a booking is recommended.
However, if you book in person at the international rail desk at Nyugati station, you will have to request that a reservation be added to the booking.

Rail pass users can purchase reservations online on DB Bahn - or in person at the international travel desks at Nyugati  or Keleti stations - but do that when you first arrive in Budapest, the office is unlikely to be open before the train makes it early start!

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB Bahn from €49

DB Bahn 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.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.

Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

MAV from €49

MAV Guide

MAV is the national railway operator in Hungary and its newly relaunched website is still at the 'beta' stage, but it can be used to make bookings.
The MAV website also sells tickets for the direct international trains from Hungary and it's booking path for overnight trains is particularly easy to follow.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesRiver views

Good to Know

Note that this train service now departs from Budapest-Nyugati station and NOT Budapest-Keleti station.

It is usually scheduled to depart from Budapest-Nyugati station at 07:41.

Final Destination: Hamburg

This train also calls at:  Praha/Prague, Dresden, Berlin

Type of Scenery: River

Star Rating: ***

As the train travels through Hungary, either side of Vac, there are some views of The Danube from the left of the train.

Between Prague and Dresden, the train travels through the beautiful Elbe River valley, but sit on the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) for the best views.

Between Vac and Slovakia Between Vac and Slovakia
Between Praha and Decin Between Praha and Decin
Between Praha and Decin Between Praha and Decin
Between Decin and Bad Schandau Between Decin and Bad Schandau

Note that this train service now departs from Budapest-Nyugati station and NOT Budapest-Keleti station.

It is usually scheduled to depart from Budapest-Nyugati station at 07:41.

Final Destination: Hamburg

This train also calls at:  Praha/Prague, Dresden, Berlin

Type of Scenery: River

Star Rating: ***

As the train travels through Hungary, either side of Vac, there are some views of The Danube from the left of the train.

Between Prague and Dresden, the train travels through the beautiful Elbe River valley, but sit on the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) for the best views.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge
hand-money

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

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.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

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.