How to take the rail journey from Cologne/Köln to Hamburg

Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona (or Kiel or Lubeck or Westerland or Ostseebad Binz)

Most trains also call at: Bremen

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.

The faster services

The trains which typically departs daily at around 06:15 and 16:05 are designated as ICE -Sprinter services, because they are non-stop between Essen and Hamburg.

The route(s)

The trains between Koln/Cologne and Hamburg also take one of two routes:

• via Dusseldorf and Essen, or
• via Wuppertal.
  Trains that travel via Wuppertal are slightly faster than those which travel via Essen, but the time difference is marginal, so it's not worth targeting the trains that travel via Wuppertal.

Whether a train travels via Wuppertal or Essen also makes no difference to the ticket price.

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 and Super Sparpreis
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Aktion and Flexpreis

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.
• Flexpreis Aktion tickets can't be refunded either - but their higher cost is due to...

...the other key difference is that both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date - in contrast, both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking,

Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for both types of 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 Aktion and Flexpreis tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in the city centre and the stations in Cologne and Hamburg..

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.
Though typically this is one of Germany's busiest rail routes

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

When looking for tickets from Köln Hbf on the DB website type ‘K‘ or 'COLOGNE' into the ‘from‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.

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.

Final Destination Hamburg Hbf

All trains also call at: Hamburg-Harburg

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 3 months ahead

Something to be aware of when booking tickets for journeys by FlixTrain is that Flix is predominantly a bus operator, so the train travel options for booking tickets are listed alongside the bus travel options; also some of the info around ticket exchanges and FAQs in general can point at the FlixBus website.
To make a it easier to hone in on a train journey it can be a good idea to look up the timetables to check the departure times which suit and then keep these times in mind looking for your rail ticket(s).

Much of the general advice around booking and using rail tickets in Germany doesn't apply to journeys by FlixTrain.
Tickets booked with DB, the German national rail operator, can't be used on FlixTrains, as Flix has used its own terms and conditions and set its own policies for how its tickets can be booked and used.

What are particularly different from DB is the reservation / seat selection on FlixTrain and how tickets can be exchanged (how tickets can be exchanged on FlixTrain also applies to FlixBus).