The only direct train from Bavaria to the Dutch capital is the overnight Nightjet service.
Though it's also a straightforward journey by day, connecting between ICE trains in Frankfurt (Main).
Final Destination: Amsterdam
The train also calls at: Arnhem (07:51), connect for Nijmegen; and Utrecht (08:33), connect for Rotterdam and Den Haag
The train is usually scheduled to depart Munchen Hbf at around 22:50 and arrive in Amsterdam Centraal at around 10:00.
1 x train per night
Book early and save: Yes
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Munchen/Munich at around 22:50 so target that time when looking up this journey.
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn
The choice of accommodation - summary:
Click the train guide below for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Travelling with a rail pass:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train and 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 the step-by-step guide.
If you'd rather not do so, rail pass reservations can be arranged and paid for at the Reisezentrum travel desk in Munchen Hbf; ideally do this when you first arrive in Munchen/Munich on the preceding train on your itinerary.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
NS Intl | * | |
OBB | * | |
DB | * |
On departure from Munchen Hbf the coaches heading to Amsterdam will be joined to another train heading to Hamburg, so if you see 'Hamburg' on the departure screens, then the info will also be for this train.
Don't be concerned about joining the wrong part of the train, your reservations will be in the part of the train that will be heading to Amsterdam.
And the train conductor will greet passengers travelling in the sleeping cabins.
Typically connecting in: Frankfurt (Main) hbf
Train 1, final destination: Essen Hbf (usually)
Train 2, final destination: Amsterdam CS
Though on multiple dates reconstruction works on the railways in the area around Frankfurt (Main) will be preventing either one of these trains calling at the city's main station.
When that is occurring, the connection between trains will usually be available in the station at Frankfurt Flughafaen, where the transfer between trains can either be made on the same or immediately adjacent gleis (platform/track).
Sunday - Friday = 4 x connections per day
Saturday = 3x connections per day
*The usual final connection of the day is not available on Saturdays.
There are no direct daytime trains between Munchen/Munich and Amsterdam, so this the fastest routing for a train journey between the two cities.
The journey time shown above are dependent of making a typical connection between trains at Frankfurt (Main) hbf of between 20 and 25mins.
However, this connection is not guaranteed!
It is not particularly unusual for the ICE trains from Munchen/Munich to arrive more than 20 minutes late at Frankfurt (Main).
Though if need be tickets can be transferred free of charge to a subsequent departure on from Frankfurt; and there are also options for extending the connecting time between trains when making a booking.
The 'Ticket Information below' has more details.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
There are multiple routings for train journeys between Munchen/Munich and Amsterdam, but DB's cheapest 'Europe Saver Fares' are seemingly only available when making this journey via Frankfurt (Main)
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
General booking tips:
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Journey options 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.
There can be particularly large differences in prices per departure on this route.
The cheapest 'Europe Saverr Fare' deals can also be hard to track down on this route, particularly if you will be making this journey on a Thursday or Friday.
Making the connection or extending the transfer time:
These journey times shown above and the associated train specific tickets are are all dependent on making a transfer between ICE trains in Frankfurt (Main) station of around 25mins.
This connection is not guaranteed; it is not particularly unusual for the ICE trains from Munich/Munchen 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; though the trains for Amsterdam depart from Frankfurt every other hour.
OR minimise your chances of encountering this stressful scenario, by
You can then access journey end-2-end train specific tickets 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.
Reservations are recommended for this journey, particularly on the train between Munchen and Frankfurt (Main) and they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets and for both 1st and 2nd class rail pass users.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB Bahn | from €35.90 | |
Omio | from €35.90 | |
Save A Train | from €35.90 | |
Happy rail | from €35.90 | |
Omio | from €35.90 |
This is a journey of six distinct phases
There are few scenic highlights on this trip, though if you'll be reaching journey's end before dusk, on the right the railway line is beside a canal for the part of the journey between Utrecht and Amsterdam
What gives the journey the wow factor is when the train travels at more than 280 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line between Frankfurt Flughafen and Seigburg/Bonn.
The video was taking on a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives a sense of what a thrill this train ride can be; this is a journey when it's especially obvious that you're travelling on a high speed train!
Though this high speed part of the journey only takes 40 mins, so for the majority of this trip, the train won't be travelling exceptionally fast.
The train which typically departs Frankfurt at 16:28 will reverse direction on departure from Koln
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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.
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.