4 January 2012. Train times valid from 11
December 2011 to 9 June 2012.
London to Denmark without flying...
Above:
The Little Mermaid by Edvard Eriksen. Unveiled in the Churchill Park
in 1913, it's now a symbol of
Copenhagen.
It's easy to travel from
the UK
to Denmark without flying, either by cruise ferry across the
North Sea or overland all the way by Eurostar & sleeper train. DFDS Seaways
luxurious cruise ferry 'Dana Sirena' sails from
Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark several times a week with
InterCity train connections to
Copenhagen. Or take Eurostar to Brussels and a
high-speed train to Cologne, then the overnight City Night Line
sleeper train 'Borealis' to Odense & Copenhagen. The
choice is yours. A great alternative to an unnecessary
flight, where the journey is part of the holiday.
On this page...
You'll find a
step-by-step guide to planning, booking & making a journey
from the UK to Denmark by train or ferry, with train & ferry
timetables, approximate fares, and the best way to buy
tickets.
Above: DFDS Seaways ferry "Dana Sirena"
links the UK with Denmark.
Photo
courtesy of DFDS Seaways.
This is easily the most relaxing way to reach Denmark,
although not the fastest. DFDS Seaways' ferry 'Dana
Sirena' sails 3 or 4 times a week year-round from Harwich in
Essex to Esbjerg in Denmark, with connections by InterCity
train to Copenhagen. With comfortable en suite cabins,
restaurants, bars, cinema and shops on board, the voyage is
a holiday in itself. For the faster Eurostar+sleeper
train option, see below.
London ► Esbjerg,
Legoland, Odense,
Copenhagen
Day 1, travel from London to Harwich by train, leaving
London Liverpool Street at 14:00 (14:02 on Sundays),
changing trains at Manningtree and arriving Harwich International
at 15:17 (15:43 on Sundays). Harwich International station is right next
to the ferry terminal. The train runs hourly, and
a later train from London will also connect, but
the 14:00 departure gives plenty of time to catch the ferry.
Please double-check times at
www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Day 1, sail from
Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark aboard DFDS Seaways 'Dana Sirena'.
The Dana Sirena sails from Harwich every Wednesday, Friday & Sunday
at 17:45 (increased to every second day in
June, July & August ), arriving in Esbjerg at 13:00 next
day (day 2).
www.dfds.co.uk
will confirm sailing dates. The Dana Sirena is a
modern and well-run ship, with comfortable cabins,
two restaurants, a bar, coffee shop and lounges. On arrival at Esbjerg, take a taxi
or bus or simply walk to the
railway station. Bus number 5 runs from the ferry
terminal to the
station every 20 minutes, bus fare 15 Kr adult 8 Kr
child. If you've a backpack or light
luggage, you can easily walk from the ferry terminal to
the pedestrianised town centre in about 10-15 minutes,
from where it's another 5-10 minutes walk to the
station. The station is a historic red-brick
building, not very distinctively marked.
Map of Esbjerg showing station & ferry terminal.
Day 2, travel from Esbjerg to
Odense or Copenhagen by air-conditioned InterCity
train, leaving Esbjerg town station at 14:42 and arriving
at Kolding (for bus to Legoland) at 15:23, Odense at 16:11 &
Copenhagen main
station at 17:50. The journey is about 175
miles, right across Denmark in air-conditioned comfort,
see the photos below. You can check times
for your date of travel at
http://bahn.hafas.de. You might just make the 13:42
train
(arriving Copenhagen 16:50) if the ferry is on time and
you walk quickly to the station or take a taxi, but it
is better to plan for the later train.
Copenhagen,
Odense, Legoland, Esbjerg ► London
Day 1, travel from Copenhagen
or Odense to
Esbjerg by modern air-conditioned InterCity train, leaving
Copenhagen main
station at
12:30, Odense 14:03 or Kolding (for bus from Legoland)
14:42, arriving Esbjerg at 15:26. You can
check times at
http://bahn.hafas.de. Take a bus or taxi or
simply walk (20-25 minutes) to
the DFDS ferry terminal. Bus number 5 runs from
the station to the port every 20 minutes, fare 15 Kr.
Map of Esbjerg showing station & ferry terminal.
Sail from Esbjerg to Harwich
aboard DFDS 'Dana Sirena', leaving Esbjerg ferry
terminal at 18:45 on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays, arriving Harwich at
12:00
next day (sailings are increased to every second day in
June, July & August). See
www.dfds.co.uk
to confirm sailing dates. The Dana Sirena is a
modern and well-run ship, with comfortable cabins, two
restaurants, a bar, coffee shop and lounges, see the
photos below.
Day 2, travel from Harwich to
London by train, leaving Harwich at 12:33, changing
trains at Manningtree and arriving London Liverpool Street at
13:55.
The train service runs hourly, please check
the times for your date of travel at
www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Introducing DFDS Seaways
ferry "Dana Sirena"...
The Dana
Sirena is a modern and well-run ship, built in 2002.
All passengers travel in cabins, and all cabins have a private
shower & toilet. Facilities on board include the 7 Seas buffet restaurant,
the Blue
Riband à la carte
restaurant, Café Lighthouse (with WiFi access for laptops), Columbus Lounge,
and shop. The ship is child-friendly, with children's play
area, child restraints for cabin berths available from
reception, and highchairs available in all restaurants and
lounges. Cabins come in three classes:
Seaways class:
1, 2, 4 or 6 berths with private shower and toilet;
Sirena class: 1
or 2 berth with private shower and toilet, TV (BBC World,
BBC Prime), complimentary minibar, breakfast included;
Commodore
Deluxe: Hotel-style rooms with double bed or two single
beds, TV (BBC Prime, BBC World), small sitting area, private
shower and toilet. Commodore cabins are on their own
deck with exclusive access to the Commodore Lounge which has
sea views, complimentary tea, coffee, snacks, beer and (in
the evening) free wine and spirits, PC with internet access
and WiFi access if you have your own laptop. Commodore
Deluxe is like travelling to Denmark
aboard a
floating hotel, highly recommended..!
Crossing the North Sea with
DFDS Seaways aboard the Dana Sirena...
Commodore class cabin
with double bed, TV, shower & toilet. Yes,
that's an ice bucket on the table with a half bottle
of sparkling wine....
Sirena class cabin
with TV, shower, toilet & minibar.
The
exclusive Commodore Class lounge, with complimentary
tea, coffee, wines & spirits. If you can afford
Commodore Class, you won't regret it!
The Dana Sirena's
restaurant for dinner, available to all passengers.
A world away from the budget airline experience...
A lazy day at sea...
On board the
Danish InterCity train from Esbjerg to Copenhagen...
An air-conditioned Danish InterCity train.
2nd class seats on board
the InterCity train...
Arrived at Copenhagen...
How much does it cost?
London to
Harwich by train starts at just £8 each way if you
pre-book a cheap Advance
ticket (no refunds, only valid on the specific train you
book at these prices). If you buy tickets at the
station on the day of travel, the cost is £30.10 for an Off-Peak
1 month return, or £27.80 full
fare one-way. No reservation is necessary with these
fares, you just turn up, buy a ticket, and hop on the next
train.
Harwich to
Esbjerg by ferry starts at around £152 return per person for two people
sharing a 2-bed Seaways class cabin with private toilet and shower or £294 return for one person with
exclusive use of a
cabin. To
check sailing dates, times and fares for different types of
cabin, visit
www.dfds.co.uk.
DFDS
Seaways now has an airline-style pricing system so prices
vary, book early and avoid peak times to get the cheapest fares. Children under 16 travel at
reduced fare. DFDS
won't now let solo passengers share cabins, the whole cabin
must be booked. All passengers must have cabins.
Esbjerg to
Copenhagen by intercity train costs 347 Kr (£42) one way,
694 Kr (£84)
return for adults, or 173 Kr (£21) each way for children and
seniors over 65. Advance reservation is possible but not
necessary, tickets can be bought at the station on the day
and you can just hop on.
You can check fares at
www.dsb.dk
(Danish Railways).
Alternatively, call DFDS Seaways on
0871 522 9955, although there's a £20 fee for phone bookings.
Phone lines are open 09:00-17:30 Mondays-Fridays,
09:00-17:00 Saturdays, closed Sundays.
You can buy
your London-Harwich & Esbjerg-Copenhagen train tickets at
the station on the day of travel. No reservation is
necessary, and there's no price advantage in buying tickets
in advance.
If you want to
save queuing at the ticket office, you can buy
the London-Harwich ticket online at
www.nationalrail.co.uk and the Esbjerg-Copenhagen ticket
(with seat reservation) at
www.dsb.dk,
the Danish Railways website. This is in Danish, but
it's not difficult to work out how to use it if you're
familiar with the way such booking systems work. You
pay by credit card then print out your own ticket.
remember that Copenhagen in Danish is 'Kobenhavn'.
Alternatively,
if you book by phone, DFDS can add both UK and
Esbjerg-Copenhagen tickets to your ferry fare, including
making a seat reservation on the Esbjerg-Copenhagen train.
Ask DFDS about special cheap train fares from other UK
stations to Harwich, too.
Taking a lunchtime Eurostar to Brussels, a connecting
high-speed train to Cologne, then the excellent City Night
Line sleeper train overnight to Copenhagen is the fastest
way to get to Denmark without flying. It's both
comfortable and affordable, too.
London ► Copenhagen & Denmark
Travel
from London to Brussels by
Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras
daily except Saturdays at 15:04, arriving
Brussels
Midi at 18:05. On Saturdays, depart London
at 12:57 arriving Brussels Midi at 16:08.
Travel from Brussels to
Cologne by ICE
high-speed train leaving
Brussels
Midi at 18:25 and arriving Cologne at 20:15. On Saturdays you can
also take the earlier 17:28 Thalys
train arriving Cologne at 19:15. You've time
for a meal in Cologne.
Travel from Cologne to Odense
or Copenhagen on the City Night Line overnight train
'Borealis', leaving Cologne daily at 22:28 and arriving next
morning in Kolding (for bus to Legoland) at 07:43, Odense
at 08:33 &
Copenhagen main
station at 10:07.
This train has a sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3 bed rooms,
either standard with washbasin or deluxe with private shower
& toilet), couchettes (4-berth &
6-berth) & ordinary seats.
More pictures & information about this City Night Line
train. The arrival time in Copenhagen can
vary, so check when you book. A bistro car is
available in the morning, between Hamburg and
Copenhagen.
Change at Odense for anywhere
else in mainland Denmark, for example Fredericia,
Frederikshavn or Århus. Use
www.bahn.de to find connecting train times.
Copenhagen & Denmark ► London
Travel from Copenhagen to
Cologne on the excellent City Night Line overnight train
'Borealis', leaving Copenhagen
main station daily at 18:10, Odense at 20:11, Kolding
(for bus from Legoland) 20:58 and arriving Cologne at 06:14 next
morning. This train has a modern
air-conditioned sleeping-car, couchettes & ordinary seats.
More pictures & information about this City Night Line
train. The departure times from Denmark has
been known to
vary on some dates, for example leaving Copenhagen at
17:41 on certain days, so please check carefully when
booking. A bistro car is available in the evening,
from Copenhagen as far as Hamburg.
Coming from anywhere else in
mainland Denmark, for example Fredericia, Frederikshavn
or Århus, take a
train to Odense to pick up the sleeper to Cologne.
Use
www.bahn.de to find connecting train times.
Travel from Brussels to
London by Eurostar. Daily except Saturdays, a
Eurostar
leaves Brussels
Midi at 12:56 and arrives London St Pancras at 14:03.
On Saturdays and also Mondays & Tuesdays from 18
February onwards, also Wed, Thurs & Fri from 2 April
onwards, a Eurostar leaves Brussels
Midi at 10:56
and arrives London St Pancras at 11:57.
On board Eurostar from London to Brussels:
See the Eurostar page
for photos & information about on-board facilities.
On board
the ICE from Brussels to Cologne...
An ICE to Cologne & Frankfurt waiting to leave
Brussels Midi.
More ICE information.
ICE3
2nd class. ICEs are perhaps the most comfortable daytime trains
in Europe...
ICE3 1st class, with real leather seats. All seats in
both classes have power sockets.
Introducing the City Night Line sleeper
train 'Borealis' from Cologne to Copenhagen...
The
Cologne-Copenhagen overnight train is one of the German
Railway's excellent City Night Line sleeper trains. It
has a modern sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with
private shower and toilet, 1, 2 & 3-berth standard rooms
with washbasin, there's a shower at the end of the corridor
and all rooms have power-points for laptop computers), modern
air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in a 4-
or 6-berth compartment), and ordinary seats (not
recommended). A bistro car is attached between
Hamburg and Copenhagen in both directions. Inclusive fares are charged covering travel
plus sleeping accommodation. More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
Dinner in Cologne before you board? For a
traditional German meal in Cologne before boarding the
sleeper to Copenhagen, try the Brauhaus Sion (www.brauhaus-sion.de),
5 minutes walk from Cologne hauptbahnhof, or the Malzmuehle
restaurant (www.muehlenkoelsch.de),
10-15 minutes walk from Cologne Hauptbahnhof, or there's a
restaurant inside the Hauptbahnhof itself at the Schweinske,
www.schweinske.de.
Feedback is always
appreciated!
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option, standard with
washbasin or deluxe with shower & toilet.
4-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families, much more space per person than
6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes:
A very economical option, far better than a seat for
just a few euros more...
Above: One of the new
'Comfortline' sleeping-cars used on the Cologne-Copenhagen City Night Line sleeper train.
The cheapest
way to book a London-Copenhagen train journey is online, and
here's an easy step-by-step guide to buying the right
tickets on the best websites. You can't book from
London to Copenhagen all in one go, so I recommend doing a
'dry run' first, following the steps below to check
availability on each train before booking for real.
Remember that booking opens 90 days before departure.
Step
1, book the City Night Line sleeper train from Cologne
to Copenhagen & back...
Two
websites can book the City Night Line sleeper train,
www.raileurope.co.uk
&
www.bahn.de.
It's a good idea to compare prices on both sites as they
can differ.
www.raileurope.co.uk
is arguably the easiest to use, it's for UK residents
only and prices are in pounds. One drawback is
that it won't book 4-berth couchettes so use
www.bahn.de
if you want these. Tickets will be sent to any UK
address, for which they charge a small fee. Only
UK credit cards are accepted.
www.bahn.de is the excellent German Railways
website, it can be used by residents of any country,
prices are in euros and you simply print out your own
ticket. Obviously, look for the direct CNL train
with 0 changes and check availability of the cheap
'Savings' fares. One minor quirk is that it won't
offer you a berth in a 3-bed sleeper if you're
travelling alone, so if that's what you want, use
www.raileurope.co.uk
instead. I strongly recommend registering when
prompted, so you can log in at any time to see all your
bookings and reprint tickets as necessary.
Step 2,
book your trains from London to Cologne & back...
First,
check to see if there are any cheap 'London Spezial' fares
from 49 euros between London and Cologne at the German
Railways website using the special links I'm about to
give you. I recommend booking a round trip as two one-ways,
as it's easier to see where the availability is. I
also recommend registering when prompted, so you
can log in at any time to see all your bookings and reprint
tickets if necessary. Here are some links I've set up
with all the details necessary to bring up the cheap fares,
just enter your departure date, remembering that on the
inward journey, departure from Cologne will be the day after
departure from Copenhagen:
You may or
may not see any cheap 'Spezial' fares available on your date
of travel, as availability
is very limited because DB
only have a small allocation of seats on Eurostar. If you
find a cheap ticket, great, if not, move swiftly on to the
following paragraph.
Next
we check London-Cologne prices on the
Belgian Railways international website
www.b-europe.com. It can book both Eurostar+Thalys
and Eurostar+ICE, their booking system handles this two-leg
journey pretty well and frequently seems to offer the
cheapest fares (when there's no 'spezial' fare available at
the bahn site, that is).
www.b-europe.com allows you to print your own
tickets and accepts credit cards from anyone in any country.
Finally, you can
also check London-Cologne fares at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents only) and
www.eurostar.com.
Annoyingly, the Eurostar site can only book Eurostar+Thalys,
not Eurostar+ICE, but the Rail Europe site can book both
options. By all means
try booking London to Cologne on these sites sites, but a
major quirk of the French reservation system on which
they're based is that it can't mix & match fare types and
may come up with silly-money fares as a result. The
solution is to split the journey into London-Brussels and
Brussels-Cologne as follows:
UK residents
should go to
www.raileurope.co.uk,
and using the Eurostar & ICE times given above as your
guide, first book the train from London to Brussels & back,
add it to your basket, click 'continue shopping' then book
Brussels to Cologne & back. Add this to your basket
and checkout.
Another way
to split the journey, which can be used by anyone from any
country is to book London-Brussels at
www.eurostar.com
(with self-print tickets) and the Brussels-Cologne ICE at
www.bahn.de
(also with self-print tickets). Brussels-Cologne
Thalys trains can be booked at
www.thalys.com.
You
may prefer to book by phone. The
recommended UK agencies to book this journey are
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66
(lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no booking fee, 2% credit card
charge, no charge for debit cards) or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-17:30 Mon-Fri,
09:00-13:00 Sat, £35 booking fee).Click
here for a list of
agencies and other useful information on how to book.
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail travel booked for you and
hotels arranged, contact
www.railbookers.com, 020 3327 0761. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you. They get
very positive reviews.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries &
prices.
Train on
a ferry! This is
a Hamburg to Copenhagen ICE-TD EuroCity train on board
the Puttgarten to Rodby ferry. This is one of the
few remaining routes in Europe where trains go onto
ferries, the other major route being mainland Italy to
Sicily. The Rodby-Puttgarten crossing takes about
50 minutes, and you must leave the train and go up into
the ferry whilst it is at sea. The ferry has bars,
lounges restaurants & shops. Naturally, you can
leave your bags on the train...
First class real leather seats on the Hamburg-Copenhagen ICE
train. There's a bistro car serving drinks, snacks
and meals...
Second class seats on the Hamburg-Copenhagen ICE train.
All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles...
The journey from
London to Copenhagen is too long to be done in one day, so
the sleeper service shown above is ideal and the most
time-effective option. But if you prefer daytime
trains and don't mind an overnight stop en route, you can
travel from London to Denmark over 2 days with a hotel stop
in Cologne or Hamburg.
London ► Copenhagen by daytime trains with
overnight stop...
Day 1, travel
from London to Cologne or Hamburg using any of the services
suggested on the London to Germany
page. For example, you can leave London St Pancras
at 16:04, change at Brussels, and arrive Cologne
21:15.
By all means travel earlier & spend some time in Cologne.
Or you could leave London at 12:57, change trains at
Brussels & Cologne, arriving Hamburg at 00:15.
Day 2, travel
from Cologne or Hamburg to Copenhagen by any suitable
daytime train. For example, leave Cologne at 09:10,
change trains at Hamburg (arrive 13:12, depart 13:28) and
arrive Copenhagen 18:14. Or if overnighting in
Hamburg, leave Hamburg at 09:28 arriving Copenhagen 14:14.
Check train times using
www.bahn.de
(English button top right). The EuroCity trains from
Hamburg to Copenhagen are comfortable German
ICE trains,
which go onto
a ferry for the 50-minute crossing from Puttgarten in Germany to Rodby
in Denmark, one of the few places in Europe where trains
still go onto ferries. An interesting experience in
itself! You are required to leave the train and go
upstairs into the ferry accommodation decks whilst the ferry
is at sea.
Copenhagen ► London by daytime
trains with overnight stop...
Day 1, travel
from Copenhagen to Hamburg or Cologne by any suitable
daytime train. You can check train times for your date
of travel using
www.bahn.de
(English button top right). For example, you could
leave Copenhagen at 09:45, change in Hamburg (arrive 14:16,
depart 14:46) and arrive Cologne at 18:50.
Day 2, travel
from Hamburg or Cologne to London using any of the services
suggested on the London to Germany
page.
Fares & how to
buy tickets...
First jot down
each separate train you need to book using the information
above, and the date of travel. I suggest doing a dry
run to check prices & availability on both the relevant websites
before booking for real.
Step 1, book
from London to Cologne & back using
www.eurostar.com. Prices for this start at £87
return. Bookings open 90 days before departure.
Tickets can be posted to UK addresses or collected at St
Pancras.
It's
also worth checking London-Cologne or London-Hamburg prices
at
www.bahn.de, as occasionally you'll find 49, 69 or 89
euros 'London spezial' fares between London and Cologne or
Hamburg, and you simply print out your own ticket.
However, availability of these spezial fares is limited and
they are only available on services involving the ICE train
(not Thalys) between Brussels and Cologne.
Step 2, if overnighting
in Cologne (or returning from Copenhagen to London all on
one day), go to
www.bahn.de and book from Cologne to Copenhagen
& back online. Prices start at just 39 euros (£34) one-way, 78 euros (£68) return if
you book well in advance (maximum 90 days ahead).
If overnighting
in Hamburg, go to
www.bahn.de. Set up an enquiry from Cologne to
Copenhagen, but with 'Hamburg' in the 'via' box and a
stopover of (say) 10 hours in the stopover box. It
should now offer you fares from 39 euros (£34) from Cologne
to Copenhagen including the overnight stop in Hamburg.
Traveller's
reports...
Traveller Ian
Dow reports on a ride on a Hamburg-Copenhagen EuroCity
train, which goes onto a special train ferry to cross to
Denmark: "The ferry portion is from Puttgarden to
Rodby. The ferry has already been loaded with cars and
lorries, and the train is loaded last. On our journey,
the train stops at Puttgarden station and then moves on to
the ferry terminal, it then slows but runs straight to the
ferry, moving on board at fairly slow speed. It then stopped
about half a metre from the front (in the front First class
the Guard had held the door to the driver’s can open and we
could see through). The train then edged slowly forward.
At the front of the ferry on the bulkhead doors is an
auto-coupler and the train couples on to this to ensure it
does not move during the journey. The train engines then
stop, the doors open and you can get off, as there is a sort
of platform step on the ferry. Once the train is docked, the
ferry doors closed and we departed immediately. The
trip on the ferry is just 45 minutes, and you get off to use
the ferry facilities, you can also inspect the train
arrangements. The EuroCity train is designed to fit and when
I was on it, there was less than a half metre at the back of
the train between it and the ferry doors. The track runs
through the centre of the ferry, with cars and lorries on
either side. You had better make sure that you are back on
board the train in time at the end of the ferry trip, as it
does not hang about! The ferry takes a little longer
than a normal car ferry to line up at the destination, but
once it has, the doors open, the track is locked in place,
and the train engines start, and we are off, pretty fast.
We made a brief stop at the Rodby station, then continued to
Copenhagen."
Tailor-made travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail travel booked for you and
hotels arranged, contact
www.railbookers.com, 020 3327 0761. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you. They get
very positive reviews.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries &
prices.
City Night Line are reinstating a direct Paris-Hamburg
sleeper train as from 12 December 2010. You can use
this to leave London in the late afternoon, reaching
Copenhagen the following early evening.
London & Paris ► Copenhagen
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:01 (15:31 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available.
Travel from Paris
to Hamburg by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Andromeda', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est daily at 20:05 (20:20 at weekends) and arriving in
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at 08:37 next morning. This train has a sleeping-car
(1, 2 & 3 bed compartments, standard wish washbasin or
deluxe with shower/WC, 4 & 6 berth couchettes &
ordinary seats, see the
photos & information below.
More pictures
& information about this City Night Line train.
Travel from Hamburg
to Copenhagen by EuroCity
ICE train, leaving
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at 09:28 arriving Copenhagen at
14:14. This train goes onto a ferry for the
50-minute crossing from Puttgarten in Germany to Rodby
in Denmark. It's one of the few places in Europe where trains
still go onto ferries, an interesting experience in
itself! You are required to leave the train and go
upstairs into the ferry accommodation decks whilst the ferry
is at sea.
Copenhagen ►
Paris & London
Travel from Copenhagen to
Hamburg by EuroCity
ICE train, leaving Copenhagen at 11:44 and arriving
at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at 16:16. This train goes
onto a ferry for the 50-minute crossing from Rodby
in Denmark to Puttgarten in Germany. It's one of the few places in Europe where trains
still go onto ferries, an interesting experience in
itself! You are required to leave the train and go
upstairs into the ferry accommodation decks whilst the ferry
is at sea.
Travel from
Hamburg to Paris by the City Night Line sleeper train, leaving
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof at
20:33 (19:03 on certain dates) and arriving in Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:24 next
morning. This train has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4-berth & 6-berth) and a sleeping-car (1, 2 & 3-bed
deluxe & standard rooms). Bistro car available in
the morning for breakfast. It's then a
10 minute walk
from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare du Nord.
More pictures
& information about this City Night Line train.
Travel
from Paris to London by
Eurostar, leaving Paris Nord at
11:13 and arriving London St Pancras at 12:30.
Introducing
the City Night Line sleeper train to Hamburg...
The Paris-Hamburg
overnight train is one of the German Railway's excellent
City Night Line sleeper trains. It has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin. There is a shower at
the end of the corridor for passengers in standard rooms,
and all rooms have powerpoints for laptop computers),
and
modern air-conditioned couchettes
(choose between a berth in a 4 or 6-berth compartment),
and ordinary seats (not recommended).
Inclusive fares are charged covering travel plus
sleeping accommodation. The sleeping-car fare includes
a light breakfast.
More
pictures & information about this train.
Travel tip: For a good meal in a classic
Parisian brasserie before boarding the sleeper train in
Paris, catch the earlier 14:02 Eurostar & dine at the
Brasserie Terminus Nord directly across the road
from the Gare du Nord.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper:
The most comfortable & civilised option, standard with
washbasin or deluxe with shower & toilet.
4-berth couchettes:
Ideal for families, much more space per person than
6-berth couchettes.
6-berth couchettes:
A very economical option, far better than a seat for
just a few euros more...
"Night train to Hamburg": The
'Comfortline' sleeping-car of City Night Line
sleeper train boarding at Paris Gare de l'Est...
The cheapest
way to book this journey is online, but there are two ways
to do this and they are very different. You can book
the Paris-Hamburg train at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
which accesses the French reservation system. It's the
easiest website to use, you can pay for the Eurostar
and the Paris-Hamburg sleeper together as one transaction,
and prices are in pounds. It often has the cheapest
prices. However, for some reason it won't book 4-berth
couchettes, and also prices any child over 12 as an adult an
any infant over 4 as a child, whereas
www.bahn.de (which accesses the German reservation
system) offers the full range of accommodation including
4-berth couchettes, allows any infant under 6 to go free,
and classes any child under 14 as a child. Try both ways of
booking to see what works out cheapest for you.
You can also book the Paris-Hamburg
sleeper train at
www.bahn.de, then use
www.eurostar.com to book the Eurostar. Do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real. Anyone from any country can use this
method of booking.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website and book from Paris to
Hamburg & back on the direct overnight sleeper train.
The search results will show cheap 'savings' fares (if
available) and
fully-flexible fares for each type of seat, couchette &
sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out your own
tickets. Easy! The prices shown on
www.bahn.de are in euros, and are the total cost for all
passengers selected, not per person. I recommend
registering when it asks you before completing the purchase,
so you can easily retrieve any bookings. Always book the
sleeper train first and check its exact arrival & departure
times before
booking the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Allow at least 90 minutes on the outward journey and 1 hour
on the return to make the connection in Paris.
Step 2, go to
www.eurostar.com & buy your Eurostar
ticket between London & Paris, using the Eurostar times
above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, self-printed, or collected at the station.
Step 3, go to
www.bahn.de again and book the train from Hamburg to
Copenhagen & back.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You can book both
the Eurostar and the sleeper train by phone by calling
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open
09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday, no
booking fee, 2% credit card charge but no charge for debit
cards), or
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
London to the Netherlands by 'Dutch Flyer' train &
ferry... Take a train from
London's Liverpool Street station directly to the
ferry terminal at Harwich. You walk off the
train, into the terminal, get your
boarding card & cabin key at the Stena Line
check-in desk and walk straight onto the overnight
ferry to Hoek van Holland. The new superferry
'Stena Hollandica' is the largest ferry of its kind in
the world. See the
Netherlands page.
Cosy cabins: The overnight Harwich-Hoek ferry is a
floating hotel. All passengers travel in a cosy private
cabin with
en suite shower & toilet and satellite TV. This is the
cheapest 2-berth
cabin...
... and this is a Captain's Class cabin with double
bed & complimentary bubbly in the minibar.
The luxury ferry to Hoek
van Holland, a useful alternative to Eurostar...
You might
prefer to travel by train & ferry to reach
Copenhagen, for example to avoid the Channel Tunnel if
problems affect the Eurostar service or if you suffer from
claustrophobia, and if you live in East
Anglia you may prefer to travel direct to Harwich and avoid
having to cross London. The DFDS ferry
suggested here sails direct
from Harwich to Denmark, but it only runs three
times a week and can be expensive if you're travelling
solo, whereas the option suggested below runs daily and
has cheap fares available even for solo travellers.
Indeed, you may prefer this relaxing journey to the
faster Eurostar options,
cruising overnight to Holland on the Stena Line superferry in a luxury en suite cabin
with shower, toilet, satellite TV and free WiFi,
spending a day at leisure exploring Amsterdam, then
travelling to Copenhagen overnight on the direct City
Night Line sleeper train 'Borealis'. It's a great
way to reach Copenhagen with a day in Amsterdam on the
way!
London, East Anglia & Harwich
► Copenhagen
Day 1,
evening: Travel
from London to Amsterdam overnight by 'Dutch Flyer' train & ferry
service. You leave London's Liverpool
Street station at 19:32 by train to
Harwich International. At
Harwich, the station is right next to the
ferry terminal and you walk off the train into the
terminal, check in at the Stena Line desk and walk straight onto the Stena Line ferry to Hoek
van Holland. All passengers travel
in cosy private cabins with en suite toilet & shower,
satellite TV & free WiFi.
Deluxe 'Comfort class' or 'Captains class' cabins are also
available, with complimentary minibar. You
can get on board the ferry before 9pm, have a late
dinner in the restaurant and settle into your cabin. The
ferry sails at 23:15 and arrives at Hoek van Holland at
07:45 Dutch time next morning. At Hoek, the station
is right next to the ferry terminal. You hop on
the frequent local train to Rotterdam and change for an
InterCity train to Amsterdam Centraal, arriving 10:14.
See the Netherlands page for
full details. Dutch Flyer tickets are valid not just
from London but from any National Express East
Anglia railway station, for example, Cambridge,
Norwich or Chelmsford.
Day 2, evening:
Travel from Amsterdam to Copenhagen overnight by City Night Line sleeper train
'Borealis', leaving
Amsterdam daily at 19:01 and arriving at Copenhagen
main station at
10:07 next
morning (day 3 from London). This train has a modern sleeping-car, couchettes & seats,
see the photos & information
here.
There's no restaurant car in the evening, so feel free to
take you own picnic and bottle of wine aboard.
Copenhagen ►
Harwich, East Anglia & London
Day
1, evening:
Travel from Copenhagen to Amsterdam
by City Night Line sleeper train 'Borealis', leaving
Copenhagen main station at 18:10 and arriving in
Amsterdam Centraal at 08:56 next
morning. This train has a modern
sleeping-car, couchettes & seats,
see the photos & information
here. A bistro car is attached in the
evening for dinner.
Day
2, evening: Travel from Amsterdam to
London overnight by 'Dutch Flyer' train & ferry
service. You take the 18:46 train from Amsterdam to Rotterdam
and change onto the local sprinter train to Hoek van Holland.
The ferry terminal is right next to the station. Walk
onto the ferry and sail overnight in a snug private cabin to
Harwich. The ferry sails at 22:30 Mondays-Fridays or
22:00 Saturdays & Sundays and arrives at Harwich
International at 06:30 next morning, UK time. Take a train on to London next morning (day 2)
arriving 08:48-08:59. See the Netherlands page for
full details.
How much does
it cost?
London to
Amsterdam starts at £39 per person each way,
plus the cost of a cabin. Cabins start at £30 for
a single berth cabin or £43 per cabin for a 2-berth, and
are compulsory on the night sailing. The fare
covers the train from London to Harwich, the ferry, and
onward Dutch trains from Hoek van Holland Haven to any
station in the Netherlands, see the
Netherlands
page for full details of fares and cabin types and
costs.
Amsterdam to
Copenhagen by City Night Line sleeper train starts
at 59 euros one-way with a couchette in a 6-berth
compartment, 69 euros
with a couchette in a 4-berth, 99 euros with a bed in a 2-bed
sleeper, or 139 euros with a bed in a single-bed sleeper.
Step 2, now
book the
sleeper train from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. To buy tickets
online, simply go to
www.bahn.de
- I've set this link up for you to book this train easily,
just enter your dates of travel and look for the direct CNL train with 0 changes
in the search results. Alternatively, you can book by phone with DB's UK office on 08718 80 80 66,
lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00
weekends.
Odense is
Denmark's third biggest city, Kolding its eighth biggest, and you can easily get to
either city using
either the DFDS ferry option via
Harwich & Esbjerg or the City Night
Line Sleeper option by Eurostar via Cologne, see above.
The Esbjerg-Copenhagen InterCity trains and the
Cologne-Copenhagen City Night Line sleeper train all call at
Kolding & Odense en route to Copenhagen.
The famous
Legoland theme park, opened in 1968, is at Billund.
There is no rail station at Billund, but there are buses
from Vejle, Kolding & Fredericia.
Coming from the UK
via the DFDS ferry option, the
train from Esbjerg to Copenhagen calls at Kolding, so alight
there for the bus. See above
for journey times from the UK to Kolding. Bus 406 from
Kolding bus station (just outside the station to the right)
to Legoland (Billund) runs every hour or two, taking 62
minutes for the journey, fare about 65Kr (£8). You can
check bus times & fares at
www.rejseplanen.dk.
Coming from the UK
via the City Night Line sleeper train
option, the Cologne-Copenhagen sleeper train calls at
Kolding, so alight there for the bus.
See above for journey times from
the UK to Kolding. Bus 406 from Kolding bus station
(just outside the station to the right) to Legoland in
Billund runs every hour or two, taking 62 minutes for the
journey, fare about 65Kr (£*). You can check bus times
& fares at
www.rejseplanen.dk.
Coming from
Copenhagen, take an hourly fast 'Lyntog' ('Lightning train')
to Vejle for a bus to Legoland. Use the journey
planner at
www.bahn.de to find train times to Vejle. Then use
www.rejseplanen.dk to find bus times from Vejle to
Legoland. Buses run twice an hour throughout the day,
journey time about 45 minutes, fare about 65Kr (£8) each
way. In fact,
www.rejseplanen.dk is a multi-modal journey planner and
you can ask it for combined train & bus times all the way
from Copenhagen to Legoland.
Other towns &
cities in Denmark...
If you use the
DFDS Seaways ferry option, there
are direct trains from Esbjerg to Kolding, Odense, Ringsted,
Fredericia, Århus. Change at Fredericia for Aalborg.
Simply use the journey planner at
www.bahn.de to find a connection from Esbjerg to your
destination departing at least an hour or two after the
ferry arrives.
If
you use the Eurostar and sleeper
train option, the Cologne-Copenhagen sleeper train calls
at Kolding, Odense and Ringsted on its way to Copenhagen.
For Fredericia, Århus, Aalborg & northern Denmark, change at
Kolding. Use the journey planner at
www.bahn.de to find connections from Kolding to your
final destination in Denmark. Allow at least 30
minutes between trains for connections at Kolding outward,
preferably an hour for safe connection with the sleeper on
your return journey.
Copenhagen Hovedbanegård(main
station) is right next door to the famous Tivoli Gardens (www.tivoli.dk) and
just 5 minutes
walk from the city centre shopping area. However, the seashore
park with the Little Mermaid statue is a brisk 45 minutes walk
away on the other side of the city centre, and the DFDS ferry terminal for Oslo
is some way beyond that. Copenhagen main station is shown as 'Kobenhavn H' in
many online systems including the online timetable at
www.bahn.de, and it can also
help to know that Copenhagen is 'Köpenhamn' in Swedish.
The station itself is typically Scandinavian in style,
completed in 1911. There are plenty of bars and
restaurants and even an Irish Pub in the station. As
well as a ticket office, you can buy tickets to anywhere in
Denmark using the self-service machines which have
touch-screens and an English-language facility. To buy
tickets on the fast X2000 trains to Stockholm, use the two
SJ (Swedish Railways) self-service machines on the left as
you walk in the main entrance, which also feature touch
screens and an English language facility. But it's
best to buy your X2000 tickets in advance at
www.sj.se for the cheapest
fares!
The official Copenhagen tourist
information website is
www.visitcopenhagen.com, and there's a tourist office just
across the road from the station.
The Thomas Cook European Timetable
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
Winter/Spring 2011/12 edition (Dec 2011 to June 2012) or
(when available)
Summer/Autumn 2012 edition (June to Dec 2012)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at
www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Other hotel sites
worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the
main hotels, and it has the low-down on destination sights &
attractions, too.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
Backpacker hostels...
www.hostelbookers.com: If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about backpacker hostels. Hostelbookers
offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in
backpacker hostels in Copenhagen and most
other European cities at rock-bottom prices.
Travel insurance & health card
Get travel insurance, it's essential...
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
In
the UK, try
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
If you live in the USA or Canada, try
