22 June 2010. Train times valid from 13 June to 11 December 2010.
Travelling to Germany by train...
London to Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt or anywhere in
Germany from 49 euros(£45) each way...
It's
so easy to travel from London to anywhere in Germany by train. Take
Eurostar
from London to Brussels in just 1 hour 55 minutes, switch to a
high-speed
Thalys or
ICE
high-speed
train from Brussels to Cologne in 1 hour 57 minutes, then
take a superb ICE high-speed train
from Cologne to just about anywhere in Germany. Fares
start at 49 euros (£45) each way if you book online at
www.bahn.de, and you simply print out your own ticket. Or
take an afternoon Eurostar from London to Paris then
the overnight City Night Line sleeper train to
Munich or Berlin, city centre to city
centre,
arriving in time for breakfast. Some private sleepers
even have their own toilet & shower. Or head for
Paris then take a high-speed train from Paris to Frankfurt, Stuttgart &
Munich taking just a few hours. This page will help
you find the best option and buy the cheapest tickets. It's centre to centre,
with no baggage fees, no airport taxes, no expensive
journeys to and from airports, children under 4 go free, and
you can bring your own bottle of wine for the journey if you
like (try doing that on Ryanair!).
On this page...
...you'll find
a route map and train times, fares & how to buy tickets from:
Taking an afternoon Eurostar to Paris then the overnight
sleeper to Berlin is an excellent time-effective option.
The sleeper runs
daily March to November, 4
times a week in winter. On days when it's not running
you'll need to use daytime trains
instead. It used to run via Brussels, but from
December 2008 you need to pick it up in Paris.
London ► Berlin
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 at weekends), arriving Paris Gare du Nord at
19:17 (18:47 at weekends).
It's then 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 Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving at Hanover
07:02, and Berlin Hauptbahnhof
at 08:59 next
morning. This train runs daily in summer, but only 4 times a week in winter. It runs on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 18 March 2010, then daily for the summer until 8
November 2010, then
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until
March 2011. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes,
ordinary seats
and a bistro car, see the photos & information below.
Map of Berlin showing Hauptbahnhof.
More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
Berlin ► London
Travel from Berlin to
Paris by City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Berlin Hauptbahnhof at
19:57, Hanover at 22:16 and
arriving Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:23 next morning.
This train runs daily in summer, but only 4
times a week in winter. It runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 17 March 2010, then daily until 7 November 2010,
then on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again
until March 2011. The
'Perseus' has ordinary seats, couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and modern sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
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 12:29.
Introducing the City Night Line sleeper train from
Paris to Berlin...
The Paris-Berlin
overnight train is one of the
German Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Perseus', it
has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin, shower at
the end of the corridor, all rooms with power-points for
mobiles & laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in
a 4- or 6-berth compartment), ordinary seats (not
recommended, as a couchette is far better) and a bistro-restaurant
car. Inclusive fares are charged covering
travel plus sleeping accommodation. The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast in the
restaurant car.
More
pictures & information about this City Night Line train.
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...
Bistro-bar car:
The bistro
car serves meals, snacks & drinks in the evening,
breakfast in the morning.
* If you have children aged 4- 5 or 12-14,
please read this note
before booking the City Night Line sleeper train.
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time. The normal
return fare shown above requires Saturday night away.
Youth fares:
There is a 25% discount on normal fares (but not Savings
fares) for anyone under 26 years old. Savings fares
usually cheaper!
Senior fares:
There is a 20% discount on normal fares (but not Savings
fares) for anyone over 60 years old. Savings fares
usually cheaper!
How to buy
tickets online...
The cheapest
way to book this journey is online, but there are two ways
to do this and they are very different. The best
site to use is usually
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-Berlin 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. If you book the sleeper at
www.bahn.de, you'll need to book the
Eurostar separately at
www.eurostar.com. Try both ways of
booking to see what works out cheapest for you.
This booking form links to
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Tickets can be collected at St Pancras or stations in
France free of charge, or sent to a UK
address for a £1.95 fee.
There's no fee for debit cards, but they charge a 2% credit card fee. Only
UK credit cards are accepted.
Reservations for the Paris-Berlin train open 90 days before
departure, but this particular train can sometimes open
further ahead than this so give it a go.
Be aware that the booking period is often
squeezed to less than 90 days for travel immediately
after the European timetable changes in mid-June &
mid-December.
Resist the temptation to book from 'London' to Berlin'.
Instead, it's better to treat this as two
separate journeys, London to Paris and
Paris to Berlin. This gives you more control, and
allows you to mix and match (for example) 2nd class Eurostar
with 2-berth deluxe sleeper (1st class). It also allows
stopovers in Paris if you like.
So step 1, select 'Paris' in the 'from' box and
'Berlin' in the 'to' box, enter your dates of travel, select
an evening departure and look for the direct City Night Line train
in the search results. On the
confirmation page, clicking 'show itinerary details' shows the
specific coach number & berth or seat number
you've been given.
As explained above, it won't book 4-berth couchettes. Check
the sleeper train times before booking the Eurostar, as
engineering work occasionally affects arrival times, requiring
a different Eurostar connection. Note:
Tickets to Berlin Spandau & Berlin Hauptbahnhof should be
exactly the same price, but there my be a difference due to
a technical problem. If so, buy the cheapest, but
still travel to Berlin Hauptbahnhof!
Step 2, when you've booked the train from Paris to
Berlin & back, click 'continue shopping' and book the
Eurostar from London to Paris & back. Use the Eurostar
times on this page as a guide, but feel free to choose an
earlier Eurostar from London or a later Eurostar back from
Paris if these have cheaper seats available or if you'd like
to stop off in Paris. Don't forget that on your return
journey, your departure date from Paris to London will be
the day after your departure date from Berlin!
Tickets are sent from Rail Europe's UK office and normally arrive in a couple of
days. If you need any help, you can call Rail Europe's
UK call centre on 0844 848 5 848.
It's worth
checking prices for the Paris-Berlin sleeper train on
www.bahn.de, as this is the German
reservation system and prices vary from those on the French
system used by
www.raileurope.co.uk.
www.bahn.de offers the full range of
on-board accommodation including 4-berth couchettes, though
for some reason won't book solo passengers in 3-berth
sleepers (though Rail Europe will). In addition, child age limits are different if you book
using bahn.de (in fact, they are the correct ones for this
train!): Children under 6 go free sharing a
berth, children under 14 get the child rate. Booking
this way involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book from Paris to
Berlin & back on the direct sleeper train.
The 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
simply print out
your own ticket. 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 later. Always book the
sleeper first and check its exact arrival & departure times before booking
the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Step 2, go to
www.eurostar.com to buy your Eurostar
ticket between London and 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.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
To book both
the Eurostar and the sleeper train by phone, call
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 a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee per transaction).
It's easy to travel by train
from London to Berlin by day, using Eurostar
to Brussels, a high-speed
Thalys train to Cologne,
then Germany's
luxurious high-speed
InterCity Express (ICE) onwards to Berlin.
The ICE is the pride of
the German Railways, travelling at up to 280km/h (175 mph).
This route is served by second-generation ICE2s, with a
cafe-bar and restaurant serving
proper sit-down meals. Breakfast
in the
ICE restaurant car costs about £7, a three-course meal
with a couple of glasses of beer about £25. Treat
yourself!
Change at Brussels onto a
high-speed Thalys train to Cologne (trains marked 'c' are German ICE
trains)
sleeper
Brussels
Midi/Zuid
depart
11:28
12:25 c
14:28
16:28
11:28
12:25 c
14:28
16:28
12:25 c
16:28
18:25 c
via
Cologne (Köln) Hbf
arrive
13:15
14:15 c
16:15
18:15
13:15
14:15 c
16:15
18:15
14:15 c
18:15
20:15c
Paris
Change at Cologne onto a high-speed
ICE train to Berlin...
|
Cologne (Köln) Hbf
depart
13:48
14:28
16:48
18:48
13:48
14:48
16:48
18:48
14:48
18:48
20:48
|
Bielefeld
arrive
15:35
16:36
18:36
20:36
15:35
16:36
18:36
20:36
16:36
20:36
22:36
|
Hanover
arrive
16:28
17:34
19:28
21:28
16:28
17:28
19:28
21:28
17:28
21:28
23:28
07:02
Berlin
(Hauptbahnhof)
arrive
18:11
19:08
21:08
23:08
18:11
19:08
21:08
23:08
19:08
23:08
01:12
08:59
Berlin
(Ostbahnhof)
arrive
18:22
19:19
21:20
23:20
18:22
19:19
21:20
23:20
19:19
23:20
01:22
-
How
to read these timetables... Each
column is a service, and you read downwards.
There's a change of trains at each of the grey
bars.
Note
A: By sleeper train via Paris,
see above. Departs
London 15:32 at weekends. Runs daily in summer, 4
times a week in winter.
c = by German
ICE train.
Trains without a 'c' are
Thalys
trains.
n =
does not run on Fridays.
* = If you buy a through ticket from Berlin to London using
www.bahn.de, you will normally be put on the 16:59
Eurostar, not the 17:59, arriving in London an hour earlier.
You can check
these train times using
www.bahn.de. If you have a first class
ticket you can use the
DB Lounges at
Cologne, Berlin Hauptbahnhof & Hanover.
Berlin, Hanover
► London
ICE train to Cologne
Mondays to Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
Note A
Berlin
(Ostbahnhof)
depart
05:25
09:38
10:40
12:38
05:25
09:38
10:40
06:40
09:38
10:40
12:38
-
Berlin
(Hauptbahnhof)
depart
05:36
09:48
10:50
12:49
05:36
09:48
10:50
06:50
09:48
10:50
12:49
19:57
Hanover
depart
07:31
11:31
12:31
14:31
07:31
11:31
12:31
08:31
11:31
12:31
14:31
22:16
Bielefeld
depart
08:22
12:22
13:22
15:22
08:22
12:22
13:22
09:22
12:22
13:22
15:22
|
Cologne
Hbf
arrive
10:09
14:09
15:09
17:09
10:09
14:09
15:09
11:09
14:09
15:09
17:09
|
Change at Cologne onto a
high-speed Thalys train to Brussels (trains marked 'c' are German ICE trains)
Sleeper
Cologne
Hbf
depart
10:45
14:43 c
15:45
17:45
10:45
14:43 c
15:45
12:44
14:43 c
15:45
17:45
via
Brussels
Midi/Zuid
arrive
12:32
16:35 c
17:32
19:32
12:32
16:35 c
17:32
14:32
16:35 c
17:32
19:32
Paris
Change at Brussels onto
Eurostar. Remember the 30 minute check-in...
|
Brussels
Midi/Zuid
depart
14:29
17:59 *
18:59
20:17
13:59
17:59 *
19:59
16:59
17:59 *
18:59
20:17
|
London
St Pancras
arrive
15:26
19:03 *
19:56
21:33
15:03
19:03 *
21:03
18:05
19:03 *
19:56
21:33
12:29
How much does it cost?
1. London to
Cologne
by
Eurostar + Thalys:
Fares start at £97 return (£69 London-Brussels +
£28 Brussels-Cologne)
or £53 one-way (£39 London-Brussels + £14
Brussels-Cologne)
Fares vary like
air fares, so book in advance to get the cheapest
prices.
Normal flexible fare 106
euros
(£85) one-way, 212 euros (£170) return
First, check
www.bahn.de for special deals: London to
Berlin or Hanover from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Berlin.
You'll often find fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way available on the morning & lunchtime Eurostar+ICE departures from London, and
the 09:38 return service from Berlin (in other words, on any
service using a Brussels-Cologne train marked 'c' in the
timetable above). First class
fares from 99 euros each way. You pay online
and simply print out your own ticket. If you enter
'Cologne' in the stopover box and (say) '12:00' in the 'hh:mm'
box you'll often also see 49, 69 or 89 euros each way fares
available from London to Berlin with an overnight stop in
Cologne (obviously, you have then to pay for a hotel).
Availability of these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the next section...
How to buy
tickets online...
If your chosen journey includes a
Thalys between Brussels and Cologne:
Step 1, go to
either
www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.co.uk
and buy a London-Cologne Eurostar+Thalys ticket, using the
train times on this page as a guide.
Check both websites to find
the cheapest fares, as prices sometimes vary between the
two. On
www.eurostar.com, Cologne is listed as 'Köln' (German for
Cologne). Bookings open 90 days before departure, the
further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see the
cheapest fare. Tickets can be posted to any UK address
or collected at St Pancras.
Step 2, buy your Cologne-Berlin ticket online
at the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de. You simply print out your own Online
Ticket. Make sure the train you
book connects with the Eurostar+Thalys you have booked,
using the train times on this page as a guide. I
recommend registering when it asks you before completing the
purchase, so you can easily retrieve any bookings.
If your chosen journey includes an
ICE train between Brussels and Cologne (marked with a
'c' in the timetable above):
Step 1, buy a Eurostar ticket from London
to Brussels at
www.eurostar.com. The further ahead you book, the more
likely you are to see the cheapest fares. Tickets can
be posted to any UK address, self-printed or collected at St
Pancras station in London.
Step 2, now buy a ticket from Brussels to
Berlin at German Railways website,
www.bahn.de. You simply print out your own Online
Ticket. Make sure the train you book connects with the
Eurostar+Thalys you have booked, using the train times on
this page as a guide. I recommend registering when it
asks you before completing the purchase, so you can easily
retrieve any bookings.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
To book by phone, call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays & Sundays, no booking fee, 2% credit card
charge) or call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35
booking fee per transaction). Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
Berlin's new
Hauptbahnhof (main station) is a symbol of the new revitalised
Berlin. It's a modern glass and steel structure that
will warm the hearts of window-cleaning firms everywhere,
just 3 minutes' walk from the Reichstag, 10 minutes from the
Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden, or 25 minutes from
the site of
Checkpoint Charlie. It's in fact two stations in
one, with platforms 6 to 11 on the east-west elevated tracks
well above
ground level, and platforms 1 to 5 serving the north-south
tracks on a below-ground
level. Trains from Cologne & Paris arrive
at platforms 6 to 11. The ticket office,
1st class lounge
and the
left luggage office are one level up from the ground
(entrance) level, one level below platforms 6 to 11.
Cologne, or 'Köln' in German
from its Roman name, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, was once the
largest city in Germany. Its magnificent cathedral
stands right next to Cologne's main station - the cathedral
was consecrated in 1322, but its distinctive 512 feet high
towers were only completed in 1880. You can climb them
for a magnificent view over the city and the River Rhine.
Getting to Cologne from London is really easy by train:
Hop on a high-speed
Eurostar
train from London to Brussels in just 1 hour 55 minutes,
then travel from Brussels to
Cologne by high-speed
Thalys train or German
high-speed ICE train in just
1 hour 57 minutes more. Frequent regional trains then
link Cologne with Düsseldorf, Essen, Bochum & Dortmund. Thalys is a consortium of the French,
Belgian, Dutch and German railways formed to run the
high-speed trains between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam &
Cologne.
Take Eurostar to Brussels in 1
hour 55 minutes, then either a Thalys high-speed train...
f = Runs on Fridays only.
n = Does not run on Fridays, only on
Mondays-Thursdays.
* = If you buy a through ticket from Cologne to London using
www.bahn.de, you will normally be put on the 16:59
Eurostar, not the 17:59, arriving in London an hour earlier.
A note about inbound connections in Brussels:
Eurostar officially requires a minimum 30 minute check-in,
plus time to walk from an arriving Thalys or ICE to the
Eurostar check-in. Quite a few Thalys or ICE trains
arrive at .32 or .35 minutes past the hour with the next
Eurostar leaving at .59 minutes past the hour, that's only
24-27 minutes. On paper, this isn't a connection and I
have not shown such connections here. However, if you
buy a through ticket using
www.bahn.de or
www.eurostar.com, it may offer such connections
because Eurostar makes an exception in these circumstances.
If you're offered a through ticket with a connection of
less than 30 minutes in Brussels on the return journey
this is fine because bahn.de or eurostar.com have offered it
as part of the booking process (and the connection usually
works very well!), but if you end up
booking separate tickets Cologne-Brussels and
Brussels-London then I wouldn't risk it because Eurostar
have not formally announced that they have waived
the 30 minute check-in.
Dortmund,
Düsseldorf & Cologne
► London
Regional train...
Mondays-Fridays
Saturdays
Dortmund Hbf
depart
04:44
05:52
06:44
08:44
12:44
13:44
15:44
04:44
05:52
06:44
08:44
12:44
13:44
Düsseldorf Hbf
depart
05:40
06:52
07:40
09:40
13:40
14:40
16:40
05:40
06:52
07:40
09:40
13:40
14:40
Cologne Hbf
arrive
06:12
07:15
08:12
10:12
14:12
15:12
17:12
06:12
07:15
08:12
10:12
14:12
15:12
Change trains in
Cologne
onto a high-speed Thalys train (trains marked
'c' are German ICE trains)...
Cologne Hbf
depart
06:45
07:45
08:43 c
10:45
14:43
c
15:45
17:45
06:45
07:45
08:43 c
10:45
14:43 c
15:45
Brussels Midi/Zuid
arrive
08:32
09:32
10:35 c
12:32
16:35 c
17:32
19:32
08:32
09:32
10:35 c
12:32
16:35 c
17:32
Change trains in
Brussels - remember the 30 minute Eurostar check-in!
Brussels Midi/Zuid
depart
09:29
11:29
11:29
14:29
17:59
*
18:59
20:17
09:29
11:29
11:29
13:59
17:59
*
19:59
London St Pancras
arrive
10:26
12:33
12:33
15:26
19:03
*
19:56
21:33
10:26
12:33
12:33
15:03
19:03
*
21:03
Dortmund,
Düsseldorf & Cologne ► London
Regional train...
Sundays
Dortmund Hbf depart:
05:44
06:44
08:44
10:44
12:44
15:44
Düsseldorf Hbf depart:
06:40
07:40
09:40
11:40
13:40
16:40
Cologne Hbf
arrive:
07:12
08:12
10:12
12:12
14:12
17:12
Change trains in
Cologne
onto a Thalys train (trains marked 'c' are German ICE
trains)
Cologne Hbf depart:
07:45
08:43 c
10:45
12:44
14:43 c
17:45
Brussels
Midi/Zuid arrive:
09:32
10:35 c
12:32
14:32
16:35 c
19:32
Change in Brussels onto Eurostar.
Remember the 30 minute check-in
Brussels
Midi/Zuid depart:
11:29
11:29
13:59
16:59
17:59
*
20:29
London
St Pancras arrive:
12:33
12:33
15:03
18:05
19:03
*
21:33
How much
does it cost?
Special inclusive fares from London to Cologne...
London to Cologne,
Düsseldorf or Dortmund
from 49
euros (£45)
one-way
or 98 euros (£90 return) booked
online at
www.bahn.de
(limited availability, only available on the ICE
trains between Brussels & Cologne).
London to
Cologne from £97 return
(= £69
return London-Brussels + £14 each way
Brussels-Cologne) booked at
www.eurostar.com
or
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Book in advance to get the cheapest fares, as the
fare rises as cheaper seats are sold.
One-way fares start at
£39 for London-Brussels + £14 for Brussels-Cologne,
booked at
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Add 19 euros each way for a connection to Dortmund.
First, check
www.bahn.de for special deals:
London to Cologne, Düsseldorf or Dortmund from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Cologne,
Koblenz, Düsseldorf & Dortmund. You'll often find
fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way
available on the morning & lunchtime Eurostar+ICE departures from London, and
the 08:43 & 14:43 departures back from Cologne (in other
words, on any service using a Brussels-Cologne train marked
'c' in the timetable above). You
pay online and simply print out your own ticket.
Availability of these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the 'Buy tickets
online' section below...
Booking tip,
if you want the 12:57 departure from London & 18:15 ICE from
Brussels: On
www.bahn.de, if you want to use the 12:57 departure from
London on Mondays to Thursdays & Saturdays connecting with
the 18:15 ICE from Brussels to Cologne, you'll need to enter
'Brussels South Stn' in the 'via' box and '02:00' (2 hours)
in the 'stopover' box. This forces it to offer the
12:57 Eurostar then give you a 2+ hour stopover in Brussels
then the 18:15 Brussels-Cologne ICE. If you don't ask
for this 'stopover' in Brussels, all it finds is the 12:57
Eurostar from London plus the much earlier 16:28 Thalys
connection to Cologne, but of course you'll only get the
cheap 'London Spezial' fares if you wait for the ICE.
Simple, isn't it, this booking train travel malarkey?!
Buy
tickets online...
Both
www.eurostar.com &
www.raileurope.co.uk
can sell tickets from London to Cologne, and I recommend checking prices on both sites to see which is cheapest.
Cologne is listed as 'Koln' (its German name) on the
Eurostar site. The Eurostar site has the advantage
that it can book you through
from over 130 UK towns & cities, not just London, but on
the down side it can only book Thalys between Brussels &
Cologne, not ICE.
www.raileurope.co.uk can book both Thalys & ICE trains
between Brussels & Cologne, but can only book tickets
starting in London. Bookings open 90 days before
departure, book early for the cheapest fares. Tickets
can be posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras
on departure.
Booking tip: If no affordable fares show up,
split the journey into London-Brussels & back, then
Brussels-Cologne & back.
Do this using
www.raileurope.co.uk (which will book both these
journeys and let you pay for both tickets as one
transaction). If you want to use the ICE
between Brussels & Cologne, also try booking London-Brussels
& back at
www.eurostar.com then Brussels-Cologne & back at
www.bahn.de. Make sure you allow for the 30 minute
Eurostar check-in at Brussels on the return journey.
If you want to use Eurostar+Thalys, you can also try using
www.eurostar.com for London-Brussels then
www.thalys.com for Brussels-Cologne.
This form links to
www.eurostar.com. It can book tickets to
Aachen or Cologne from London or over 130 UK towns &
cities...
If you prefer to
book by phone, call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday,
09:00-13:00 Saturdays & Sundays, no booking fee,
2% credit card charge) or call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee). Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
Cologne Hauptbahnhof (main station) is located right
in the city centre, right next to Cologne Cathedral
with its distinctive twin towers and a stone's throw
from the banks of the River Rhine.
Climbing Cologne Cathedral's tower: If
you've 30 minutes to spare, you can climb
the cathedral's south (right-hand) tower for a fantastic view over
Cologne & the Rhine, 475 feet high, 533 steps, no
lift. The tower is open 09:00-16:00 in winter,
09:00-17:00 or 18:00 in summer, entrance 2.50 euros,
see
www.koelner-dom.de.
High-speed
Eurostar trains
link
London with Brussels in less than 2 hours. From Brussels, high-speed
Thalys trains (and a couple of German ICE
high-speed trains) take just 2½ hours to reach Cologne.
Regular trains link Cologne with Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz
running via the
original scenic rail route along the Rhine Valley.
Train times...
Simply use the London-Cologne
timetable above to find train times from London to Cologne, then use
www.bahn.de to find connecting
train times along the Rhine Valley from Cologne to Bonn,
Koblenz and Mainz.
Fares
Cheapest
total fare:
2nd
class:
1st
class:
London
to Bonn
£92 return
£199
return
London
to Koblenz
£99 return
£199
return
London
to Mainz
£101 return
£219
return
London to
Koblenz from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Cologne,
Koblenz, Düsseldorf & Dortmund. You'll often find
fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way
available on the morning and lunchtime Eurostar+ICE departures from London, and
the 08:43 & 14:43 departures back from Cologne. You
pay online and simply print out your own ticket.
Availability of these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the next section...
Go to
either
www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.co.uk
and buy a London-Cologne Eurostar+Thalys ticket, using the
train times on this page as a guide.
Check both websites to find
the cheapest fares, as prices can vary between the
two. On
www.eurostar.com, Cologne is listed as 'Köln' (German for
Cologne). Bookings open 90 days before departure, the
further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see the
cheapest fare. Tickets can be posted to any UK address
or collected at St Pancras.
Once you've
bought a ticket from London to Cologne, it's easy to
buy a ticket from Cologne to Bonn, Koblenz or Mainz at the
station when you get to Cologne, or online at
www.bahn.de.
Cologne-Bonn costs 18 euros (£13) return,
Cologne-Koblenz from 30 euros (£21) return, Cologne-Mainz
from 33 euros (£23) return.
If you want to use the German
ICE train between Brussels and Cologne,
book from London to
Brussels at
www.eurostar.com, then book a ticket from Brussels to
Bonn, Koblenz or Mainz separately at the German Railways
website,
www.bahn.de. You need to register, then
tickets can be sent to any address or in many cases you can
print your own.
If there are
no affordable London-Cologne through fares shown, it can be worth
using
www.raileurope.co.uk
and trying to split the journey into separate
London-Brussels & Brussels-Cologne sections, looking for
cheap fares for each leg.
First, ask for 'Brussels'
to 'Cologne' and
your dates of travel. After booking the Thalys from Brussels to
Cologne, click 'continue shopping' and book a Eurostar
from London to Brussels and back to connect. Make sure you allow for
the 30 minute Eurostar check-in at Brussels on the return
journey.
How to buy
tickets by phone:
If you prefer to buy tickets by
phone, call
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) or call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee). Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
You can travel from London to Frankfurt either via Paris
or
via Brussels. The route via Brussels is
more frequent, but with the opening of the new TGV-Est high-speed line
in June
2007, direct German ICE trains link Paris &
Frankfurt in just 3 hours 50 minutes with cheap fares
available, making the route via Paris just as simple (one
change in Paris with a short walk between stations),
marginally cheaper and almost as fast. The route via
Paris is a bit easier to book online, the route via Brussels
is more frequent and slightly faster. The choice is yours...
The new TGV-Est high-speed line opened
in June 2007, and direct 175 mph
German ICE trains now link Paris and Frankfurt in just 3
hours 50 minutes, city centre to city centre. The ICE3
trains used on this service are superb, amongst the most comfortable
high-speed trains in Europe. This route is easy to
book online using
www.raileurope.co.uk.
An ICE3
from Paris to Frankfurt
awaits departure at the Gare de
l'Est...
ICE3
2nd class. ICE's are perhaps the most comfortable daytime trains
in Europe...
ICE3
1st class, with real leather seats. All seats in
both classes have power sockets.
London ►
Frankfurt (via Paris)
Eurostar,
30 min check-in
Mondays to Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
London
St Pancras
depart
08:55
12:29
14:04
09:00
14:04
08:26
12:29
14:04
Paris
Gare du Nord
arrive
12:17
15:50
17:26
12:17
17:26
11:47
15:50
17:26
10 min
walk to the Gare de l'Est for ICE train to
Frankfurt:
Paris
Gare de l'Est
depart
13:09
17:09
19:05
13:09
19:05
13:09
17:09
19:05
Saarbrücken
arrive
14:57
18:57
20:57
14:57
20:57
14:57
18:57
20:57
Mannheim Hbf
arrive
16:16
20:16
22:15
16:16
22:15
16:16
20:16
22:15
Frankfurt am
Main Hbf
arrive
16:58
20:58
22:58
16:58
22:58
16:58
20:58
22:58
Frankfurt ► London (via Paris)
ICE
train from Frankfurt to Paris:
Mondays to Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
Frankfurt am Main Hbf
depart
06:00
09:01
13:01
06:00
09:01
13:01
09:01
13:01
Mannheim Hbf
depart
06:40
09:41
13:41
06:40
09:41
13:41
09:41
13:41
Saarbrücken
depart
08:00
11:01
15:01
08:00
11:01
15:01
11:01
15:01
Paris
Gare de l'Est
arrive
09:49
12:49
16:50
09:49
12:53
16:50
12:53
16:50
10 min
walk to the
Gare du Nord for Eurostar to London (30 minute
check-in)
Paris Gare du Nord
depart
11:13
15:13 f
18:13
11:13
14:13
19:13
14:13
18:13
London
St Pancras
arrive
12:29
16:36 f
19:34
12:29
15:29
20:34
15:29
19:34
f = An earlier
Eurostar connection is available on Fridays, leaving Paris
at 14:13, arriving London 15:19.
How
to read these timetables... Each
column is a service, and you read downwards.
There's a change of trains at each of the grey
bars.
If you have a first class ticket you can use the
DB Lounge
at Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof..
(limited
availability, book at least 14 days in advance)
Full fare (always available) £74 one-way, £148 return.
Buy tickets online...
The easiest & cheapest way for
UK residents to buy London-Frankfurt train tickets for
journeys via Paris is online at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
just use the booking form below.
Although you can book London-Frankfurt in one go, it is
better to book the journey in 2 stages. First book the
Paris-Frankfurt train, add it to your basket and click
'continue shopping'. Then book the Eurostar
London-Paris & back. This gives you more control, and
for example allows you to book an earlier Eurostar if you
want to spend some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats
available. Make sure you allow at least 1 hour between
trains in Paris to allow for any delay, and the walk between
stations (15 mins) and the 30 minute Eurostar check-in in
the return direction.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address for a £1.95 fee or
collected at St Pancras on departure free of charge.
There's a 2% credit card fee, so use a debit card if you
can. Only UK credit cards are accepted.
It's backed by a UK call centre, 0844 848 5 848.
How to
buy tickets by phone...
If you
prefer to book the journey via Paris by phone, or if you have problems booking
online, call Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-21:00 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-18:00 Saturdays, no
longer open Sundays).
It's also worth
checking prices for the Paris-Frankfurt train on
www.bahn.de, as this is the German
reservation system and prices vary from those on the French
system used by
www.raileurope.co.uk. In addition, child age limits are different if you book
using bahn.de: Children under 6 go free, and children under 14
can also go free if accompanying an adult. Booking
this way involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book from Paris to
Frankfurt & back.
The results will show cheap 'spezial' fares (if available). You pay by credit card and
simply print out
your own ticket. 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 later. Always book
this train first and check its exact arrival & departure times before booking
the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
Step 2, go to
www.eurostar.com to 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.
High-speed
Eurostar trains
link
London with Brussels in just 1 hours 55 minutes. From Brussels,
there are two daily
Brussels-Frankfurt high-speed ICE trains taking just 3 hours
15 minutes, or you can take a more frequent high-speed
Thalys train to Cologne and change there for an ICE to
Frankfurt.
London-Frankfurt by Eurostar & ICE starts at just 49 euros
(£45) each way, booked online at
www.bahn.de. However,
although the
high-speed line from Cologne to Frankfurt cuts a 2-hour journey to just 1 hour, you
may prefer the old scenic route running right along the
Rhine Valley, past cliffs and castles and the fabled Lorelei
Rock. If so, ask when booking, or simply check times
from Cologne to Frankfurt yourself at
www.bahn.de, entering 'Koblenz' in the 'via' box to get a Rhine
Valley journey.
ICE3
2nd class. All seats in both classes have power
sockets for laptops & mobiles...
ICE3 1st class, with real leather seats. Staff
provide at-seat service of drinks & food.
f = Runs on Fridays only.
m = change at Cologne Deutz/Messe.
n = Does not run on Fridays.
* = If you buy a through ticket from Frankfurt to London
using
www.bahn.de, you will normally be put on the 16:59
Eurostar, not the 17:59, arriving in London an hour earlier.
A note about connections in Brussels, inbound to UK:
In theory, Eurostar requires a minimum 30 minute check-in,
plus time to walk from an arriving Thalys or ICE to the
Eurostar check-in. Quite a few Thalys or ICE trains
arrive at .32 or .35 minutes past the hour, with the next
Eurostar leaving at .59 minutes past the hour, that's only
24-27 minutes. On paper, this isn't a connection and I
have not shown such connections here. However, if you
buy a through ticket using
www.bahn.de or
www.eurostar.com, you may find it allows such connections
because Eurostar makes an exception in these circumstances.
So if you're offered a through ticket with a connection of
less than 30 minutes in Brussels on the return journey
that's fine because bahn.de or Eurostar.com have offered it
themselves, but if you end up booking separate tickets
Frankfurt-Brussels and Brussels-London then I wouldn't risk
it because Eurostar have not formally announced anywhere
that they have waived the 30 minute check-in.
Frankfurt ► London (via Brussels)
ICE train to Cologne...
Mondays to Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
Frankfurt am Main Hbf
depart
05:10
07:29 c
08:16
13:29 c
13:29
15:17
05:10
07:29 c
08:16
13:29 c
07:29 c
08:16
10:10
13:29 c
13:29
15:17
Cologne
Hbf
arrive
06:39
|
09:39
|
14:42
16:39
06:39
|
09:39
|
|
09:39
11:39
|
14:42
16:39
Change trains at Cologne onto a high-speed Thalys
train, except for trains marked 'c'
which are ICE trains direct from Frankfurt to
Brussels...
Cologne Hbf
depart
07:45
|
10:45
|
15:45
17:45
07:45
|
10:45
|
|
10:45
12:44
|
15:45
17:45
Brussels
Midi/Zuid
arrive
09:32
10:35 c
12:32
16:35 c
17:32
19:32
09:32
10:35 c
12:32
16:35 c
10:35 c
12:32
14:32
16:35 c
17:32
19:32
Change trains at Brussels onto
Eurostar. Remember the 30 minute check-in...
Brussels
Midi/Zuid
depart
11:29
11:29
14:29
17:59 *
18:59
20:17
11:29
11:29
13:59
17:59 *
11:29
13:59
16:59
17:59 *
18:59
20:29
London
St Pancras
arrive
12:33
12:33
15:26
19:03 *
19:56
21:33
12:33
12:33
15:03
19:03 *
12:33
15:03
18:05
19:03 *
19:56
21:33
Fares
(via Brussels)
Cheapest
total fare (approx)
2nd
class:
1st
class:
London to Frankfurt by Eurostar+Thalys
£137
return
£270
return
London to Frankfurt by Eurostar+ ICE
£125 return
£270
return
First, check
www.bahn.de for special deals:
London to Frankfurt from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Frankfurt.
You'll often find fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way
available on the 08:27/08:57 Eurostar+ICE departure from London, and
the 07:29 & 13:29 return services from Frankfurt
(in other words, on any service using a Brussels-Frankfurt
train marked 'c' in the timetable above).
First class fares from 99 euros each way. You
pay online and simply print out your own ticket.
Availability of these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the next section...
How to buy
tickets online...
This route has to be booked in two
stages. If your chosen journey involves a
direct ICE train between Brussels and Frankfurt (marked
with a 'c' in the timetable above):
Step 1, go to
www.eurostar.com and buy the Eurostar ticket from London
to Brussels & back. Tickets can
be posted to any UK address, self-printed or collected at St
Pancras station in London.
Step 2, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and book the ICE train from
Brussels to Frankfurt & back, making sure you pick the direct
Brussels-Frankfurt train. Fares from 39 euros (£33)
each way. You want
Brussels Zuid (Brussels South) if prompted.
If your chosen journey involves a
Thalystrain between Brussels and Cologne (trains not
marked with a 'c'):
Step 1, buy a London-Cologne
Eurostar+Thalys ticket online at either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk.
It's worth trying both sites, as prices vary
between the two (and there appears to be a glitch
with raileurope.co.uk at the moment). Bookings open 90
days before departure. Tickets
can be posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras
on departure.
Step 2, now buy your Cologne-Frankfurt
ticket online at the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de. Fares start at 29 euros (£25)
each way. I recommend registering when prompted, as
you can then retrieve any bookings later. You simply
print out your own Online Ticket.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
If you prefer to
book by phone, call
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). You can also buy tickets by calling www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee). Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
High-speed
Eurostar trains
link
London with Brussels in less than 2 hours. From Brussels, ICE
high-speed trains run to Frankfurt in just over 3 hours.
Change in Frankfurt for Nuremberg (Nürnberg
in German).
London ► Nuremberg (option 1)
Travel from
London to Brussels by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 08:27 (08:57 at weekends), arriving
Brussels Midi at 11:33 (12:03 at weekends).
Travel from
Brussels to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Brussels at 12:25 and arriving Frankfurt at 15:40.
Travel from
Frankfurt to Nuremburg by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Frankfurt at 15:54 and arriving Nuremburg at
17:59.
London ► Nuremberg (option 2)
Travel from
London to Brussels by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 12:57 Mondays to Thursdays & Saturdays
or 14:34 on Fridays & Sundays, arriving Brussels Midi at
16:03 Mondays-Thursdays or 17:33 Fridays & Sundays.
Travel from
Brussels to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Brussels at 18:25 and arriving Frankfurt at 21:30.
Travel from
Frankfurt to Nuremburg by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Frankfurt at 22:18 and arriving Nuremburg at
00:38.
Other
options..
You can in fact
take any service from London to Cologne (see
the Cologne section above) then use
www.bahn.de to find a connecting train from Cologne to
Nuremberg. However, the options shown here are
arguably the best, and have the cheapest fares.
Nuremberg ► London (option 1)
Travel from
Nuremburg to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Nuremberg at 05:00 and arriving Frankfurt at
07:17.
Travel from
Frankfurt to Brussels by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Frankfurt at 07:29 and arriving Brussels at 10:35.
Travel from
Brussels to London by Eurostar, leaving
Brussels Midi at 11:29, arriving London St Pancras at
12:33.
Nuremberg ► London (option 2)
Travel from
Nuremburg to Frankfurt by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Nuremberg at 11:00 and arriving Frankfurt at
13:05.
Travel from
Frankfurt to Brussels by
high-speed ICE train
leaving Frankfurt at 13:29 and arriving Brussels at 16:35.
Travel from
Brussels to London by Eurostar, leaving
Brussels Midi at 17:59, arriving London St Pancras at
19:03.
London to
Nuremberg from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Nuremberg. You'll often find
fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way
available using the morning and lunchtime Eurostar+ICE departures from London, and
return journeys involving the 07:29 & 13:29 departures from
Frankfurt. In 1st class, fares start at 99 euros each
way. You pay online and simply print out your own ticket.
Availability of these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the next section...
Go to
either
www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.co.uk
and buy a London-Cologne Eurostar+Thalys ticket, using the
train times on this page as a guide.
Check both websites to find
the cheapest fares, as prices can vary between the
two. On
www.eurostar.com, Cologne is listed as 'Köln' (German for
Cologne). Bookings open 90 days before departure, the
further ahead you book, the more likely you are to see the
cheapest fare. Tickets can be posted to any UK address
or collected at St Pancras.
Once you've
bought a ticket from London to Cologne, it's easy to
buy a ticket from Cologne to Nuremberg online at
www.bahn.de. Allow at least 20 minutes in Cologne
for connections.
If you want to use the German
ICE train between Brussels and Cologne,
book from London to
Brussels at
www.eurostar.com, then book a ticket from Brussels to
Bonn, Koblenz or Mainz separately at the German Railways
website,
www.bahn.de. You need to register, then
tickets can be sent to any address or in many cases you can
print your own.
If there are
no affordable London-Cologne through fares shown, it can be worth
using
www.raileurope.co.uk
and trying to split the journey into separate
London-Brussels & Brussels-Cologne sections, looking for
cheap fares for each leg.
First, ask for 'Brussels'
to 'Cologne' and
your dates of travel. After booking the Thalys from Brussels to
Cologne, click 'continue shopping' and book a Eurostar
from London to Brussels and back to connect. Make sure you allow for
the 30 minute Eurostar check-in at Brussels on the return
journey.
How to buy
tickets by phone:
If you prefer to buy tickets by
phone, call
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) or call www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00 Monday to
Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee). Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
You can easily travel by train from London to
Osnabrück, Bremen or Hamburg in a
day, using Eurostar, a high-speed Thalys or ICE train to Cologne,
then a
comfortable German InterCity train from Cologne to
Osnabrück, Bremen or Hamburg. London to anywhere in
Germany starts at just 49 euros each way if you use one of
the daily ICEs between Brussels & Cologne ICE and book at
www.bahn.de. For more information, read on...
Most
Cologne-Hamburg trains are InterCity trains like this,
although a few are high-speed ICEs...
InterCity
2nd class. You'll also find a few
compartment coaches on InterCity trains. There's
also a bistro or restaurant car...
InterCity
1st class, often available in both compartments like
this and open-plan saloons.
London ►
Osnabrück, Bremen, Hamburg
Eurostar, 30 minute check-in...
Mondays to Fridays
Saturdays
Sundays
London
St Pancras
depart
07:30 n
08:27
11:04
12:57
07:57
08:57
10:57
12:57
08:57
11:57
Brussels Midi/Zuid
arrive
10:28 n
11:33
14:05
16:03
11:03
12:03
14:05
16:03
12:03
15:03
Change in Brussels onto a high-speed Thalys or
ICE train...
Brussels Midi/Zuid
depart
11:28
12:25 c
14:28
16:28
11:28
12:25 c
14:28
16:28
12:25 c
16:28
Cologne
Hbf
arrive
13:15
14:15 c
16:15
18:15
13:15
14:15 c
16:16
18:15
14:15 c
18:15
Change in Cologne onto an IC or ICE train...
Cologne
Hbf
depart
14:10
15:10
17:10
19:10
14:10
15:10
17:10
20:10
15:10
19:10
Osnabrück
arrive
16:21
17:21
19:21
21:21
16:21
17:21
19:21
22:25
17:21
21:21
Bremen
arrive
17:14
18:14
20:14
22:18
17:14
18:14
20:14
23:20
18:14
22:18
Hamburg
(Hbf)
arrive
18:12
19:12
21:12
23:15
18:12
19:12
21:12
00:19
19:12
23:15
c = by high-speed German
ICE train,
not Thalys.
Other Brussels-Cologne trains are
Thalys.
n = Doesn't run on Fridays.
* = If you buy a through ticket from Hamburg to London using
www.bahn.de, you will normally be put on the 16:59
Eurostar, not the 17:59, arriving in London an hour earlier.
How
to read these timetables... Each
column is a service, and you read downwards.
There's a change of trains at each of the grey
bars.
Normal flexible fare
87
euros
(£76) one-way, 174 euros (£152) return
First, check
www.bahn.de for special deals:
London-Hamburg from 49 euros (£45) each way...
Before you do
anything else, check the German Railways website,
www.bahn.de for cheap online 'spezial' fares between
London and main cities in Germany, including Hamburg &
Bremen. You'll often find fares of 49, 69 or 89 euros (£45, £63 or
£80) each way
available on the 08:27/08:57 Eurostar+ICE departure from London, and
the 09:46 return service from Hamburg. First class
fares from 99 euros each way. You pay online
and simply print out your own ticket. Availability of
these special fares is very limited, and the German site can't sell normal tickets for this
route, only these cheap deals which often sell out.
And it can't sell tickets of any sort for the
Eurostar+Thalys services, only Eurostar+ICE. So if you find a cheap deal
then great, if not, move swiftly on to the next section...
How to buy
tickets online...
If your chosen journey involves a
Thalys train between Brussels and Cologne:
Step 1, buy a London-Cologne ticket online at
either
www.eurostar.com or
www.raileurope.co.uk.
It's worth trying both sites, as prices vary
between the two. Bookings open 90 days before
departure. Tickets can be
posted to any UK address or collected at St Pancras on
departure.
Step 2, now buy a ticket from Cologne to
Hamburg, Bremen or Osnabrück online at the German Railways
website,
www.bahn.de, using the train times on this page as a
guide. You simply print out your own Online
Ticket. Make sure the train you
book connects with the Eurostar+Thalys you have booked,
using the train times on this page as a guide. I
recommend registering when it asks you before completing the
purchase, so you can easily retrieve any bookings.
If your chosen journey involves an
ICE train between Brussels and Cologne:
Step 1, go to
www.eurostar.com and buy the Eurostar ticket from London
to Brussels & back. Tickets can
be posted to any UK address, self-printed or picked up at St
Pancras station in London.
Step 2, go to
www.bahn.de, the German Railways website, and buy a ticket from Brussels to
Hamburg (or Bremen or Osnabrück) using the train times on
this page as a guide. Brussels-Hamburg starts
at just 39 euros (£35) each way.
I recommend registering when it asks you before completing
the purchase, so you can easily retrieve any bookings.
You simply print out your own Online Ticket. Easy!
How to buy
tickets by phone...
If you prefer to buy tickets by
phone, call
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), or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 08:30-18:00
Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday, £35 booking fee).
Click
here for a list of
agencies and more information on how to buy tickets.
This is an excellent time-effective option. It runs
daily in summer, but now only 4 times a week in winter, so
on days when it's not running you'll need to use daytime
trains,
see below.
London ► Munich
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 16:02 (15:32 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 Munich by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving Paris Gare de l'Est at
20:20 and arriving in Stuttgart at 04:17, Ulm at 05:42,
Augsburg at 06:33 and Munich at 07:16 next morning.
Important: This train
runs daily for most of the year, but only 4 times a week in winter.
It runs on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until 18 March 2010, then daily for the summer until
8 November 2010, then on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays &
Sundays again until March 2011. This train has a sleeping-car, couchettes &
ordinary seats, see the
photos & information below.
Map of Munich showing the Hauptbahnhof.
More pictures
& information about this City Night Line train.
Munich ►
London
Travel from
Munich to Paris by the City Night Line sleeper train
'Cassiopeia', leaving Munich at 22:43,
Augsburg at 23:20, Ulm at 00:10 or Stuttgart at 01:25
and arriving in Paris Gare de l'Est at 09:23 next
morning. Important: This train runs daily
for most of the year, but only 4 times a week in winter.
It runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays until
17 March 2010, then daily until 7 November 2010, then on
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again until March
2011. It has ordinary seats, couchettes
(4-berth & 6-berth) and sleeping-cars (1, 2 & 3-bed
deluxe and 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 12:29.
Introducing
the City Night Line sleeper train to Munich...
The Paris-Munich overnight train is one of the German Railway's excellent
City Night Line sleeper trains. Called the
'Cassiopeia', it has brand-new 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 and 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower and
toilet, 1, 2 and
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. There's a bistro car available for
dinner leaving Paris eastbound and for breakfast heading
into Paris westbound.
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 14:04 Eurostar & dine at the
Brasserie Terminus Nord directly across the road
from the Gare du Nord. For a cooked breakfast in
Munich or evening meal before boarding the Paris-bound
sleeper on your return, try the typically Bavarian
Mongdratzerl restaurant, located in the hauptbahnhof
itself.
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 Munich": The
'Comfortline' sleeping-car of the Paris to Munich
sleeper train boarding at Paris Gare de l'Est...
* If you have children aged 4- 5 or 12-14,
please read this note
before booking the City Night Line sleeper train..
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time. The normal
return fare shown above requires Saturday night away.
Youth fares:
There is a 25% discount on normal fares (but not Savings
fares) for anyone under 26 years old. Savings fares
usually cheaper!
Senior fares:
There is a 20% discount on normal fares (but not Savings
fares) for anyone over 60 years old. Savings fares
usually cheaper!
How to buy
tickets...
The cheapest
way to book this journey is online, but there are two ways
to do this and they are very different. The best
site to use is usually
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-Munich 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. If you book the sleeper at
www.bahn.de, you'll need to book the
Eurostar separately at
www.eurostar.com. Try both ways of
booking to see what works out cheapest for you.
