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Buy tickets from €28.99 at int.bahn.de Direct from Deutsche Bahn with no booking fee, you print your ticket or show it on your phone. Booking opens up to 6 months before departure |
The train link to Denmark & Scandinavia
Air-conditioned trains link Hamburg with Copenhagen in around 4h40 with fares from €28.99. You can check train times & buy tickets at the German Railways website int.bahn.de.
Since December 2019 these Hamburg-Copenhagen trains take the long way round through Flensburg & Odense via the Great Belt Fixed Link and no longer go on the Puttgarden-Rødby train ferry. On the plus side, this is 18 minutes quicker and trains are no longer limited to 3 cars to fit on the ferry. Trains will use this route while the direct line via Puttgarden is rebuilt and the Fehmarn Link constructed, fast trains Hamburg-Copenhagen won't start using this new fast route until at least 2030.
Train times northbound 2026
This is the service from 14 June 2026 onwards. 1 May to 13 June timings are similar, but check online.
A = runs daily 2 May to 1 November 2026.
B = runs most dates 22 May to 30 August 2026.
C = runs daily except Saturdays from 29 March to 11 December 2026.
ECE = EuroCity Express = Danish Railways Talgo train.
RJ = Czech Railways ComfortJet train with restaurant car, through service from Prague & Berlin to Copenhagen.
Times can vary due to trackwork so always check your date at int.bahn.de. .
Hamburg to Copenhagen is 522 km (324 miles) by train via this route. How to reach Legoland.
Train times southbound 2026
This is the service from 14 June 2026 onwards. 1 May to 13 June timings are similar, but check online.
A = runs daily 2 May to 31 October 2026.
B = runs most dates 22 May to 30 August 2026.
C = runs daily 1 May to 12 December 2026.
ECE = Eurocity Express, operated by a Danish Railways Talgo train.
RJ = Czech Railways ComfortJet train with restaurant car, through service from Copenhagen to Berlin & Prague.
Times can vary due to trackwork so always check your date at int.bahn.de. .
Hamburg to Copenhagen is 522 km (324 miles) by train via this route. How to reach Legoland.
What are the trains like?
New DSB Talgo trains - departures marked ECE
The first DSB (Danish Railways) train built by the Spanish Talgo company entered service in November 2025 on the 10:52 Hamburg-Copenhagen and 14:22 Copenhagen-Hamburg. From January 2026 most departures are using these new articulated Talgo trains, shown in timetables as ECE, EuroCity Express.
From 1 May 2026 all Hamburg-Copenhagen departures will DSB Talgos except for the 17:38 & 21:38 arrivals in Copenhagen and 06:22 & 10:22 departures from Copenhagen which from 14 June 2026 onwards will be operated by Czech comfortjet trains running direct to/from Prague.
The new Talgo trains have easy level boarding, power sockets at all seats & free WiFi. There's free self-service tea & coffee in 1st class, and vending machines selling drinks and snacks, but no restaurant or cafe car. These trains use the unique Talgo system, with much shorter carriages than other trains with just one axle between each pair of carriages.
Above, a DSB Talgo train from Hamburg to Copenhagen, boarding on platform 5 at Hamburg Hbf.
Above left, 2nd class. Above right, 1st class. Click the interior mages for larger photos
Above left, area for bikes and pushchairs. Above right, these diminutive articulated Talgo trains offer easy level boarding.
Above left, a seat on the DSB Talgo. Above centre: Luggage rack. Above right: Vending machines. Photos courtesy of Andreas Wiedenhof.
New ComfortJet trains - 2 per day from 14 June 2026
From 1 May to 13 June 2026, the 19:38 arrival in Copenhagen and 08:22 departure from Copenhagen will be a new CD (Czech Railways) ComfortJet train, running Prague-Berlin-Hamburg-Copenhagen.
From 14 June 2026 this increases to two departures per day, the 12:28 & 16:28 departures from Hamburg (17:38 & 21:38 arrivals in Copenhagen) and 06:22 & 10:22 departures from Copenhagen.
These excellent Czech comfortjets have a restaurant car, power sockets at all seats & free WiFi. In 1st class, a steward takes food & drink orders and serves them at your seat. They are shown in timetables as RJ.
A ComfortJet train at Berlin Hbf. Click the interior mages for larger photos.
Lunch and a beer or two in the restaurant car. Photos courtesy of Philip Dyer-Perry.
What's the journey like?
The trains no longer go on a ferry
The highlight of the journey used to be the 50-minute ferry crossing between Puttgarden in Germany & Rødby in Denmark where the train went onto a ship. The Vogelfluglinie (as the crow flies) route from Hamburg to Copenhagen via the Puttgarden-Rødby train ferry dates from 1963, but trains ceased using it (and the train ferry) as of 15 December 2019. The planned Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link will ultimately replace the ferry with a tunnel, dramatically cutting travel time between Germany and Copenhagen, probably from 2029. The associated railway lines are being modernised and Hamburg-Copenhagen trains are currently being re-routed the long way round via Padborg, Kolding, Odense and the Great Belt Fixed Link.
The Rendsburg Loop & High Bridge
There are still things to see on the way. Just north of Hamburg, the trains to Copenhagen cross the high and imposing Rendsburg High Bridge (Rendsburger Hochbrücke) over the Kiel Canal, built 1911-1913, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendsburg_High_Bridge. The bridge is 42m (138 feet) above the canal, it's also a transporter bridge, with a gondola suspended below the deck ferrying cars across the canal. The trains then go around the Rendsburg Loop to lose height (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendsburg_Loop) before passing non-stop through Rendsburg station. You can see Rendsburg marked on the route map below. On the map you'll see another loop at Flensburg, but these trains don't call at Flensburg and by-pass that loop.
Crossing the Rendsburg High Bridge above the Kiel Canal.
The Hamburg to Copenhagen train has crossed the Rendsburg High Bridge and is about to go around the Rendsburg Loop. Photo courtesy of Discoverbyrail.com.
The Little Belt
Between Kolding and Odense, the Hamburg-Copenhagen trains cross a bridge over the Little Belt (Lillebælt in Danish) from Jutland (mainland Denmark) to Funen, the island on which Odense is located, see the route map below.
The Great Belt
Between Odense and Ringsted, the Hamburg-Copenhagen trains cross the Great Belt Fixed Link from Funen to Zealand, the island which includes Copenhagen, see the route map below. For a century, trains were ferried across this stretch of water on a train ferry, this ended when the Fixed Link opened to trains in 1997. It opened to road traffic in 1998. The Great Belt Fixed Link is 18 km (11 miles) long, consisting of a box-girder bridge for the western section for both road and railway, then a suspension bridge for road traffic and tunnel for the railway for the eastern section. It's a major piece of engineering, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Belt_Fixed_Link. The photo below shows the view of the Great Belt Fixed Link from a Hamburg to Copenhagen train about to cross it. The train crosses the West Bridge next to the road, then uses the East Tunnel while the road passes over the East Bridge, visible in the background here. Photo courtesy of Peter Kincey.
Travel tips
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1st or 2nd class?
2nd class is absolutely fine. 2nd class seats are arranged 2+2 across the car width, 1st class seats in the Talgos and Comfortjets are 2+1, so you have more leg and elbow room, and there are solo seats and tables-for-two on one side of the aisle. On the DSB Talgos, there's also a self-service tea & coffee point in 1st class.
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Seat maps: Seat map for DSB Talgo trains (marked ECE). Seat map for CD ComfortJet trains (marked RJ).
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Food & drink on board
The DSB Talgo trains don't have any catering car, just a few card-operated vending machines and (in each 1st class car), a self-service tea/coffee station for 1st class passengers. Feel free to bring your own supplies.
The CD ComfortJets have a restaurant car serving drinks, snacks and meals, 1st class passengers have orders taken by a steward and served at their seat.
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Seat reservation usually optional, compulsory 26 June to 16 August 2026
A seat reservation is usually optional on this route. If you choose not to make one, you can sit in any unreserved seat - a small electronic display above each seat shows whether it is reserved or not. However, a seat reservation is a good idea at any time, and especially on Fridays, Sunday afternoons or around holiday periods.
However, seat reservation is compulsory on these cross-border trains from 26 June to 16 August 2026.
You can add a seat reservation to your booking when you buy your ticket for €5.50 2nd class, €6.90 1st class.
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How to make a seat reservation if you already have a ticket or Eurail/Interrail pass
Bahn.de lets you add a seat reservation when you buy a ticket, and most of the time it can sell stand-alone seat reservations on this route if you already have a ticket or have an Interrail or Eurail pass. Seat reservations usually open 2 months ahead, you simply run the enquiry using the Book seat only link under the red search button. If booking isn't open or can't be done for any other reason it'll say reservation impossible.
If you have any problems reserving at bahn.de, you can also make a seat reservation at the Danish Railways website as shown here. The seat reservation costs around 30 Kr, about €4. The fact that a price is shown doesn't mean booking is open, you only know that it's open and space is available when you click to reserve. You print your own reservation or can show it on your phone.
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Tickets appear to be on sale, but booking won't complete?
German Railways put tickets on sale up to 6 months ahead, sometimes longer. But seat reservations are compulsory on this route in summer, so a ticket cannot be sold without one. Seat reservation inventory is handled by DSB (Danish Railways), who usually just load seat reservation inventory 2 months ahead (although ComfortJet seat inventory may be loaded by the Czechs so might appear earlier). So if you try to book but it fails to go through and this is usually the reason. A known issue! If it'll let you, buy the ticket to lock in the price, then come back 2 months ahead and make a seat reservation. If it won't let you buy, come back closer to travel date.
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Finding & boarding your train
As with most European trains, there's no check-in, just board the train any time before the doors close and off it goes. The platform number will be shown on the departure screens all around the station.
If you run an enquiry at German Railways int.bahn.de, find your train and click details it'll usually tell you the planned platform number at Hamburg Hbf, Copenhagen & other Danish stations.
From 1 May to 13 June 2026, the final destination of the 08:22 departure from Copenhagen will be shown as Praha (Prague).
From 14 June 2026, the final destination of the 06:22 & 10:22 departures from Copenhagen will be shown as Praha (Prague).
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First class lounges
In Hamburg, if you have a full-price Flexpreis first class ticket you can use the DB Lounge at Hamburg Hbf before or after your journey, with complimentary refreshments & free WiFi. But you can't use the lounge with an Interrail or Eurail pass, or a Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis fare.
In Copenhagen, anyone with any type of 1st class ticket including a 1st class Interrail or Eurail pass may use the DSB 1 lounge on the main concourse, with complimentary tea, coffee & free WiFi. Only open Mondays-Fridays, see the Copenhagen station page for opening hours.
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Luggage & bikes
Like any European train, you take your bags into the train with you and stick them on any suitable rack near your seat. There are overhead racks above your seat which take anything up to backpack size. Nobody weighs or measures bags, so no worries.
Bikes are carried on the Talgo and ComfortJet trains, reservation is required and places limited. You can add a bike to your booking when buying tickets at int.bahn.de. This will show which departures accept bikes.
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Power sockets and WiFi
You'll find power sockets at all seats and free WiFi on both the Talgos and ComfortJets.
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Do these trains run on time?
See for yourself how your specific train has performed over the last 30 days: First, look up your train number using the German Railways journey planner at int.bahn.de. Then enter the train number into www.zugfinder.net/en/start.
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Recommended hotels in Hamburg & in Copenhagen.
Route map
How much does it cost?
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Advance-purchase fares start at €28.99 in 2nd class, €59.99 in 1st class.
If you're happy to book ahead and commit to a specific train, these Sparpreis fares are what you want. They are only valid on the specific train you book, limited or no refunds or changes to travel plans. Prices vary, with limited availability at each price level, they sell out close to departure, but they're often available even a few days in advance.
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The fully-flexible fare is around €110 in 2nd class, €171 in 1st class.
If you want to stay flexible and/or buy a ticket at the station on the day, the Flexpreis fare is what you pay. This is good for any train that day. Unlimited availability, they can't sell out. The price varies slightly by date.
How to buy tickets
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Buy at the German Railways website int.bahn.de.
Booking opens up to 6 months in advance, less than this for dates after the mid-December timetable change.
I recommend registering when prompted, so you can log on at any time and check or reprint tickets. You print your own ticket or can show it on your phone. Tips for using int.bahn.de.
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Seat reservation is optional for €5.50 2nd class or €6.90 1st class, except June-September when it becomes compulsory and is included free of charge. Reservation is strongly recommended all year round as these trains get very busy.
Tip: You can only add a seat reservation within 2 months of departure, the booking may fail if you try to buy a ticket with seat reservation added more than 2 months before travel. The solution if booking 3-6 months out is to buy the ticket without any seat reservation to lock in the cheap price, then come back later and make a separate seat reservation 2 months or less before departure, as explained in the Travel tips section above.