Germany By Train
Germany is filled with interesting destinations, like the dynamic capital Berlin, the enchanting Neuschwanstein Castle, or major cities like Cologne, Hamburg, or Munich. You can also explore the dense forests, mountainous regions, river valleys, or sea coast. In short – Germany has it all.
Train types in Germany
The German railways are run by Deutsche Bahn. You can check train times on the Eurail train timetable or on the DB website.
- Route map
- Domestic trains
- International trains
- Night trains
- Scenic trains
- Private
Your Eurail Pass can also be used on several railway companies in Germany.
Regional and intercity trains in Germany
S-Bahn
Suburban trains that run within most major cities.
No reservations required.
Regional Express (RE)
Connections between regional towns and larger cities. Frequent stops.
No reservations required.
Regional Bahn (RB)
Connections across all local towns. Slower than Regional Express trains.
No reservations required.
Interregio-Express (IRE)
Connections between Germany’s regions.
No reservations required.
InterCity and Eurocity (Express) (IC, EC, and ECE)
Domestic and international connections between major cities. Frequent stops.
No reservations required.
High-speed trains in Germany
InterCity Express (ICE)
Connects major cities and travels at speeds of up to 300 km/h (190 mph).
Includes a dining car.
1st class may have extra benefits, such as ordering from the dining car at your seat.
Reservations optional (but recommended during busy periods).
International trains in Germany
- Berlin/Frankfurt/Stuttgart – Paris
- Reservations mandatory
- Hamburg/Frankfurt – Zurich
- Berlin – Zurich – Interlaken
- Dortmund/Berlin – Vienna
- Berlin – Innsbruck
- Frankfurt/Munich – Amsterdam
- Reservations mandatory 26 June to 31 August
- Berlin - Amsterdam
- Reservations mandatory 26 June to 31 August
- Frankfurt – Brussels
- Reservations mandatory for all services
- Frankfurt – Paris/Marseille
- Munich/Stuttgart/Freiburg – Paris
- Frankfurt – Bordeaux. Running on selected days in summer
- Dortmund – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Brussels – Paris
- Reservations mandatory
- Read more about special booking conditions on our dedicated Eurostar page
- Munich – Salzburg/Vienna/Budapest
- Hamburg - Berlin - Dresden - Prague
- Kiel - Hamburg - Berlin - Prague - Bratislava - Budapest
- Copenhagen - Hamburg - Berlin (From May 2026)
Eurocity/Railjet Brenner
- Munich – Innsbruck – Verona/Bologna/Venice
- Mandatory supplement if you are travelling to/from/within Italy. You can purchase it before boarding, but you can also do so on the train (for a €5 fee). This is in addition to the standard reservation fee:
- 1st class: €15
- 2nd class: €10
- Business Class upgrade: €30 (including supplement)
EuroCity Express (ECE)
- Munich – Zurich
- Frankfurt – Milan
- Hamburg - Copenhagen
- Reservations mandatory 26 June to 31 August
EuroCity (EC)
- Berlin – Gdynia/Warsaw
- Reservations mandatory
- Reservations mandatory
- Berlin – Wroclaw – Krakow – Przemysl
- Reservations mandatory
InterCity (IC)
- Hamburg – Zurich (part of the NightJet)
- Amsterdam – Cologne – Frankfurt – Zurich (part of the NightJet)
- Stuttgart – Zurich
Westbahn (Exp)
- Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg – Vienna
Snälltåget (IC)
- Berlin - Hamburg - Copenhagen - Stockholm
- Reservations mandatory
- From May 2026
Domestic night trains in Germany
ÖBB Nightjet (these trains continue or/and start abroad)
- Bad Bentheim – Münster – Hamm – Frankfurt – Nürnberg – Munich/Passau
- Aachen – Cologne – Augsburg – Munich
- Hamburg – Hannover – Nürnberg – Munich/Passau
- Hamburg – Hannover – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel
- Berlin – Leipzig – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel
- Dresden – Leipzig – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel
International night trains in Germany
- (Dresden –) Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen Örestad – Malmö – Stockholm
SJ Euronight (EN)
- Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen Airport – Malmö – Stockholm
ÖBB NightJet (NJ and EN)
- Munich – Florence – Rome
- Munich – Verona – Milano – Genoa - La Spezia
- Stuttgart – Munich – Udine – Venice
- Hamburg – Basel – Zürich
- Hamburg – Linz – Vienna
- Hamburg – Munich – Innsbruck
- Hamburg – Nuremberg – Vienna
- Amsterdam – Münster – Hamm – Linz – Vienna
- Amsterdam – Münster – Hamm – Munich – Innsbruck
- Amsterdam – Cologne – Basel – Zürich
- Prague/Berlin – Leipzig – Basel – Zürich
EuroNight Metropol (EN)
- Berlin – Dresden – Prague – Bratislava – Budapest
EuroNight Chopin (EN)
- Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Krakow – Warsaw/Przemysl
- Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Budapest
EuroNight Lisinski (EN)
- Stuttgart – Munich – Graz/Ljubljana – Zagreb
European Sleeper (ESL)
- Prague – Dresden – Berlin – Amsterdam – Rotterdam – The Hague – Antwerp – Brussels
- Paris - Brussels - Aachen - Berlin
- Brussels/Amsterdam - Cologne - Milan (From June 2026)
Scenic train routes in Germany
- Offenburg to Konstanz, through the Black Forest and small villages.
- Koblenz to Mainz, through the German wine country.
Elbe Valley Line
- Dresden to Czechia, along the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland.
Neckar Valley Line
- Stuttgart to Heidelberg, along the picturesque Neckar river.
Mosel Valley Line
- Koblenz to Trier, small towns and wine along the Mosel river.
Private railway companies in Germany
Your Eurail Pass can also be used on several railway companies in Germany.
Popular connections
- Domestic routes
- International routes
In Germany it's not mandatory to have a seat reservation on the ICE trains. However, we recommend you to buy a seat reservation, especially if you're traveling in a group. This way you can not be asked to leave a seat, which might happen if you don't have a reservation. We'll explain more about reservations in Germany a bit further down on this page.
View approximate train travel times between Germany's key cities with high-speed ICE trains.
| Route | Travel time |
|---|---|
| Berlin to Cologne | 4h 30m |
| Berlin to Frankfurt | 4h |
| Berlin to Hamburg | 2h |
| Berlin to Munich | 4h 30m |
| Frankfurt to Cologne | 1h |
| Frankfurt to Munich | 3h 30m |
| Hamburg to Cologne | 4h |
| Hamburg to Frankfurt | 4h |
| Hamburg to Munich | 6h |
| Munich to Cologne | 4h 30m |
| Route | Which train? | Travel time | Reservations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin to Amsterdam (Netherlands) | ICE | 6h 20m | Optional (Required June 26 to August 31) |
| Berlin to Prague (Czechia) | Railjet | 4h 30m | Optional |
| Berlin to Warsaw (Poland) | Berlin-Warsaw Express | 5h 30m | Required |
| Berlin to Zurich (Switzerland) | ÖBB Nightjet | 12h 15m (overnight) | Required |
| Dresden to Wroclaw (Poland) | trilex regional train | 4h | Not required |
| Düsseldorf / Frankfurt to Amsterdam (Netherlands) | ICE | 2h 15m / 3h 55m | Optional (Required June 26 to August 31) |
| Munich to Amsterdam (Netherlands) | ICE | 7h | Optional (Required May 28 to August 31) |
| Frankfurt to Brussels (Belgium) | ICE | 3h 05m | Optional |
| Frankfurt to Paris (France) | TGV / ICE | 3h 55m | Required |
| Hamburg to Zurich (Switzerland) | ICE / ÖBB Nightjet | 7h 35m / 10h 55m (overnight) | Optional / Required |
| Hamburg to Copenhagen (Denmark) | ECE/RJ | 4h 40m | Optional (Required June 26 to August 31) |
| Munich to Innsbruck (Austria) | EuroCity / Railjet Brenner | 1h 45m | Optional; Supplement required |
| Munich to Paris (France) | TGV | 5h 40m | Required |
| Munich to Rome (Italy) | ÖBB Nightjet | 11h 30m (overnight) | Required |
| Munich to Venice (Italy) | EuroCity / Railjet Brenner / ÖBB Nightjet | 6h 50m / 8h 40m (overnight) | Optional / Required |
| Munich to Vienna (Austria) | RailJet | 4h 10m | Optional |
| Stuttgart to Zagreb (Croatia) | EuroCity / EuroNight | 10h 45m / 14h 10m (overnight) | Required |
| Stuttgart to Budapest (Hungary) | EuroNight | 12h 50m (overnight) | Required |
| Berlin – Stockholm (Sweden) | EuroNight / Snälltåget | 15h 20m / 17h 15m (overnight) | Required |
| Berlin – Budapest (Hungary) | EuroCity / EuroNight | 11h 30m / 13h 30m (overnight) | Required |
| Frankfurt – Milan (Italy) | EuroCity Express | 7h 45m | Optional |
Dresden – Berlin to Brussels (Belgium) via Amsterdam (Netherlands) |
European Sleeper | 11h 30m (overnight) | Required |
| Dortmund / Cologne to Paris (France) | Eurostar | 5h 10m / 3h 20m | Required |
| Berlin to Paris (France) | ICE | 8h | Required |
Reservations
Reservations for trains in Germany:
- Learn about how and where to book seats, check out our page How do I book seats.
- Find out how much a reservation costs on our page about reservation fees.
Good to Know
Which trains in Germany require reservations?
No reservations: Regional trains: RE, RB, IR
- Optional (but recommended): Long distance trains: IC, ICE, EC, ECE
- 2nd class: €5,50
- 1st class: €6,90
- Required: During summer season on certain international IC/EC/ICE trains from 26 June to 31 August:
- ICE Berlin – Amsterdam
- ICE München/Frankfurt – Amsterdam
- ECE/RJ Hamburg – Copenhagen
- Required:
- ICE Paris-Frankfurt
- Eurostar Dortmund - Cologne - Brussels - Paris
- ECE Frankfurt - Milan
- EC Germany - Poland
- All night trains
- Required: Supplement Eurocity (EC) trains to/from/within Italy. Optional for routes that don't start, end or run through Italy.
Get your Pass for Germany
German Rail Pass
Germany is not available as a Eurail One Country Pass.
If you only want to travel in Germany, check out the German Rail Pass.
Standard prices from $ 187
Global Pass
Be free to visit Germany along with the other 32 Eurail countries.
Standard prices from $ 233
Tips and tricks for Germany
Quick facts
Capital: Berlin
Population: 81.1 million
Language: German
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Dialing code: +49
Spelling of city names
On German train timetables and at train stations in Germany, you'll usually find the local spelling of German cities and stations.
Here is the local spelling of some popular German cities:
Hannover = Hanover
Cologne = Köln
Munich = München
Nuremberg = Nürnberg
German hub stations
Germany's main hub stations are Berlin Hbf, Köln Hbf (Cologne), München Hbf (Munich), and Frankfurt Hbf. At these train stations, it's possible to connect to trains to Germany's main cities and many international destinations.
Station facilities
Stations in Germany usually have excellent facilities, often including:
Luggage lockers
Foreign exchange desks
Restaurants and cafés
Tourist information offices
ATM cash machines
Elevators and escalators
Access for disabled passengers
Get around with the S-Bahn
Eurail Pass holders can travel for free on the S-Bahn (suburban metro railways) networks that DB operates in major German cities. The S-Bahn can be recognized by its logo (a white S on a green background).
Ferry buses to and from Germany
Free bus travel (reservation only) is an extra benefit of the German Rail Pass. Travel from Germany to Italy, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and many more countries.
Get inspired
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1 week in Germany Thanks to a stellar rail network, 1 week in Germany will give you enough time to explore its beautiful regions and fascinating cities! Travel Germany by train with our convenient Eurail Pass. -
Berlin The city of Berlin is a wonderland mixed with history, culture and extraordinary landmarks. With the Eurail Pass, you can travel to the city of Berlin by train and see what Berlin has to offer. Don't miss out! Book your train ticket now #eurailberlin
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