One weekend in Germany and a lot to fit in! To add to the schedule, we had planned to take the slower, more interesting and relaxed route from the UK to Germany and Denmark exclusively by train. This is all perfectly do-able in a long weekend taking Friday off work and two full days on Saturday and Sunday. Our plan was to kick things off with the direct Eurostar service from London to Amsterdam…
London to Amsterdam by Eurostar
But luck wasnโt on our side… We had booked several weeks in advance on one of the three direct train options from London St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal stations with operator Eurostar. I wanted a repeat of this smooth journey I had completed in April 2018 where the train passes through four countries seamlessly. Also I wanted to spend the time in Standard Premier class where you can enjoy a couple of small bottles of wine and a light meal and snack… bliss. On this train you donโt even notice the border crossings thanks to pre-travel check-in in London and with France, Belgium and the Netherlands being in Schengen Area. See my earlier blog post from 2018 here.
Unfortunately, one week prior to departure, Eurostar informed us that our train was cancelled due to a French General Strike affecting flights as well as the railway. It was just part and parcel of travel and the sometimes unexpected fun of having to think on your feet.
Naturally, in order to continue with the rest of the trip myself and my friends Mike and Ed had to find an alternative way to travel from the UK to Amsterdam. So I obtained a Eurostar refund and booked a flight with easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam for ยฃ29 – not bad for one week before the time I wanted to travel. The flight served its purpose but was quite boring, thereโs something truly special about travelling by train instead of flying as well as the environmental benefits.
I arrived in Amsterdam to meet my friend Mike who had flown to Amsterdam from a different airport and Ed was joining us later in Hamburg. We headed for the cosy Cafe Pollux for a few beers and then next door to our hotel, the Hotel Mansion, which was very comfortable.
Amsterdam to Dรผsseldorf by NS/DB ICE train
The following morning we set off early to catch the 08:08 InterCity Express (ICE) train from Amsterdam Centraal bound straight to Germany, operated jointly by state operators Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) and Deutsche Bahn (DB). The train was booked to be two trains coupled together for its journey to Basel in Switzerland, however our bad luck continued as due to a train fault one of the trains wasn’t there and that included our reserved coach.
Not to worry, we found some staff for advice on the platform and were advised to find any unreserved seats. Much to our delight we found several unreserved in the panorama coach… yes on the DB ICE 3 trains you can sit behind the driver and the cab with a glass screen between!
We arrived in Dรผsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) in good time and as we werenโt meeting Ed until the evening in Hamburg, we were able to take full advantage of our flexible pass to travel virtually anywhere in Germany (European rail staff FIP free coupon, but similar to flexibility of publicly available InterRail passes), being able to be spontaneous.
We opted first for a trip to Wuppertal to ride the recently re-opened Schwebebahn, only 20 minutes from Dรผsseldorf Hbf by DB operated Regional-Express (RE) train.
Riding the Schwebebahn ๐
Built as a means to get city dwellers from one part of Wuppertal to the other is the Schwebebahn – the worldโs oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars. It was closed for eight months due to an accident in November 2018.
The Schwebebahn is fast and efficient and during our visit it was very well utilised by the locals with our carriage soon filling to capacity. We joined at its southwestern start in Oberbarmen and travelled the full length to Vohwinkel Schwebebahn in the northeast. The full journey time is 25 mins with the train covering 13.3km with 21 stops in total. It weaves its way through city streets then the river Wupper up to Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof.
Next up we boarded an ICE headed for Cologne. We went to the Bordrestaurant for a drink and shared a table with a gentleman travelling to work. We asked for recommendations of where to go and he recommended Bonn so we headed there changing at Cologne for a regional train to Bonn Hauptbahnhof. We spent a few hours here before ultimately heading to Hamburg.
Bonn, one of Germanyโs oldest cities, did not disappoint. We enjoyed a walk around the old town, perusing the Christmas markets, supped some beer at the Brauhaus Boennsch, with its famous non-symmetrical curved glasses, and grabbed some pastries for the road from a local bakery before continuing our journey north.
We headed from Bonn to Cologne on a National Express regional train and then changed onto our ICE up north. There was a direct InterCity train from Bonn but we wanted to ride in the more comfortable ICE.
Koeln Hbf to Hamburg Hbf via DB ICE trains
In order to travel by ICE trains we would have to change trains in Hannover.
Our next leg was from Cologne to Hannover was on a DB ICE 2 train, taking 2 hours and 40 minutes.
We were hungry so instead of finding an unreserved seat we headed straight to the Bordrestaurant, the DB dining car. We started with some beers, Erdinger wheat beer was a very tasty choice. We then tucked into the German speciality currywurst followed by a rice pudding with the choice of cinnamon or sugar as a topping. Absolutely delicious and reasonably priced!
Then an easy 8 minute change at Hannover and we continued our journey on a brand new ICE 4 to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof… in the bar of course.
Hamburg to Copenhagen via train-ferry ๐๐ณ
Until December 2019 there were three departures each day each way connecting Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Copenhagen Central Station with a direct EuroCity train operated jointly by DB and Danske Statsbaner (DSB). What was very special about this international rail route is that the train boards a commercial Scandlines ferry as part of the schedule for its journey from Puttgarden to Roedby! This was one of three routes in Europe that has such an operation of a train going onto a ferry.
This route has now been changed so the train-ferry no longer runs and the train from Hamburg to Copenhagen goes on an overland route to the west which is longer in distance but is a similar journey time to what the ferry option was. In the coming years a tunnel will be built between Puttgarden and Roedby calling an end to the future of the train-ferry service.
Luckily, we managed to fit in the penultimate weekend of operation of the train-ferry in December 2019…
We set off on train โEuroCityโ 33 from its origin Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and were travelling to its terminus of Copenhagen (Kobenhavn) Central Station. The train was an DSB owned IC3 variety. There were two of these trains coupled together to make a 6-car train and even then every seat was taken, but this couldโve had something to do with the penultimate weekend of operation. The train didnโt have a dining car, but did have a vending machine selling some expensive Coca Cola which didnโt tempt me unsurprisingly.
I donโt know whether the ferry related quotes on the wall will survive once the route has changed!
The scenery wasnโt much to write home about and there wasnโt much life along the route – though there was plenty of sea on the approach to Puttgarden. At one point the train was surrounded with views of the sea from both sides.
As the train went onto the ferry, there was a thorough announcement by the conductor in three languages, Danish ๐ฉ๐ฐ, German ๐ฉ๐ช and English ๐ฌ๐ง, asking customers not to remain on the train once it boards the ferry – the train would be locked shut.
See below the video of the train boarding the ferry complete with the announcement!
Once we had boarded the ferry the capacity issues had become apparent – the train was practically touching both ends of the ferry – some impressive train driving going on there!
The ferry was large and had a number of amenities from a restaurant to a supermarket. You could tell it was a Scandinavian ferry by the eye-watering prices onboard, however the deck space was free for some fresh Baltic sea air.
The train arrived into Copenhagen and what a beautiful historical station it was with red and black checkered tiles and a very grand wooden roof.
Copenhagen city itself was a great place to finish the trip with some beautiful historical buildings and churches. The Christmas market was on and who knew the Danes were as crazy about Christmas as we Brits are? There were many places to buy โgloeggโ (mulled wine) at the market, and we were able to try โsnapsโ, a local floral-flavoured spirit traditionally served with a meal.
Tickets
| Train | FIP Rail Staff Travel Facilities | Public Fares (purchase online at DB Bahn) |
| London to Amsterdam (Eurostar) | ยฃ44.50 in Standard / ยฃ62.00 in Standard Premier | From ยฃ35.00 in Standard / From ยฃ79.00 in Standard Premier |
| Amsterdam to Duesseldorf(NS/DB ICE) | NS/DB Free Coupons + 4,50 EUR Optional Reservation | From 18,90 EUR bought in advance in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation From 29,90 EUR bought in advance in 1st Class (inc. seat reservation) |
| Duesseldorf to Wuppertal (DB RE) | DB Free Coupon | |
| Wuppertal to Cologne (DB ICE) | DB Free Coupon + 4,50 EUR Optional Reservation | From 13,90 EUR in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation Cheaper RE trains also available. |
| Cologne to Bonn (DB RE) | DB Free Coupon | |
| Bonn to Cologne (DB RE) | DB Free Coupon | |
| Cologne to Hannover (DB ICE) | DB Free Coupon + 4,50 EUR Optional Reservation | 23,90 EUR in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation Cheaper IC trains also available. |
| Hannover to Hamburg (DB ICE) | DB Free Coupon + 4,50 EUR Optional Reservation | From 12,90 EUR in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation (through tickets from Cologne to Hamburg from 27,90 EUR in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation) |
| Hamburg to Copenhagen | DB/DSB Free Coupons + 4,50 EUR (on train-ferry) | From 28,90 EUR in 2nd Class + 4,00 EUR optional seat reservation on current IC train route (non-ferry). From 54,90 EUR in 1st Class including seat reservation |
This article was first published in January 2020.
Rail Away 