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Hamburg to London by train
How to travel from northern Germany to London by train
This end-to-end journey is less complicated than you might have supposed, with only two easily timed connections required.
Though travelling overnight is not an option on this route.
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Routes
From Hamburg Hbf to London St Pancras International
Journey Summary
from 9hr 41min
Daily
Travel Information
It's worth checking the schedules of the trains that the agents are packaging together when looking up this journey, particularly due to the on-going reduction in the number of Eurostar departures from Bruxelles.
The end-to-end journey times of under 10 hours, on this optimum route, allow around 50 mins to make the connection at Midi station.
This guide has more information re: making the connection into the Eurostar train at Bruxellles-Midi station.
The connecting time between trains at Koln Hbf station will be around 53 min and trains from Hamburg very rarely arrive more than 45 mins late, so making the connection shouldn't be a problem.
Though it is not 100% guaranteed.
Depart from Hamburg before 07:00 and you will be taking an EC train between there and Koln/Cologne.
Mon-Fri = 3 x connections per day
Saturday = 1 x connection (additional transfer required in Hannover)
Saturday = 2 x connections
Change trains in: Koln/Cologne and Bruxelles/Brussels
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: usually open around 6 months ahead of the travel date.
Check the schedules when looking up this journey, the results on the ticket agents combine this optimum routing; via Bruxelles and Koln, with other options.
SMTJ's recommendation is to avoid any option which allows less than 30 minutes to make any transfers between trains.
It's also often possible to depart Hamburg 20 mins later and make an additional connection in Hannover, so these end-to-end journeys can also be included in the journey search results.
Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.
Both RailEurope and Trainline will charge a booking fee for this journey.
Seat Reservations:
Book a 1st class ticket(s) and your seats will automatically be assigned on all trains
The tickets will be train specific, but seat reservations are OPTIONAL l in 2nd class on both the EC or IC train between Hamburg and Koln/Cologne AND the ICE train between Koln/Cologne and Bruxelles/Brussels
The 2nd class ticket prices you will initially see on the agents do NOT initially include the costs of the reservation on these ICE trains.
The reservation fee is 2nd class = €4.50, 1st class = €5.50 – but the reservation charges cover BOTH of the non-Eurostar trains on this journey.
When making a booking on RailEurope you will have to de-select the reservation if you don’t want to reserve seats on the ICEs, but on DB Bahn and the Trainline, you will have to add the reservations.
The trains between Hamburg and Koln tend to be exceptionally busy.
Reservations are compulsory on the Eurostar and this is included when booking point2point journey tickets – your Eurostar seats will be automatically assigned.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | * | |
| Trainline | * | |
| RailEurope | * | |
| B-Europe | * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Departing from Hamburg:
Most of these trains commence their journeys at Hamburg-Altona station and they all call at Hamburg-Dammtor before they arrive at Hamburg Hbf.
Final Destination: Stuttgart or Nurnberg (or destinations in Switzerland)
The DB trains:
Despite there being no high speed lines between Hamburg and Koln/Cologne, some trains between the two cities are ICE trains - either ICE 1 or ICE T trains.
Some trains in the timetable are also EC trains heading to Switzerland - so you may find yourself on a Swiss and not a German IC train.
The lack of a high speed line means that it doesn't matter which train you take in terms of journey time.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: BruxellesMidi/Brussel Zuid
All trains also call at: Aachen
For virtually the entire train journey from Koln to Bruxelles the trains, will either be travelling at up to 290 km/h on purpose built high speed lines, or up to 200km/h on section of railway, that has been re-engineered to allow trains to travel faster.
It is a journey of six distinct phases:
- Between Koln and Aachen the trains travel at up to 200 km/h on a re-engineered stretch of railway.
- Then for most of the the 25 min journey between Aachen and Liege the train will travel at up to 290 km/h on a high speed line; this is also the most scenic part of the trip.
- Then for around five minutes after departure from Liege, the train will travel fairly slowly on a route which ascends from the city.
- Next up is the HS2 Belgian high speed route as far as Leuven, in theory the ICE and Thalys trains can accelerate back up to around 290 km/h on this part of the trip.
- From Leuven to just north of Brussel-Nord station the maximum speed is 200 km/h.
- For most of the journey between Brussel-Nord and Brussel-Zuid the railway crosses the city centre in a tunnel.
Train 3
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Most of the departures between Bruxelles/Brussels and London will be by the e320 trains, but the e300 trains are still used on some departures (they are to be re-introduced in 2022).
Our guide to taking the Eurostar from Bruxelles/Brussels has more information including details of check-in and how to connect into the Eurostar from other train services.
Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with distinct phases and highlights:
1: There is little to see from the high speed lines in Belgium and France.
2: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
3: As the train nears Ebbsfleet International station, comes the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway on a high bridge.
4: After Ebbsfleet International (which can only be seen from the right) the train will enter a tunnel under the River Thames.
As the train exits this tunnel, from the left, the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge can be seen.
5: For most of the final 8 -10 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to enter London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
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