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London to Hamburg by train
How to take the optimum rail journey from London to Hamburg
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Routes
From London St Pancras International to Hamburg Hbf
Journey Summary
9hr 10min
Daily
Travel Information
Most of the time this will be a straightforward end-2-end journey showcasing the best of 21st century European rail travel.
However - before booking this trip it's worth being aware of the following:
- The connections with a total journey time of less than 9hr 20mins are all dependent on making a 20 min connection between trains at Bruxelles Midi/Zuid station.
And these journeys also tend to be the cheapest option on this route. - But the connection is not guaranteedthe ICE train on to Koln/Cologne will depart no more than around 10 mins late, irrespective of when the Eurostar from London will actually be arriving.
- Though won’t have to buy new tickets/reservations, in the event of a Eurostar arriving too late in Brussels/Bruxelles to make the connection, but you won't be arriving in Berlin by the end of the day in the event of a missed connection, if you opt to depart London at 11:04.
The usual alternatives, which avoid having to change trains against the clock, aren't currently available
The connection between trains at Koln Hbf station:
The connecting time at Koln Hbf station between the arrival of the ICE from Bruxelles and the departure of an IC or EC train on to Hamburg is always between 45 and 50mins.
You can usually shave 15 – 20 mins off the journey time by taking an ICE train on to Hannover from Koln/Cologne and making an additional connection between ICE trains in Hannover.
Though some of those additional connections in Hannover are tightly timed.
**up to 2 x connections per day
Changing trains in: Bruxelles/Brussels** and Koln/Cologne (and in Hannover on some connections)
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: usually open around 6 months ahead of the travel date.
Worth knowing before booking London to Hamburg train journey tickets online:
Eurostar's online booking service does not sell tickets for this journey.
Changes to ticketing on this route:
The German national operator DD has withdrawn its 'Europa Sparpreis Spezial' and no longer sells that type of tickets on this route, as a consequence the cheapest prices of booking the end-to-end journey has increased.
However, DB has retained its offer of 'Europa Sparpreis Spezial' tickets on the Bruxelles > Hamburg part of the journey when travelling by the ICE trains (and not the Thalys trains from Bruxelles on to Koln)
As a result it's now often possible to save money by booking separate tickets for the London > Bruxelles journey with Euroster and then booking the Bruxelles > Hamburg journey with DB.
Though if you do so, it's likely that you will have to re-book tickets for the journey on to Berlin, in the event of a delay to a Eurostar causing a missed connection in Bruxelles.
Which can be an issue when the connecting time between Eurostar arrivals and ICE departures is only around 20 mins.
So an option (usually) is to book the tickets, so that depart London on an early morning Eurostar, so that you can take a later ICE train on from Bruxelles.
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 in 2nd class on the ICE trains between Bruxelles/Brussels and Koln/Cologne and between Koln/Cologne and Hamburg
The 2nd class ticket prices you will initially see on Trainline does not initially include the costs of the reservation on these trains.
The 2nd class reservation fee which covers both trains is €4.
Reservations are compulsory on the Eurostar and this is included when booking point2point journey ticket, your Eurostar seats will be automatically assigned irrespective of whether you book 1st class or 2nd class tickets.
Missing a booked connection at Bruxelles-Midi station:
Tickets/reservations can be transferred to alternative connections on from Bruxelles and/or Koln, in the event of a train being delayed and a booked connection being missed; IF you have booked the end-to-end journey together.
Tickets/reservations on to the next ICE to depart can be swapped free of charge at SNCB's International Travel Desk at Bruxelles-Midi station.
Using rail passes:
Rail pass users need to make reservations on the Eurostar and more information about how to do this online is available if you click the Eurostar train details.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Trainline | from €59 approx |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
As a consequence of the Covid-19 crisis Eurostar is operating a particularly limited timetable for the time being - further information is available on Eurostar.com
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi or Amsterdam
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind - so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour longer.
Most of the departures between London and Bruxelles will be by the e320 trains, but the e3300 trains are usually used on some departures.
The usual calls at either Ebbsfleet or Ashford International stations, have been been temporarily suspended until further notice.
However as the trains only call at these stations to pick up passengers. these station calls are not included on the departure boards at St Pancras International, or usually announced on the train.
Eurostar requests that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins before departure; though this time increases to 45mins before departure on weekends and holidays.
If you have a Business Premier ticket, Eurostar recommends that you only have to check-in 10 mins before departure.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: 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.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France and Belgium.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main)
Departing from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station:
You will usually* have to pass through security checks before boarding these trains and queues can build up at busy times.
*The security checks are at the entrance to platforms/tracks/voies 3 -6 and these ICE and Thalys trains to Koln are usually scheduled to depart from this part of the station.
But check the departure screens before heading for the security checks, these trains can occasionally be scheduled to leave from platforms/tracks/voies 7 or 8.
For virtually the entire train journey from Bruxelles to Koln the trains, will either be travelling at up to 290 km/h on a purpose built high speed line, or up to 220km/h on a section of line, that has been re-engineered to allow trains to travel faster.
The high speed part of the route comes between Leuven and Aachen.
Train 3
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Hamburg-Altona (or Kiel or Lubeck)
All trains also call at: Bremen
All of these trains will call at two stations adjacent to Hamburg city centre - Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Dammtor.
So it can be worthwhile working out which of these stations in the city, will suit your needs best, before making the journey.
The different trains and routes:
Despite there being no high speed lines between Koln/Cologne and Hamburg, some trains between the two cities are ICE trains.
Some trains in the timetable are also EC trains and not IC trains - these trains will have commenced their journeys in Switzerland - so you may find yourself on a Swiss and not a German IC train.
Although the lack of a high speed line means that it doesn't matter which train you take, in terms of journey time.
Trains between Koln/Cologne and Hamburg also take one of two routes (i) via Dusseldorf or Essen, or (ii) via Wuppertal.
Trains that travel via Wuppertal are slightly faster than those which travel via Essen - but the time difference is marginal, so it's not worth targeting the trains that travel via Wuppertal.
Whether a train travels via Wuppertal or Essen also makes no difference to the ticket price.
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