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München / Munich to Bruxelles / Brussels by train
Travel direct on the relatively new overnight train, or make connections between ICE trains during the day
There are now two optimum choices for taking the train from München / Munich to Bruxelles / Brussels:
(1) If you are happy to travel overnight there is a direct train which departs on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
(2) The daytime journey requires a connection between two ICE trains at Frankfurt (Main) hbf, but it's an exceptionally easy station in which to change trains.
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Routes
Option 1: by two daytime trains connecting in Frankfurt
Journey Summary
6hr 40 min - 6hr 45 min
Daily
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
- 1 in the Chg. column
- ICE (and only ICE) in the Products column.
- a journey time of between 6hr 41min and 6hr 45mins.
On the English language version of DB search for 'Brussels-South' station and not Bruxelles-Midi.
Reservations are recommended for this journey, particularly on the train between Munchen and Frankfurt (Main); though they will be automatically assigned when booking 1st class end-2-end journey tickets.
General booking tips:
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Journey options departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
There can be particularly large differences in prices per departure on this route.
The cheapest 'Europe Saver Fare' deals can be particularly hard to track down if you will be making this journey on a Thursday or Friday.
Making the connection or extending the transfer time:
These journey times and the associated train specific tickets are are all dependent on making a transfer between ICE trains in Frankfurt (Main) station of around 25mins.
This connection is not guaranteed - it is not particularly unusual for the ICE trains from Munich/Munchen to arrive late in Frankfurt (Main) hbf station.
IF the ICE does arrive too late - then tickets/reservations can be swapped free of charge to subsequent connections at the Reisezentrum travel desk, though the fastest alternatives are likely to involve an additional connection at Koln Hbf into a Thalys train.
But the Reisezentrum travel desk cannot issue Thalys tickets as DB does not sell journeys by Thalys train; you will have to book the Thalys online and then claim the cost of doing so back from DB.
OR minimise your chances of encountering this stressful scenario, by
- clicking on the 'Change' button on DB Bahn
- clicking on 'Change Other Data
- increasing the 'Duration Of Transfer to 'more than 45 mins'
- and then click 'Search'
You can then access journey end-2-end train specific tickets which allow more than an hour to make the transfer between trains.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €35.90 |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
**Final Destination:**Essen or Dortmund
Journey description:
You will be travelling on a mix of high speed and conventional railways
This is a journey of six distinct phases
- Until Ingolstadt the train will be travelling on a conventional railway through a series of commuter towns.
- In Ingolstadt station the train will move on to the high speed line and travel at more than 275 k/mh for around 40 minutes until it reaches the outskirts of Nurnberg
- Between Nurnberg and Wurzburg the train will be back on conventional tracks
- On departure from Wurzburg comes the part of the journey with a wow factor, the train will be on the high speed line for less than 15 minutes, but there are some nice views as the train crosses some long viaducts; in particular look out for when the train will burst out of a tunnel and then immediately cross the River Main.
- Between there and Aschaffenburg comes the slowest, but most scenic part of the trip when the railway winds through some valleys.
- From there to Frankfurt the railway passes through a series of towns.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid
All trains also call at: Aachen and Liege
Most trains also call at: Bruxelles-Nord
A fabulous journey by high speed train
Connect at Bruxelles-Nord for Bruxelles-Central station
This route showcases high speed train travel at it's finest, the journey between Frankfurt Flughafen and Seigburg/Bonn in particular can fuel adrenalin!
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 eight distinct phases:
- Until Frankfurt Flughafen the train will snake its ways through the city's suburbs
- The train will then spend around 40 minutes travelling at more than 270 km/h on the high speed line.
The video was taking on a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives a sense of what a thrill this train ride can be; this is a journey when it's especially obvious that you're travelling on a high speed train!
- 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.
Option 2: Travelling through the night on a direct train
Journey Summary
11hr 53min
Not Every Day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB
These Nightjet trains are managed by the Austrian national rail operator OBB, hence its sells tickets for this route, which doesn't travel through Austria.
The train conveys:
- Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
- Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
- Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
- Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train button ABOVE for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB | * | |
| OBB | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid
The train also calls at: Liege and Bruxelles-Nord
If you will be heading to Bruxelles city centre, you'll have a quicker journey if you leave the train at Bruxelles-Nord station and connect there into one of the frequent trains to Bruxelles-Central station.
Bruxelles/Brussels has rejoined the European night train network, thanks to the restoration of a direct overnight train from Munchen/Munich to the Belgian capital.
Though the service will only be available on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday nights and will be usually scheduled to depart between 22:30 and 23:)0
The train will also have mid-morning arrival time, it will usually be scheduled to arrive in Bruxelles/Brussels at 09:55
The journey experience is dependent on the type of accommodation you choose to travel by on the train; click the 'Nightjet' button above to discover the available options.
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