London to Berlin by Train or Bus

England to Germany by Eurostar, Thalys, ICE and Night Sleeper Trains

© Henk Bekker

Buses Run between London (UK) & Berlin (Germany), Deutsche Touring / Eurolines

Trains (Eurostar, Thalys TGV, ICE, CNL City Night Sleeper) and buses are alternatives to low-cost airlines for cheap tickets from London in England to Berlin in Germany.

Trains and buses can often compete on price, if not on time, with low-cost airlines when traveling between London in Britain and Berlin in Germany. Train journeys from England require at least one transfer in Brussels and can be as quick as ten hours while direct buses take eighteen hours.

By Train from London to Berlin via Brussels

Train journeys from London to Germany generally start from London St Pancras International Station on the Eurostar. The most logical routing is via Brussels in Belgium with the fastest journeys taking just over ten hours.

The Eurostar trains stop in Belgium at Brussels Midi Eurostar station from where it is about a 15-minute walk for transfers to regular long-distance trains. Eurostar trains have check-in times, usually half an hour before listed departure time, while other trains can be boarded up to seconds prior to departure.

Some, but not all, long-distance trains also stop at Berlin-Spandau and Berlin-Zoologischer Garten station before reaching Berlin-Hauptbahnhof and continuing on to Berlin-Ost. These three stations are often more convenient than the Hauptbahnhof.

From Brussels-Midi to Berlin, several routings are available with options to use daytime trains (transfer again in Cologne) or direct overnight sleeper trains:

From Brussels-Midi station, travelers can take either the Thalys TGV or the Germany Inter-City-Express (ICE) train to Cologne Main Station (Köln Hauptbahnhof). The journey is two hours fifteen minutes. From Cologne, frequent ICE trains run to Berlin in just over four hours.

Daytime trains depart generally hourly from London between 7 and 10 am to arrive in Berlin between 6 and 9 pm. From Berlin, daytime trains depart from just before 7 am to 1 pm to arrive in London between 4 and 10 pm.

An interesting alternative to the Thalys TGV and ICE trains is to use a night train from Brussels Midi to Berlin. The German Railways City Night Liner (CNL) trains are not only modern with luxurious options but convenient (no further connections are needed) and surprisingly cheap.

Reservations are required for City Night Liner, Thalys TGV, and Eurostar trains.

By Bus from London in Britain to Berlin in Germany

Buses offer an alternative to trains and planes when traveling between London and Berlin. Motor coaches operated by Eurolines (in cooperation with Deutsche Touring, Berlin Linien Bus, and National Express) are modern with comfortable seats and onboard toilets.

En route to London, passengers may board the bus only at German stops (Braunschweig, Hannover, and Bielefeld) and disembark at international stops (Eindhoven, Brussels, and Lille). The reverse applies on return journeys.

Trains and buses can be price competitive with cheap flights on journeys between London and Berlin if use is made of discounted tickets. Trains from London to Cologne can even be time competitive with cheap flights while trains to Southern Germany (Stuttgart and Munich) offer a slower alternative to flying.


The copyright of the article London to Berlin by Train or Bus in Germany Travel is owned by Henk Bekker. Permission to republish London to Berlin by Train or Bus must be granted by the author in writing.


Buses Run between London (UK) & Berlin (Germany), Deutsche Touring / Eurolines
Buses Run between London (UK) & Berlin (Germany), Deutsche Touring / Eurolines
Inter-City Express (ICE) in Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Kalmykov Dmitriy - Wikimedia Commons
ICE Train on Museum Island, Berlin, ArielR - Wikimedia Commons
Thalys TGV Train between Brussels & Cologne, Belgium Railways


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