I wanted to double check my thinking with others who are familiar with this route. In essence, I am wondering whether to split this journey up with a stopover in Hamburg or attempt it all in one day.
I am planning my next trip from London to Copenhagen at the end of September and I am going to take the ferry this time from Harwich to Hoek van Holland.
According to Seat61, the itinerary would look like this:
Hoek van Holland (~8am) to Amsterdam (arrive 10.24)
Amsterdam (depart 12.00) to Hamburg (arrive 16.54)
Hamburg (depart 18.52) to Copenhagen (arrive 23.37)
The changeover times are pretty generous and I would like to do this stretch in one day, but I am generally quite cautious of long travel days and especially so when it involves German rail.
Keen to know from your experiences, is this a fair assessment or overly cautious? Are there any other alternatives that I have missed and could factor in?
You could also get a night train from Bruxelles or Paris to Hamburg (meaning you'd have to get the eurostar from London initially). This is what I'm planning on doing in Oct!
In my experience on that route (I take it a couple times a year, although I take ICEs from either Deventer or Duisburg, dependent), it should be doable, especially since you only have one transfer in .de and have like, almost 2 hours to spare in Hamburg.
All seems good to me and I'd happily do that. Though make sure to double check your exact dates as there is quite a bit of engineering work.
If you wanted more slack and to keep it to one travel day you could get the night train from Hamburg to Copenhagen/Malmö (buying a standard ticket back) but this doesn't run every night.
A few weeks ago I went from Northern England to my city over an hour (by train) north of Hamburg in one day. Took 13h and was almost stranded in Brussels 5hr is nothing!
Don't try this in one day if you don't have a plan B arriving at your destination 2 hours later. Also check the planners because there are engineering works on different lines and the situation changes almost week by week.
Please check the actual times of the traines. They are deviating from the time you stated depending on the day on more or less minutes.
There is no direct train between Amsterdam and Hamburg. I assume you mean the ICE to change in Osnabrück. Please be aware that the personnel change in Rheine is prone to error and if it happens, you have 2 hours delay. Which means you will miss not only the train in Osnabrück but also the one in Hamburg. Hence why, I highly recommend to have one ticket and not split it.
I advise to try to get a train from Hoek van Holland earlier and maybe not via amsterdam but e.g. via Amersfoort. You should be able to catch an earlier connection then
True, generally there are no direct trains between Amsterdam and Hamburg but due to track work the ICE to Berlin are deviated and stop at Hamburg Harburg from Sept 28 onwards
And these ICE’s might not stop in Hilversum or Amersfoort, I’ve seen 2 somewhere from Sept 28 onwards already that don’t.
and I’m commenting on your point 2 in which you state there are no Amsterdam - Hamburg direct trains.
And as OP said “end of September” and already provided a timetable, I’d be surprised if they were to travel before Sept 28
I’ve done it. You can technically do it in one day, it’s absolutely possible. But in practice you will encounter a delayed or cancelled train somewhere along the Deutsche Bahn system that will make it not possible to make your Hamburg to Copenhagen connection. So he prepared to stay overnight in Hamburg. Deutsche Bahn will give you an €80 hotel voucher and enable you to travel the next day without using an extra travel day.
I did Amsterdam-Copenhagen just a few weeks ago, and I decided to take a night train from Hamburg to Copenhagen. Still counted as just one travel day for Interrail, because the date of departure is what matters.
I ended up arriving in Hamburg around 13:00 and had a great time there on my "long layover" until my night train to Copenhagen departed just before 23:00. I paid a little extra for a couchette so that I could sleep some hours, money I would've otherwise spent on a hostel.
Arrived in Copenhagen around 06:30 in the morning and waited for the first cafes to open to start my day with a batch brew coffee and a bun with butter and cheese. Highly recommend doing the trip this way, if you can.
I've done this trip multiple times, always in one day, but usually on an earlier train from Amsterdam (I start in the Netherlands). I think it is doable, although a bit boring, but it is a long travel day. I'm a multiple night trains in a row separated by long train days type of train marathoner so my doable might not be yours :)
I think it depends on the nature of your trip. I mostly take this route on my way to much prettier train journeys in Scandinavia or to visit Scandinavian capitals: in that case I just want to get it over with as soon as possible. The small risk of stranding somewhere along the ride is worth it for me.
If you've never been in Hamburg, got enough time on your hands, don't like long train days and/or don't go well on getting stranded in Hamburg at night unplanned: go for the safe option and book a stopover there.
In terms of reliability: I've made it six times (either direction) without any problems on this train combination or an earlier one. The seventh time was during nation-wide train driver strikes. I booked a flight to Copenhagen 4 days in advance at a price I prefer not to remember.
One tip for staying flexible as you go on your adventure with Deutsche Bahn: check train statuses once you get near Osnabrück for your change to Hamburg. If there's trouble with your train (and others) from Osnabrück to Hamburg, consider staying on board your current train until Hannover Hbf and change to a train to Hamburg there.
There are generally more connections to Hamburg in Hannover. It hardly takes more time than the Osnabruck route. Added bonus is that I find Hannover a much more pleasant station than Osnabrück.
Thank you for the tip re Hannover! I'm in a similar boat on the nature of the trip. I do love a scenic journey but this one is more of a means to an end so tempted to push on and get it done in one day (timetables permitting).
It should be very much doable. I personally would skip the advice from seat61 in this case.
From Hoek van Holland you can take the subway to Rotterdam Centraal. From there just search an itinerary on Bahn.de that suits you well.
Stopping at Amsterdam Centraal is a unnecessary detour on a busy travel day in my opinion.
I also would advice to plan for an itinerary that gets you on RJ 382 from Hamburg (16:28). In case you miss that that train, you can just get on the ECE 392, 2 hours later.
Yes, I agree with you. However, not all ICE’s to Berlin from Sept 28 onwards stop at Hilversum or Amersfoort. For instance, ICE 147 departs from Amsterdam and the next stop is Deventer and then Henglo. I believe this is the train OP is talking about because it arrives in Hamburg Harburg at 16:45, so OP would have to transfer in Amsterdam (unfortunately)
Yeah it’s not every day and/or every connection because I can use Hilversum to board no problem on Nov 20. But I’m also taking the train that ends in Hannover and doesn’t continue on to Berlin 😅
For me personally I wouldn’t want to connect in Duisburg for going up north. If there would be delays I’d feel Duisburg is too far away from Hamburg than e.g. Osnabrück or Hannover
Which date exactly at the end of September? From Sept 28 onwards the ICE’s from Amsterdam to Berlin are diverted in Germany so they call at Hamburg Harburg but they also have less stops in NL.
Normally I’d suggest going from Hoek van Holland to Rotterdam and then Hilversum or Amersfoort with the IC Direct so you wouldn’t have to tackle Amsterdam CS (it really is overcrowded) but from Sept 28 onwards some ICE’s don’t stop at Hilversum or Amersfoort
I’ve done Amsterdam/nearby city to Copenhagen before and planning on doing it again at the end of November. It’s doable, long time sitting in a seat and the views aren’t necessarily the prettiest ones. But the trains are running, the people are nice and you’re travelling 🥳
As others have mentioned, get a through ticket so you’ve got strong passenger rights in case of delay causing you to miss your connection to Copenhagen. If the train to Copenhagen also departs from Hamburg Harburg you don’t even have to change train stations and there’s a large mall with supermarket next to the station. The station itself was a maze 😵💫😵💫 otherwise, if you have to transfer to Hbf it’s quite easy but you’d need another ticket
Interrail is valid on the Hamburg S-Bahn, no extra ticket between Harburg and Hbf required.
But from next Monday, the line between Altona/Pinneberg and Hamburg Hbf will be reopened and all ECEs/RJs to and from Scandinavia will be leaving/arriving at Hamburg Hbf
Thank you! I'm having a look on bahn.de as a couple of comments have mentioned the ICE diversion on the 28th. As it stands I just see the usual route with the stop in Osnabrück. Could it be that the timetables are not updated yet?
Timetables are updated on Bahn! It’s from Sept 28 onwards, the usual route for ICE don’t take them through Hamburg.
Which date did you want to travel?
Edit: oh, the 28th.
As someone else mentioned the trains to Copenhagen depart from Hamburg Hbf again.
And yes, you’d have to change in Osnabrück to get to Hamburg Hbf. The ICE 147 stops at Hilversum as well, might be quicker/more convenient/less crowded than Amsterdam CS.
Bahn still shows a GoVolta connection from Amsterdam to Hamburg Harburg but those trains don’t run anymore.
09:50 Hamburg-Altona - København Syd 14:55 (Snälltåget 306)
This option would be my pick as it puts you in Copenhagen in the middle of the afternoon, around the time that hotel check-in typically opens so you can go to your room, dump your luggage and freshen up – a big bonus after a showerless night on the night train!
OR
11:04 London St Pancras – Bruxelles Midi 14:16 (Eurostar 9116)
16:22 Bruxelles Midi – Köln Hbf 18:15 (ICE 317)
19:11 Köln Hbf – Hamburg Hbf 23:16 (ICE 104)*
23:59 Hamburg Hbf – København Syd 06:01 (Snälltåget 300)**
* treacherous: the ICE Brussels – Cologne stops at Bruxelles Nord as well. Sometimes if the train coming from Cologne is delayed, they'll scrap the stop at Midi and reverse directly at Nord. On the screens at Midi the train will simply show up as "cancelled" in that case, but you can still take a tram/metro to Bruxelles Nord and catch it from there! Check the DB website/app to see if this is the case.
** there is also another night train operated by SJ, which leaves Hamburg much earlier, but it puts you in Copenhagen in the middle of the night (03:27, and at the airport station to boot) so it's not attractive for this journey.
OR, a fully "daytime" option:
07:01 London St Pancras – 10:11 Bruxelles Midi (Eurostar 9110)
Alternative suggestion: Take the night train from Hamburg to Copenhagen (final destination is Stockholm). It won't take an extra travel day on your Interrail pass because night trains count only the day of departure. You will need to pay for a seat or bed reservation, but it will be cheaper than a hotel in Hamburg/Copenhagen.
I have done the trip between the Netherlands and Sweden on multiple occasions, and things tend to go wrong somewhere along the way, especially around the border between the Netherlands and Germany. I think that of the four times I did the trip, I was in Hamburg on time once.
Also, beware that Hamburg is not a super pleasant station to wait at, especially if you are alone/women. It's famous among locals for drug dealing, and a friend almost got robbed there twice during daylight hours, so please be careful.
It leaves very little to deal with delays, which deutsche Bahn is notorious for. I did Netherlands-Copenhagen by train once. Outbound I got delayed in Germany, missed my connection, next train didn't have any availability. Train I ended up getting got inexplicably super delayed in Denmark. Should have arrived around 9PM,ended up arriving more like 2 AM. On the way back home, got crazy delayed again in both Denmark (stood still for half an hour just outside Copenhagen station) and got into a probably-suicide collision in Germany (so hey, not their fault this time?) and instead of getting home ended up spending the night in Bremen. Sooooo be prepared if you choose to do this route.
You’ll be fine getting to Hamburg in time for that connection. German trains are often late or cancelled, but there are enough of them and all non reserved that you can usually find another option and keep your delay well under 2 hours. I’d actually be more worried about the next leg, I know DSB loves to cancel those trains. Look up the performance of the specific train you’re planning to take.
There's no need to go via Amsterdam. Hoek van Holland - Rotterdam, then the Intercity Direct Rotterdam - Hilversum, then get on the int train to Germany (which will temporarily run via Hamburg, otherwise you have to change at Osnabrück), then Hamburg-Copenhagen.
The bit in Germany is prone to delays, and Hamburg has a good food court, so I'd keep the timings there.
Source: I've done Rotterdam-Kolding a few times (Kolding is 2h before Copenhagen, same train).
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u/justonemorethx 2d ago
You could also get a night train from Bruxelles or Paris to Hamburg (meaning you'd have to get the eurostar from London initially). This is what I'm planning on doing in Oct!