London to Copenhagen

[rmgreenesq]

I've got the opportunity to ride the rails in Europe next summer. My parents have purchased a Baltic cruise as a family reunion. The cruise ship leaves Copenhagen, Denmark on July 4th. I've been offered free accomodatons and a tour of London on June 30th through July 2nd from a friend who is British and will be in London for a wedding.

So I'm trying to figure out the Eurpoean rail system, specifically how to get from London to Copenhagen via rail. Seat 61 recommends the Eurostar to Brussles and then the DB night train to Hamburg and then on to Copenhagen. Eurostar's website is easy to deal with. The problem is that Deutch Bahn's website is very difficult to navigate (German language pop-up ads!), and even harder to get into English.

Has anybody on this site ever ridden DB's night train? Any clue what the sleeping accomodations are like? There will be three of us traveling (two adults and one small child). Does DB sell sleepers by the bed or compartment? If I purchase a single seat in a double compartment and two seats in a double compartment, can I expect DB to sell the empty seat in the compartment? Is the sleeper worth it? What is the best way to buy this ticket and can it be purchased now to avoid any further slide in the US dollar against the Euro?

Is there a similar website to amtraktrains dealing with rail riding in Europe?

Thanks in advance for any/all advice.

Rick

 

[cp]

You should buy a copy of the Thomas Cook European rail timetable. It shows all complete schedules in Europe. My current timetable shows that it is possible to travel daytime from London to Kobenhavn. Leave London at 0606, arrive Brussels 0934 on Eurostar. Leave Brussels 1017 arrive Koln 1245 on Thalys. Leave Koln 1310 arrive Hamburg 1712 on german ICE train. Leave Hamburg 1725 arrive Kobenhavn 2204 on Eurocity. Other schedules are shown in the timetable. Bon voyage!

 

[Guest]

I don't know what problem you're having with bahn.de, as it's actually a remarkably good website (though I don't notice any ads due to Firefox) and makes the Thomas Cook European Timetable almost entirely obsolete (though the Overseas Timetable is still useful). http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en is the English-language timetable search. That said, note that European train timetables are only fixed about three months in advance so you can't get precise information for a trip so far in the future.

In the current schedule, the Brussels-Hamburg night train leaves Brussels Midi station at 23:41 and arrives Hamburg at 06:52. It is likely that this will be cheaper than the high-speed ICE itinerary suggested by the other guest (which prices at about €100 for just the Brussels-Koln-Hamburg portion), though it's difficult to be sure as DB does not have complete pricing information outside Germany. DB sells sleepers by bed.

 

[Guest]

Also, reservations can be made on European trains up to 90 days before travel. You could buy some Euros in advance if you're that worried about currency change, though putting your money in a savings account in the meantime is likely to work about as well.

 

[abalada]

The night train from Brussels (Bruxelles-Midi) to Hamburg (Hamburg-Hbf) has 3-bed sleeper compartments.

You can book online here. Max. 180 days in advance.

Service from Hamburg to Copenhagen is from today on by ICE-TD trainsets. Part of the route is with the trains onboard

of a ferry.

Europe-Special tickets from Hamburg to Copenhagen are available from EUR 29.

You can book through the DB timetable. Max. 90 days in advance.

 

[rmgreenesq]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I finally got my head around the way European rail works. The Eurostar, Thalys and DB are all seperate railroads. They require booking through three different websites and only Eurostar allows bookings 180 days out. All the others are 90 days only.

Does anybody know on here if there is checked baggage service on any of these trains? Is it possible to check a bag from London to Copenhagen? My guess is no, btu I could be wrong.

Also anybody know the difference between second and first class othern than the price? Is it similar to the Acela business and first class?

THanks for any and and all advice.

Rick

 

[GG-1]

Also anybody know the difference between second and first class other than the price? Is it similar to the Acela business and first class?

Aloha

A friend (passed on a few years ago) rode many European trains. He described and showed many pictures, the major difference IIRC correctly between First Class and Second Class was you had a compartment (1st) to yourself, and you shared your compartment (2nd) with others. This seemed to be true in sleepers. Coach Compartments seemed to be 6 seats. Sleeper compartments seemed to be for 4 people, while some of his pictures showed other arrangements.

A comment from him, a smoker, who stepped off one of the trains for a smoke, described the way the wheels were changed for the different gage track. He also described how concerned/upset the crew was about waking him. He said that he never convinced the conductor how thrilled he was to be awake to see the change.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Why am I now thinking how little the average Amtrak employee would probably care in the same circumstance? I'm probably just applying my usual american sterotype but...

 

[Guest]

Not so fast, Jose, about the glories of travel on that particular route and in Europe and their conductors in particular. My husband and I spent 6 weeks traveling Europe by train for our honeymoon and getting off on the spur of the moment whenever it "looked" like a good gittin-off-place. The conductors seemed to deelllite (emphasis mine) on swinging back the curtain right after a very booming, "GUTENMORGEN, PASSPORT" startling the crap out of us. I learned to pull mine out of my *** without waking up and passing it over. It was very intentional.

I do remember the stillness of the train on the ferry. It was pitch black but you could feel the boat's movements.

 

[rmgreenesq]

I just booked the tickets from London to Brussels. I have to wait to 90 days out or April 3rd to book the rest of the trip as Mrs. Rmgreenesq wants to travel during the day.

I'm not too worried about passport checks. Under the Schengen treaty, my passport will be examined by european immigration officials (french?) in London. I then can stow my passport for the rest of the trip to Copenhagen.

Rick

 

[Neil_M]

I just booked the tickets from London to Brussels. I have to wait to 90 days out or April 3rd to book the rest of the trip as Mrs. Rmgreenesq wants to travel during the day.
I'm not too worried about passport checks. Under the Schengen treaty, my passport will be examined by european immigration officials (french?) in London. I then can stow my passport for the rest of the trip to Copenhagen.

Rick

When leaving London on the Eurostar your passport is checked by UK immigration, then the French immgiration a little bit further on in the departure area. As regards your question regarding checked baggage, the answer is no, you carry what you bring along!

In Europe, only Switzerland offers a form of checked baggage for rail travel.

Try to get to St Pancras a little bit earlier before your train leaves and enjoy the superb restoration of an amazing building!