This is an excellent time-effective option. It runs
daily in summer, but from December 2008 will only run 4
times a week in winter. On days when it's not running
you'll need to use daytime trains,
see
below.
London ► Berlin until 13 December 2008
- Travel from London to
Brussels by Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras at
17:45 (19:30 on Saturdays), arriving
Brussels Midi at 21:10
(22:45 on Saturdays).
-
Travel from Brussels to Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Brussels Midi at 23:41 and arriving at Hanover
06:00, Berlin (Hauptbahnhof)
at 08:13 and Berlin
(Ostbahnhof) at 08:22 next
morning. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car, see the photos & information below.
Map of Berlin showing Hauptbahnhof.
...from 14 December 2008
-
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving
London St Pancras at 15:00, arriving Paris Gare du Nord at 18:56.
It's a
10 minute walk
from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l'Est. By
all means take an earlier Eurostar if you'd like to spend
some time in Paris, or if it has cheaper seats available. -
Travel from Paris to Berlin
by the City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving
Paris Gare de l'Est at 20:20 and arriving at Hanover
07:02, Berlin (Hauptbahnhof)
at 09:02 next
morning. This train runs daily in summer, but will now
run only 4 times a week in winter. It runs daily until
13 Dec 2008, then on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
until 26 March 2009, then daily until 2 November 2009, then
on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays again. The 'Perseus' has sleepers, couchettes, seats
and a bistro car, see the photos & information below.
Map of Berlin showing Hauptbahnhof.
Berlin ► London until 13
December 2008
- Travel from Berlin to
Brussels by City Night Line sleeper train 'Perseus', leaving Berlin Ostbahnhof at
21:17, Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 21:26, Hanover at 23:31 and
arriving Brussels
06:11 next morning. This train has ordinary seats (not recommended), couchettes (4-bunk or
6-bunk) and brand-new sleeping-cars (1, 2 or 3-berth standard
rooms with washbasin or
deluxe rooms with private shower & toilet, highly
recommended), plus a bistro-restaurant car.
Breakfast is included in the fare for sleeper passengers.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
-
Travel from Brussels to London by Eurostar. On
Mondays to Saturdays, a Eurostar leaves Brussels at 06:59
arriving London St Pancras at 08:08. On Sundays, a Eurostar leaves Brussels at
08:53 arriving London at 10:09.
...from 14 December 2008
Introducing the City Night Line sleeper train from
Paris to Berlin...
The Paris-Berlin
overnight train is one of the
German Railway's excellent 'City Night Line' sleeper trains.
Called the 'Perseus', it
has modern 'Comfortline' sleeping-cars
(1, 2 & 3-berth deluxe rooms with private shower &
toilet, 1, 2 &
3-berth standard rooms with washbasin, shower at
the end of the corridor, all rooms with power-points for
mobiles & laptop computers),
modern air-conditioned couchettes (choose between a berth in
a 4- or 6-berth compartment), ordinary seats (not
recommended, as a couchette is far better) and a bistro-restaurant
car. Inclusive fares are charged covering
travel plus sleeping accommodation. The
sleeping-car fare includes a light breakfast in the
restaurant car.
Click for more pictures and information about this train.
1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper: The most comfortable &
civilised option, standard with washbasin or deluxe with
shower & toilet. |
|
4-berth couchettes: Ideal for families.
Much more space per person than 6-berth couchettes. |
|
6-berth couchettes: A very economical
option, far better than a seat for just a few euros
more... |
|
Bistro-bar car:
The bistro
car serves meals, snacks & drinks in the evening,
breakfast in the morning.
Click here for more pictures & information about this
train... |
How much
does it cost?
|
1. London to
Paris
by
Eurostar: |
Return fares
start at £59 2nd class, £149 1st class.
One-way fares start at £44 2nd class.
Advice on one-way Eurostar fares. Child, youth & senior fares
|
| |
|
2. Paris to
Berlin by
sleeper train (per person) |
In a
seat |
In
a couchette |
In
the sleeping-car (standard room *) |
|
6-bunk |
4-bunk |
3-bed |
2-bed |
1-bed |
|
Savings fare, one way: |
29 euro (£21) |
39 euro (£29) |
49 euro (£36) |
- |
- |
- |
|
Savings
fare, return: |
58 euro (£42) |
78 euro (£58) |
98 euro (£72) |
- |
- |
- |
|
Normal fare, one-way: |
101 euro (£75) |
113 euro (£84) |
117 euro (£87) |
128 euro (£95) |
144 euro (£107) |
237 euro (£176) |
|
Normal fare, return: |
202 euro (£150) |
226 euro (£168) |
234 euro (£174) |
256 euro (£190) |
288 euro (£214) |
474 euro (£352) |
|
Child under 14 with own berth: |
51 euro (£36) |
57 euro (£41) |
59 euro (£42) |
64 euro (£46) |
72 euro (£51) |
- |
|
Child under 6 without own berth: |
Child under 6 sharing berth travels free... |
Savings fare =
Special cheap fare, book in advance, limited availability,
no refunds, no changes to travel plans.
Normal fare =
fully flexible, refundable, buy any time.
* The fare for a
deluxe sleeper with shower is around 10%-25% more than the
equivalent fare for a standard sleeper.
www.raileurope.co.uk
is the easiest website to use and you can book both the
Eurostar and the Paris-Berlin sleeper as one transaction.
It's also backed by a UK call centre if you need any help.
-
Go to
www.raileurope.co.uk.
Tickets can be sent to any UK address or can be collected at
the station. Only UK credit cards accepted.
-
Step 1, book the sleeper from Paris
to Berlin. Enter 'Paris' to 'Berlin' and your dates of
travel. It's best to book the Paris-Berlin sleeper
train first and check its exact timetable before
booking the Eurostar connection, in case times vary from the
ones shown above.
-
Step 2, after booking
the Paris-Berlin train, add it to your basket & click 'continue shopping'.
Now book
the Eurostar from London to Paris and back.
Use the recommended Eurostar times above as a guide, but by
all means book an earlier Eurostar outward or a later
Eurostar on the way back if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris.
It's worth
checking prices for the Paris-Berlin sleeper train on
www.bahn.de/citynightline, as this accesses the German
reservation system and prices sometimes vary from those on
the French system used by
www.raileurope.co.uk.
This involves two websites, so do a 'dry run'
first on both sites to check prices and availability before
booking for real.
-
Step 1, go to
www.bahn.de/citynightline, the German Railways official
sleeper train website. Select 'English' top right,
then click through to the online booking system.
-
Book from Paris to
Berlin and back on the overnight sleeper train.
Availability of cheap 'savings' fares and
fully-flexible fares will be shown, for each type of
seat, couchette & sleeper. You pay by credit card and print out
your own tickets in .pdf format. Easy! Note that
the prices shown on
www.bahn.de/citynightline are in euros, and are the
total cost for all passengers selected, not per person.
-
Step 2, go to
www.eurostar.com to book your connecting Eurostar
tickets between London and Paris, using the Eurostar times
above as a guide. By all means book an earlier
Eurostar outwards, or a later Eurostar on the way back, if
this has cheaper seats available of if you'd like to stop
off in Paris for a while. For one-way fares on Eurostar
see this
advice. Eurostar tickets can be sent to any UK
address, or picked up at the station if you're travelling at
short notice or booking from overseas.
-
Always book the
sleeper first and check its exact timetable before booking
the Eurostar connection, as times can vary.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
To book both
the Eurostar and the sleeper train by phone, call
Deutsche
Bahn's UK office on 08718 80 80 66 (lines open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday, no
booking fee, £3 credit card fee), or a booking agency such
as
European Rail
on 020 7619 1083 (lines open 09:00-17:00
Monday-Friday, £25 booking fee per transaction).
|
|
