FIRST CLASS on Germany's only domestic night train - Berlin to Munich in 10 (!) hours
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2024
- There are overnight trains which operate across Germany, but these continue across the border into other countries. Only one train operates overnight domestically, and that is Hamburg to Munich. I boarded the train in Berlin and travelled first class, and it wasn't as luxurious as you might expect. The Steigenberger at Berlin station, on the other hand, was wonderful.
Filmed July 2023 | Berlin, Germany.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:25 Steigenberger Hotel
00:01:48 Berlin Hauptbahnhof
00:01:51 Berlin-Zurich Nightjet service
00:03:23 My train arrives
00:03:48 Depart Berlin
00:04:36 Toilet Tour
00:06:17 Approaching Frankfurt
00:07:12 Arrive Munich
00:07:39 Conclusion
There are other 'overnight' trains you can take throughout Germany. Trains depart Hamburg to Frankfurt & Munich overnight (not via Berlin), which is also an ICE (Inter city express). Enjoyed the vlog.
There is a domestic IC/ICE from Hamburg to Munich via Cologne. The old InterRegio "Thurn und Taxis" was Hamburg - Cologne - Passau. Now that was a ride to behold.
Yeah I was also very confused when he said this is the only overnight train😂
@@lexifillems Not really domestic....
I know stating "it's the only domestic night train" makes for a fun title, but technically it isn't the only domestic night ICE service within Germany.
There are also domestic night services between Hamburg/Kiel and München and between Köln and Berlin.
its the same train - just starts in hamburg - so yes its the only night train
@@printdamnit There's another Kiel - Hamburg - München night service which goes via Dortmund and Köln instead of via Berlin.
There's also ICE949 from Köln Hbf (23:15) to Berlin (05:35) which surprisingly arrived 5 minutes early when I used it!
True good video but no one likes clickbait 🥴
Last week as I was going through germany, I got stuck in stuttgart and got absolutely saved by the night service to kiel hbf, got a good night's rest and got off at cologne around 6AM
What I love about Germany is the amount of airports that have main route access. Makes it much cheaper, especially if on Interrail pass
Really? There isn't that many that the big airlines fly to?
@@jonjohnson2844Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt have main line access, Hamburg Hannover Munich Leipzig Stuttgart have S-Bahn Service
@@jonjohnson2844Berlin, Frankfurt and Düsselorf are the biggest of them, Halle/Leipzig and Cologne also have Long dirstancr Access. Munic airport ks the only big one that only has Regional/Local service.
@@jonjohnson2844 Lol, Frankfurt for starters the biggest international airport in mainline europe
The amount of airports with railway stations in Germany absolutely smashes in comparison with the UK and the rest of Europe
In a zigzag through Germany. It starts in Hamburg east to Berlin then south to Leipzig then west to Frankfurt and then south to Stuttgart and finally east to Munich.
I can't see the point of taking this train Scott. As a previous contributor says it zigzags across Germany and you're shunted four or five times to change directions. If the lights remain on in the carriage you'd need very thick eyeshades and also very good noise-reducing earplugs. I would arrive in Munich like a zombie. I would prefer the normal daytime service.
@@Eurobazz this ICE 699 service is usually quite cheap and thus still attractive to people who want to travel on a budget. And since most people won't care if the train arrives at 6:30 or 7:30, it takes its time. I took it twice on its full route from Hamburg to Munich. I was lucky the first time - it was an ICE 1 instead of an ICE 4 and I had a private compartment to myself in 1st class the whole time. That made it bearable.
Does anyone else remember the "change of personnel" every few hours? You had just fallen asleep when the conductor yanked open the compartment door, flicked the switch loudly, turned on the bright overhead light and shouted "Change of personnel. Tickets please."
@@kayh4656 That's awful. What bastards!
Z höw bettäiR ^?^
Thanks for taking the pain of that journey on our behalf Scott! I see in Norway they have carriages with lie flat seats now, I hope they will be rolled out to other countries. I can never sleep properly in a seated position, you did well to get 2 hours. And yes, I thought they were real flowers in the toilet!
ICE trains are great during the day. When the Bistro is open. Which is actually good
They used to have them in Germany
@@Martycycleman They are still there on some IC and most ICE trains. If you are lucky you might have a Czech restaurantcar or an ÖBB one. If you have no such luck it's no Bistro or a super expensive SBB one. So best bring your own snacks.
Our experience was great Scott. We only took a day ride though it might be worse in the night 😢
In the old days - 1980s - the overnight train from Hamburg to Munich had compartments with 6 seats. As long as you only 3 people in there you could slide the seats into the middle and lay flat. Such is progress...
That surprises me a little bit. Those seats have even two recline levers making the journey even more comfortable. But they are quite well hidden.
not really
The seats are a shame!
The second class seats are even more conftable than The seats in the first class.
But The seats in second class are also not verry conftable
Great to see another video from you. Sunday afternoon treat. Thanks for posting.
Cologne to Berlin is a route I've taken a few time over night, though the ICE over night are normally just repositioning legs, hence they are priced quite cheap, normally the restaurant is also closed on them and limited crew.
I have seen this train in the timetable and wondered what it would be like to take it. It reminds me of the overnight Coaches from Manchester to London which crisscross the country so they don’t arrive too early. I guess this is a useful service since it keeps running. If you ever stop in Ulm I can highly recommend climbing the Cathedral. It’s really high but the view from the top is amazing. I once took the Zurich Berlin sleeper you saw back in the CNL days so glad to see the resurgence in sleeper trains.
The cathedral in Ulm has the tallest church tower in the world!
Cracking report Scott, only been to Munich once but absolutely loved the City.
No kids on board Scott at least. Can't be accused of anything 😊
ive only just found this channel i lived in berlin and munich and nuremberg .
Thank you, and have a nice stay in Munich!
Great stuff Scot, keep them coming
This Friday night I'm going to start a train and boat trip Munich to Stavanger.
First leg: ICE 1688 München Hbf-Hamburg Hbf, departure time 23:00, 2nd class. I don't expect any sleep.
I could have taken the Nightjet, but the connection to the IC to Odense would've been way too tight.
>2h connection may be giving you some peace of mind, but German railways are all but reliable, unfortunately. Personal bad experience with an ICE trip Leipzig-Munich: 100 minutes delay. In German: Arschkarte gezogen.
I am moving soon to Berlin and the night train was one of the first things that I was interested. Thank you for your video.
I don’t know why but I like your videos way more than all the other travel videos. Maybe it’s cause you’re just a genuine nice guy and humble. Keep up the good work 👍🏻
I remember when services like this used to be part of DB's City Nachtline many years ago. Back then you actually got a bed.
Look on the bright side , no Police were involved in the making of this video !
Many faults! This train goes from Hamburg over Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart to Munich. The other overnight ICE goes from Cologne to Berlin ...
Nice one Scott Love mate. 👍👍
Really enjoyed the video Scott 👍
When you said "an overnight journey" I'd imagined you'd be in a sleeping car! 1st class .... well, maybe not. Thanks for taking us along though Scott.
I've done the Munich to Koeln service and sat in an unreserved seat at the end of the train. The compartment is darker as it aids the driver and consequently easier to sleep.
I love an overnight train vlog! Happy to see this upload after a long day of decorating.
Hi Scott, Great videos as always. We all enjoy your journey's they're very interesting and exciting. Good luck on your journey's and thanks for sharing your experiences. Love from Bangalore, India.
I'm glad you did it instead of me!
Hat of to you for these vids, would never do it myself despite living in Italy and Germany for many years.
Steigenberger at Berlin Hbf s great stayed there twice!!!
Seems a crazy route Hamburg to Berlin then back to Frankfurt to get to Munich. Love the journey tho and the video.
Whenever I see this train popping up in late connections between Berlin and Munich, I always wonder who in his right mind would take this non-sleeper all night train ;-)
It's one of these occasions when the red-eye Flixbus services between Berlin and Munich and v.v. look like a better option as they do that trip in 8 hours with only 2 or 3 stops.
Modern Germany is a very compact nation. Before 1945 there were a number of important cities in the German east, a long way from most of the rest of Germany, e.g.. Breslau (now Wroclaw) and Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad), and night trains were much more common, and of course slower than modern trains as well.
Amazing video
I feel your pain for been in that train 😂
Active Noise Cancelling headphones or earbuds are you friend for keeping out unwanted noise, not perfect but a big improvement on having to put up with noise.
taking one for the team on that one!!
Besides the ones that are mentioned, there is also at night train from e.g. Passau (22:53) to Düsseldorf (07:23), or from Duisburg (23:01) to Basel Bad (German border station, 06:11). Very clickbaity title I'm afraid.
There is also the berlin cologne overnight service
I am not sure if you are either a brave man or a masochist for doing such an overnight journey! However, congratulations on such a feat and if you want an even worse journey, try using one of the Stadler flirts (the train at 3:12) that does the journey overnight from berlin to Wien via Praha (it does that journey so that it can be serviced at the Stadler plant in Wien). By the way, were you aware that if you stay at an Intercity Hotel, you frequently get a pass included to travel on local transport in the locale for the duration of your stay (it did for me when in Berlin, Graz and Muenchen).
It is a Stadler Kiss train.
I find ICE4 1st class seats actually less comfortable than 2nd class seats. There is more legroom, but the back is worse padded and worse warmed on the smooth leather-covered 1st class seats than on the thick velour fabric in second class, which makes up for the not particularly good ergonomics of the otherwise identical seat design
It's not a SLEEPER train!! And yes some trains stations in Germany are a terminus station and you reverse out in the other direction. A little more research before your journey and you will know. You didn't know what seat you got? You can pick you exact seat during booking. yes the onboard restaurant is a bummer that it is out of service. It happens to often.
I'm sure rather than complaining that your seat didn't recline and the footrest was faulty, if you'd pointed it out to a member of staff they would have found another seat for you.
to be clear it isnt a usual Night train with sleep cars etc. It travels only over the night. and such trains are more than only Berlin to munich. I travelled 2 times from Munich to Bremen with an ICE with 9 hour travel. and yes its horrible when you want try to sleep. So its not comfortable.
Particularly liked the classic or maybe better described as vintage (1970) class 103 in rail advantage livery at 7m 21s as you rolled into Munich
The seats do recline. The lever is under the seat. Like the power socket, it's in an awkward position.
They don't, at least not as a whole. You can move the lower part (that you are sitting on) forward, and tilt the lower part of the backrest. The headrest does not move, though. As a result, it's not just the levers that are in an awkward position, but the traveller as well. Those are the worst designed seats that I have ever come across in a long-distance train.
Hi Scott. One thing to be aware about those Nightjet trains - ÖBB has recently been quite notorious for last minute downgrades of their carriages. People get downgraded from sleeper to couchette or in some rare cases to regular seating carriages with no notice, by the means of a text message the day before departure. To make things worse, they can claim a part of their money back, but it takes them a while to process all the claims so there's a delay.
This happened to me, I got downgraded from a single sleeper to a seating carriage with no notice, only when I turned up did I know it was happening. I got a souvenir in the way of a receipt to say I'd been downgraded but nothing about I could claim my money back.
I just checked out the ICE11 and the trip it does, quite the scenic zig-zag route, instead of going down from Hamburg straight it does quite an extensive detour via Berlin in the far east of the country, then via Leipzig Erfurt and so on to the quite west Frankfurt and Stuttgart, then turning east again via Ulm to Munich. This train is all over the place...no wonder the whole tour takes that long
4:18 had a mini heart-attack, thinking it said Bielefeld 😂
Why's that? It does really exist.
@@simonh6371
No. They just built a town in that spot and put the "Bielefeld" sign there for deception.
Everybody knows it's fake.
That Berliner Kindl looked the dogs....👌🏼
Hello! ❤ from Shinkansen, Japan
You bought a product thats not designed for sleeping, thats what the Nightjet and other sleeper long distance services are for, so if you wanted a " good night sleep", you were on the wrong train. I very much doubt that many people take this train the entire route anyway, because like you said, if you want to go from Berlin to Munich, there are much faster services.
I think its more designed as a regular service connecting to flights or other business you might have on awkward times, because the train also stops at Frankfurt, the city with the largest airport in the country, for example. And Berlin and Munich have large airports in their own right, as well as Leipzig and Stuttgart. Maybe the DB was just being friendly to play lots of announcements so people who accidentally fell a sleep... at night... you know...? wont miss their stop?
Look, I like a good critique, and you made some valid points, but you used a service thats intended for something else than you used it for, and then to go and complain about it not meeting your specific needs, sounds a bit silly.
The distance Berlin-Munich is about 520 km or 325 miles and I would say that the fare at £50.00 is a bargain. I doubt you would get this here in the UK.
The Steigenberger Hotel, to my surprise, is actually Chinese owned.
Quite a number of years ago my son and I spend a long weekend in Hamburg and stayed, as it turned out, in a Russian owned hotel. The place was spotless, the service great and I gave them 5 Stars on Tripadvisor.
Chinese owned? Wow, I had no idea!
i took the train from BERLIN to NURENBERG
That looked exhausting! I hope you were quickly able to catch up with some badly needed sleep ...
The seats not reclining is a good thing! There are too many assholes that just recline without asking and don't care if you ask your space back. It's an absolutely terrible concept to let people steal other people's space. It could only work if people were polite and civilized, but many just aren't.
Suggest that if you're in Munich then the Zugspitzebahn in Garmisch Partenkirchen or the Hungerburgbahn in Innsbruck may be interesting trips for you, if you haven't visited already of course.
That special buzz from night travel on train journeys - I wonder if it happens to many people or just those that were taken on such journeys when they were kids?!!
Anybody? :)
In 2006 I took an overnight from Nuremberg to Berlin.
GOAT
On a plus note the wider gauge gives more room than uk.
Be specific! The track gauge of 1,435 mm is the same as in the UK but the loading gauge in the UK is quite narrow as a result of poor forward thinking on the part of the early railway companies in the UK in the 19th Century.
It is clear you mean loading gauge (Japanese conventional trains have larger loading gauges and thus have more room, but run on narrow track gauge), but even so, there is a bit of nuance. It seems that Siemens is going for a design philosophy of having longer carriages to minimise bogie count, with 28m coach lengths for ICE4 and 26 for regional Mireo. This does, however, mean that the coaches must be narrower and the ends must be tapered (notice car end doors) and in fact both are approximately within the UK loading gauge limit....but being so long, they strictly wouldn't be. UK stock with comparable width is much shorter, around 20m (eg Javelin). But yes, for a given coach length, they can have wider trains. Or put it otherwise, their structure gauge is generous enough that even with extremely long coaches, they are as wide as UK's widest.
Lol
My favourite German Beer…
You do know that the DB app (and also the website I believe?) allow you to select a specific seat in a specific carriage? So at 02:55... you shouldn't normally have to worry about that??
Was that music that GLoves Trains uses?
hey scott , do you know you were on the same train as the eurostar
Do you notice the difference drinking beer in Germany compared with the UK ? The only beer ive ever enjoyed was in Germany . Not sure what they do in this country .
I think they chuck chemicals in it here, or just use crappy water instead of mountain spring water. After all we are British and don't need nice things and enjoyment in life, like those soft Continentals, stiff upper lip and all that.
It only takes 4 hours during the day! I was in Germany last week, the railways have deteriorated significantly. Every train I was on was late, one cancelled.
Sowas hat's unter'm Adi net gegeben
Can you reserve a specific seat, in advance?
Nice video like always. But it is not completly right. There is also an overnight service with ICE between Cologne and Berlin for example.
Thoroughly enjoyable viewing Scott. Lang may your CZcams lum reek ! 🙂
Better luck next time. Hope the seats recline and they dim the lights next time.
If anything is wrong in the train, just ask the 'state-certified ticket clipper' if you could choose another seat...😁
Not sure why anyone would take a slow as hell train instead of a more than 2x faster one without any ability to sleep properly.
Hi all!
Can anyone give me any advice on any overnight/Sleepers from Munich - Dortmund/Düsseldorf/Cologne.
I’m looking for next July so not sure if I’m too early at the moment
Not a cheapskate. Careful with your money.
So, an uncomfortable seat and no food or drink. What does First Class entitle you to? I'd guess that the cheapest seat on the train wouldn't have been much worse.
WHY does a regular train take around 4 hours from Berlin to Munich and this nite train take 10??? Enquiring minds would like to know..
Scott,
Earplugs are your friend. A quality travel pillow can also be a lifesaver.
Toilet tours aren't necessary. They are mostly nauseating.
The drunker you are, the quicker it goes. Just don't be an obnoxious tooly tourist on board, or dey vill call die Polizei for zee next stop.
Bring books & music & other distractions that don't require wi-fi, as the service can be sketchy sometimes. You may not get any if the ICE train is kaputt & you're downgraded to a regional train. DB ICE trains are notoriously unreliable & consistently late. They're a meme upon themselves.
We sank you fur choosing Deutschebahn...Aufwiedersehen!
10hrs vs 4.5hrs in the day....does it take the classic non high speed routes to stretch it out another 5.5hrs or going real slow?
It’s more like a zig zag
Yes, like mentioned, the trains runs on a zig zag course; go ahead and look it up on a map! Hamburg-Berlin-Leipzig-Frankfurt-Stuttgart-Ulm-Munich.
They are using daytime train on a night service not really practical for overnight service.
DB, in other words
Thanks for a rare trip report. You certainly took a circuitous routing and avoided the newish HS Berlin-Munich line. Using new ICE stock it looked like this train was a positioning service.
no way i could do that, would need sleep
10 hours in a seat! Oh wow. That's brutal. And they don't have sleep wagons in this train I assume?
no DB has declined them a few years ago. Only Nightjet offers a few services.
That's right. As others have pointed out, it's not a "night train" but a regular train running at night. It can be useful for some who need to catch a 5am flight from Frankfurt airport or those who want a really cheap cross-country service. But it's not something you'd consider a decent night train connection if you wanted to go the full length of the trip
I might be really dumb but the product you ended up paying for wasn't clear to me.
They must need 2 engine drivers for all the direction changes….you need an eye mask!
ICE ist auch kein Nachtzug!
Checken die halt nicht
Why would anyone take seat in a ten hour night train...and not a berth? Especially a run that take five hours most of the day and afternoon.
Interesting that its not a 'sleeper' train. But I suppose if it stops so frequently I guess it doesnt make sense. How long would the journey have been from Hamburg? Also lousy that there was no food or drink service at all for such a length of journey. Even British Rail would give you a buffet back in the day for a 10 hour journey (I did Penzance to Glasgow Central in the Cornish Scot (HST) back in around 1993. That was a slog!
Well then you just dont get that these trains are not meant to be sleeper trains at all. They are just running through the night to get to the starting point of their first journey in the morning and you can get on board. Because there is quite some time till the morning they just roam around through the whole country. Thats why it takes so long. The only reason you take this train is Because its cheap or Because you have to get somewhere in the morning. So dont compare this trains to sleepers when they are obviously not. You could say that there should be sleeper trains but that doesnt change the argument that this trains are not meant to be such
Do you speak any German, Scott?
A bit slack having no catering trolley
10 hours overnight with no berth? Sounds like standard class here in the USA! No thanks. I prefer to pay for a berth for an overnight trip.
How do you paid for all that
Why would you not book a sleeper compartment instead of the torture of a seat of ten hours?,
Cause there arent any since its not a sleeper train
Hi Scott great video, just like being at home late trains lol, surprised to hear announcements in English on a Geraman train.
I didn’t know the Germans allowed lateness 😀
standard today 😅😅😅
Then you must be very new to German railways
The popular perception that DB trains are always punctual is an urban myth. Worse still, their delay repay is less generous than UK companies plus they make you jump through hoops. No online application but fill in the form and post it. Then wait....
Germany rulezzz 🤦
Did you say 5 minutes LATE?
Seat didn't recline, light was disturbing, announcements on every station despite people would like to sleep, and a closed dining car. Thank you for traveling with Deutsche Bahn... But at least nearly on time. That's an extra service!
Announcements are to be expected. This isn't a sleeper train after all.
@@bahnspotterEU There is really no need for announcements during the night except maybe for serious irregularities. Anybody can read the screens.
@@5mnz7fg You‘d probably run into issues regarding accessibility regulations. Visually impaired people might not be able to read the screens properly.
As first classes go I particularly like the first class in LNER or GWR trains. DB can't touch those (and I write this as a Dutchman).
LNER because of the service, the GWR trains don't offer any memorable service. The seats are mediocre in my opinion.
When you look at these trains, stations and countries which Scott travels on, travels too. The UK is STUCK ON VICTORIAN TIMES. No Vision, No Progress. Typical.