London - Berlin

[deltic]

I'm hoping to travel with two children (12 & 15) from London to Berlin via Eurostar and City Night Line sleeper from Paris in August. A bit confused about what age children have to pay adult fares - seems over 12 on Eurostar for advance tickets - and over 14 on sleeper. Is this correct?

Is the best way to book to buy seperate tickets for both legs or is it cheaper to book London _Berlin and then pay the sleeper supplement?

Any other tips welcome

Many thanks

 

[eastwestdivide]

Alternative route - Dutch Flyer: train from London-Harwich, overnight cabin in boat, train to connect with DB train to Berlin from Amsterdam/Utrecht/Amersfoort, depending on how the connections work out.
Depends if you or the kids like boats I suppose. You get to sleep on the high seas, so you'll see more of NL/Germany, but miss out on the experience of St Pancras and the tunnel.

Presumably you've had a look at the seat61 site? - http://www.seat61.com/Germany.htm

 

[gordonthemoron]

Dutch Flyer followed by IC train to Berlin also works out cheaper than E*/CNL IME and the Stena ships are lovely

 

[30907]

You are correct. There is theoretically a Youth discount but it's minimal and only at the lowest tier of fares.

You can't book through to Berlin via Paris on the DB website but you can with loco2.com, however see the comments on Seat61 - which, as always, tells you just about everything you need to know.

It's simplest to book the two sections separately, especially if you want Standard on ES and a Deluxe sleeper! As there are 4 of you, you will have to book 2 sleeper cabins (unless you are using couchettes?).

http://www.seat61.com/Germany.htm#London_to_Hannover_&_Berlin

BTW if the timings are tolerable, travel via the Harwich-Hoek ferry might be worth considering in one direction (preferably the return because of the time-zone change!)

Sorry, should have pointed out that because one of the family is a child on CNL but not ES, splitting the booking is essential.

A further option, of course, is a DB London Special by day train, stopping overnight in Brussels or Liege (couple of decent hotels v close to station there) - time-wise it's competitive with the ferry option and you can probably get the EUR59 fare if you don't mind getting the first eastbound train from Brussels!

 

[deltic]

thanks all - I'm afraid boat travel is not our thing!

 

[ModernRailways]

If you would rather, you could get a DB London Spezial which lets you travel for €59 per person! You will be travelling through the day - and takes about 10 hours overall, but it's a very nice journey and you could get some small naps in on the train!

If you need/want to do the City Night Line then I would suggest contacting DB's London offices and seeing what they can do for you! They have been superb whenever I've rang them and they all seem very pleasant! They also don't seem too bothered about the company you use. I bought a ticket with them from London to Cologne and they booked me onto Thalys even though there was an ICE service 10 minutes later!

 

[tony6499]

I've done the Berlin to London journey in the day time and it is a pleasant trip and not too tiring, Berlin to Cologne to Brussels to London with enough time at Cologne and Brussels for a drink and a bite to eat.

I much prefer the day journey as just looking at the scenery etc makes the time pass quickly.