Buy tickets from Berlin to Prague at int.bahn.deBuy direct from Deutsche Bahn, no booking fee, and print your own ticket or show it on your phone or laptop. |
Berlin - Prague by train from 18.90
Comfortable air-conditioned EuroCity trains with restaurant car & free WiFi link Berlin and Prague every two hours, 388 km (241 miles) in 4 hours, centre to centre with great scenery along the Elbe & Vlatava rivers. Train is the way to go, an experience in itself - Watch the video!
Trains from Berlin to other destinations
Trains from Prague to other destinations
Train times southbound 2024
Train times northbound 2024
Timetable notes
* Runs from 21 March 2024 onwards. ** Runs from 20 March 2024 onwards.
EC = EuroCity train Berliner, air-conditioned 1st & 2nd class with restaurant car, CD (Czech Railways) stock.
Railjet = Railjet train Vindobona, to/from Vienna. air-conditioned Business class, 1st class, 2nd class, restaurant car.
Treat these times as a guide, always check times for your own date of travel at int.bahn.de.
Berlin to Prague is 388 km or 241 miles by train.
Monday morning engineering work, 8 January to 18 March 2024: Trains may not run on Monday mornings in this period so check online.
How much does it cost?
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Advance-purchase fares start from 18.90 in 2nd class or 27.90 in 1st class.
Sparpreis (savings) fares are advance-purchase fares with dynamic prices & limited availability at each price level. They are only good for the specific departure you book, limited refunds, no changes to travel plans. A round trip is two one-ways. If you're happy to book ahead and commit to a specific train, this is what you want. Book early & avoid popular days for the cheapest prices.
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The fully-flexible fare is around 80-95 in 2nd class or 140-160 in 1st class.
The Flexpreis is what you pay if you want to stay flexible or buy a ticket at the station on the day. Flexpreis tickets are good for any Berlin-Prague train that day, unlimited availability, can't sell out. The price varies by date.
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Children: Children under 6 go free, no ticket required. Children under 15 also go free when accompanied by a parent or grandparent on a Sparpreis fare and added to the booking at int.bahn.de. This offer is not available if you book at www.cd.cz.
How to buy tickets
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Buy tickets at the German Railways website int.bahn.de.
Booking normally opens up to 6 months ahead, but dates after the mid-December timetable change usually open for booking in mid-October. More about when booking opens.
I recommend registering when prompted, as you can then log in at any time to check or re-print your tickets.
You print your own ticket or can show it on your laptop or phone.
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Seat reservations
Seat reservations are optional, but recommended for a small extra charge, 4.90 in 2nd class, 5.90 in 1st class, see travel tips.
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Stopover in Dresden?
You can include a stopover at Dresden at no extra cost. Before running the enquiry at int.bahn.de, simply click Stopovers, enter Dresden and a length of stay of up to 48 hours. There are left luggage lockers available at Dresden if you need them.
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Only one passenger name is needed
If you buy one ticket covering several people, only one name is necessary to verify that the print-your-own ticket is yours.
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Or buy from Czech Railways
You can also buy tickets for these trains in either direction at the Czech Railways website www.cd.cz, see my advice on using it.
It's worth checking www.cd.cz as fares are often cheaper than on int.bahn.de for exactly the same train. Seat reservation is only 3 in both classes instead of 4.90/ 5.90, and on this route www.cd.cz lets you choose your seat from a seat map (although it doesn't know which way round the car will be, so doesn't know which seats face forward or which side will be next to all that Elbe river scenery).
You print your own ticket or you can show it on your phone, tablet or laptop.
What are the trains like?
The EuroCity trains between Berlin & Prague are run jointly by the German, Czech & Austrian national railways. Most Berlin-Prague trains use modern CD (Czech Railways) EuroCity cars branded Berliner, as shown below.
There are two exceptions: The 09:16 from Berlin & 14:28 from Prague is the EuroCity Hungaria to/from Budapest, this uses smart air-conditioned Hungarian coaches & Hungarian restaurant car see the photos here. The 06:15 from Berlin & 17:31 from Prague is the railjet Vindobona to/from Vienna, see the photos here.
The usual formation for the Czech trains is: 2 x 2nd class open plan car, 3 x 2nd class cars with 6-seat compartments, restaurant car, 1st class open-plan car. However, extra cars are added at peak times and formations vary. The 1st class car is normally at the front in the Berlin>Prague direction, at the back Prague>Berlin.
Route map
Green = scenic section Map extract by kind permission of the European Rail Timetable people. I recommend buying this map for your European travels with shipping worldwide at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu. |
Travel tips
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1st or 2nd class?
2nd class is absolutely fine for most travellers, there's no need to go 1st class unless you don't mind the extra cost. But see what prices you get at int.bahn.de because with dynamic pricing 1st class sometimes doesn't cost very much more. 1st class simply means more leg and elbow room and usually a quieter environment. 1st class also gets you solo seats and tables-for-two on one side of the aisle, as seats are arranged 2+1 across the car width rather than 2+2 as in 2nd class.
The once-per-day railjet train (marked Railjet in the timetables above) also has business class, a premium 1st class for which you pay 15 on top of any 1st class fare or railpass. See the photos here.
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Power sockets, WiFi & toilets
There are power sockets at all seats in both classes on all train types. Each car has at least one toilet, usually two. There's good mobile data reception along most of the route.
The cars owned by CD (Czech Railways) have free WiFi with unlimited data whilst in the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Hungary, but data may be limited whilst the train is in Germany. The railjet also has free WiFi in all classes.
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Luggage
You can pretty much take any luggage you like, nobody cares how much it weighs or what size it is. You take it with you onto the train and put it on the luggage rack, there's plenty of luggage space in both classes. The racks above your seat take anything up to backpack-size, the racks at the end of each open-plan saloon car will take large suitcases. In compartment cars, large items just go on the floor. More about luggage on European trains.
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A seat reservation is recommended
A seat reservation is optional on Berlin-Prague trains. If you choose not to reserve a seat you sit in any empty unreserved seat - a small paper label or electronic display above each seat shows whether it is reserved or not.
However, I strongly recommend reserving a seat especially in summer or on any Friday or Sunday afternoon as these trains get very busy. You can add a seat reservation when you book, int.bahn.de charges 4.90 per seat in 2nd class, 5.90 in 1st class.
It's not possible to specify a seat facing direction of travel on these trains as the reservation system knows the carriage layout but cannot predict which way round the carriage will be marshalled in the train. But you can request a window or aisle seat, a seat in an open-plan saloon or a 6-seat compartment, or a seat with a table (tisch in German), which means face-to-face seats at a fixed wooden table. All seats in fact have small drop-down tables.
If you already have a ticket (or Eurail or Interrail pass) you can make a reservation-only booking for a 3 at www.cd.cz by changing Purchase a ticket to Purchase reservations only under the train you want in the search results.
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Seat selection from a seat map
On Berlin-Prague trains you can select your seats from a seat map when using Czech Railways www.cd.cz, but you can't with German Railways at int.bahn.de. And it's cheaper to make reservations at www.cd.cz, 3 rather than 4.90!
At www.cd.cz, you can either buy your ticket & reservation together, or you can make a seat reservation on its own to go with any existing ticket or pass, select a train and look for the Reservations only box at the top of the search results. Then watch out for the Select seats from the seating map link.
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Which side for the best scenery?
The best scenery is on the left hand side going south from Berlin to Prague, right hand side going north from Prague to Berlin, as that's the side the rivers Elbe & Vlatava are on. You cannot specify which side you sit if you make a seat reservation for the reason explained above, but you can always switch sides to any free unreserved seat.
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Saloon or compartment?
If you choose to reserve, the site asks if you prefer an open-plan saloon or a seat in a traditional 6-seater-compartment. On the Berlin-Prague EuroCity trains there's usually only one 1st class car with open-plan seating - there are usually no 1st class compartments. In 2nd class there may be both classic cars with a side-corridor and 6-seat compartments and perhaps one car with open-plan saloon seating. Some people prefer classic 6-seat compartments, especially if they are a family or a group of friends, I personally prefer open-plan seating as it feels more spacious, less confined and you get a better view through multiple windows. It's your call! On your ticket it will say Abteil for compartment, or Grossraumwagen for open-plan car.
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Seat numbering plans: Click here for train seating layout. Check the train formation first!
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Prague Hlavni or Prague Holesovice?
Normally, all trains use Prague Hlavni, which is the centrally-located main station, walking distance from the old town and most hotels. They also call at Prague's secondary station, Prague Holesovice, which is further from the centre. It's easy enough to transfer by local train, metro or taxi between Prague Holesovice and the city centre, but Prague Hlavni is much better located, walking distance from most sights.
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First class lounges
In Berlin, 1st class passengers with a Flexpreis fare (but not a 1st class railpass or advance-purchase Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis fare) can use the DB lounge at Berlin Hbf, with complimentary tea, coffee, juice, wine & beer, see here for details.
In Prague, there is a far more basic Czech Railways CD lounge at Prague Hlavni, but so underwhelming I suggest waiting in the excellent Fantova Kavαrna (Cafe Fanta) upstairs in the historic station building off platform 1 instead - located in what was once the historic station's main entrance hall.
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Boarding your train
As with virtually all European trains, there's no check-in. Just stroll into the station, find your train and get on, any time before it leaves. The doors may be closed a minute before departure. At Berlin Hbf, trains to Prague use the north-south platforms 1-8 down the escalators below ground level, as opposed to the east-west lines above ground level. See Berlin Hbf station guide. See Prague Hlavni station guide.
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Bicycles
Bicycles can be taken on Berlin-Prague trains, bike spaces must be booked in advance, you can add a bike to your booking at int.bahn.de.
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Restaurant car
The restaurant car is open to everyone, and having a sit-down waiter-served meal on a crisp white tablecloth served on proper china as the scenery glides by is a real treat. There are no table reservations, just go along and sit down. You can use the counter at the other end of the car if you want to buy snacks or drinks to take back to your seat. On most departures it's a Czech restaurant car run by catering subsidiary JLV, you can see current menus by route at www.jidelnivozy.cz if you use Google translate and hunt around a bit. Euros and Koruna are accepted in the restaurant car, as are major credit cards - but take cash if you can, as the credit card machine relies on mobile phone reception. You may find that at designated times happy hour applies and the prices are lower!
Useful links
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Map of Berlin showing station - Map of Prague showing station.
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Left luggage lockers in Berlin & Prague - General advice & tips for European train travel.
Berlin to Prague by train, in pictures
Video: Berlin to Prague by train