I have tried twice to make reservations on the train from Berllin to Kiel on the Bahn website. The first time I went through the whole process and then the website said reservations were not possible. Today I tried to make 2nd class reservations for two and it was still unsuccessful. I'm wondering if I should look into buying the Rick Steves railpasses? We only need one way tickets to Kiel. We are going to Lund Sweden afterwards and I'm wondering if anyone would recommend taking the train to Denmark from Kiel and then whatever transportation is available from there to Lund? Maybe we should just fly as it seems to be the least expensive but not always as interesting. Any suggestions???
Thanks! Dawn
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Are you actually looking for tickets, or for seat reservations alone, without tickets? Reservations alone, without a ticket, are probably not possible online from the Bahn for connections with an end outside of Germany. And if you have a rail pass, a seat reservation would still be a reservation without a ticket. If all you want is a seat reserved seat, you can probably buy it before train time at the ticket counter in Berlin. Reservations on german train are not usually sold out, and if one train is sold out, there are usually others that are not.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
What are your travel dates? If more than 90 days you are too early. If reservations are not available then reservations will not be available for a rail pass either. My guess you are too early.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
If she were too early, the website would say that on the first page, and she could not have started with the process of ordering. And, she might be mixing up tickets and reservations. We often say, "I'm getting plane "reservations", when we are actually buying a ticket, but for trains in Europe, particularly in Germany, tickets and seat reservations are often two different things.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Plugging the route into Deutsche Bahn, it shows that you first take an Intercity Express (ICE) to Hamburg, then a Regional Express (RE) to Kiel. Reservations are not sold for RE trains. But please clarify, are you trying to buy tickets or just a reservation? If the latter, it's not necessary and only available for the ICE portion of the trip, but if you really want a reservation, just buy it when you arrive in Germany.
Posted by
OP
Lincoln City, Oregon, United States
17 posts
Thank you for your replies. Yes--I thought I had to make and pay for a reservation/assigned seats (as in buying plane tickets) before we got there. What I'm hearing is if we are happy with 2nd class seats
they will be available when we arrive in Berlin the end of April? Dawn
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Trains depart every hour between Berlin and Hamburg. You'll have no problems getting a seat.