forgiveomatic

We took this train in July last year. It was FULL. Many people in the vestibules between cars sitting on their backpacks, suitcases, and guitar cases. It was that way all the way from Copenhagen to Hamburg. It appears to be only 4.50 euro to get a seat reservation. I would recommend that you do that to have a better trip and be able to see the countryside as you go by.

flipstah

So reservations start 90 days in advance? I tried on bahn.de for September and nothing was available.

I think a Copenhagen -> Berlin day train then Berlin to Budapest sleeper fits better in my itinerary.

Then Budapest to Krakow for the second leg after enjoying some chimney bread for a couple of days.

Thanks all! I'm very excited now.

ritesa

Yes, it's 90 days in advance.

flipstah

Bump.

Bahn.de released train times this past week and I've been getting a weird error for the second leg of my journey:



The night train seems to be unavailable. It couldn't be sold out THAT quick, could it?

exilencfc

I'd be very surprised if it has.

They may not be able to sell it online. Try phoning DB, maybe their UK call center which is excellent. Might be worth looking at rail europe or somewhere like that as well as they may be able to sell it but probably at a higher cost than DB.

stut

That train goes through four countries, each with its own network owner, engineering schedule and booking horizon. Wouldn't surprise me if it takes a fair bit longer to be released.

fassy

Not to spoil your experience but assuming you are looking for a trip in lets say August or September you can fly CPH-TXL for as low as 50€/pax with SAS or 35€ with AirBerlin.

Believe me, the train ride through Denmark, the ferry and the train through North-Eastern Germany is not that spectacular. Also there is a risk for a missconnect which on a saver fare in Germany is a hassle as you have to get to the ticket desk and get approval to take the next available train - just entering the next best one is considered riding without a ticket. :/

And the ICE is far from "luxurious", it is not bad... but if I compare sitting in a train for 7 hours including a change of trains with potential for a screw up to an one hour flight and spending 5 hours more in Berlin seeing things and having a nice dinner...? Not to mention the very challenging issue with the union strikes (perhaps it will be resolved in September but who knows? It goes on for 14 months now, can be easily another 6) and notorious delayed trains in Germany.

Same goes for the route to BUD. 14 hours? Overnight? You will feel not that well rested the next morning. Hotels in BUD are cheap. I recommend flying out to BUD in the evening, have a nice dinner and sleep in a decent hotel. Beats a 14 hour train ride by far and you can enjoy BUD well rested.

Flights from TXL to BUD in September can be had for 25€ with AirBerlin.

And having said that: I done the CPH-Germany train ride looooots of times. Would take a flight without a glimpse of an eye if they are same costs or even a tad more expensive. You can meet nice people on the plane as well but much more likely in a pub/bar in Berlin or Budapest than in the train or on the ferry.

KQ321

What dates are you looking at? The "check availability" message is entirely normal when looking at night-trains (ie: Citynightline or EuroNight). You need to click on "check availability", enter your age if requested, and then it should display a range of prices (for seats / couchette / sleepers, and a variety of ticket types).

Swanhunter

From experience some sleeper route availability gets released later. I had this issued with the Koln-Warszawa sleeper last year.