dublin to berlin - train or plane
 

Can you advise... is it better to take a plane from dublin to london to berlin or fly? What are the pros and cons...in July of 2012.....:p:-: thank you

Given that Ireland is an island, train travel would involve either a flight or ferry travel followed by a very long train journey with multiple connections through multiple countries.
The alternative is an inexpensive two hour flight directly from Dublin to Berlin.
Apart from seeing a lot of countryside, I can't really see any pros for the train option.

If time is an issue: Plane.

Otherwise you will have a very long journey. I don't know the railway network in GB but even if it is OK, you will have to use at least on ferry and the tunnel to the continent. It might be a nice journey through an interesting country. But it will cost you time.

I did a quick search and there are plenty of cheap flights (<200 EUR) for ar RT from DUB to BER in july.

S.

Many train journeys have become easier over the years (with the introduction of new high-speed services, and the building of new links like the Channel Tunnel or the Öresund crossing between Copenhagen and Malmö)

Others have become more difficult.

London to Berlin, sadly, falls into the latter category.

It used to be an extremely easy journey: Evening train from London to the ferry terminal at Harwich Parkeston Quay. Walk up one flight of stairs straight onto the ferry. Overnight crossing to Hoek van Holland. Short walk straight onto a direct train to Berlin. Get to Berlin early afternoon. Not the shortest of journeys, but sooo easy, straightforward and comfortable.

The train-and-boat connection from London to Hoek van Holland still exists, but the direct connection to Berlin stopped running many years ago. A shame, because it was a nice way to travel - but I guess not enough people were using it once flying became as affordable as it is now.

Maybe in the future there will be a good train connection from London to german cities.

http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/gener...s-channel.html

So that was two connections, and it's still two connections.

Leave London late morning on Eurostar changing in Brussels and Koln, into Berlin for 9pm or so.

If you'd rather do it with an overnight sleeper leg in, again it's possible on a 2 change basis but admittedly you need to walk from Paris Nord to Paris Est.

www.bahn.de is a good place for pan european train schedules. It does show a couple of Dublin-Berlin options that take around 23hrs, although some of the connections look slightly circumspect - as I say, it's a start...

Let's get practical folks - ferry from DUB, train across the UK, another ferry from the UK (or Eurostar), followed by a train across western Europe.

Pay Aer Lingus €39.99 (or even less to the blue/yellow cowboys) and spend the couple of hundred Euro you save on a nice hotel in Berlin for the few days you save.

seat61.com is a great place to start for planning rail journeys across Europe.

See here for Dublin to London, and then here for London to Berlin. It doesn't look like the connections work out well to let you do it in a oner, so you'd probably need an overnight in London or Paris (or even both)

If you're not in a hurry, and want to stop off en route, and enjoy looking out of the window, then there's no reason you shouldn't consider doing this journey on the surface route.

I would have to agree with what I think is a consensus here - unless you have a compelling reason to go by train/ferry (such as particularly enjoying that mode of transport, or a particular hatred of air travel), then fly - it's cheaper and far, far quicker.

If you're in no hurry, however, there are plenty interesting places you could stop off en route - North Wales, Chester, London, Brussels/Amsterdam, Cologne (and more if you take a less direct route).

teflon, you posted the Ireland to London link twice - so I don't know what seat61 is suggesting for the journey from London to Berlin.

Looking at the London arrival times... there is a way of doing this without an overnight stop, and that's going back to the good old Harwich to Hoek van Holland ferry. Not as seamless as it once was, but you can still do London to Any Dutch Station for GBP 39.00 plus the cost of a cabin (unless the posters at my local station are out of date). The boat train leaves London at 19.32

Arriving at Hoek van Holland it's a commuter train to Rotterdam, then another train to Hengelo, then a direct train to Berlin from there.

And, as unofficial cheerleader for the H-HvH ferry, I feel compelled once again to mention just how nice a way to travel it is!

(If only they'd make the Cambridge boat train a better connection for the morning arrival back at Harwich...)

Another vote for the plane. Unless you have a hatred of flying, a desire to see a lot of trains, and would consider stopping off en-route.

Depending on your Ireland itinerary, you don't necessarily need to pass through the UK. Brittany Ferries has an overnight ferry from Cork to Roscoff (Brittany, France). From there, you can take a day train to Paris - arriving around lunchtime. From Paris, it's at least 8 hours with at least 1 change. Same-day connection just about doable, but better to stop off in Paris.

In short, take the plane.

Whoops, link corrected now. The suggested route is London to Paris on Eurostar, then CityNightLine to Berlin. I've done it myself a couple of times and really enjoy it - it just seems so much more civilised than just another short haul flight.

Also bear in mind...
 

I don't think you mention when you are travelling but bear in mind both of the ferry crossings (unless you take the Eurostar, of course) can be very badly affected by weather. Neither looks very daunting on a map but both the Irish Sea and English Channel suffer from pretty fierce weather during the winter (and at other times, though less regularly).

Passengers were stuck on the ferries at sea for up to eight hours last week because the Port of Dover was closed... they've been having storm force 10 & 11 gales throughout December and into January.

I would agree, by the way, about the Harwich to Hoek crossing - very comfortable cabins (assuming decent weather), good food and a generally pleasant way to spend the night.

The Harwich-HvH ferry crosses the North Sea rather than the English Channel (which is a hundred miles or so further south). And in over 30 years of living near Harwich I don't recall a single instance of any of our ferries being affected by bad weather (there may have been the odd one that I don't remember, but it's rare). In fact I have, on occasions, taken the ferry home from the Netherlands when flights were cancelled due to bad weather, and I tend to look upon the ferry as being the more reliable mode of transport.

Also, it needs to be noted that both Harwich and Hoek van Holland are some way up-river - so the ports are quite sheltered, and a stormy North Sea is not going to stop ferries from berthing.