England to Germany by Bus or Train
Cheap Travel from London to Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich
Nov 19, 2007
Low-cost airlines have made traveling between London and German cities such as Cologne, Frankfurt, and Berlin not only fast but cheap too. However, more traditional travel options such as buses and trains are still available for travelers from England to Germany. Fear of flying is not the only reason to go by road or rail – on some routes, such as London to Cologne, trains can be both price and time competitive.
Cheap and Fast Trains between London and Cologne, Germany
The opening of the new London terminal for the Eurostar trains at St Pancras International station not only reduced train travel times from London to Paris and Brussels but to Germany as well.
Some departures allow for travel times as short as 4:45 (plus the check-in time required for Eurostar trains – 30 minutes for most travelers) between London St Pancras and Cologne Main Station (Köln Hauptbahnhof). Ebbsfleet to Aachen is an hour faster. Changes are always required at Brussels Midi Station – either to the Thalys TGV or German ICE (Inter-City Express) trains.
- Reservations are compulsory for Eurostar and TGV trains but are usually not required for the German ICE trains.
Cologne (Köln) is a major railway junction with fast and frequent connections to other German cities. From Cologne to Frankfurt is just over an hour with up to three trains per hour. Frequent services are available to Düsseldorf and other cities in the Ruhr area such as Essen and Dortmund. Trains to Hamburg and Berlin take around four hours.
Given the increasingly long check-in times and security screening at airports, travel times by rail between London and Cologne can be time competitive. One-way tickets ranging from UK £40 (US $80) non-flexible to UK £183 (US $366) full flexible compare favorable with airfares on low-cost airlines. Taxes alone on flights from London-Stansted (STN) to Cologne-Bonn (CGN) can amount to UK £35 (US $70). Free luggage allowances of two suitcases on Eurostar trains are much more generous than free hand luggage only on most British and Irish low-cost airlines.
- Sometimes buying separate tickets for the London to Brussels and Brussels to Cologne legs of the journey work out cheaper, especially if regional offers are available.
Slow Trains and Ferries from London, UK to Cologne, Germany
Although the days of the boat train are mostly numbered, traditionalists can still take the train and ferries from London to the Continent and then again by train to Cologne and Germany. Trains depart from London’s Liverpool Station to Harwich. The overnight ferry to Hoek van Holland Haven (Hook of Holland Harbor) in the Netherlands takes around seven hours. Trains to Cologne require transfers in Rotterdam, Venlo, and Mönchengladbach. The total journey time is 14 to 15 hours.
Cheap Bus Tickets from London to Cologne, Germany
National Express, usually in cooperation with German Eurolines, has bus services from many UK locations to around 30 cities in Germany. Overnight buses from London Victoria Bus Station to Cologne Bus Station take around 12 hours and include a short ferry ride. Other German cities that can be reached by direct bus from England include Berlin (19 hours), Frankfurt am Main (16 hours), Hamburg (17 hours), and Munich (20 hours).
Bus travel from the UK to Germany is clearly slow and not particularly cheap. Standard one-way tickets from London to Cologne are around UK £47 (US $94), while returns are UK £80 (US $160). Cheaper tickets and special deals are sometimes available on internet-only sales.
- Flying from England to most German destinations remains faster and mostly cheaper than rail or bus services. Flying to Germany has long been expensive but in recent years low-cost airlines have brought costs down and increased routes to numerous German airports. Cologne-Bonn Airport (CGN) is the most popular airport for low-cost airlines in Germany.
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