DB London Special/Spezial tickets not appearing?

[30907]

you need to put a delay of 4 hours, the next train after 10:25 is 14:25

Or a 2 hour stopover would allow you to leave London later (8.58 is a lot more civilised than 6.50 IMO) and still be in Berlin by mid evening. Tends to be pricier though!

Another option to consider is an overnight stopover, to break a long journey up, if your schedule allows it (I realise many US visitors are constrained for time).
Doing that in Brussels (or Liège, using ordinary train services from Brussels to Liege - perfectly comfortable, and only busy in the rush hours) avoids all the worries. Or even take the overnight ferry via Harwich-Hoek, though that involves extra changes and is slower.

And finally - you can choose your seats on Eurostar.
At the moment, for a tight connection, I'd book in the highest numbered coach you can, to be near the main exit at Brussels, because the short-cut exit halfway down the train MAY be closed for security reasons.

Www.Seat61.com is your best guide to options.

 

[catlover606]

30907 - Thanks for the advice. I do really like the seat61 site - very helpful. I tried adding a few hours transfer time and that did not work with the London Special. Unfortunately we don't have the time to add an overnight. This will be a quick trip to Berlin as it is I'm afraid. The London Special tickets are 69 euros * 4 people = $276 euros or $330. The other option is to fly with Eurowings out of LHR for 65 pounds * 4 people = 260 pounds or $369 (including luggage). I thought the train would involves less stress and we might see more, but now I'm not sure what to do. I have never flown on one of the European budget carriers and I have heard there are a lot of unexpected fees.

 

[Merseysider]

What's the exact date of your journey? You may find it considerably cheaper to use Ryanair. For example: March 8th has four flights throughout the day from Stansted to Berlin, all at £14.99 ($22) each. You get a free bag included and additional baggage starts at £15 per bag.

I've used them about 30 times since September and I can say with confidence they're not as bad as some people make out as long as you follow their rules.

But you would also have to factor in time/money spent getting to and from the respective airports.

 

[catlover606]

Ryanair comes in at 212 pounds for 4 including luggage, but the airports are much less convenient, STN in London and SXF in Berlin. Eurowings leaves out of LHR and arrives at TXL.

I'm also afraid that I will break some rule that I don't know about. I would rather pay more upfront than be confronted that my purse weighs too much and I owe more money, or be charged for using the restroom. I don't want to play that game. That's one reason I was liking the train.

 

[30907]

30907 - Thanks for the advice. I do really like the seat61 site - very helpful. I tried adding a few hours transfer time and that did not work with the London Special.

If you accept the tight connection in Brussels the worst that can happen is a 3-4 hour delay and an 8-9pm local time arrival in Berlin. It would be worth thinking in advance what you would do with that time!

If that's not acceptable, then play around with the DB planner to get a connection including the 1425 Brussels- Köln (seat61 used to have this set up - specifying a 21:00 arrival in Berlin should do it. You may need to set the stopover time at just under a whole number of hours.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm also afraid that I will break some rule that I don't know about. I would rather pay more upfront than be confronted that my purse weighs too much and I owe more money, or be charged for using the restroom. I don't want to play that game. That's one reason I was liking the train.

You need to take some of the stories with a pinch of salt!
The things to check carefully in terms of extra costs are
- the exact size of cabin bag allowed (it varies among the budget airlines) and the weight of hold bag;
- the number of cabin bags (1 means 1, no camera bag, handbag etc in addition)
- how to check in and get your boarding pass.
- the check in and boarding deadlines (which are absolute).
By contrast, failing to abide by the prohibited items list will simply result in you having to bin them - and that's true on your transatlantic flight too.

Personally, I'd go by train unless there's a massive advantage in time or money.

 

[Greenback]

I'd still use the train. 18 minutes might not seem like a long time, but it is normally enough to make a transfer at Brussels. You may be surprised how straight forward it is!

If something does go wrong, go and see the staff on duty and see if they can do anything to help. At worse, like 30907 says, you'll have a few hours to spend in Brussels - an ideal opportunity to grab a Belgian lunch

If you fly, then once you add in the cost of the airport transfers at each end, I reckon that the total cost will be much higher than £212.

 

[Polrail]

I'm traveling Berlin-London on a London-Spezial in April. I'm overnighting at Brussels, and I hope someone can give me some advice....

My hotel is near Gare Central. Could I hop off the ICE at Bruxelles-Nord and use my DB ticket on a local train from there to Gare Central, and do the same the next morning from Gare Central to Bruxelles-Midi to catch Eurostar? Are there any ticket gates to contend with or are there just spot checks?

Is Bruxelles-Nord a safe enough place to transfer after 22:00?

Any advice would be most appreciated! Thank you.

 

[30907]

I'm traveling Berlin-London on a London-Spezial in April. I'm overnighting at Brussels, and I hope someone can give me some advice....

My hotel is near Gare Central. Could I hop off the ICE at Bruxelles-Nord and use my DB ticket on a local train from there to Gare Central, and do the same the next morning from Gare Central to Bruxelles-Midi to catch Eurostar? Are there any ticket gates to contend with or are there just spot checks?

Yes you can. No gates AFAIK but it's a while since I last visited.

 

[gordonthemoron]

your ICE ticket is not valid on Belgian trains except in times of disruption. However you can disembark at Noord and get a local train from there at an additional cost

 

[Wolfie]

your ICE ticket is not valid on Belgian trains except in times of disruption. However you can disembark at Noord and get a local train from there at an additional cost

You are correct about the ICE ticket. The Eurostar ticket is, however, valid for a rail (NB NOT metro or tram) journey within the metropolitan Brussels area within 24 hours of the international part. That would indeed be valid to get Polrail from Nord to Central and then on to Midi....

My hotel is near Gare Central. Could I hop off the ICE at Bruxelles-Nord and use my DB ticket on a local train from there to Gare Central, and do the same the next morning from Gare Central to Bruxelles-Midi to catch Eurostar? Are there any ticket gates to contend with or are there just spot checks?

Is Bruxelles-Nord a safe enough place to transfer after 22:00?

There are no ticket gates at any of Nord, Central or Midi aka Noordstation, Centraal Station and Zuidstation in Flemish. There are random infrequent ticket inspections on trains...

Nord station is OK, however the area surrounding is not the greatest being close to the redlight area,,,,,

 

[30907]

your ICE ticket is not valid on Belgian trains except in times of disruption. However you can disembark at Noord and get a local train from there at an additional cost

Sorry, rules have changed since my last trip I think. However putting in Centraal or even Noord instead of Midi as your overnight stop would work, if it's not too late to do so!

 

[Polrail]

You are correct about the ICE ticket. The Eurostar ticket is, however, valid for a rail (NB NOT metro or tram) journey within the metropolitan Brussels area within 24 hours of the international part.

I have just one ticket, Berlin=>London

Sorry, rules have changed since my last trip I think. However putting in Centraal or even Noord instead of Midi as your overnight stop would work, if it's not too late to do so!

It's too late, unfortunately. I booked, thinking I could easily find a hotel in the Midi area, but then got to reading about what a bad neighbourhood it is! And there aren't many budget options there, either.

 

[catlover606]

I want to thank everyone for the advice. It is genuinely appreciated. I'm still thinking about the train or air, but it really helps to hear from people who know how the system works. Either way I'm sure we will have a great trip. I haven't been to Berlin since before the wall came down, so it's probably changed a little!

 

[gordonthemoron]

I want to thank everyone for the advice. It is genuinely appreciated. I'm still thinking about the train or air, but it really helps to hear from people who know how the system works. Either way I'm sure we will have a great trip. I haven't been to Berlin since before the wall came down, so it's probably changed a little!

Just a bit although West Berlin less so than East

 

[Goldfish62]

I want to thank everyone for the advice. It is genuinely appreciated. I'm still thinking about the train or air, but it really helps to hear from people who know how the system works. Either way I'm sure we will have a great trip. I haven't been to Berlin since before the wall came down, so it's probably changed a little!

Berlin is a wonderful city - probably my favourite, and still steeped in all its tumultuous recent history. Hope you enjoy the revisit

I have been there by train several times from London and can thoroughly recommend the experience.