First Class travel between Brussels & Koln / Frankfurt

[STEVIEBOY1]

Good evening,

All being well, barring problems by Belgian & German strikes, I hope to be travelling later this month & early Jan from Brussels to Koln and coming back to Brussels from Frankfurt Arport Station. In First class. Outbound will be on Thalys & I Know they do normally offer some comp food and drinks including wine, the other journey is on a DB ICE Train, do they also offer comp food / drink on that particular service / route?

Many thanks.

 

[blackfive460]

Short answer, no.

Slightly longer answer; you may be offered a newspaper and any refreshments you wish to buy will be served at your seats. The only freebie you may get if you are lucky is a chocolate!

 

[87015]

Just book standard and park yourself in the barcar... If you are going Frankfurt far more enjoyable to get a IC along the Rhine and knock back a few wheatbeers, much better than HSL brain death you can have anywhere!

 

[blackfive460]

That's a +1 from me regarding going IC via Koblenz. Far more interesting than the NBS unless you really need to save the time.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Thank you for the replies, I'll stock up on sandwiches & drink at the station before I board the ICE Train.

I note your comments about going IC on the Non Highspeed Line. The trip is being arranged by a rail tour operator who make all the bookings. The out bound journey will infact be by IC/EC train along the scenic Rhine Line, so hope to get good views then.

Rgds.

 

[gordonthemoron]

unfortunately the BordBistro/Restaurant in the ICE3s is nowhere near as good as the BordRestaurant on the ICE1s

 

[jon0844]

Just about everything on the ICE 3 is inferior in terms of comfort and style, but obviously this is because modern trains are designed internally to be as easy to keep clean as possible.

I was surprised that the red LEDs on the displays had faded so much, so it was quite hard to read the huge amount of information displayed on them if sitting far back. At least the 700s will have colour LCD displays.

 

[davetheguard]

Just book standard and park yourself in the barcar... If you are going Frankfurt far more enjoyable to get a IC along the Rhine and knock back a few wheatbeers, much better than HSL brain death you can have anywhere!

Ah! That sounds good. Yes, please: mine's a Dunkel!

 

[gordonthemoron]

they only do Becks and Franziskaner Weissbier in the barcar (and some non alcoholic beer)

 

[Goldfish62]

they only do Becks and Franziskaner Weissbier in the barcar (and some non alcoholic beer)

But the Weissbier comes in a proper glass. Yum!

 

[gordonthemoron]

yes it does, as does the Becks which is often on draught

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

With IC via Koblenz, you will change trains to an ICE 3 at Koln. You should at least be offered a (German) newspaper on the ICE and, with some luck, you may asked if you want something from the 'speisewagen'. You can order coffee/tea, snacks and light meals (Chilli con carne, spaghetti bolognaise), which you have to pay for. It's not haute cuisine, but it's better than most European railways now offer. There's a small restaurant area on the ICE 3 as well (16 seats) where you can get larger meals and, if you ask really nicely, they may even serve that menu to you in the first class section. However, if the First Class is full (which it often is) don't expect much on-board service as it seems to be too much of a challenge to lay on the service in this case.