Taking the train from Berlin to Munich - Germany

I know there is a thread on how long it takes/how much it costs to take the train between Munich and Berlin. Yes, I have read those threads. This is a slightly different question.

A friend of mine will be in Berlin and is coming down to visit me for a couple of days in Munich. He has already checked Lufthansa and AirBerlin for airfares. He's also checked DB, and the price was about the same.

Would taking the train give him a good opportunity to "see Germany"? What is the scenery like?

He will be flying in from London and taking the train/another flight on the same day. How long does the connection take from the Berlin airport to the main train station?

My own feeling is that it would be simpler/quicker to fly (I live off of the S1 route so getting here from the airport is simply), and that the scenery isn't THAT exciting. But I have never taken the train in this direction. Any thoughts?

Whilst I've never taken the train between Berlin and Munich, I've driven the A9 many times, and I think the ICE follows that route (give or take).

You see lots of trees, which I always found impressive in comparison to the scale of "forests" back in the UK. Some nice rolling hills and valleys through Frankenwald / Fränkische Schweiz. The stretch between Berlin and Leipzig is fairly blah.

But I wouldn't have said that any of it had a particular "Wow-Factor", certainly not in comparison to the Alps. In any case, since it's an internal flight, it shouldn't be flying at such a mega-altitude. So with a bit of luck and a clear day, your guest could admire everything from the air in anycase.

The scenery is nicest between Leipzig and Nürnberg. North of Leipzig is flat and featureless, south of Nürnberg is nice enough but a lot of the track is in tunnel. Leipzig train station looks amazing but I haven't got off there yet.

Timewise, I'd give an hour between Tegel or Schonefeld airports & Berlin Hbf, and about the same time from Schonefeld to Berlin Sudkreuz, all Berlin-Munich trains stop at Sudkreuz except the sleeper

I wouldn´t recommend it. I traveled Munich Berlin a couple of times on airplanes, cars and train. The train is the least comfortable thing, it doesn´t hurt but I need like 1 day to recover. The view was never that special for me.

I did Munich Düsseldorf a couple of times with a train and there are 2 routes, one of them takes you along the Hengstenberg prickles factory. I enjoyed that one, but it gets pleasant after a couple of times when you remember things and you learn the route without looking into a plan.

Comparing the three modes of transport mentioned by siskebap:

1. Airplane, plus quickish, minus Berlin Airports are not the best and Tegel is a pain to get to. Probably about 4 hours city centre to city centre
2. Car, not really an option if you're a visitor as one way rental incurs extra fees
3. Train, 6 hours centre to centre. On the plus side you can have a sleep or get drunk in the bordbistro. Most comfortable of the three modes

I have to agree with GTM about the scenery, particularly the section between Bamberg & Saalfeld, passing through Thüringer Wald. Leipzig Hbf really is an impressive place, personally I think it's probably the most spectacular station in Germany.

I won't fly between Munich and Berlin again, last time my return flight was delayed for 4 hours, by bad weather in the Munich area.

If you do consider travelling by train, it's worth booking on-line, last time I travelled to Berlin I got a special 1st class return for less than the normal standard class price.

Well, given that my friend is flying in from London and looking to make a connection at Tegel, it sounds like flyng would be a lot quicker, as otherwise he'd have to travel back in to the city center for an hour before taking the train?

that would be about right, Tegel is linked to Hbf & Zoo by buses. These buses tend to be overcrowded and usually get stuck in traffic, although they are frequent

What? Tegel is a pain to get to? You can easily get to Tegel by bus from Bhf Zoo and a whole lot of other places. As an additional bonus walks within the airport are very short. Munich, that´s an airport that´s hard to get to. The S-Bahn stops at any haystack between Hbf and airport.

No one seems to have given an accurate reply to this question yet. I live on this bus route, and take it often.

The TXL bus travels directly between Tegel and the Hauptbahnhof. It leaves every ten minutes on normal working days, and the journey between the two takes 17 minutes.

And as far as the above description of it usually being full and late is concerned:
- yes, it can get quite full. However, you are getting on at the airport, which is where the journey starts, so the bus being full is not that much of an issue. I've never seen it so full there that it's not possible to get on.
- yes, it can get late, but that is more often the case further on along this route, along more travelled streets such as Unter den Linden if you want to take it all the way to Alexanderplatz. I don't think I've ever seen it more than five minutes late by the time it reaches the Hauptbahnhof. And it is more often on time than not.

What were you doing? sitting on the toilet? 

If you reserve a seat or grab a non reserved seat for the whole train journey it is definitely be the best way to travel even if the train is full. If you have your laptop, books and music and you're on a direct ICE it cant be beat.


No wonder it tool you a day to recover! Or did you mean pickles?

What? Tegel is inside of the city.


If you do not like the bus you do not need to take the whole ride with it, you can connect to the subway after 5 minutes (Jakob Kaiser Platz)

Tegel is much better connected (Time wise) than Munich.

But to answer to orig post/topic, There really isn't that much to see when taking the train from Berlin to Munich.
Just some bits of forest and lots of buildings.. At the moment AirBerlin is offering RT flights betwwen the 2 for less
that 90 Eur. Compare that to the 150+ DB ICE Tickets.

For me Flying 45min-1hr beats the 6Hrs on the train. For me it takes me 45min-1hr to get to both Munich Hauptbahnhof or the Airport
So the plane is still the fastest/best option.

So you think a cramped aircraft seat is more comfortable??

Air Berlin only offer those fares on certain flights, you have to be flexible - Same with DB, they offer return fares as low as 58 €, if you're flexible.

If your friend has never been on a high-speed train before, it's worth it for the experience alone, but it's kind of a long trip. Plus the scenery isn't much to write home about, as the previous posters have said. If s/he wants scenic railways, they should head to Switzerland and take the train from Bern to Interlaken or the narrow-gauge rail from Chur to Arosa

I ask myself the same question for Frankfurt - Berlin / Hamburg and opt for plane. It's quicker (I'm near FIA). The flights are not pricy (c. 95 Eur return Lufthansa) but time saved (say 2 hours each way) pays for itself on short trips, it's good chunk more of holiday.

Also, if I want to spend 4-6 hours going somewhere, I'd rather spend most of it not cooped up, but in a cafe etc (the "stuck in seat" bit only lasts about an hour or course). Others might see the opposite though: seat on train, settled for 5 hours to work / read / crash or whatever.

My timetables are also better. I can be home 11am from a "normal" get up, whereas train'd mean getting up some ungodly hour and probably still arriving later. Or catch a 9pm flight and not be home too late.

update: my friend booked a flight on AirBerlin. Thanks to all who offered their views.