Getting from Amsterdam to Berlin (or back)
· Updated · BootsnAll
Amsterdam and Berlin end up back to back on a lot of European itineraries, and getting between them has become easier since this page was first written. There's now a direct daytime train with no change, a night train is back on the route, and buses run all day. Here are your options and how they compare.
Quick summary
| Option | Time | From (as of 2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct ICE train | about 6 hours | €37.99 | Most people |
| European Sleeper night train | about 8.5 hours overnight | €49.99 | Saving a night's accommodation |
| FlixBus | 6 hours and up | under €30 | The tightest budgets |
| Flight | 1 hour 20 minutes in the air | varies a lot | Onward connections |
For most people the train wins. It runs city center to city center, and once you add airport transfers and security, flying saves surprisingly little time.
Trains between Amsterdam and Berlin
The old routine of changing trains in Duisburg or Amersfoort is gone. Deutsche Bahn ICE trains now run direct from Amsterdam Centraal to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, with no change. According to Seat61, there are six direct trains a day, plus one more Monday to Saturday, roughly every two hours from 6 a.m., and the trip takes about 5 hours 42 minutes. NS International lists the journey at just under six hours with zero transfers.
Fares
Fares work like airfares: the cheapest tickets sell first, and the price climbs as the train fills up. Seat61 lists advance fares from €37.99 in second class and €56.99 in first class. Show up at the station on the day and you'll likely pay far more, especially at popular times. Tickets usually go on sale months ahead, so book early.
You can book at Deutsche Bahn or NS International. First class gets you a quieter carriage, more space, and at-seat food and drink service.
Engineering works in late 2026
Check your dates if you're traveling this autumn. Seat61 warns that from 2 October to 12 December 2026, trains are diverted via Hamburg-Harburg because of major track work between Hannover and Berlin, with longer journey times and fewer trains. Use the Deutsche Bahn planner for the actual timetable on your day.
The night train
The nightly sleeper this page used to describe, which dumped you in Berlin a bit after 4 a.m., is long gone. Its replacement is much better timed. European Sleeper, a Dutch-Belgian startup, runs a night train from Brussels to Prague that stops in Amsterdam and Berlin, a few nights a week.
On its September 2026 timetable, the eastbound train leaves Amsterdam Centraal at 22:34 and reaches Berlin Gesundbrunnen at 07:00. Going the other way, it leaves Berlin Gesundbrunnen at 23:01 and arrives in Amsterdam Centraal at 06:46. You can choose a seat, a couchette or a sleeper compartment, and fares start from €49.99. Seat61 lists the eastbound runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, but check the timetable for your date, since schedules change.
Berlin Gesundbrunnen is on the S-Bahn ring in the north of the city, a few minutes from Berlin Hauptbahnhof. A night train saves you a night's accommodation and a day of travel, so if you sleep well on trains, it's the best-value way to do this trip.
Buses between Amsterdam and Berlin
The Eurolines buses this page used to recommend no longer run the route. FlixBus dominates it now, with around 19 departures a day, including overnight buses, and advance fares from under €30. FlixBus says the fastest trips take about 6 hours, but many take much longer, so check the duration before you book.
In Amsterdam, FlixBus stops include Sloterdijk station, De Ruijterkade behind Centraal Station, Bijlmer ArenA and Schiphol Airport. In Berlin the buses serve the central bus station (ZOB), Südkreuz, Alexanderplatz and Hauptbahnhof, among others. Buses have Wi-Fi, power outlets and a toilet. The cheapest fares go first, as with the trains.
Flights between Amsterdam and Berlin
Flying is the fastest option on paper, but not by much. Nonstop flights between Schiphol and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) take about 1 hour 20 minutes, and KLM and easyJet fly the route several times a day. Once you add the trip to Schiphol, security, and the ride in from BER, you're looking at four hours or more door to door, and a big chunk of it isn't relaxing.
Berlin's old Tegel airport has closed, and flights now use BER, which has its own station with trains to Berlin Hauptbahnhof; see the airport's public transport page. From Amsterdam Centraal, the train to Schiphol takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
Flying makes the most sense when Berlin or Amsterdam is one stop on a longer trip. A multi-stop ticket can include the hop between them without the cost of separate one-way flights. AirTreks, BootsnAll's sister company, has built multi-stop and round-the-world tickets since 1987, and one of its sample routes takes in both cities:
A four-week loop through Central Europe that ends with Berlin, Brussels and Amsterdam before flying home to Toronto from Amsterdam.
Which should you pick?
- You want the easiest trip: the direct ICE. Book early for the cheap fares.
- You want to save a night's hotel: the European Sleeper, if your dates line up with its schedule.
- You're on the tightest budget: FlixBus, ideally overnight.
- You're connecting to a long-haul flight: fly, or build the leg into a multi-stop ticket.
Heading somewhere else next? We also cover Amsterdam to Prague, Amsterdam to Copenhagen and Brussels to Berlin. For the Amsterdam end of the trip, see getting around Amsterdam.