Take the train from Hamburg to Barcelona

Good to know when traveling from Hamburg to Barcelona

Do I have to book seat reservations?

Regular train tickets

Some trains require that you have a seat reservation. Seat reservations are included when mandatory with all regular tickets purchases made on All Aboard. If you wish to reserve seats when they are not included you can do so either at the train station or on the operator website.

Seat reservation for Interrail

Seat reservations are usually not required for local and regional trains. However, it is needed for most high-speed, international, and night trains. But make sure to book seats if you need to be somewhere at a certain time, traveling with kids or if it's high season. Unsure if you need a seat reservation? Check your route here.

Reservations for travelers with Interrail pass can be purchased at the train station, on the rail operator website, and on Interrail.eu.

Some rail operators will ask for your "pass cover number". This is a code which used to come with the old paper passes. You can generate such a code using your Interrail mobile pass here.

Is there wifi on the train?

There are few things as nice as watching a movie, listening to a good podcast or getting some work done on the train. And fortunately most long-distance trains in Europe today offer free wifi onboard.

Eurostar, Renfe, SNCF and Deutsche Bahn let you get access to wifi on the majority of their trains. If having wifi is very important to you, the best way to really know if wifi is available is to google the train number (that can be found on your ticket) and you'll find out.

For EU residents

Should the wifi connection let you down, as an EU resident, you still have the luxury to take advantage of free roaming in all EU countries, just remember to turn on roaming in your phone's settings. If you are an EU resident traveling through a non-EU country such as Switzerland, the UK, or Norway, it could be a good idea to bring a 4G dongle in your bag, and switch off roaming to avoid hefty bills.

First and second class

Wouldn’t it be great if there were only a few, standardized, alternatives when choosing class? We agree. However, the train operators themselves choose what they call their different class options, which means they tend to be called things like "Sparpreis", "Super Flex Premium" and sometimes just "Seat". This is not ideal and we are working actively to standardize how ticket options are listed on All Aboard.

Which option you choose to travel with is entirely up to you. The more expensive options usually mean better comfort. If you feel unsure about what applies to each class option, you can check it out on the train operators' websites, or in their terms and conditions.