Seat availability on DB ICE train Brussels - Cologne
I'm thinking of taking my family (5 of us in total) from London to Cologne just before Christmas, travelling by Eurostar to Brussels then DB ICE from Brussels to Cologne. But, I read an account from another traveler who said there were no seats available on the ICE from Cologne to Brussels.
Eurostar do not allow me to reserve seats on the ICE leg of my journey. I could if I used Thalys instead of ICE but that seems a lot more expensive.
Can anybody reassure me that we should be able to find 5 seats close together on the ICE just before Christmas? Or alternatively suggest a booking service that will allow me to reserve ICE seats, but won't cost a lot more than booking the whole trip via Eurostar...?
Best Answer
Assuming "just before" is within a week of Christmas, all trains are likely to be very full. The last few trips I've taken between Belgium and Germany were full even on less peak travel dates, I guess due to aggressive dynamic pricing by the train companies. If you travel extremely early in the morning or late at night you might have better luck. I think the ICE you're referring to does start in Brussels so that' give you a better chance of finding seats, vs. at an intermediary station where the train already is full of through passengers. You might luck out, you might not.
As has been mentioned in the comments you have a couple options for reserving seats: either booking your whole journey (tickets+reservation) right on bahn.de or booking the tickets with Eurostar and the making simple seat reservations only on top of the Eurostar ticket booking with bahn.de.
Pictures about "Seat availability on DB ICE train Brussels - Cologne"
How do you tell if a seat is reserved on an ICE train?
If you do have a reservation, the seats will be marked by a small electronic displays somewhere above each pair of seats.How do I check if a seat is live on a train?
Here is how you can check reservation charts on the IRCTC website:Where is my seat on DB train?
When I make a reservation, how can I tell if the seat next to mine cannot be booked? Travellers can use the coach diagram on bahn.com and in DB Navigator to pick their preferred seat. Available seats are dark grey. Just click on one to select it.How do you get free seats on ICE trains?
If I don't have a seat reservation, how do I find unreserved seats when I get on the train? You can book a seat online or on the ticket machine. On an ICE train, you will find an indicator above every seat. It says if the seat is booked or not.German Quality? ICE International in First Class | Bruxelles-Midi to Cologne Central Station
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Images: Pavel Danilyuk, Pavel Danilyuk, Pixabay, Pixabay