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Question

Trip from Belgium to Malmö

  • February 6, 2026
  • 6 replies
  • 27 views

Two young people want to travel from Belgium to Malmö as fast as possible. We want to buy an interrail pass and want to take the SJ of Snalltaget from Hamburg to Malmö on the 17th or 18th of July. The nighttrain is not offering rides in that week. The daytrain should be riding from May. Is it sure that this train will be operating at these dates? Where can I find more information about that?

Are there other and faster ways to travel from Belgium to Sweden?

6 replies

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  • Railmaster
  • February 6, 2026

Always verify timetables on with the operators, e.g. www.sj.se and www.snalltaget.se.

For the day trains, check www.bahn.de.

Never plan with the Rail Planner app or the Interrail website. They're not reliable and up-to-date enough for that purpose.

If you're taking a night train from Hamburg, then plan at least a 2-hour change there.

If you're taking day trains, then leave early (possibly with the first ICE from Brussels), so you have a plan B that gets you to Copenhagen and Malmö 2 hours later.


BrendanDB
Full steam ahead
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  • Full steam ahead
  • February 6, 2026

It’s a long, but very doable journey when you take the first ICE of the day in Brussels (around 6:25 in Zuid/Midi) like ​@rvdborgt said.

50 - 55 minutes change in Cologne for the train to Hamburg.

But! With a bit of luck in Cologne, the train to Hamburg (that usually just leaves just before the ICE arrives), has a small delay so that you can make a quick transfer. I always flag that train in the DB Navigator app to check. Sometimes delays can work in your advantage.

In Hamburg it’s nice to have a good buffer, to find something proper to eat, stretch your legs and have buffer for potential delays (it’s still Germany).

The EC Hamburg-CPH will probably have mandatory reservations. It might be a bit to early to reserve seats now (usually the best timeframe is about 3 months in advance), but try to do this quite a bit in advance since it’s a rather popular connection in summer.

Once arrived in Copenhagen, it’s easy and convenient. You have an Öresundstag to Malmö about every 15 min, until late in the night (and usually hourly after 1h at night).


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  • Railmaster
  • February 6, 2026

But! With a bit of luck in Cologne, the train to Hamburg (that usually just leaves just before the ICE arrives), has a small delay so that you can make a quick transfer. I always flag that train in the DB Navigator app to check. Sometimes delays can work in your advantage.

Ah yes, I've done that more than once in Cologne, specifically with the train to Hamburg.

The EC Hamburg-CPH will probably have mandatory reservations.

It might be a bit to early to reserve seats now (usually the best timeframe is about 3 months in advance), but try to do this quite a bit in advance since it’s a rather popular connection in summer.

Cheapest are tickets.oebb.at and cd.cz (€3). The latter are refundable until 15 minutes before departure.


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  • Railly clever
  • February 6, 2026

11th -19th of July there will be no night trains between German and Sweden due to rail works in Denmark. During the day there will be rail replacement buses for part of the journey. 


  • Author
  • Rail rookie
  • February 6, 2026

11th -19th of July there will be no night trains between German and Sweden due to rail works in Denmark. During the day there will be rail replacement buses for part of the journey. 

I read that from May there will be a daytrain (from Snalltaget) but I can't find anywhere if this train will ride as a replacement.


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  • Railmaster
  • February 6, 2026

I read that from May there will be a daytrain (from Snalltaget) but I can't find anywhere if this train will ride as a replacement.

Snälltåget themselves indicate they don't operate on those days:

On their page with planned changes, they write:

It looks like there will only be a bus replacement for their night trains Berlin-Stockholm, although they don't say explicitly there won't be a replacement service for the day trains from/to Hamburg. You can ask them at snalltaget@snalltaget.se or via Facebook Messenger.