The walk to the station in Kiel is about 10 minutes. Since I had 40 minutes, I decided to waive the Stena Germanica goodby and spot the incoming Color Line from Oslo. I then went to the station, where my train arrived soon after.
The regional train to Hamburg offered nice views on the snowy landscaped of Schleswig-Holstein. The same snow also caused problems on the tracks, however. After building up a delay due to signalling problems, our train was eventually stopped at Pinneberg, just outside Hamburg.
I had to continue my journey by S-Bahn.
My original transfer in Hamburg Hauptbahnhof would be missed, that was certain. While Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is an impressive station, and in fact the bsuiest in Germany, I am not a big fan. It can be very crowded.
I decided to leave the S-Bahn at Hamburg-Altona. That is the station where most ICE trains from Hamburg originate. Altona might not be as impressive, but it is a much nicer station in my opinion. There are plenty of shops, and trains usually open doors at least 20 minutes before departure.
My train was an ICE 4 towards Basel SBB. I really like this train. It offers a lot of capacity and while some say the seats aren't great, I personally like them.
I did find out the true reason why German high speed trains are called ICE, however..
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My original transfer in Hamburg Hauptbahnhof would be missed, that was certain. While Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is an impressive station, and in fact the bsuiest in Germany, I am not a big fan. It can be very crowded.
I did find out the true reason why German high speed trains are called ICE, however..