FRA - distance from terminals to Fernbhf?

I would say, depending on where you are in the main terminal, no more than 400 m to standing on your departure platform. If your plane arrives on time, you'll have no trouble.

My guess is that Jennifer may have no idea how far 400 meters may be, though I could be wrong. Better is an estimate of time, which is what she is looking for.

The long distance train station is connected to terminal 1, (EDIT- TERMINAL 2) which is the terminal that United Airways uses, so any gate you arrive in will have signs directing you there. Most of the time it will take about 30-45 min. after your flight arrives to emerge into the main part of the airport. Add another 10 min. to walk to the long distance train station. It is located in the Squaire.

Have a look at this map of the Frankfurt airport to get a good idea of where you are going. It is quite easy to find.
http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/directions/airport_maps1/terminal_1_2.html

Sorry, 400 m, 400 yds, 1/4 mile. 5 minutes if you're not hauling luggage, but then who walks through airports without hauling luggage.

Jennifer,

I'm looking at making the same trip in the fall, and one option I'm considering is use code share flights direct to Dresden. From what I can determine, that will be faster than travelling from FRA via train (since I'm at the airport anyway), and my checked luggage should be shuttled through direct to the end destination. I've found that FRA is usually fast and efficient, so I'm not anticipating any problems in using a connecting flight.

Regarding getting to the Fernbahnhof, as Jo mentioned it's better to look at this as time rather than distance. As I recall, that trek involves walking from the terminal area, up a long stairway, along a hallway and then down another stairway to the platforms. It may not be that far in terms of distance, but I've found that it does take some time, perhaps 15-20 minutes (especially when tired and jet lagged).

Happy travels!

USAir uses Terminal 2, so getting to the Fernbahnhof will not be as easy as some here are saying, but I think 2¾ hrs is still enough time. That, of course, assumes your flight arrives on time (no telling with a trans-Atlantic flight, particularly on USAir. Perhaps the most time-reliable way to get from Terminal 2 to the Fernbahnhof is to go up stairs to the top of the terminal building, then take the SkyLine tram over to Terminal 1 (look for signs to the SkyLine), then walk down stairs into the main hall of Terminal 1. Look for the 2nd floor mezzanine near the outer windows (and signs to the Fernbahnhof) and take the pedestrian walkway over the access road in front of the building.

Alternatively, there is a bus from the curb in front of Terminal 2 that goes to the curb in front of Terminal 1, but I have found the schedule for that bus to be somewhat irregular. You might find yourself waiting a while for it. Get off in front of Terminal 1 and go inside. Look for the escalators up to the mezzanine and signs to the Fernbahnhof.

If you take the bus, it's about a 17 min trip, including 10 min to walk from Terminal 1 out to the Fernbahnhof.

Whoops, I did make a mistake on the terminals. Sorry about that. Thanks Lee.

The bus from terminal 2, may actually be your best bet. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time going up and down escalators for the Sky Train, etc. and it will take a good 20 min. or so to get there anyway. With luggage, less than fun. At terminal 1, you only have one set of escalators to go up, before you walk to the train station. The bus comes every 10 min.

http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en/directions/shuttle_services.html

We arrived in Frankfurt in early December. The stairs up to the sky rail were closed. I do not know if that was temporary or what. I checked at information and they instructed us to take the shuttle bus which was packed. It seems that every time we land at Frankfurt, something has changed. Moral of story might be to check with information desk. Regards, Gary

Thank you all for your helpful replies. Sounds as if we'll be able to make the 9 a.m. train if things are running smoothly. We will have full fare tickets, so if we do happen to miss the 9 a.m. train I understand that I can use that ticket towards the purchase of a new ticket on a later train - is that correct? What is the procedure and cost for ticket changes? Many thanks!

If you're going with full fair tickets, just buy them from the machine in the station. They will indicate your start and end point, and that you can ride an ICE, but not a specific train number or time. No exchange procedures required.

I did something like this last September when I flew into FRA and took a multi-train connection to a spa town in the northern Black Forest. The flight was scheduled in at about 1:30 PM. There was a connection leaving the Fernbahnhof just before 2 PM. I knew I couldn't make that connection unless the flight was early, but the next connection, leaving just before 3 PM, had a seven minute connection I wasn't wild about in Karlsruhe. Knowing that catching the first train would be iffy, and wanting to minimize the time to get on it, I purchased online a standard fare ticket for the first train. That way if I had any chance of making the train, I wouldn't have to take time getting a ticket.

Of course, the flight to FRA was a little late arriving, and I had no chance of catching the train for which I had the ticket. However, I did not have to exchange my ticket for a new one (I did confirm that at the Bahn counter in the Fernbhf), the online ticket was accepted by the conductor on the later train (and I made the seven minute connection in Karlsruhe).

BTW, there was another connection leaving the Fernbhf at about 14:30, but it went a different route, which was more expensive (and got to my destination at the same time as the 15:00 connection). To take that connection I would have had to exchange the ticket and pay the difference.