Frankfurt airport

Were you planning on staying overnight and visiting Frankfurt? If so, there is no reason to stay at an airport hotel. Come into the city where the hotels are plentiful and a lot cheaper than the airport. The city is only 11 min. away from the airport by train. Unless you are at the Sheraton or the 2 Hiltons at the airport, you will be waiting on a shuttle to take you to an "airport" hotel. Some of the shuttles charge you, so you may as well just take the train to the city and do some sightseeing while you are here.

You can then take one of the fast trains from the main station in Frankfurt to Strasbourg. Trip takes about 2+ hours. The Deutsche Bahn is having a special right now, that goes until 31 Jan. with a 25% Bahn Card for just 15 €. This would save you some money.
(I edited my post as I was looking at the wrong Strasbourg and posted the wrong times and prices)
:-)

Doug,

If you're planning to go directly from the airport to Strasbourg, it's a very easy trip. There are two rail stations right at the airport, a Fernbahnhof (long distance trains) and a Regional Bahnhof. There are numerous departures from the Ferhbahnhof to Strasbourg with a travel time of about 2H:10M and one or two changes (depending on which train you connect with). There's a ticket office right there, and you can buy tickets either from a Kiosk or a staffed ticket window.

The full fare from Frankfurt Hbf to Strasbourg is about 60€ and the Bahn Card 25 Probe for 15€ gives you 25% off, so it's about a wash (unless you have other uses for the card). If you are leaving directly from the airport, there is a Lufthansa bus directly to Strasbourg. It costs 49€ and takes 2½ hours.

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. Since Frankfurt Airport has a train station, you just enter "Frankfurt Airport" as your starting point. After receiving some schedules, click the arrow to view details about the connection times and locations. Train routes all include a connection, which is not particularly difficult, but makes Lee's advice for the direct bus more attractive when you're jet-lagged.

If you haven't booked your airfare yet, you can get that Lufthansa bus Lee mentioned added on to your ticket as a "flight segment," and it may not even cost more than flying to Frankfurt. The "airport code" for Strasbourg bus station is XER (may work only on Lufthansa's website).

Doug go to the airport website and you can find links that show you a map of the airport terminal building and the train stations that will show you how easy they are to find. It is easy enough to get get in and out of the airport, that I see no advantage to stay near there.

An advantage to Jo's suggestion that you spend the night in Frankfurt would be that you could be sure of making a specific train the next day. With advance purchase, you could get a 2 hr connection by ICE and TGV (change in Karlsruhe) for as low as 29€, or an ICE to Mannheim connecting to a Bahn IC bus to Strasbourg. That connection would take 3 hours and could cast as little as 19€.

Similar connections would be a available from the airport the day you arrive, but these tickets are train (bus) specific and non-refundable, so if your flight is late, the ticket is worthless and you have to purchase another one.

Thanks to all who replied. it is much appreciated as this is our first trip to Europe.

An advantage to booking the bus with Lufthanse as a flight segment is, if you miss it because of a delayed flight, they will put you on the next one.