Need to decide right away where to book for this Sunday, Dec 2 for flight on Monday at 2 pm.
I’m in Coburg and check out Sunday morning. I’ve visited Würzburg, Nürnberg, (and Regensburg) but feel like I need to head west to be fairly close or have good connections to Frankfurt Airport. I’d like to be able to do some Sunday besides just traveling to the airport.
Ideas? Thanks
For an afternoon flight out of FRA, in the past I've come in from near Karlsruhe (Bad Herrenalb) on a direct ICE, from Boppard, on the middle Rhein, on a direct RE, and from a small town ½ hr west of Würzburg (direct RE to Frankfurt Hbf, S-Bahn from there). I've never had a problem with connections; the German trains are reliable. Because of the time, I've always allowed extra time for the trip and used it for lunch at the airport. I would avoid coming all the way in from Coburg because of the uncertainty of connections.
There are hourly, direct ICE and IC connections from Würzburg direct to the Fernbahnhof at FRA.
For a morning flight, I've always (3 times) stayed next to the Hbf in Mainz. My last stay in Mainz was here, at Hotel Königshof. Königshof is a nice hotel with rooms reasonably priced for so close to the airport. It is right across the Bahnhofsplatz from Mainz Hbf, a very short walk in the morning. They serve a great breakfast buffet, including a table of traditional American breakfast dishes, if you care. The trip from Mainz to the airport takes 27 minutes and runs every half hour.
Some people have complained about noise in the Bahnhofsplatz, but I didn't notice any.
I agree with Lee's suggestion - Mainz is a great town for exploring on foot (large zone for pedestrians) and for last-minute sightseeing or shopping - and it is well located, with numerous direct trains to FRA airport (beginning before 4 am (if you should really need to be there early.)
The cluster of hotels near the main train station (Mainz Hbf,) including the Königshof, should work alright. I have used the Ibis hotel as well, closer yet to the old town and the river, and just a block from a secondary train station (Mainz Römisches Theater station,) which is also on the train line to FRA airport, just one stop closer than the main station. See "DB" in red at the bottom of this Mainz map for the MRT station location. (The pink streets are pedestrians-only.)
Expanded map of Mainz showing both stations:
http://ontheworldmap.com/germany/city/mainz/mainz-sightseeing-map.jpg
I'm partial to Mainz since I have family there. The Weihnachtsmarkte just opened, so it might be a nice thing to see on your last night in Germany.
Mainz or Anschaffenburg. I like the later; a bit less "big city". The walk along the river is nice.
Why not stay in Frankfurt? This is one of the oldest and most historic cities in Germany. Tons of stuff to see here, plus a fun Christmas market. (began in 1393) The new Alt Stadt is gorgeous, showcasing German craftsmanship at its best, with the wonderful archeology of Franconford right in the middle of it. You can even go to our Christmas market in the city forest or to our market in Frankfurt Höchst. Höchst has about 400 half-timbered buildings and is part of the German Half-Timbered route. You can also visit one of the oldest churches in Germany here, as the Justinus Church was consecrated in 850 and is a very well preserved example of Carolingian architecture. Make sure you walk around the dry moat that surrounds the little schloss.
Hotels are cheap on the weekend. Airport is 11-15 min. away by train with a train every 15 min.
As Ms Jo says, hotels are cheap on Dec 2 in Frankfurt. You can stay at the TripAdvisor #1 ranked (out of 276 hotels) hotel (Premier Inn) in Frankfurt for €62.50 for that night.
Not to disparage Premier Inn, because it looks like a nice enough place and the "price" is still very reasonable, but it's a prime example of how hotels in popular areas (eg, near airports) misrepresent their rates by stripping out breakfast and adding it on as an extra. With breakfast for two (~20€), Premier is comparably priced to Königshof. Some people might want to skip breakfast and head directly for the airport; then it's an advantage not to have breakfast included, but I always like to come right down first thing for a cup (or more) of coffee and eat before going up to my room to pack up to leave. I always look at the total price, with breakfast, when comparing accommodations. I've seen expensive hotels near an airport charging 30-40 euro for breakfast for one.
When flying back to SFO from Frankfurt, the last two nights or the very last night, I've reserved at a small hotel ca 2 mins from Frankfurt Hbf. I arrive at Frankfurt Hbf usually in the late afternoon, spend the next day in town or off on a short day trip, say to Wiesbaden, Bad Ems, etc.
If I arrive the day before the flight, also late afternoon, I spend the last night of the trip at the same hotel, already reserved, stay in town, then the next morning take public transport Frankfurt Hbf to FRA. ...all very convenient.
Any last minute shopping, ie, coffee to bring back, I get at the Rewe market, also very close by.
