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Frankfurt FRA or Cologne CGN

Posted by (Arlington, WA) on

Hello. Our family will be flying in to Frankfurt from Seattle in late March next year. Our flight has one layover in London and we arrive Frankfort at approx. 5pm local time. We will stop the night and then are headed to Italy the next morning. After doing to research and reading, I am now thinking about flying out of Cologne the following morning instead of Frankfurt. We can catch a direct train from Frankfurt Airport to Cologne HBF, stay the evening near the train station, then in the morning catch the train to the Cologne airport. Mainly I’m wondering if flying out of a smaller airport like Cologne would be a nicer and/or little more relaxed experience than returning to Frankfurt Airport (we will have two children 6 & 10 and a grandparent). Plus, in our past trip earlier this year we missed out on seeing the cathedral in Cologne and this would be a way of seeing it this trip, even if it’s just for an evening. Does anyone have any experience or advice on this?

Thanks!

Posted by
20977 posts

Seems like a lot of rigmorolin' around for an evening layover. If you land on time and get through immigration and get your luggage quickly, maybe you can get a 6 pm direct train, but more likely later. So if you leave at 7 pm, you'll be at Cologne Hbf be 8 pm, then check into a hotel, it will be almost 9 pm before you get settled. The walk up price for the train tickets for 3 adults and 2 kids will be 220 EUR or so. Then get up the next day and take the S-bahn to Cologne airport and check in and get a flight to Italy. All that to look at the outside of a cathedral largely built in the 19th century.

You will be very tired coming all the way from Seattle. Maybe just holing up in a Frankfurt airport hotel is more relaxing and certainly less stress and money.

Posted by
24 posts

I agree with Sam here. I love Cologne, but a nice dinner and early bedtime in Frankfurt sounds like a much better plan.

Posted by
48 posts

Yeah you guys are right. I guess I just needed a little nudge in the right direction.

Posted by
9150 posts

Yes, after that long flight from Seattle, just stay in Frankfurt. Your family will thank you.
Do stay in the city and not one of the airport hotels unless you have a really, really early flight. So many "airport" hotels need a shuttle, for which you often have to pay for and wait for. Trains run every 15 min. and only take 11 min. to get into the city. The only hotels that are really in the airport are the 2 Hiltons and the Sheraton.

Posted by
48 posts

If were were to depart mid-morning on a Monday from Frankfurt to Italy, would arriving 2 hours early be enough time? We would only have carry on luggage.

Posted by
8084 posts

The cathedral at Cologne is wonderful, but check closely the timeline and what it will take to do this. You need 3-4 hours to see the Cathedral.

Posted by
7766 posts

I have no experience with flying from the West Coast to Europe.

But don't you have the option of flying ... somewhere ... in Italy the same day from the major airport of Frankfurt? I can understand that you'll be tired. But the expense of the flight is still there, and you're adding a hotel (more than one room?) from which you have negligible sightseeing time. (Most attractions close at 5 anyway.) Would it make sense to revise your itinerary?

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