Frankfurt to Trier

Go here: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml You can buy your tickets at the station from a booth with a person. Easy.

I really do wish it were that easy. If you use a train sequence to Trier that includes long-distance trains from FRA airport, buying a ticket from a person at the counter could cost as much as €138 for two. I wouldn't do that.

It would be wiser to ride the cheaper regional trains. These trains will actually get you there faster as well. You can search for schedules on these trains at this page.

FROM: Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Regionalbf (one of two FRA airport stations, this one for regional trains.)
TO: Trier Hbf

Enter your travel time, approximate hour of travel, and passenger information.

Also, click on the box that says "only local transport" to ensure you find the cheaper regional trains.

After you hit search, several options will pop up. Click on "show details" at the left side of the schedule box - that shows you where/when you have changes of train and other information.

I don't have your date and time but normally there are good schedules that take 3 hours leaving FRA airport at 7:20, 9:23 and 11:23.

ABOUT TICKETS... do NOT start buying tickets online... some of these are available for purchase, but it's wisest to do that at FRA...

On weekdays the DB site will show some journeys priced at €52 for two - that's the "Day ticket for Germany" or "Quer durchs Land Ticket" in German. Buy one of these at a ticket machine at an FRA station ticket machine for that price. The machines have an English option. This ticket will work if your trip begins after 9 am on a weekday.

On Sat or Sun you'll find some journeys priced at €50/two - that's the Happy Weekend Ticket or the "Schönes Wochenende Ticket in German. Use it at any hour of the day.

Both these day passes can be purchased at the DB site. But it's NOT good to pre-purchase - no refunds are possible - and you may have a cancelled flight or some other change of plans. Just buy them from the machines at the station on the day of travel.

A 3rd way to do this is the cheapest - the two-ticket option. A local RMV ticket for FRA - Mainz costs €4.90 each. Buy it at a station ticket machine (valid right after purchase.) The Mainz - Trier part can be traveled on a "Rheinland-Pfalz ticket" (valid weekdays after 9, Sat or Sun at any hour) for €29/2 adults (ticket machine.) So total is about €39 with this strategy. Mainz is a station on the way to Trier - if you ride at the times I suggested above, your train just Stops at Mainz and continues to Koblenz (change there for Trier) so you don't have to get off in Mainz - you just have to have a valid ticket for the pre-Mainz trip (RMV ticket) and for the post-Mainz trip (R-P ticket.) Note that this strategy works on any day of the week; however, on a weekday, the R-P ticket from Mainz is valid only after 9 am - the train from Mainz onward must not be scheduled before that hour.

The RMV and R-P tickets will NOT be shown as a purchase option for this journey at the DB site. You can just get them once you're at the airport. ALL of the tickets I mentioned are valid on ANY of the regional trains you found at the DB schedule.

Are you landing at Frankfurt and then going directly to Trier? Or are you spending 1 or more nights in Frankfurt? If going directly to Trier, what time do you land? When are you going? Russ has good information if lowest price is what you're looking for but that may not be the case. The more details you give, the better the answers you'll get.

"Russ has good information if lowest price is what you're looking for but that may not be the case."

If you are looking for a higher price you can surely find one. There is usually a time and convenience advantage with DB when you use long-distance trains - the "fast trains" - and pay more. But generally speaking, for the FRA-Trier journey, no such advantage exists. It's not possible to get to Trier faster or with fewer stops on the IC/ICE trains than it is with the 1-stop regional train sequence leaving FRA at 7:20, 9:23 and 11:23 (and every 2 hours or so thereafter) no matter how much you pay.

Note however that on a weekday, that very efficient 7:20 regional train departure will be expensive - two will pay close to €90 for one-way tickets, as the trip is too early for day passes to kick in.

Advance-purchase saver fares that use any of the IC/ICE equipment may be available for €40 (or more) for two. But if traveling right after arrival at FRA, there's a risk of forfeiture in the event of a flight delay. These may indeed be worth considering however if you overnight at FRA, must travel to Trier on a weekday, and must leave well before 9 am.

You can travel from Frankfurt Airport to Trier by bus too. That connection is offered by Flixbus and Flibco (Luxembourg). Look up schedules and prices at busliniensuche.de (note: even if you enter Frankfurt Airport that site shows departures from the main station in the city as well, so be careful when selecting). The train, however, is way mor scenic. It follows the Rhine and the Mosel (for some parts of it) while the autobahn cuts through not so exciting landscape.

Great suggestions above. For ease and being an old dog, I’ll continue my routine of checking faster and slower trains in advance and buying at the station the tickets I prefer upon arrival at Frankfurt Airport. The various permutations with multiple tickets for a single journey...well I’ll leave it to the experts.

Thank you all for your input and advice. There are some very good ideas/tips here which I will surely use. Russ, thanks for detailed information. it will make things a lot easier.