Layover in Frankfort

You can take public transportation from FRA airport to Altstadt (Frankfurt’s old town) that takes 15 minutes.

Depending on the time of arrival, you may not have a full 5 1/2 hours. I remember a couple of flights to Europe when our departures were really delayed and we arrived a couple of hours later than planned. If you do have the full time available, consider the time to get into town and back. I'm not sure how long that would take. Then there is the time needed to go back through security. And if you have carry on bags to store at the airport that will consume more time. You may very well be able to do a quick tour and I hope you can. But all things considered, I wouldn't prearrange any non refundable tours. Don't mean to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought.

It will take between 30 and 60 minutes to get off the plane and through passport control, assuming there aren’t any additional Covid checks being made (otherwise this time could double). Depending on where you are flying to, you will need to be back at the airport at least 90 minutes before your onward flight - usually, 2 hours is recommended. Again, if additional Covid checks are required, this could be longer.

That means that you actually have 2.5-3.5 hours available, assuming your flight lands on time less any time for storing your luggage. Frankfurt airport is close to the city centre so you may have time for a quick trip or just relax and have a meal at the airport or use the lounges. If you suffer from jet lag, you may not want a city tour. It’s a good idea to try to get some fresh air.

The English-speaking tour company, Frankfurt on Foot, does airport layover tours all the time and can guide you on the timing, transportation, etc.

This is not a prudent plan. I've been to Frankfurt twice, and flown through multiple additional times. Frankfurt airport is famous for its size and distance for walking between simple gate changes. Assuming you are not an EU citizen, you have to add in at least 30 minutes (pre Covid, anyway) for Immigration formalities upon arrival from the USA. Assuming the final destination is within the EU (or is this your flight home??), at least you would not be subject to that for your second flight of the day. But there would be security screening line time. Would there be a cursory document check because you are not an EU citizen in Covid-time? I don't know.

I guess we also have to assume that Germany and the second country will not have special Covid testing or vaccination rules to be followed during your layover. What if the second country has different rules than Germany, or calls for another test after a stay in Germany? I'm also assuming that you can check your luggage through to the final destination.

I call that the sucker play -- 5, 6 hour layovers. You think it should be enough time to do something but it is not. Personally I would find a quiet corner and take a nap. And if you decide to go somewhere there are so many timing variables that it is easy to run out of time.

You might have better luck searching under FrankfUrt, not Frankfort (the capital of KY).

BETS is playing coy. Frankfurt on Foot tours are led by our own Ms Jo. If you can find one of her posts, you can PM her for information. Otherwise try info(at)frankfurtonfoot.com (of course, substitute @ for "(at)".)

Or, if you know how to use the registration number to find her profile for PMing, her number is 12707.

It might be difficult to work a tour into the schedule, but if you arrive anywhere near scheduled time, you would have plenty of time to get into Frankfurt for a look-see. There is an S-Bahn leaving from the close-in Regional Bahnhof at the airport every 15 minutes, and the trip takes only 13 minutes. However, unless you are going on to another Schengen airport, you wouldn't otherwise need to go through immigration at FRA. Plus you need to figure the time going back through security before your next flight.

Probably will not be your experience, but when we landed at FRA we were waaay out and it took about a half hour just to ride the shuttle bus to the terminal ... and then quite a while more to walk to the train to the city.

OK, what I was trying to say is that, if you are arriving at FRA from outside of Schengen, like from the US, and you are going to a non-Schengen country, like to Africa or to the middle East, then, depending on your airliines' gates, you can probably remain "airside" in Frankfurt and never go through immigration (passport check). But if you want to go into Frankfurt, you will have to go through immigration (passport check) to get out of the airport transit zone (into Schengen), then go through outgoing emigration when you return to get to your non-Schengen gate.

However, if you are going on to a Schengen country, you will have to go through immigration in Frankfurt regardless, so going into Frankfurt would involve only going through security when you returned to FRA.

Depending on where you are flying to, you will need to be back at the airport at least 90 minutes before your onward flight - usually, 2 hours is recommended.

Depends. With the luggage already checked in, boarding pass in hand, and a flight within the Schengen area, one hour should be enough.

The English-speaking tour company, Frankfurt on Foot, does airport layover tours all the time and can guide you on the timing, transportation, etc.

see here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/frankfurt-on-the-fly-a-long-layover-allows-for-a-walking-tour-of-the-german-city/2017/12/21/ff7c2ce8-de9c-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html

In my opinion, it is not worth leaving the airport for Frankfurt. Frankfurt is OK, but not a major tourist attraction.

Does it matter if Frankfurt has a major tourist attraction or not? Why would anyone want to sit in an airport for 5.5 hours when they could go visit a historic city, get fresh air, have a delicious bite to eat, and maybe see some sites of interest - Jewish heritage sites, medieval churches, wonderful farmers' markets, etc. You can see a lot in Frankfurt in just 2 hours with a bit of information on where to look.

I have passed through that airport literally at least 150 times and been to Frankfurt at least 30 or 40 times not counting when I lived in nearby Lieblos. On a bad day it can be a challenging place. I would discourage any temptation to leave the airport for such a short layover. I'm not a glass half empty person but I have travelled enough to know that adding extra timing critical activities in transit can ruin the rest of your plans. If you want to go to Frankfurt you should delay your flight out and spend a day or two but don't try to shoehorn it in. If you stay, give the Handkäs mit Musik a sample along with a Binding Pils.
I'm getting excited thinking about going back.

is boarding a plane after a plate of Handkäs mit Musik legal? Or good to your neighbours?

You all have given me such wonderful food for thought. I like making decisions after seeing it from all different perspectives. Thanks to everyone who has given me ideas! Fingers crossed we can actually go!!

Nigel, good catch....it may actually be illegal....similar to the Durian restrictions in Singapore.