My husband and I are making our first trip to Germany in July. Our itinerary thus far has us spending our last two nights in Bacharach. Our flight home leaves from Frankfurt at 0930. We will have a rental car and are considering returning the car at the airport prior to departure. I'm wondering how easy/difficult the car rental return process is. If we were to leave Bacharach @ 0600, would that give us enough time to return the car and check in for our flight? Are rental return exits well marked? Would it be better to take the train to the airport or even stay closer to the airport (Mainz or Frankfurt)? Thanks!
Posted by
7 posts
Its been a few years but I retuned a car to Frankfurt airport, I think through one of the major rental companies. It was very painless. They had an employee check me in and it took no more than 5 minutes, same process that you would go through in the States.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
I've always planned to get to FRA 2½ hours before flight time and that has always been more than enough time. According to ViaMichelin, the trip by car from Bacharach to FRA takes an hour (assuming no problems with traffic or wrong turns). Leaving at at 6:00 should get you to FRA at 7:00. If car return is a quick as they say, you should have no problem.
I would suggest two alternatives. If you find a car return place in Mainz, you could come in late the day before, return the car, and stay here, just across the plaza from the Mainz Hbf. From the Hbf, it's a short trip (26 min) by S-Bahn into the airport. There is one leaving at 6:33, getting to the airport at 6:59.
Or, if you return the car somewhere on the way to Bacharach and use the trains and boats in Bacharach, you could take the 5:37 RE direct from Bacharach to FRA and arrive at FRA at 6:34, giving you almost 3 hours, time for breakfast after check-in. (You could also take the 6:30 connection from Bacharach, with a cross-platform change in Bingen, arriving FRA at 7:34. If you are flying on Lufthansa, which has plenty of check-in counters in Terminal 1, that might be enough time, but if you are flying another airline, which uses Terminal 2, I wouldn't try it.)
Posted by
Auburn, Alabama
1064 posts
This could have changed since I was last at the Frankfurt AP, but be prepared for the car return ramp when you enter the airport grounds. It comes up quick.
Posted by
San Diego, CA, USA
321 posts
And the terminal 2 return isn't marked very well. And you need to fill your gas tank up before you return the car. So I would leave Bacharach by 5:30 AM if I were you. Or you could do as Lee suggested, drop the car in Mainz the night before and take the 1/2 hour train ride to FRA in the morning. Or to be super safe, return the car to the airport the night before then stay in Mainz or Frankfurt itself and catch the train or S-bahn the next morning. Of course I'm not doing any of the above this September- I'm driving from Bacharach to the Marriott Courtyard Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt the afternoon before, sightseeing as I go along, and refueling just before hitting the sack (75 € senior rate for 2). Then it is only a 20 Km drive to FRA the next morning with no stop to refuel. I plan to leave the hotel about 6:30 AM to catch my 9:20 FRA-DFW flight.
Have a great trip!!!