Renting a car for Alps, better at FRA Airport or Ulm Bahnhof?

Posted by Hank (City of Seattle) on 03/25/25 02:37 PM

A little more complicated question that it might seem!

I will be in Europe before my family arrives. They arrive at Frankfurt Airport, scheduled 12:45pm. We all need to get to Tannheim, just over the Austria border near Fussen. We will have a rental car for our time in Tannheim.

I'm trying to figure out whether or not to have my family come part way to Tannheim by train (no train to Tannheim) and then pick them up in the rental car, or pick them up in the rental car at FRA.

Google Maps says that driving from FRA to Tannheim might take 3h30 to 4h40 on a Sunday afternoon.

Ulm is the closest fast train station to Tannheim. FRA-Ulm by train takes 2h07 to 2h19. Departures 13:24, 13:51, 14:51, 15:24. Then the drive from Ulm to Tannheim is 1h15-1h40.

It seems better to be at FRA to pick up my family in a rental car and then driving the 4-ish hours to Tannheim. But a complicating factor is I will be bicycle touring before they arrive, and favor riding away from Frankfurt area, not looping back to Frankfurt. It might be a nice bike tour to Ulm. My girls travel a ton, especially my wife. They will be near the front of the plane, move quickly through airports and transit hubs. Ostensibly they could make the 13:51 train, and if so total travel time would be similar to a car from FRA.

But of course plenty can go wrong with train to Ulm plan if they get held up in customs, the trains aren't running on time, etc. Car from FRA seems more certain, but then again there's potentially traffic? (Will traffic be likely on that route on a July Sunday afternoon?) And maybe better to take a train for part of the ride instead of stuck in a car for 4 or more hours right off an overnight flight?

What do you think?

We've also though about splitting the trip with a late afternoon and overnight in Ulm, but schedule is a bit tight, and we will likely overnight Ulm when we are leaving Tannheim for an early train to Brussels.

Thanks!

Posted by Hank OP

City of Seattle

03/25/25 03:54 PM

2015 posts

Let me clarify a few things:

I would look at whether you can get the car you need at the Ulm
Bahnhof (four people with luggage and a bike/rack?--I'm not 100% on
your itinerary).

I can, no problem. Sixt rents like 20 different cars out of Ulm Bahnhof location. I'll likely get something like the Audi A6 wagon or the minivan version of the VW Tiguan. But probably the Audi so I can drive fast on the Autobahn. Bike will fit fine in the back of either of those and many others.

If that's where you're planning to return it, then picking it up
there makes sense, especially if they want to charge a fee for change
of location.

Dropping a rental car at a different location German generally cost 0-50 euro. Dropping outside of Germany usually hundreds.

( with a driver who has just cycled across Germany and not had access to
a shower?) after the train ride sounds absolutely awful.

I will be cycle touring, not unhoused. I will sleep in a hotel the night before, which will have the usual shower and soap.

I suggest you meet them in Ulm with hotel rooms waiting and a dinner
place picked out. Pick up the car in the morning and make the drive
enjoyable for everyone. Getting up early to drive back to Ulm will be
easier. I just saved you a day's car rental. You're welcome.

This might be the right plan. We are trying to get on a 07:58AM departure from Ulm the day we leave. 90 minute drive from Tannheim, plus car drop off time, plus early enough to be sure not to miss the train is pretty early out of bed for people who are on their 4th or 5th sleep and just getting adjusted to Europe time. Wheels roll 5:30am? So for the teen girls up an hour before. I think my group would prefer to get to our Tannheim destination that first day and then not get out of bed at zero dark thirty. But maybe that would be preferred.

thanks for the feedback!