Any ideas? I am already booked to arrive in Frankfurt airport December 18, stay in airport hotel that night, and had planned to take train from airport to Thun, Switzerland the next day, where I have confirmed hotel reservation that begin December 20. My trip is very short. I am first-time traveler and elderly (age 78).
Posted by
Brooklyn, NY
4268 posts
Can you fly to Zurich then take a train to Thun?
Posted by
Michigan
217 posts
It sounds as though you have planned a nice trip. Could you provide a little more information regarding the train disruption? Did you receive an email notice about the disruption. Have you already made rail reservations? Does the disruption involve trains in Germany or trains in Switzerland? What kind of disruption? My experience in traveling by train in Switzerland is that bus service replaces trains when trains are not running on a certain route. I am sure someone on this forum can assist you further if more information is given. We love to help out when possible.
I have been to Thun several times. It is a nice place. The castle is fun to tour. When I toured it I made a point of going in every turret.
I hope you have a wonderful first time trip and you become a regular contributor to this forum!
All the best to you,
Traveler Girl
Posted by
Wengen
2501 posts
You can't buy tickets for December 19th yet. The schedule has not been published yet as well. So what rail disruptions are you talking about?
Just wait till end of october, and buy a ticket Frankfurt Airport - Thun from DB then.
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
1488 posts
If you're already at the airport I'd fly local Frankfurt to Zurich. It's a 55 minute direct flight.
Posted by
Wengen
2501 posts
Frankfurt Airport to Thun is not going to be faster if you fly to Zurich first. It is only going to be more expensive...
By train it is 4 1/2 hours, end to end. By plane it is actually going to take longer, as you have check in times to content with, and still need to get to Thun...
Note: If you want to spend your first night in Frankfurt I would not spend it near the airport. I would pick a hotel near the Main downtown station. You have direct trains to Thun from there.
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2547 posts
While the schedule for your date is not available yet, you can use the DB Navigator to see the options for an earlier date in December. I plugged in Dec. 4, for example.
There is a bus that is being used in place of the train for the segment under repair. The first leg of your journey would be a bus from Frankfurt airport (Flughafen) to Mannheim. Then you would take a train to Basel, then change to a different train ending in Thun. This one option.
There are other options which don’t require a bus. They travel a route unaffected by the repairs. I would select a route with fewer connections, even if the travel time is slightly longer. Also look at the connection times and whether the platforms are near each other.
Posted by
Wengen
2501 posts
The Riedbahn is currently being rebuild, and as a result you indeed see busses on that route. But the line should be back in service when the winter timetable starts.
So to have an idea what the schedule will be like, just look back. You can in fact look up timetables in the past on bahn.com. Look up for 20 december 2023 for example, and that should give you an idea what you can expect on 20 december 2024...
The trip should take 4 1/2 hours, and if you time it right there will be only one change, usually in Mannheim. However you could also stay near Frankfurt main station, and then you have a direct train.
Flying in to FRA, and taking the train home the next morning is something I have done a few times in the past, when I could not find a convenient flight to Zurich.