Driving from Frankfurt Airport to Rhine Valley

Frankfurt isn't that large a city. The population count is "only" 650,000. The airport is located outside of the city, in the South-West of it right by the Continents busiest freeway crossing. From the airport just follow signs towards Wiesbaden for the Eastern or Mainz for the Western shore of the Rhine river. Right after Wiesbaden starts Riesling-country, the Riviera of Germany, called Rheingau. www.rheingau.de

I found car rental at FRA to be every bit as easy (perhaps easier) as renting from any major airport in the U.S. Reserve online with a major company, such as Hertz, from the U.S. The process once you arrive is the same as in the U.S. You'll probably need to visit the Hertz desk. Cars are parked in an underground garage on site, so you can walk to your car. Leaving the airport is a breeze, as Andreas suggests. You won't need GPS. It's at least as easy as renting and driving out of the SLC airport.

You might carefully reconsider you decision to rent a car. Train transportation in the Rhine Valley is very good, with hourly train running on both sides of the River. The S-Bahn from Frankfurt airport to Mainz costs €3,70 per person. After that, a €27 Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket will provide unlimited train (and bus) travel anywhere between Mainz and Bonn for up to five people, all day (after 9 AM workdays). The RL-P-Ticket will also cover the Mosel south to the French border.

Hi Cara,

We recently did the same thing. We arrived at Frankfurt airport at 6:30 am and were on our way (leaving the parking garage)at 7:45am. We didn't drive through a city at all. Very easy and in no time you'll be at the Rhine.

We rented through www.gemut.com

Paul

As others mentioned, we also found it to be very easy driving from the Frankfurt Airport. Drove from there to Bacharach. Also rented through gemut.

I wouldn't rent a car for that - not worth it. Train fares and daypasses, as Lee points out, are very reasonable by comparison, and trains run frequently. You don't have to worry about picking up, dropping off, tickets, or shady rental dudes. And no one has to watch the road while the other one cries, "Look , Frank, another castle!"

Transport on the Rhein between Oberwesel (just down the river from Bacharach) to Regagen and Linz (just before Bonn) is run by the Verkehrsverbund (transit district) Rhein-Mosel. The VRM also extends up the Mosel beyond Cochem to Bullay. Fares for travel entirely within the Verkehrsverbund will not be found on the German Rail website, but you can find them on the VRM website, www.vrm.info. The VRM sells a Minigruppenkarte for €20 that allows up to 5 people unlimited hop on/hop off travel on all the trains and buses in the Verkehrverbund for an entire day.

No one has asked but Im wondering after you drive to the Rhine where else are you planning to go?It would help with advice.

We did this very same trip 2 weeks ago. We rented a car. As a family of 4, with children and even "travel light" luggage, the trains were not the best option for us, although for some travelers the train would be ideal. The drive was surprisingly easy, and from the airport, we arrived in Rudesheim, at the Rhine in less than 1 hour. Road signs were easy to read. With the GPS, make sure you know how to change it from German to English!