Stay in Frankfurt?

Everyone is different. I like to get my feet on the ground after a transatlantic flight. Strolling around a German city followed by a good meal is a nice way to start a vacation and adjust to a new time zone. A long, inactive train ride after a long, inactive flight would be torture to me.

We are flying into Frankfurt this coming December and staying in Aschaffenburg as it is not too far to travel. I believe that Frankfurt would work in your case. We chose Aschaffenburg as it is just in Bavaria and sets up our next day ride on the discount Bayern-Ticket.

Regards, Gary

We used our frequent flyer miles on an airline that does not fly directly to Berlin. We are flying into Frankfurt and out of Zurich.

Not sure how to answer this as it seems like you feel a day in Frankfurt is a day wasted, even though the city has so many historic sites and is actually one of the older and most important cities in German history.

So, obviously I wish that you would think about spending a day here, but I don't know how much time you have for your vacation, where else you are going, if you have kids, teens, seniors, etc. with you. If you decide you would like to see what Frankfurt has to offer, then I would be thrilled to make a few suggestions based on your interests.

Everytime I hear a story like this I wonder if using FF miles is worth the trouble. There are discount fares (Sparpreis) available from Frankfurt to Berlin for as low as €49 for two people, but these are date and train specific, non-refundable ticket, so you take a risk if you try to book them for the day you arrive.

"so as not to use up a day of vacation in Frankfurt".

"Use up?" There are some worthwhile places around Frankfurt. If you have never spent time there, think of this as an opportunity. The Middle Rhine is very close and a worthwhile place to visit. You can also get those discounted tickets from there to Berlin for the next day and relax in Bacharach or St. Goar while you are severely jet lagged.

If you are going to leave a sufficient buffer (3-4 hrs) to allow for a late flight, you might as well leave as soon as you arrive on regional trains. They take 8¼ hrs vs 4+ hrs for the fastest express trains. They'll get you to Berlin at about the same time as waiting for a "safe'" express train fare. You could go by Kassel and Magdeburg using Länder-Tickets (Hessen, Thüringen/Sachsen Anhalt, and Brandenburg) for less than €100. Of course, for about the same amount you could try to book two sets of Sparpreis tickets, one set for an on-time arrival and the other for later in the day. Only use the later one if you arrive too late to use the earlier one.

There is no East - West debate going on. I like Berlin a lot and try and talk people into going there all the time, so not sure what Steve is talking about. I also think that Berlin is a cool and fun city and it does edge out Frankfurt in those catagories, but using that logic would mean that you could never go anywhere else, since Berlin is the best!

My point is that Frankfurt is a very worthwhile city to visit. You stay overnight, see some of the sights, then catch your train to Berlin early the next morning. This way you don't have to worry about catching that train after your flight, sitting for another 4 hours on a train after your trans-Atlantic flight of what, 9-10 hours, plus whatever cushion of time you have planned into your layover so that you don't miss this train. Staying overnight, means you can purchase those cheap tickets, saving money in the long run and end up being far more rested for your vacation.