GAS tour: which city is best to fly into?

Definitely go a day early -- two if you can swing it. You'll at least a day to acclimate to the new time zone. Then too, while it is not that common, flights do get cancelled and rerouted on occasion. Don't know what your departure point is, but you will probably find more non stop flights to Frankfurt -- but you might get one to Luxembourg. If you have to make a connection, try for one in Europe -- if you miss the connecting flight at least you will be on the same continent and will have more options.

Thanks TC. We are flying our of either Greensboro, Raleigh, or Charlotte NC. Looking for best pricing but wanted some feedback on destination city. ;-)

Hi Meg,

In my opinion Frankfurt would be more interesting than Luxembourg. As I'm looking at flights from Charlotte for you, a preferable option would be to take a non-stop flight from Charlotte to Paris. Get over your jetlag in gorgeous Paris which is a very walkable city. Then take the 3.5 hour trains to Trier. If I went with this option, I would arrive two days before you need to meet in Trier, so you're not waking up the next morning and needing to check out of the hotel.

We did this tour last September/October and it was awesome. We flew into Frankfurt (from Atlanta) and took the train to Trier. I was a little worried about arriving after an long overnight flight and then sitting on the train for 3 hours but the excitement of being there and looking at the beautiful countryside was no problem. This was our third RS tour and we always have arrived two days before and have not regretted it at all. We get in early in the morning and stay busy the whole day long. We took a taxi from the train station in Trier to the hotel (stayed at the same place as the tour) which I would recommend because it is a little long for a walk. I believe it was only 10 Euros. Hope you have a great time because we sure did.

Well, I flew in to Paris, lol. Spent several nights there and took the train to Trier via Saarbrucken. I had seen on someone's trip report the year before that they had done that and I am pretty comfortable in Paris, so went for it. It was very easy and the train trip was great.

Do fly in early. On my tour a couple was delayed due to a flight cancellation and missed the activities on Day 1 and Day 2. Recently on the forum someone was asking about connections from Frankfurt to Trier for the tour and there were some issues with them being able to get there on time for the meet up on Day 1.

If you have good connections in to Luxembourg, I would do that just because of the frequency of trains to Trier but if you can fly more directly into Frankfurt I would choose that city.

If you are going to Trier early, stay at the tour hotel. It is very inexpensive. Take a googlemap print out of how to get from the train station to the hotel. It is actually a Senior Assisted Living facility that has a wing of hotel rooms so many of the taxi drivers at the train station don't know it's location. There is plenty to do in Trier for at least a full extra day (2 nights)!

This is an excellent tour. I know you will have a great time.

editing to add: Here is a link to the recent transportation discussion on Frankfurt to Trier if you had not seen it.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/help-with-trains-from-frankfurt-airport-to-trier

I took the GAS tour last September (Hi, Pam!) and flew into Luxembourg, which is a lovely small airport and very easy to navigate; it also has a fantastic bakery/cafe. I have flown into Frankfurt for a different trip, and found LUX much easier to navigate after a long flight, both as far as getting through the airport and for getting from the airport to the train station. Also the train ride from Luxembourg to Trier is short, and direct (no train changes). You could either fly into LUX and stay there for one night (good hotel right next to the airport), catching the train the next morning after a good night's sleep; or do as Pam suggested and go on to Trier that same day to get to the tour hotel a day early. There is lots to see in Trier and it is definitely worth an extra day in addition to the sights that are covered during the GAS tour itself.

Kathy!! My Buddy!!! Good to see you here! I had forgotten you had flown in to Luxembourg.

Thanks so much Pam, Kathy, Carol and Jean. Great advice. Going airline ticket shopping now!

Frankfurt is likely to have more direct flight options from N America. If you have to connect to fly to Luxembourg, you lose the time advantage of the shorter train ride. We flew in to FRA and stayed a night in Bacharach on the Rhine, before heading for Trier. If you arrive the day of the tour, you may fall asleep in the middle of the welcome dinner.

We also flew into Frankfurt. Then took the train out to St. Goar and toured the Rhine for a few days before heading to Trier. It was a very relaxing way to get over jet lag. If you're concerned about the trains, download the DB (Deutsch Bahn) app on your phone. Enter your departure and arrival information and it will give you options on train schedules. We would keep it on our chosen route while we traveled, so we would know the order of stops and could start getting ready to get off before we reached our stop. (It can be a little intimidating to be totally immersed in German when you get on the train). We had purchased a rail pass because of extra train time before and after the tour. We had to get our pass checked at the DB office in the lower level of the airport terminal. The lady that authorized it asked us where we were headed (in English) and printed out which station to get off, which platform to change to and when our correct train would be loading. We also took a train back to Frankfurt after Vienna and some other sightseeing. We flew back home from Frankfurt.

What time of year is your tour? You will love this tour... Gorgeous scenery and wonderful history.

We took the GAS in 2014 . We flew from Boston direct to Frankfurt and took the train to Trier .. we did have a small issue because of a mud side.. but We still think Frankfurt was so easy and direct flight. We walked from the train station in Tier to hotel.. we are both daily walkers ( average 3 -4 miles +daily) we thought it was a easy walk from train station and enjoyed the walk very much. We travel light ...so we thought ....This year going on our 4th RS tour and will cut back even more.
We still think the GAS may have been our favorite tour ...maybe because it was our first. Each night I thought to myself this was the best day ever..then tomorrow was even more exciting ..
we went one day early.. this year to Switzerland we are going three days early because the ticket price was one third the price of going one day early.. what's not to like about having two extra days in Switzerland...
Baden Baden Germany was a favorite spot.. my very favorite was Murren.followed by lunch on Mosel river on day two or three..it was just picture perfect..
no matter how you get there it will be a trip of a lifetime. Enjoy everyday. .do try to keep a journal. My only regret I didnot.. last year I did better with the journal.. I laugh and hope some day my grandchildren will read it and smile and say look how cool Nana and papa were..

If you can.. fly in TWO days before tour.. tours are go go go.. and its nice to be somewhat recovered from jetlag. You spend a lot on the airfare and on the tour, go ready to really enjoy it and not be exhausted and out of sync for first few days.

On the tour I took ( 14 days BOE) one family had a flight problem and missed first day of tour and when they arrived on second day they were exhausted and had to jump in so to speak.

We're doing GAS this year! We're taking a direct flight to Frankfurt and arriving a day early.

Thanks all for the great help and advice. I booked our tickets to Frankfurt from Greensboro and we'll arrive June 12 at 8 am. I think we will be fine by 4pm June 13th. Look for other questions from this newbie!!

Megshuffman, Congrats on making that big decision. Ask lots of questions. The forum loves to help. I wish more newbies knew about this website. You get so many tips that will help with travel, free time, laundry, clothes, shoes and more. Start figuring out what you'll want to do during your free time and learn a little German! You'll love this tour, it is wonderful.

I'm doing this tour on May 30th. It's getting so close now and we are sooooo excited!
We are flying into Frankfurt with a layover in Paris (only an hour and a half, sadly) from Atlanta. We leave on Thursday, 5/25 and arrive on Friday. We have a hotel in Bacharach until Monday when we will take the train over to Trier for our tour to begin on Tuesday. :)