Travel from Frankfurt to Munich

Unless there is some reason you'll need a car while you're in Munich, I suggest that you cancel your rental reservation and take the train directly from the airport (Frankfurt Flughafen) to Munich (Muenchen). If you book NOW at www.bahn.de, you can still get Dauer-Spezial fares. Click on the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner for English.

While you're on the DB site, click on "Internat. Guests" and read about Laender tickets. A 27€ Bayern-Ticket will cover up to five people traveling together all day anywhere in Bavaria, including Muenchen-Fuessen. A Bayern-Ticket will also get you to a border city like Salzburg. For a map of routes covered by the Bayern-Ticket go here: http://tinyurl.com/5hkuqu.

The DB site is your best train timetable site for all of Europe. Use it to plan your trips to Austria. You can freely cross the border as you please.

On the map Tim mentions, the legend is in German. For those who can't read it, the thick lines have express (Fern) and regional (Nahverkehr) trains, the thinner ones have only regional. Red lines have hourly service during the week, green lines less than hourly (probably at least one every two hours). Grey lines are outside Bavaria, but nevertheless, white or green nodes "nodes" (stations: Ulm, Salzburg, Kufstein, Kißlegg) are reachable with the Bayern-Ticket. Note that travel on the Ausserfernbahn, the section of track from Pfronten-Steinach to Garmisch-Partenkirchen via Reutte and the Austrian Tirol is included with the Bayern-Ticket, as is travel from Memmingen to Hergatz via Kißlegg in Baden-Württemberg.

Much as I love Füssen, I am not sure that I would spend 7 days there. Maybe give up a few days in Füssen for a night in Rothenburg on the way from Frankfurt to Munich and a couple more days in Munich. Particularly, the trip to Salzburg should be made while you are staying in Munich, before going to Füssen.

The Dauer-Spezial fare is a very good fare for using express trains, but the ticket is non-refundable and for a specific day and train and is a bit risky to expect to use when coming in on a trans-Atlantic flight, which could be late. For just over €40, both of you can go from FRA to Rothenburg (or Munich) using local RMV tickets to Kahl am Main at €6,75 pP (change at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, take a regional train to Würzburg via Kahl) and a €27 Bayern-Ticket from Kahl to Rothenburg.

Lee - Thanks for distinguishing between the various lines on the map!

I can think of another good reason not to rent a car the day you arrive. You will be arriving in Frankfurt after an overnight flight from the U.S. You probably didn't get much sleep, and you will be suffering from jetlag. The last thing you should do is get in a car and drive on Germany's crowded highways at a high speed to which you are not accustomed.

Another option to look into would be to fly from Frankfurt to Munich. I know it sounds silly, but when we booked our flights to and from Munich using miles we're flying from Munich to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. I was doing some research as to what time of service they run and saw that the fares are actually relatively cheap. It appears that they have planes going every hour or so between the cities- probably a business commuter thing. They're also normal sized planes (A320s or so), not small hopper planes. The car or train may work out to be cheaper, but I just wanted to let you know of the option in case it works better time-wise and/or you don't want to drive.

Don't spend 7 days is Fussen. Visit wonderful Baden Baden and relax in the spa. Read Rick Steves recommendation for Baden Baden. I would definately go back.

I went on the www.bahn.de website and they don't have a ticket for 29 euro - am I looking in the wrong place? Our plane arrives in Frankfurt at 7:45 am on 5/2 and I'm not sure if we don't book the train would we lose our reservation for the train if we were late arriving

Linda, I looked in the right place, and I saw that the €29 tickets for 5/2 are sold out, but there are lots of connections at a €49 fare. The Dauer-Spezial fare requires at least a three day advance purchase, so you can't buy them when you arrive.

The Dauer-Spezial fares are only offered to those travels who can speak German (well, the complete information is only offered on the German language side of the website, but they do sell them to an English speaker if you find them).

Linda, the Bayern-Ticket and local RMV tickets never sell out, can be purchased right up to train time, only cost €40,50 for 2 people to Munich, and the trains leave from the Regionalbahnhof, which is closer in and more convenient. However, by regional rail, the trip takes 2-3 hours longer, and you have more train changes.

If you leave enough time (whatever that is) to allow for a late flight so you can buy discount tickets (which still cost more that regional rail travel), then you wouldn't get there much sooner than by regional rail.

The Fernbahnhof (long distance train station) is on the other side of the building across the street and over the Autobahn from Terminal 1. You get to it by taking a bridge from the balcony of the hall of Terminal 1 across the street and following a hallway out to the station. The Regionalbahnhof is under the building across the street. You get to it by going down escalators just inside the outside wall of the terminal and through a passage way under the access road.

If you arrive on time, you go to the Regionalbahnhof and buy RMV tickets to Kahl and a Bayern-Ticket, then catch the 9:09 S-Bahn (S8) to the Frankfurt Hbf. That S-Bahn comes in on the above-ground track level of the Hbf at 9:21. You just go over a couple of platforms and catch the Regional Expess to Würzburg, change there and in Nürnberg, and get into Munich at 14:53.

If your flight is a bit late, you should still be able to catch the 9:47 S9 from the Regionalbahnhof. It goes through the "tief" (deep), underground station at the Hbf. That's a long walk to your train. Stay on the S-Bahn to Hanau. There it is a short walk to the same Regional Express that comes through 25 minute later at 10:54. You change in Würzburg and Treuchtlingen and get to Munich at 16:33.

Thanks so much for you help Lee - I think we are going to go for the longer train ride and cancel the car rental. We were going to Germany with my nephew who spends a month in Fussen and travels around from there but he is very sick and can't go so now we're pretty much on our own. Hopefully everything will go okay for us. This sight has been a great help and the people on it are so friendly. Thanks again