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Arriving in Frankfurt by Plane, Catching Train- questions...

Posted by (Akron, Ohio, USA) on

Arriving in Frankfurt by Plane- questions

I'm in the planning stages of a trip to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands next spring. I’ve been researching flights and we could arrive in Frankfurt in the morning around 5:am, 7:am, 9:am or 11:am. We’ll be taking the train from the Frankfurt Airport to Mannheim and exploring Mannheim (where my grandmother is from) that first day.

My questions:

What would be the best time to arrive in Frankfurt? We want to make the most of our first day but I thought 5:am may be a little early. However, I thought that if we arrived later, there may be larger crowds in Customs.

We will likely be arriving on a week day and I’ve heard that the Frankfurt to Mannheim train can be crowded so I’d like to get reservations for that train before we leave. Is there anyway to estimate how long we’ll spend in Customs so I can make reservations for the appropriate train?

Any suggestions about the train from Frankfurt Airport to Mannheim- if we flew into Frankfurt a little later (11:am) would we miss much of the morning crowds in the airport and the train?

Any other advice you can offer?

Thank you so much!

Heather in beautiful Akron, Ohio

Posted by
1601 posts

I tend to avoid the 5, 7 am arrivals since that will be around midnight in Ohio and you are not going to be in a mood to go sightseeing when your body is that tired.

I would suggest trying to arrive later 9, or 11 and I would recommend not booking the train ticket. I doubt you would have any issues getting on the train when in FRA. Also, if your flight gets delayed, you will miss your train and have to rebook. Your better off waiting to get there and then buying your ticket. I tend to think that the later you get there the less the office going crowd on the train

Posted by
19274 posts

Heather, I have been on the train (ICE) from FRA to Mannheim twice. The first time was a holiday, December 26 (Zweiter Weihnachtstag = Second day of Christmas), and the train was packed. All seats were taken, but I would estimate less than half were actually reserved. I could have bought a reservation when I bought my ticket, at FRA, and I would have had a seat (although I would have had to displace someone already seated).

The second time, I asked the ticket agent at the Fernbahnhof if I should make a reservation. He said it was up to me, so I didn't. I was one of three people in the entire car, so I was glad I hadn't.

That trip, FRA to Frankfurt via ICE, only takes half and hour, so having to stand would not be too big an inconvenience.

Posted by
19274 posts

BTW, if you catch the S-Bahn out of the Regionalbahnhof, to Frankfurt-Niederrad, then a regional train from Niederrad to Mannheim (looks like there's one every hour, at about 16 minutes past), the fare is only €14,60 pP and it takes 1hr 18min. No reservations are needed or possible.

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