Britain to Frankfurt

There is currently an advance purchase discount fare, available online from German Rail, from London to Frankfurt, called the London-Spezial, for as low as €49 pP.

Thank you!

Lee,do you have a link? I'm looking at German rail now.

London Spezial Actually, if you just input London to Frankfurt (at least 3 days in advance), on the German Rail website, you should see the fare.

You could fly for about the same price (i.e. $77 USD one way) on a major airline like Lufthansa and be there in just 1.5 hours. Check Kayak for dates and flights...also check to see if there's a budget airline option flying from London.

Michael, 1½ hrs? Not even if you live at Heathrow. Most people come out on the Tube (~1 hr, €5), then a couple of hours for preboard, 1½ hrs flight time, then getting into Frankfurt (ave 20 min, €3,80). Realistically, you'll only save about an hour.

Lee: Don't be such a tool! The flight time is 1.5 hours...period. A reasonable person understands there's time needed on both ends of a journey, regardless of whether one is flying, taking a train, taking a bus, or renting a car. I don't recall comparing the total time needed in a travel day for flying versus similar time required for the train in my previous reply. The OP was inquiring about least expensive options, and you provided just one. Flying is another option, and the cost is nearly the same.

The London Special for 49 Euro is from London to Cologne. It is limited to certain trains and only a limited number of seats. It will cost extra to Frankfurt. Lufthansa and BA fly out of Heathrow. BA and BMI fly out of London City Airport (a small airport on the east side of London.) I don't know when you're flying but a quick look in January got me fares starting at around 55 Euros. You can also take a coach(bus). It will take 14 1/2 hours and cost about 52 Euros.

Thank you all for your advice.

"It will cost extra to Frankfurt." According to the Bahn website for Nov 20-26, there is a connection starting with a EuroStar leaving London at 8:27 weekdays, 8:57 weekends, changing to an ICE in Brussels and going all the way to Frankfurt at 15:40. The starting fare is €49.

Well, Lee, I get an 89 Euro fare for that trip and it's the only one offering a cheaper fare. I use the DB site so you must be inputting something different than me. On every trip that week, the 49 Euro fare is sold out. And if it was me traveling, I'd fly BA and probably out of LCY. But the real question, Lee, is why do you get so angry whenever anyone suggests anything different than you suggest? The OP wanted suggestions and we gave it to her.

I'm not at all angry, even now. But I do insist on accuracy. As of 3:57 ETBD time today, that €49 fare was still available for London to Frankfurt for Wed. November 24, 2010, which was the first date I looked at when I read your statement that "It will cost extra to Frankfurt." (it won't), which was the original, false statement to which I was responding. You could have a situation were the lowest fares are sold out for the Köln-Frankfurt leg, so London to Frankfurt is more than London to Köln, but, if you follow the purchase link, you will see that the base discounted fare is still €49, either way. BTW, it looks like with the schedule change on Dec. 13, the London Spezial fare will only be offered on the EuroStars leaving London at 6:19 and 14:34 (arriving Frankfurt at 21:30). That London-Spezial fare (from €49) is valid to anywhere in Germany. I saw it for London to Munich or to Berlin. It's even valid if you need a regional train to get to you final destination (e.g., Frankfurt am Oder) or to Salzburg, AT, a border station).

Yes, that ONE day the fare is 49 Euro. So, I guess if you are lucky Kristie, you can get a 49 Euro fare. I stand corrected. We must have complete accuracy. Even if the fare is only available on one day, and on only one departure, and with a limited number of seats, then the statement that the fare is 49 Euros is correct. Lee is right and I am wrong. So, Kristie, make sure you plan your entire trip around that fare. Otherwise, you'll have to pay more. LOL

Kristie never specified a date. I picked Nov 24 (not very far out, no surprise most discount fares are sold out), so I wouldn't have to change the month on the calendar (all I really wanted was to see the base fare). If you go up to 3 months out, you'll find most days still have the €49 fare. One reason there are so few trains with that fare is that the trip takes 6½-7½ hours. If you leave at 9 AM, you don't get to Frankfurt until 4:30 PM. If you leave at 1 PM, you get to Frankfurt at 9:30 PM. Not a very big window, and anything using Thalys is out.