Trains from Amsterdam Schipol to Frankfort, Germany

I'm assuming you meant Frankfurt am Main... There aren't any direct trains from Schipol to Frankfurt. The direct trains to points in Germany all originate at Amsterdam Centraal, so you would have to go there first. There's only a few direct trains each day and the last one departs at 16:44, duration's a little less than 5 hours. Your other options are all much longer and involve anywhere from 1 to 3 changes. I hope you weren't planning to continue on to Crailsheim the same day. That's going to add a few more hours. BTW, Crailsheim, that one doesn't get much mention on this website. What's the draw?

Attraction to Crailsheim? Going there to join my husband there on a business trip.

Thank you for advice regarding going first to Amsterdam central for a direct train. I will check into that because, yes, I do intend to continue on to Crailsheim the same day. I originally put Amsterdam Schipol to Crailsheim & was asked for layovers. So, that is when I put in Frankfurt because it seemed the most direct way to Crailsheim.

MaryAnn, here's a link to a picture of what I see on www.bahn.de. This is the German train website. Since the journey ends in Germany, www.bahn.de will sell you the ticket online. I see nice fares of 49Euro. You can get there in one long day. http://gyazo.com/ab3f2f6e2796088a46f0ed5459eed153 Note that there are six departure but if you look close, it's really two different trains each with three different connection options.

No need to go to Amsterdam Centraal! You can buy an integrated ticket from DB website. The routing will be Schiphol => Utrecht => Frankfurt => Crailsheim. There are 10 trains per day linking Amsterdam and Frankfurt. Check them on the DB website (www.bahn.com)

Thank you for your link to the German trains, unfortunately whenever I tried to click on it to change to later time schedules it kept trying to download something called Gazmo ( not sure if that's correct name), but anyway it wouldn't let me check out anything other than what was on the screen that you sent. I'll continue looking on the Bahn site mentioned also in this message board. Thanks anyway. ;-)

MaryAnn, what I sent you above was link to a picture of what I saw. It's not a website - it's a picture. With Andre's suggestions in hand, you need to go to www.bahn.de. On this website, you can make the adjustments you need.

OK, now that I know the story a little bit more... I would seriously recommend staying somewhere enroute before continuing to Crailsheim. The quickest rail route from Schipol to Crailsheim that you could reasonably expect to catch after arriving at 13:05 is either a 16:10 from Schipol or 16:44 from Amsterdam Centraal. Both get you into Crailsheim after midnight. Although Crailsheim isn't a small village, neither is it a large city. And it definitely isn't a town that draws many tourists. Meaning, if you arrive in Crailsheim after midnight on a Sunday, don't expect anything in the way of taxi or bus service to operate at such an hour, so you would be on your own to reach your hotel. And unless you've made prior arrangements with the hotelier, don't expect anyone to be available to let you check in at such an hour. From what I saw of Crailsheim, it does not resemble the sort of town that would host a large business class hotel- the type that would staff a 24/7 reception desk.

I agree with Tom that the first train you could reasonably plan to catch would get you to Crailsheim after midnight. Your route would be Amsterdam Centraal - Duisberg - Stuttgart - Crailsheim, departing at 16:34 (not 16:44) and arriving at 00:20. There are several trains per hour between Schiphol and Centraal. You could take the first available train to Centraal and walk around a bit while waiting for the 16:34 train to Duisberg. Important note: This will work if you will be traveling this coming Sunday, 14 July. According to the timetables on the German Rail site, the schedule will change on 18 July. If your husband will already be in Crailsheim and will have checked into a hotel, perhaps he can work something out with the hotelier.

You all have been so very helpful. The trip will not be until Sept. 22- It was originally planned for late July, but being business related, had to be postponed. My ticket was/is non-refundable with a hefty rescheduling fee + add'l fare increase. Though, originally booked to/from Stuttgart, the best fare was to fly in and out of Amsterdam. That is the reason for trying to make sure the train trip is possible. I could maybe stay in Stuttgart and go into Crailsheim next morning. Would that help?

Still a long trip and the earliest you could reasonably expect to be in Stuttgart is around 22:00. But at least in Stuttgart, you wouldn't have trouble with transportation and it would be much easier to find a hotel with a staffed desk that late.

I don't know if this might be an answer, but have you considered seeing if there is a budget airline which flies between Schipol and either Munich or Nuremberg? That might get you there the same day and be cheaper than the train plus the extra hotel. Maybe?

Or Schipol to Stuttgart.

Thanks for the local airlines tip. I will certainly look into it! It never occurred to me to check out local airlines,hopefully they won't be as much as the add'l $1800 I saved by flying to/from Amsterdam instead of direct Stuttgart! The thought of possibly saving time on long train ride & add'l hotel stay is definitely appealing.:-)

Since you are flying in to Schiphol, consider the possibility of a delayed arrival. If you had booked Schiphol to Germany on the same ticket air ticket as into Schiphol, and you missed the connection, the airline would accommodate you, but if you make Schiphol to Germany a separate booking and your flight to Schiphol arrives too late, you will be out of luck. In particular, the low cost airlines will not accommodate missing a flight for any reason. Similarly, if you take advantage of one of those discounted (49€), advance purchase tickets from the Bahn, they are only valid on a single train (date and time). If your plane is late, the Bahn will not honor the ticket for a later train. If you haven't already found it, the Bahn schedule webpage is here. Figure out in advance what trains you might want, depending on arrival time, but purchase your tickets at the airport when you arrive. On the other hand, if you planned to stay near Schiphol or in Amsterdam the first night, you could probably safely plan a discount fare or a flight for the next day.