European Railroad Discussion > Frankfurt aiport time from international arrival to Flu

I have a trip coming up in April where I will be flying from ATL to FRA and then need to get train to Zurich. This trip does not allow time for a day in Frankfurt before proceeding to Zurich. How much time should I allow from scheduled arrival time of flight (most likely Lufthansa) to scheduled train time?

Thank you very much.

John

You should price going direct to Zurich.

I did a similar connection two weeks ago: Arrived at FRA at 09:45, then connected on a DB ICE train to Düsseldorf at 10:25.

Having said this, if you purchase the DB ticket in advance (less expensive than a last-minute purchase), I think I'd allow at least two hours for the connection. What if your arriving flight is a bit late? What if there are hundreds of people in the queue for immigration / passport control?

In my case, I purchased the DB ticket after clearing immigration and customs at FRA. This was more expensive than an advance purchase ticket, but allowed me to catch the first available train out of FRA.

Hope this helps.

I've never had to line up for more than a minute or two at Customs at Frankfurt Flughaffen. Far more organized and civilized that what we are put through here just getting back into our OWN country. That said, I guess you never know. Yes, better to not buy an advance ticket. Just get your ticket when you arrive at the station...about a 10 minute walk (and possibly short rail ride depending on the terminal) once you clear Customs. There is a DB ticket office right in the Fernbahnhof Station. You can't miss it. You'll see the sign as soon as you enter the station at the end of a very long walkway from the airport. That way you can just hop the next available train. For many of the services, you will need to change trains in Basel to get to Zurich. Have a great trip.

mundo Wrote:
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> You should price going direct to Zurich.


If the above doesn't work, I would allow at least an hour. German efficiency is German efficiency, but flights get delayed, and bags sometimes take a bit to get to the carousel in large international hubs. There is also the possibility of several transatlantic flights arriving at once, and you have a surge of 1500 people at the passport/customs booths.....

I did this with about two to three hours for the connection. I was going to Nuremberg. When I got down to the station tracks at the airport there were trains going there every hour. I could have taken an earlier train, but I just waited for mine. I think with the DB you can take a later train if you miss yours, you just won't have a reserved seat. I gathered the locals do that all the time. Just check their website.

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> I did this with about two to three hours for the
> connection. I was going to Nuremberg. When I got
> down to the station tracks at the airport there
> were trains going there every hour. I could have
> taken an earlier train, but I just waited for
> mine. I think with the DB you can take a later
> train if you miss yours, you just won't have a
> reserved seat. I gathered the locals do that all
> the time. Just check their website.


It depends on the ticket. If a sharply discounted ticket is purchased in advance, then it will likely be issued for a particular departure and not be usable on another train. The ability to obtain a refund, or to credit the price of the unused ticket to another departure, also varies.

The best approach is to either purchase a high-priced flexible ticket, either in advance or at the airport station, or to allow at least 2 hours from the time your flight is scheduled to land to have a reasonable chance of getting the exact departure aligned with your low-cost ticket purchase.

You also need to consider which terminal at Frankfurt Airport. "The Fernbahnhof" (Intercity) station is opposite Terminal 1 - Lufthansa'a terminal. If your flight arrives terminal 2, you will need to catch the inter terminal bus, or the Airport Transit/people mover. Whist this is the most interesting option, it involves using multiple escalators up & down within the terminals.

The airport also has a 2nd station - underground - for regional/local services.

Thank you to all for your assistance. Have flights booked with flight from ATL scheduled to arrive in FRA just before 7:30 a.m. local time. Earlier arrival will give plenty of time for trainride to Zurich and getting settled at hotel before the opening night cocktail hour. My travelling companion has never been to Europe before so I am looking for most interesting places to take her in the day-and-a-half we have before getting back to a hotel at FRA for a flight back to ATL the next morning.

John