Frankfurt am Main Travel Answers

You can all find the information you need in English on the excellent German railway website: bahn.com/i/view/overseas/en/... If you select Frankfurt (Main) Flugh you will get all the info about any changes you may need to make. If your flight does not fit well with that departure and/or prefer to start from Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnfof (Hbf = main station) then you can use the site to show info for that journey as well. As far as I can see all Frankfurt>Paris overnight trains include at least one change, so don't expect to get a lot of sleep. The best option seems to be the 2310 from Frankfurt Hbf, which arrives at 0923 and only has one change (at 0044)

You will almost certainly be able to book your tickets online using bahn.de, by the way. It's worth doing this well in advance. Bahn.de does have good advance online discount fares on certain routes/dates/departures but they are limited in availability.

If you book on-line, be sure and carry the credit card used for the purchase. You will be required to show it and the e tickets to the conductor.

I assume that you are arriving and leaving Europe through Frankfurt, yet want to spend your time in Paris? This is a problem, as the day time trip can be as little as 4 hours. The nighttime trip, as leics has pointed out, involves at least one change, sitting in a station for 40 minutes in the middle of the night, then boarding a night train after midnight and causing all sorts of commotion unless you have reserved a compartment to yourself (i.e., if not, you'll be waking other people up). At what hour do you expect to arrive in Frankfurt airport, and at what hour does your flight leave Frankfurt airport? Bill

What time do you expect to arrive at F,furt airport? If you arrived during the day do you prefer to wait at the airport or go into the city? Browse the Deutsche Bahn website and enter your dates and so on, there seem to be very few direct trains from F,furt to Paris but I did find 1 at 0900 and another at 1657hrs, this is from Frankfurt main train station. The s-bahn (suburban train) costs about E3 into the city from the aiport. The trains from the airport to Paris with 1 change, about 50 mins into your journey, change at Mannheim with about 17 mins to do so. Note that at the aiport there is a long distance train station, fernbahnhof, and a suburban train station, they are quite separate.

Fortunately, Frankfurt airport is well-signed in English as well as German so finding your way is not difficult. But even though the railway station is within the terminal area, Frankfurt is a *very* large airport, so do allow yourselves plenty of time to get from baggage reclaim to the station.

You seem to asume (as many apparently do) that for any pair of major Europan cities there is a night train linking them. This asumption is wrong. Frankfurt to Paris takes about 4 hours with the fastest trains. So there really is no point in offering a night train service, which is why such a train is not offered... Ofcourse, leaving Frankfurt in the evening and arriving Paris in the morning is possible, but this will involve changing trains in the middle of the night, with possible long layovers in empty stations... Don't do it. Just use a convenient day time connection.

I wish to thank all co-members who took the trouble to answer my query. Based on the inputs have decided to go in for a flight which seems to be far more convenient. Thanks to all.