Düsseldorf Travel Forum

Hello!
We are Canadians - mom and two daughters - going to be in Europe for a cruise from Amsterdam to Barcelona.

I am contemplating a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on Sep 24, arriving @10:55.

From Dusseldorf we would like to travel by train to Frankfurt airport for our flight home. (actually, we would LIKE to be staying there but such is life!)

Anyway, how much time should I allow for retrieving baggage etc. before train departure. There appears to be many trains to choose from. I'm looking at either the 11:32 or 12:32 departures.

Any advice?

Many thanks!
Rose

11:32 is mostlikely too tight.

The 11:32 trains does depart from Düsseldorf Flughafen station. This station is connected by the SykTrain with the airport (2,5 km distance).
http://www.dus-int.de/dus_en/b_skytrain/

Please note that there is also a Düsseldorf Flughafen Terminal station directly below the terminal building. This station is only used by the S-Bahn S7 to Düsseldorf Hbf.

An option would be also the slower 12:04 connection. This connections is through the Middle Rhine Valley. Slower but also cheaper - and much more scenic than the highspeed route along the autobahn A3.
http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de

Spain is a Schengen partner country, so you won't face hassles with customs and your aircraft will probably be no bigger than an A320 but 11:32 seems to be pretty tight.

Btw, you are aware that you can enter DUS and FRA at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de, are you?

abalada beat me to it.

Thank you for the (as always) great replies. Ablada, special thanks for the advice on the scenic route -- we will do that.

BTW, your avatar always has me humming that old Beatles song ...'oh bladee,
oh bladah, life goes on, yeah, lalalala life goes on'

there's my age showing again!
smiles,
Rose

Hello again,
I am so thankful for this forum! The management of our pre and post cruise days was causing me some major stress and this is all but gone now because of your help and advice. Bless you!

one (hopefully) final question:

We need to be at Frankfurt Flughafen for a 19:50 flight so, presuming 3 hrs ahead, need to be there no later than say 16:30.

There are 2 departures from Dusseldorf at 12:04. One through Koln and the other through Mainz. The first is about an hour shorter. The second arrives with still lots of time to make our flight.

So, we would go through Koln if it is the most scenic route but through Mainz if it is just as pretty since it is the longer (first) train ride for my girls.

Also, there appears to be many station stops within the airport. How do I know which one to choose and how challenging is it to get from there to our departure point (which of course I don't yet know!).

So once again, gentlemen, I would appreciate your input.
Thank you!
Rose

Hello,

The route through Mainz is longer AND more scenic, as this route will guide you along Rhine valley. Btw, in both cases the train will stop in Cologne, and as the the cathedral is located right next to the station, you'll see it.

Both tours have their pros and cons. The one where you need to chance trains in Mainz is more scenic and cheaper, the other one is fast and very smooth. It can be fun to leave Porsches on the Autobahn behind while munching on a sandwich, but I guess the slower route through Mainz is more for you.

As for the stop at Frankurt Airport: no matter which train you choose, it will stop only once at Frankfurt airport. The other stop would be at Frankfurt Central Station (Hauptbahnhof).

Oh I forgot:

> how challenging is it to get from there to our departure point

Depends on your carrier. If it's Lufthansa or one of their partner airlines, there's an additional check-in directly at the station. All you need to do is to take the lift up and check in. Other than that, FRA is quite convenient - at least when compared to London Heathrow or Paris Charles de Gaulle.

After leaving the station, you'll find yourself in the middle of terminal 1. There's a "Sky Line" monorail as well as a shuttle bus which will take you over to terminal 2 if need be, leaving every 90 seconds.
Since you have plenty of time and travel with your children, it could be a good idea to visit terminal 2 anyway, as there's a McDonald's and the visitor's platform is open again. Plus, the monorail is fun and, opposed to its sibling in Düsseldorf, usually works. ;-)

The best way to enforce the scenic Middle Rhine route is to give Koblenz as a via station.

DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e
From: DUS
To: FRA airport
Via: Koblenz

OK ~~
It's all settled, now all we have to do is get there!
My girls are in their 20's but McDonalds might not be a bad idea. (Well....)
I feel confident that we now have enough knowledge to get about and also to cope with the unforseen, should it arise.
Again, very big thanks to you both/all.
Rose

C'est Moi,

OK, I have booked our flight, arriving Dusseldorf at 10:55.
As suggested, I looked into the train route via Koblenz and found one leaving DUS at 11:51 arriving Frankfurt @ 16:05. It looks like a 'milk run' (many stops) and I'm wondering if this would be a good choice given our desire to see as much of Germany as we can in our one short day. Does it follow the scenic route we've been talking about?
Also, is it best to book the full price ticket which is fully flexible rather than the bargain special which is fully inflexible? For this departure, I think only the full fare is available anyway, but in case we decide to take another, the discount would be offered. My concern with the non-flexible ticket is in the event of our flight being delayed, we would forfeit our tickets. BTW we are flying Air Berlin which seems to offer good service but they do advise on the ticket that the schedule/route could change.

So ... I am trying to cover all the bases here without crossing the line into the ridiculous. At some point one has to just do what you can and trust Heaven to bring it all to pass -- or else come to the rescue if and when things go terribly wrong! In any event, I am expecting all will be wonderful.

Thanks in advance for your answer.

Rose

> It looks like a 'milk run' (many stops)
There are worse things than a RE (Regional-Express).

> Does it follow the scenic route we've been talking about?
Yes.

> Also, is it best to book the full price ticket which is fully flexible rather than the bargain special which is fully inflexible?
The best thing with a full price ticket is that you don't have to book at all.

> For this departure, I think only the full fare is available anyway,
The special tickets are only offered for connections including an IC/EC or ICE train.
If you travel on a Sa or Su you could make this connections with RE trains cheap on the Happy-Weekend-Ticket. EUR 33,00 for 1-5 persons.

> but in case we decide to take another, the discount would be offered. My concern with the non-flexible ticket is in the event of our flight being delayed, we would forfeit our tickets.
Indeed a risk.

If I were you, I'd take an IC or ICE over an RE, but that's only me. I can't stand being on a train for hours.

The IC/ICE connection mentioned earlier, the one where you need to chance trains in Mainz, goes via Koblenz as well:

Düsseldorf Airport 12:04 IC 2156 -> Düsseldorf Hbf / Central Station
Düsseldorf Hbf 12:26 IC 2113 -> Mainz Hbf
Mainz Hbf 14:43 ICE 1653 -> Frankfurt(M) Airport (14:59)

What's stupid here is that you need to pay an ICE ticket for a mere 16-minute-ride. It's not that the train goes at full speed here.

So do you ever get tired of me saying 'thank you'?
Good ---- THANK YOU !!!!! :)

It's really settled now. Full fare ticket, bought when we get to the station, for the milk run. It will be, I hope, the icing on the cake ~~ a lovely way to end our holiday in Europe.

You guys do a great job -- keep up the good work.
Rose

Well hello again!

Once we have our tickets, is it permitted to get off at any of the stops and catch a later train or do you need to stay with the scheduled route? Does the rule differ for regular or special fare tickets? I'm thinking it would be nice to stop over in Dusseldorf for lunch if there would be time and more importantly, if there are lockers at the Hbf to store our suitcases while we had a look around. I guess we could always buy separate tickets (airport to Hbf and Hbf to Frankfurt) but I wonder how the price would compare. Also, how accessible is the Altstadt area from the Hbf?
Thank you for your help,
Rose

With a regular ticket it's no problem to get off and have lunch or do a little sightseeing. For special fares you sometimes have to book a particular train, so that would be different, as your ticket would be invalid on other trains.

I'm not a fan of Düsseldorf (why not visit Koblenz instead? I believe you need to chance trains there anyway?)
Anyway, you can choose from a number of "Stadtbahnen" (kind of a subway) to "Heinrich-Heine-Allee" which is next door to Düsseldorf's Altstadt. That shouldn't be more than three stops, maybe it's only one.

Last time I was in Düsseldorf there were lockers at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof.

Okay.
I shall look into Koblenz as well.
Thanks, T.Shell!
Rose