Attn: Rex: you seem to be very knowledgeable: Frankfurt to Rome - train or fly?
 

Rex and Fodorites: Please help......

My girlfriend is flying to Frankfurt or Paris (depending on the loads since she will be flying stand-by on United - companion passes) and then meeting me in Rome (mid-June).

Any opinions on which airport would be the easiest to find her way to the train station? Or, should she try to fly with Ryanair to Rome?

I would vote for Frankfurt for the train connection.

I was thinking Frankfurt also.....not as big possibly.....anyone know best/easiest/cheapest way to get to station from airport?

Until Rex decides this is a worthy question to answer I'll be more than happy to tell you that the Frankfort airport's rail station is a much better choice if for no other reason that you can travel onward from there to other cities. More often than not the CDG station would allow less flexibility, especially if it means going on to Rome.
Flying would be faster, of course, and if done, the train station question is obviously irrelevant.

Remember, if she decides to fly with a RyanAir out of Frankfurt, she will need to change airports. I believe the best and cheapest way is a bus, but it also takes 2 hours from airport to airport.
In Paris she would also have to change airports, to catch Volareweb, but it's closer. Air Frnce Coach is the cheapest and non-stop. If she decides on the train, she will need to change in Paris.
Taxi is about EUR$55.

The problem I see with air connection, is, if she is flying standby, she won't even know where she will be flying to till the last minute. The airfares won't be cheap at the last minute even with the budget airlnes.

Emmitt again......didn't mean to imply that Rex was the only one with great opinions but from reading his posts, he seems to kind of like this type of project. Anyway, thanks to anyone that knows something as I do not. Did do a little more investigation and maybe flying into London and then another flight to Rome would be better. Wouldn't have to get to out of the way airports to get a Ryanair - but you're right about stand-by - you just never know when you'll get there.....the price is right but the stress is heck. So what do you think about this plan? We have the choice of flying into London, Frankfurt or Paris (that's where United flies) to get to Rome.

Maybe London and then a flight right into Rome?

emmitt, this is getting a bit confusing.

If you know what city she will fly into (which was part of the problem you stated in your original post), then an onward flight is the best idea. Except for the standby part. Won't you lose your ticket if she doesn't get in to London (or wherever) in time to get the flight to Rome?

Otherwise, I would stick with my original advice: fly to Frankfurt, train to Rome. Frankfurt is a major transportation hub for Europe, both air and train. I would guess that within a few hours of getting to the Frankfurt train station you could be on a train to anywhere in Europe, certainly to Rome.

If she decides to take the train, the difference between FRA and CDG isn't as big as you may think.

The best train to take from FRA Airport is a ICE to Munich and switch to a Euronight. Total time 15:24. (Or a later train for 15:57 via Basel).

From CDG, she can take a TGV (also from airport) to Dijon and transfer to a Euronight. Total time 14:41. Main difference is that the trains leaves CDG later than the one from FRA, and therefore later arrival in Rome. 10am arrival from Paris, vs 8:30 from Frankfurt.

I know it's confusing........since UA flies to the three cities, we have options - it just depends on what looks to be the best way to get to Rome from each city......and here is another glitch.....what the loads will be to each city on departure day from Chicago. So this is what we pretty much do.......check out all possibilities and options from each city (London, Paris, Frankfurt)- meaning the how to's and whens....go to Chicago (O'Hare), see what flight has an available stand-by seat and then fly to that city and go with the best plan to Rome. Whew! I told you stand-by was stressful but this is how it's done. Investigate and have your options and then go with what's available.

One day we'll have money and reservations!

Hi
Can I offer some advice? Being a standy passenger, i understand your situation, I think. I was stuck in Paris overnight 2 yrs ago wih my wife. Since then we always make certain to fly into frankfort as the options are better. from Frankfort you can pick up an inexpensive airline to your destination. Check other intereurope airlines in addition to Ryanair. We've flown several different airlines from Frankfort. Good luck
alan

I didn't see this question yesterday. I think that the answer is to fly volareweb.com from Paris (Orly) to Rome (Ciampino). Easier to get to than to Beauvais (used by Ryanair).

Best wishes,

Rex

p.s. Note that using the names of individuals in message headers here is almost never viewed here as the best idea. And it didn't really convey the essence of the question ("Best transportation options to Rome? from Frankfurt versus Paris?")