I would like to make a day trip from Frankfurt to Bamberg on December 19 (Thursday).

1. What is the least expensive option for train travel for 1 person? Can I purchase a regular ticket to Kahl and a Bayern ticket to cover the rest of the return trip?

2. Can I purchase the tickets the morning of travel or the evening before?

3. Can I purchase the tickets at the train station in Frankfurt?

4. Which train station would I be leaving from in Frankfurt?

5. I understand the Bayern ticket would require travel only after 9 and using local transport.

6. Are there better ticket options?

I much appreciate your help, Saira.

You should consult bahn.de for train times and fares. Frankfurt (Main) defaults to the Hauptbahnhof (main station) but if you need another station, you could select that instead.

The cheapest or at least easiest option would probably be to buy the ticket in advance - I see sale fares as low as 19€ one-way. These will sell out in advance of the travel date, probably soon.

For a walk-up fare, you could buy a ticket to Kahl and Bayern ticket the rest of the way - or comparably, just use a Quer-Durchs-Land ticket - but this will add 30m to 1h to your travel time. And you're already traveling a lot for a day trip.

Thank you!

1. Cheapest regular for your date that I see is 44 Euros return at the Sparangebot - savings offer, don't know if a combination of regular to Kahl and Bayern ticket is worth trying - see http://tinyurl.com/k7kf7js

2. Yes, better the day before since you probably want to make a real early start to get the most out of your one-day visit in Bamberg where you'll lose daylight between 4 and 5 PM.

3. Yes, any station, doesn't have to be the one from where you'll depart

4. Frankfurt/M HB (Hauptbahnhof), the central main station, the next stop is Würzburg where you switch trains, unless you take a regional that also stops in Frankfurt Süd (South)

5. See http://tinyurl.com/k7kf7js

6. Better how?

Thank you for your help. By better, I meant shorter trip/ relatively low priced.