We are flying into Frankfurt FRA and spending two days in Munich before flying out of Frankfurt again. What are the best ways of transportation from Frankfurt to Munich? Thanks

The train is 81€, 3:10, every hour. That should be the most comfortable and convenient.

But there are also budget airlines on this route that may be cheaper.

Condor, Air Berlin, TUIfly each has one flight daily. Also check Lufthansa. They may be cheap too.

I have done this. I compared train and Lufthansa. Lufthansa was MUCH cheaper and about the same overall time -- if you can stand going thru the FRA security! Less, if you are already on the secure side of the FRA security.
Be reminded that the distance from the FRA airplane gate to the Frankfurt train station is quite a walk, even though the station is "at" the airport.

I arrived at FRA at 1:20pm (carryon only), took 2pm FRA flight and was at Marienplatz at 4pm. I took a S-Bahn from MUC to Marienplatz.

Does the OP have more than just a carry-on bag?

Be aware that the Munich airport is NOT in the city center and you'll either have to take a taxi, the transfer bus, or the S-Bahn; the latter takes about 45 minutes to get to the Marienplatz.

By the time you collect any baggage unless itis checked all the way through, go through Immigration, etc., wait for another flight you may be just as fast taking the train...but only you can know for certain depending upon your individual circumstances.

Ask your airline whether they sell "Rail&Fly" packages. These cost between nothing and 49 Euro (depending on how much the airline is participating in this scheme) and allow you to take any train from your arrival airport to anywhere in Germany on arrival day, resp. from anywhere in Germany to your departure airport. I DON'T think you can beat this price.
Btw. if yu fly into Munich you have to calculate about 8,50 EUR one way to get to the airport.

great info. Thanks

How do people get into this situation???

If you want to see Frankfurt, then fly to Frankfurt!

If you want to see Munich, fly to Munich, not Frankfurt!

From my home airport, DEN, I found eight RT connections to Munich that cost less than the least expensive RT connection to Frankfurt. When I flew home from Munich a few years ago, we changed planes in Frankfurt and the fare was only about $10 more than flying home from Frankfurt.

Now, if there is a lot more than two days between your arrival in Frankfurt and your departure, and you will be spending some time in the Frankfurt area before going to Munich, I can understand flying to Frankfurt, but not just to get to Munich.

If you have a day between arrival in Frankfurt and departure for Munich, and if you are staying in Munich over a saturday night, you can get SparPreis 50 tickets for 2 people from Frankfurt to Munich and return for €121. That's less than $40 per person each way. Even if you aren't staying over a saturday night, SparPreis 25 is still less than $60 per person. And the train will take less time than using a low cost airline.

As for the walk to the train station at FRA, I have done it many times, and except for finding it the first time, it has never been an inconvenience. I would say it is no more difficult to get from a gate at FRA to the Fernbahnhof than it is to get from a gate at MUC to the S-Bahn station.

maybe they're flying on FF Miles and don't have a choice about which airport. At least that's what happened with us....it's not always as flexible as you'd like it to be when using miles.

just throwing that out there.

Also, take into consideratrion, layovers vs. non-stop. We are flying into Frankfurt non-stop. Flying into Munich had 2 layovers and added several hours onto travel time.

We are using FF miles. Long story, short, we will be using the train to get from Franfurt to Munich because of times and fares. Our international flight arrives in Frankfurt at 8:15 a.m. and the best option seems to be the train. First class train tickets seem expensive. Are there any ways to get discounts on the tickets for two? We will only need one way train tickets because we have decided to fly out of Munich to a different destination.

>First class train tickets seem expensive.

Then travel second class. It's still more comfortable than a plane.

>Are there any ways to get discounts on the tickets for two? We will only need one way train tickets because we have decided to fly out of Munich to a different destination.

No, there are no advance purchase discounts for one way tickets.
Ask your travel agent for a Rail&Fly package - it can be still cheaper than single tickets. As far as I know there are only R&F offers for 2nd class.

I totally agree that 2nd class is fine for travel in Germany.

If you book online 3 days in advance through Bahn.de, you can get a SparPreis ticket for two round trip via ICE from Frankfurt airport to Munich Hbf for €121,50. If you don't use the return trip, that's €61 per person. You can do the same thing with Intercity trains (IC) for just over €50 per person.

Right now German Rail is running a promotion called Winter-Spezial. One way from FRA to Munich Hbf is €29, €39, €49, or €59. Just this morning I was able to still find €29 tickets on some connections, but most have already sold out. There were, however, €49 tickets available on most trains. The Winter-Spezial only runs through Feb 28, but German Rail often runs a similar special. There will be a gap between the Winter-Spezial and whatever promotion they offer in the spring; you would just have to watch the website.

Note that these promotional tickets are train-specific and non-refundable, so you would have to provide an adequate time buffer to allow for a late arrival in Frankfurt, but then, since your FRA MUC tickets flight tickets would be booked separately, you would have to do that anyway.

Finally, there are regional trains and "Länder Tickets". If you purchase two RMV (Frankfurt metro) tickets to Kahl in Bavaria for €6,60 per person and a Bayern ticket for €27 (from an automat, €2 extra from a counter), both of you can go from FRA to Munich Hbf for €40,20, only €20 per person.

Using regional trains, you have open tickets, usable on any set of connections. The connections change trains in Frankfurt Hbf and Würzburg and one other station. There is a connection leaving Frankfurt airport regional station (underground across the street from Terminal 1) ever hour at 2 minutes past. The one at 9:02, 11:02, 13:02 etc takes 5:50; the one on the alternate hour takes 6 1/2 hours. That might seem like a longer time, but with a new checkin in Frankfurt (2 hours), flight time (1 hour), and getting into Munich (1 hour), flying would take 4 hours not counting the time buffer.

I can definitely see why someone would fly into Frankfurt when wanting to visit Munich.

Last summer we went to Munich and had a choice (using FF miles) between flying from our home airport to Munich with a connection in Chicago and flying non-stop between an airport 50 miles away from our home to Frankfurt. We chose the home airport to Munich with a connection for convinience regarding ground transport. Turned out the connections were a big hassle both coming and going. After taking trains in Germany and learning how easy it is, we decided that the non-stop flight with a train trip from Frankfurt to Munich probably would have been easier.

What you have convinced me of is that FF miles are a bad investment. They force you to fly into airports you don't want to go to (and which will cost you extra money to get to where you really want to go) and they force you to use connections that will be a big hassle.

Whether using FF miles or buying tickets, I often find that it is cheaper and minimally inconvenient to fly into nearby airports vs. flying directly my ultimate destination.

For example, for an upcoming trip to paris, the least expensive tickets r/t JFK - Paris were nearly $1,000. I found a r/t trip ticket JFK - Dusseldorf @ $575. The one way train fare for 2 adults and 2 kids from Dusseldorf to Paris is 118 EUR total. For me, flying to DUS saved over $1000 including the cost of train tickets vs. flying into CDG. Since the flight gets into DUS early, we will still be in Paris early afternoon - or we may hop off at Brussels-Midi, stash our luggage for a few hours and grab some Moules Frites and a couple of Corsendoncks on the way!

Really isn't much different than having to take a connecting flight once you reach the continent - which many people do to save money by taking advantage of overseas fare sales into certain gateway cities. Everybody uses different calculus to determine how much their time is worth, but for me the savings were worth the inconvenience of a train ride upon landing and getting to Paris early afternoon rather than early morning. YMMV

I guess it is a matter of how much money you have to travel. When we flew to Germany last summer, we paid under $50 for a couple tickets that would have cost us close to $3000 if we had bought them. Our expenses for 2 weeks came to about $4000. If we had bought our tickets, that would have almost doubled our expenses. And extra $3000 is a lot of money to me - in fact, it is almost another trip.

Besides, I don't see FF as an investment since I earn them doing things I would be doing anyway. FF miles just accrue.

Since we are on the topic of train travel, could I get help from the train gurus about what the train trip is like from Munich to Florence. I know that it is around eight or nine hours. There is a non stop day train that I think we would be interested in. Does anyone know what 2nd class is like on that train? Is it worth upgrading to first? We usually fly or rent a car so train travel is new to us. Where does your luggage go on second class? On first class?