How? - Paris to Frankfurt Main Airport
 

Hey. I need to get to the Frankfurt am main airport from Paris for a midnight flight to Australia. What are my options re train/plane travel? Thanks.

For train, check www.bahn. de For Frankfurt enter Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) Not sore from which Paris stations trains leave for Germany, suggest you try several.

Hi M,

See www.whichbudget.com

((I))

When querying the bahn site for connections, "Standard search" will favor Thalys, which usually doesn't have the best one way fares. If you change Standard search to "without ICE" it will show a number of EuroCity (EC) connections from Paris Est (I believe) that should have better prices and fewer train changes.

Trains from Paris to the Frankfurt am Main Airport leave from Gare du Nord and require a change at some point.

The trip takes about 5 hours.

For a midnight flight from Frankfurt, I suggest the departure at 16:25. The connecting train from Brussels gets to the Frankfurt airport at 21:14.

Later departures will cause you to have a slim time margin in Frankfurt for check-in and security inspection.

For example, the 17:55 departure does not enable you to arrive at the airport until almost 23:00. (11 pm) For me, that would not be enough time.

The less expensive trains leave from Paris Est, but they take 6 hours and 30 minutes.
Also, to get to the airport on time means you would need to leave Paris about 13:00, or 1 pm. Later departures on the slower trains will not get you there in time.

OP did not give a date, so I just assumed one in a couple of months. The fare that day via Thalys (16:45 - 21:14) was €78 to Brussels, €90 on to FRA, €168 total. The fare via EC train (12:50 - 19:55) was €88.

So, unless you have something to do in Paris for four hours that is worth €80 (about $104) take the EC.

Thank-you all for your responses. They are much appreciated. I should have said the travel will be at the end of June.

The new high speed line from Paris to the east opens in June. The schedules are shown on www.bahn.de and include TGVs from Paris Est to Karlsruhe and ICEs from Paris Est to Saarbrücken, with connections there for Frankfurt Flughafen.

The TGV-Est site shows 3 direct trains a day from Paris-Est to Frankfurt.
dep 06:43 arr 11:15
dep 14:43 arr 19:15
dep 18:54 arr 22:58

For a midnight flight, you should obviously take the TGV at 14:43.

Meanwhile, both Air France and Lufthansa are showing round trip tickets (including taxes) available from Paris to Frankfurt for just 100€ at the end of June on www.govoyages.com. (I entered a hypothetical departure on 26 June with a return on 10 July.) Note: a one-way ticket is priced at 460€.

If you go by train, you could opt for a morning departure with a change in Brussels, and a mid-afternoon departure for Frankfurt. When you arrive in Brussels, you could check your luggage with the attended luggage storage service at the station and spend a couple of hours visiting the Grand'Place and the Sablon and enjoy a Belgian beer or snack in a cafe. (If you change trains in Cologne, you could do the same thing there instead).

I'm all in favor as seeing as much stuff as possible in Europe, but I cannot imagine going out of my way on my last day in Europe to spend a few hours in another city (at extra train expense). If I wanted to see more stuff, I would take the early train to Frankfurt and visit Frankfurt that day -- the opera house is lovely.

Question about CDG.

I have flown out of CDG only to the US.

How does security for intra European flights compare with US bound flights?

When flying from Geneva Switzerland to London(Gatwick) 17 months ago, I recall that security was minimal.

Flying out of Zürich to Atlanta last year was weird in terms of security.
The inspectors were more concerned with taking all of our prescripton container caps and replacing the caps by stuffing in paper than they were with my metal hip.

Seems like the Swiss had the idea that someone could pour liquids into a container, use the caps to seal the container, shake it, and make a bomb.

I think I could pour the liquids into a pill bottle, cover it with the back of that safety guide in the seat pocket, and be just as effective.

At any rate my friend who is a Ph. D. chemist thought the idea was a little silly.

Security is still a total farce in every airport of the world but has big variations depending on the location (this from an airline employee).
The new and useless EU rules have decreed the no-liquid, no-gel, nothing mushy criteria, with everything in hand luggage of those categories having to be displayed in a clear 1-liter plastic freezer bag. After security, you can buy anything you want.

I will not list here all of the elements that can still be used on a plane to maim or otherwise incapacitate the crew or passengers. Just follow the rules and do what they say.

Again, thanks for all your helpful info.

Kerouac, isn't the TGV a fast speed train? I thought the Thalys and ICE combination took about 5 hours. Shouldn't it be quicker on the TGV especially as it is direct?

I might look at those flight suggestions.

Thanks.

The new TGV line only goes as far as the Vosges mountains before returning to normal tracks, hence the travel time of about 5 1/2 hours. But it should be a very nice ride anyway.

The Bahn website shows that the TGV connections via Karlsruhe will take 4 1/2 hours to Frankfurt Hbf and 4 3/4 hours to FRA, faster than the Thalys connection through Belgium.

I had not noticed this change because I was looking at earlier (Mar.) schedules in order to get fares. This is an interesting change. The Bahn website shows that this service will replace the EuroCity service currently connecting Paris to Frankfurt. Today the cost via EC is less than €90, which beats Thalys or flying. What is going to happen to the fares with the TGV? Will they remain lower, or have we lost a less expensive alternative to Thalys and flying.

Because the railroads don't publish fares that long in advance, I can't find any indication of what the new fares will be. Has anyone heard?

Thanks Larryincolorado, I'll check that out. Would that be the new TGV line going Paris-FRA? Does it go to the airport? And will it be up and running by the June?

>Would that be the new TGV line going Paris-FRA?

No, the new line will go Paris to Strasbourg. But except the small piece between Strasbourg and Appenweier, trains run on the rest of the line at 200 km/h or faster for years now.

>Does it go to the airport?

Most probably you would have to change in Karlsruhe or Mannheim.

>And will it be up and running by the June?

It should be, according to SNCF.