Prague to Frankfurt
 

I am putting together an itinerary for a trip to Germany and am brainstorming ideas. We fly in and out of Frankfurt - able to get non-stop flights from our home airport using miles - so that is set. I am considering Prague as part of the itinerary, but it would be near the end of the trip, right before we go back to Frankfurt. Unfortunately I am not finding decent connections from Prague to Frankfurt.

It looks like around 6 hours by train/bus combo or 8 hours by train. I checked some flights and didn't find anything that looked particularly reasonable either.

Any thoughts? Something I am overlooking?

Have you looked into using miles into Frankfurt, out of Prague?

I did the train/bus from Frankfurt to Prague and it was relaxing. Yes, it did take most of the day but I thought the connection was good. If you do this trip the bus does not stop so you might want to pack a lunch to bring with you.

I couldn't use the miles for Prague - it apparently isn't one of the cities available.

The bus option - so the bus is pretty decent then? Comfortable, clean? My only experience with long distance buses is Greyhound, so I am a little wary of the concept. How is the luggage situation?

I did the reverse trip but I imagine it's the same. The bus met the train and you gave your luggage to the driver who stowed it underneath (typical bus storage area). I kept my personal items with me - netbook, camera, etc. I had a second class ticket with seat reservation and my seat was upstairs. The bus was not full so I moved to an empty row. It was a large bus and I can't imagine that it would ever be totally full.

Someone came around offering soft drinks and snacks (I think there may have been beer as well); the drinks were E2. There was a toilet on the lower level (I didn't use it so can't comment on cleanliness of the toilet), the bus was new and clean and smooth - nicer bus than Greyhound. The ride was fast and some nice scenery along the highway. Lots of trees on the highway so you weren't staring at industrial areas.

Before the trip I wasn't thrilled with the thought of a bus from Nurnberg to Prague but it was a good trip. I dozed a bit and played on my netbook (no WIFI) and read. It went fast.

Did you try Dresden, or Berlin as fly out-of cities?

Dresden is about 2hrs by direct train from Prague. Berlin another 2hrs further.

It's a long way from Prag to Frankfurt (M), and there are no really superfast connections on that corridor - hence mostly a bus service to Nürnberg now. (I did the trip by train a few years ago, N. to P., and it was very slow.)

You're not telling us the date, nor what time of day you have to be in FRA (the night before your flight home?).

So check your own dates - I input a random date of Nov. 11 and I see a pretty good way to get there, lvg. Praha hl.n. on a EuroCity (with bord restaurant) at 10:31 arr. Dresden Hbf at 12:46, change to InterCity lvg. Dresden Hbf at 12:54 arr. Frankfurt (M) Flughafen Fernbahnhof at 17:50. If you don't want to be at the airport but in the city, take the local into town to Frankfurt Hbf, or get off the Intercity in Frankfurt-Süd and take the S-Bahn to wherever.

Or just take one of the several Bus-Train combinations via Nürnberg, they only take a good 6 hours.

Best thing would be to take an early bus, then get off and stay in Nürnberg for a few hours, book the train for a few hours later so you can stash your bags at Nürnberg Hbf and go see the town. You can do it on foot, it'll feel good after the bus ride.

Or fly, but it won't be quicker unless you pay big bucks, about 150€ or so for a direct one (Czech Airlines, maybe others). You can do it cheaply with WizzAir and Ryanair via Bergamo and into Frankfurt-Hahn (an outlying secondary airport), and you'd have to really check about their tight luggage restrictions.

Or maybe a combination of Germanwings and Ryanair via Berlin Schoenefeld, also into Hahn.

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like the bus/train is a decent option, and I like the idea of hanging out in Nuremburg for a few hours to break up the journey. We hadn't planned to go to Nuremburg this trip, although we enjoyed that city quite a bit on our last trip to Germany, so we definitely wouldn't be opposed to going there again.

The trip is still in the beginning stages of planning - looking into logistics to decide what we want to do at this point - but if we go to Prague, we would most likely head back to Frankfurt a couple days before our flight home so that we would have time to see Frankfurt itself. In that case, we wouldn't need to be in Frankfurt at any particular time.

The buses used (between Prague and Nurnberg) are very modern and even have power sockets. It is rare for the buses to be more than about two thirds full. If you buy your ticket in advance you can get some very good deals from www.db.de (There is a link so you can have the site in English). Using DL's 11th of November, you can leave Prague at 08.37 and get into Frankfurt at 15.05 for 59 euros. This compares with a normal price of 89 euros. Look for 'Sparangebote'. Hope that helps
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/Czech_main_courses.htm

Since it turns out that you already have been to Nürnberg, try this:

Take the 08:37 coach from Prag to Nürnberg Hbf (arr. 12:16), walk into the station, eat a quick lunch in the shopping arcades down below, and take the 13:00 train to Würzburg Hbf (arr. 13:54).

Spend the afternoon sightseeing - Würzburg is a worthwhile target as you'll see when you research it. Take your time, Fankfurt is not far away.

Then make your way to Frankfurt in the late evening - there are many fast trains from Würzburg Hbf to Frankfurt (M) Hbf, taking only 68 minutes or so.

I hope you are able to work out the trip to Prague. We enjoyed it so much, even though we were only able to be there 24 hrs! Ours was a 6-hr car ride, but worth it.