From Frankfurt (FRA) airport into Frankfurt city

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Frankfurt is the ideal airport for a layover. It only takes 20 minutes, by train, to travel from Frankfurt airport into the heart of Frankfurt and then spend the day sight-seeing, shopping and grabbing a bite to eat before heading back to the airport for your connecting flight.

Train station at the airport and buying a ticket

The train station for local trains into Frankfurt city centre is downstairs in Terminal 1 under Hall B. Once downstairs, the first thing to do is buy a ticket from one of the ticket machines. There are two banks of ticket machine - make sure you use a green machine (for local tickets) and not the red machines. You then have several choices of ticket:

  • single journey tickets which cost 5,80€ (a return = 11,60€).

  • a day travel card which costs 11,30€ (cheaper than buying a return ticket) This ticket permits you to travel on all the city transport for the whole day.

  • a group travel card which costs 19,10€ and permits up to 5 people to travel together on all the city transport for the whole day, and is excellent value if there are two or more of you.

You will need cash, or a credit/debit card with a PIN to purchase tickets from the ticket machines.

The video below shows you how to buy a ticket:

Which train?

S-bahn trains, S8 & S9, run every 15 minutes from Platform 1 and travel directly to Hauptwache and Konstablerwache, the two most central stations in Frankfurt.

After you have bought your ticket, head downstairs to Platform 1 and wait for an S8 or S9. Frankfurt has a barrier-free transport system so you just show your ticket to the inspector on the train during your journey.

It's six stops and 20 minutes to the centre of town. The stops on the way are: Gateway Gardens, Stadion, Niederrad, Hauptbahnhof, Taunusanlage, Hauptwache and Konstablerwache. Alight at Hauptwache or Konstablerwache for the centre Frankfurt.

If you need to get to another location, look up stations and tram-stops using local travel maps on the RMV local transport pages.

In Frankfurt city centre

Once in Frankfurt there is plenty to see and do. The old town is down by the river near the cathedral, museums are centrally located and there are plenty of restaurants, cafes and bakeries selling food and drinks. On a fine day you can take a Primus Line, local river cruise which only takes 110 minutes, or head up to the top of the Main Tower and enjoy the views across the whole of the Frankfurt and beyond. Click on this link indexing various blog pages offering detailed information on places to eat and more ideas.

Over the summer months there is usually an outdoor festival being hosted in the city centre and whatever the theme of the festival you can be sure to find bratwurst, beer and local wine.

Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday the city has a Farmers' market (details in German listed here). Thursday and Saturday the market is on Konstablerwache, and on Friday it's on Schillerstraße, close to the Stock Exchange. These markets are a real slice of local Frankfurt life and are well worth a visit.   

Returning to the airport

For your return journey to the airport go to either Hauptwache or Konstablerwache station and follow signs for the S-bahn. Wait on platform 3 for the S8 or S9 train which run every 15 minutes.