Frankfurt (Main) Hbf (Frankfurt (Main) / Francfort sur le Main)

Travelling by direct train from Frankfurt (Main) to Amsterdam is a fascinating journey.

This is the only direct train service from Frankfurt (Main) to destinations in southern France.

These swish ICE trains provide an easily managed link between central Germany and the multiple Swiss destinations which can be easily accessed from Basel

What won't be particularly obvious when looking at the timetable is that the trains between Frankfurt (Main) and Berlin take two different routes:

(1) The trains which travel through Erfurt and typically call at these stations in the city - Berlin Sudkreuz, Berlin Hbf and Berlin Gesundbrunnen.

(2) The trains which travel through Kassel and typically call at these stations in the city - Berlin Spandau, Berlin Hbf and Berlin Ost.

The faster 'Sprinter' services and regular, slightly slower trains take both routes.
However, when departing Frankfurt in the 'even hours' between 10:00 and 14:00, the regular services are the only option.

Note that all of the trains from Frankfurt (Main) serve the German capital's primary station, Berlin Hbf

Some of the ICE trains on the route to Basel very conveniently travel on to central Switzerland

This is one of Europe's longer railway journeys on which the train will be whizzing along a high speed line

Some of the ICE trains to Switzerland from central Germany head for Chur, where connections are available to multiple Alpine resort towns and villages.

ICE trains are used for the journey between Frankfurt and Dresden, but despite the distance they spend only a small percentage of the travel time on a high speed line.

There is only one direct train per day available, but it's very much worth targeting.
Not only does it simplify the taking of a beautiful journey, it also tends to be the cheapest option too.

For the first third of the rail journey from from Frankfurt to Hamburg you may wonder why you are on an ICE train, but between Fulda and Hannover you will be travelling on a high speed line.

For the first third of the journey you may wonder why you are on an ICE train, but after Fulda you will be travelling on a high speed line.

When taking the train from Frankfurt (Main) to Heidelberg there is a choice of services:
(1) The express trains are inevitably faster and if you can book ahead online, they can be cheaper too.
(2) Though if you want to take a spontaneous day trip by train and book walk-up tickets at the station, you'll save money by taking one of the more frequent Regio trains.

From the commencement of the new pan-European timetable on December 10th 2023, a new direct ICE train service will be available on the Frankfurt (Main) to Innsbruck route.
It will provide an alternative to taking the early morning direct Railjet train.
Or if the timings or prices of those direct trains don't suit, the optimum indirect journey by train from Frankfurt (Main) to Innsbruck, involves making a straightforward connection in München Hbf.

Some of the ICE trains on the route to Basel very conveniently travel on to central Switzerland.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

Don't be put off by the distance, few lengthy railway journeys are as fabulous as this, and the direct trains ensure it is as simple as can be too.

Use the journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets

When taking the train from Frankfurt (Main) to Koblenz there is a choice of services:
(1) The express trains are inevitably faster and if you can book ahead online, they can be cheaper too.
(2) Though if you want to take a spontaneous day trip by train and book walk-up tickets at the station, you'll save money by taking one of the more frequent Regio trains.
Though the Regio trains take two routes, the faster journey along the west bank of the River Rhine through Bingen (which they share with the express trains), and a slower journey along the east bank through Weisbaden.
So if you will making a day trip to Koblenz in fine weather, the trip will even be even more delightful if you travel one way and then return by the other.

When taking a train from Frankfurt (Main) to Cologne / Köln there are three things to keep in mind.

1. The route: Most of the trains rush along Germany's fastest high speed line, but some trains still take the slower, but much more beautiful route through the Rhine Gorge and Bonn.
2. The location of your ultimate destination: Many of the fast trains which take the high-speed route arrive at a secondary station in Cologne / Köln, located on the east bank of the River Rhine.
   Other trains, including all those on the slower route, arrive at the city's main station, Koln Hbf.
3. Price: The popularity of a departure and not the route it takes, or the station it arrives at, are what most greatly affects the cost of taking each specific train.

All that’s good to know about taking the train from Frankfurt to Leipzig with easy access to ticket, train, station and journey info.

Thanks to these direct trains, it's a straightforward journey from central Germany to the city on The Danube.

The direct train service from Frankfurt (Main) to Ljubljana has unfortunately been suspended until further notice, so the journey now requires a connection in Villach.

Though until July 26th the Frankfurt (Main) to Villach trains are now being turned around at locations that are more than an hour from Villach - due to works on route in Austria!

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

This is the only direct train service from Frankfurt (Main) to the second largest city in France.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

This is the only direct train service from Frankfurt (Main) to destinations in southern France.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

This fascinating journey on the only direct train from central Germany to Italy includes rushing down a German high-speed line, a passage across Switzerland with views over five lakes and a travelling through the world's longest railway tunnel.

Until Dec 9th due to construction work closing the main Frankfurt(Main) to Mannheim, some or all of the daily departures will be turning around at other stations in Germany, with connections available from Frankfurt (Main).

What won't be obvious when looking up the train journey from to Frankfurt (Main) to Paris is that the trains between the two cities take two different routes.

But it makes little difference to the journey times or ticket prices.
The route via Kaiserslautern involves travelling through valleys in a forest to the east of the city, but aside from that it isn't more scenic than the route via Strasbourg.
The route via Strasbourg is longer in terms of distance travelled, but the train travels further on the high speed line.

What gives this journey its wow factor is the speed - the trains will travel at more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.

This journey guide focusing on taking the direct trains as there is no need to make a connection when travelling by train from Frankfurt (Main) to Salzburg.
However, if their timings don't suit, it's possible to set off in any hour during the day and make a comparatively straightforward transfer in Munchen hbf.

These direct trains means that travelling by rail from central Germany to the Austrian capital is wonderfully straightforward.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

The direct train from Frankfurt (Main) to the Croatian capital has been suspended until further notice, so a connection is now required in Villach.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

Use this journey guide to access good to know info for the stations, trains and tickets.

Make a direct journey from the Dutch capital to central Germany on a fabulous ICE train

All that’s good to know about taking the train from Basel to Frankfurt with easy access to ticket, train, station and journey info.

What won't be obvious when looking up a journey by train from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) is that the ICE trains between the two cities now take three different routes:

1. Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Frankfurt (these are the fastest services, but they are currently non-stop from Berlin to Frankfurt)
2. Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Fulda - Frankfurt
3. Berlin - Braunschweig - Kassel - Fulda - Frankfurt
   Though these trains arrive at Frankfurt (Main) Sud bahnhof and travel on to Frankfurt Flughafen / Airport

However, the departures are not evenly distributed, there can no departures at all in certain hours, while in others there are trains leaving on all three routes, though two trains per hour is most typical.

The cheaper tickets on the faster ICE trains inevitably sell out faster, but other factors worth keeping in mind when planning this journey are:

There also slower, but typically cheaper, non high speed trains from Berlin to Frankfurt which are operated by Flix.
But they arrive at a station named Frankfurt (Main) Sud, which lives up to its name with a location to the south of the city centre.

Also note that Frankfurt (Oder) is a different town, which also has direct trains from Berlin, so make sure that you are looking at trains to Frankfurt (Main) when booking tickets online - And ignore any info you see for Frankfurt (Oder) when you're at the station.

These direct trains from Bern to Frankfurt (Main) can offer a swathe of straightforward connections on to other German cities without direct trains from Bern, including Dresden, Leipzig and Nurnberg

Travelling by train from the Belgian capital to central Germany and beyond is wonderfully simple thanks to the comparatively frequent service of smart high speed ICE trains.

Frankfurt (Main) hbf is a very straightforward major station in which to change trains and connections are available there into a swathe of other destinations including Dresden, Leipzig, Linz, Munich, Nurnberg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich.

The fastest option for a rail journey from Innsbruck to Frankfurt is taking the relatively new direct ICE train service - which has a faster journey time, and offers a mid-afternoon arrival.
Or there is daily Railjet sevicve - one of the trains from Innsbruck on the beautiful route to far-western Austria, has had its journey extended into central Germany.
If the two daily direct services don't suit there is the option of making a connection in Munchen / Munich.

There are now in effect four rail services available between Hamburg and Frankfurt (Main):
1 - These dominant ICE trains which usually race down the high speed line between Hannover and Fulda.
2 - A faster 'Sprinter' service aimed at business travellers, which departs shortly after 06:00.
3 - Other ICE trains which are slower as they don't use the high speed line, because they take a route through Marburg, but they also don't tend to be cheaper, so are best avoided.
4 - On Thursday to Monday there is usually the option of taking a Flix train service.

There are two options for a taking a direct train from Cologne / Köln to Frankfurt (Main).

1. The fastest and most frequent option for a daytime journey are the swish ICE trains, though around half of these trains depart from Koln Messe-Deutz station and not the city's main station, Koln hbf.
2. For those who favor a scenic journey over a train ride with a wow factor, you can also take the beautiful route through the Rhine Valley.

Making a transfer between trains in Bruxelles seems to be the best option for a journey by train from London to Frankfurt (Main) - the Eurostar from London and the ICE train on to Germany use the same station in the Belgian capital.
However, the trains on to Frankfurt typically depart around 20 mins or less after the arrival of the Eurostar -so the options sold by the ticket agents include this combination of trains, which enable the fastest possible end-to-end journey time.
Though if you would rather book an end-to-end journey option, with more time between trains, the ticket agents typically package together journeys which involve having to transfer between different stations in Paris
The Eurostar from London will arrive at Paris Nord and the trains on to Frankfurt will depart from Paris Est.

Ride the only direct train service from central France to central Germany.

Ride the only direct train from the south of France to Germany, travelling overnight is not an option on this route.

One of the most welcome additions to the European rail timetables of recent years was the re-introduction of the direct train from northern Italy to central Germany.
Though it has now been re-routed to travel via Zurich instead of Bern, which has added around 45mins to the journey time

Sleek ICE trains link München / Munich to Frankfurt (Main) but what's slightly odd is that they take two different routes;
1 - via Nurnberg
2 - via Stuttgart
But because the trains on the route via Nurnberg ae faster, the only trains that have tickets available online are the trains on this route.

You might then wonder why, when you're at the station in Munich/Munchen why you can see trains to Frankfurt (Main) leaving before your departure, that you weren't aware of.
However, those other trains will arrive in Frankfurt after the train you will be taking.

Until Dec 9th due to construction work closing the main Mannheim to Frankfurt(Main) railway, some or all of the daily departures will be turning around at other stations in Germany, with connections available on to Frankfurt (Main).

What won't be obvious when looking up the train journey from Paris to Frankfurt (Main) is that the trains between the two cities take two different routes.

But it makes little difference to the journey times or ticket prices.
The route via Kaiserslautern involves travelling through valleys in a forest to the east of the city, but aside from that it isn't more scenic than the route via Strasbourg.
The route via Strasbourg is longer in terms of distance travelled, but the train travels further on the high speed line.

What gives this journey its wow factor is the speed, the trains will travel at more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.

All that’s good to know about taking the train from Salzburg to Frankfurt with easy access to ticket, train, station and journey info.

Despite the trains from Wien/Vienna to Frankfurt spending less than 5% of the journey travelling on a high speed line, swish ICE trains are used on this route.

The German national rail operator DB provides a similar level of service to the cities of northern Switzerland as it does to many destinations in Germany, hence the latest type of the super-smart ICE trains are now used on this route.
Though only a small percentage of this journey is on a high speed line.
The daily EC train from Milan to Frankfurt now also calls in Zurich, so it supplements the more regular service of ICE trains.