How to take a train from Salzburg to Frankfurt

Basel / Bâle to Frankfurt by train

How to take the rail journey from north-west Switzerland to central Germany

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Routes

From Basel Bad Bf to Frankfurt Main Hbf

Travel Information

Final Destination: Berlin or Hamburg or Kiel or Frankfurt

All trains also call at: Karlsruhe and Mannheim

Departing from Basel:

These trains depart from Basel SBB station and then go on to also call at Basel Bad Bf station
If the starting point for journey is in Basel city centre, the quicker and cheaper option is to opt for Basel Bad Bf as your departure station.

However, board these trains at Basel SBB station, if;
(1) you will be making a connection into these trains from elsewhere in Switzerland.
(2) you will be making this journey with a rail pass and want to gamble on not making the optional reservations; you'll be more likely to find available seats if you board at Basel SBB

1 x train per hour

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

Choosing your departure station:

These trains depart from Basel SBB station and then go on to also call at Basel Bad Bf station
If the starting point for journey is in Basel city centre, the cheaper option is to choose Basel Bad Bf. as your departure station.

Booking this journey:

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.

On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:

  • 0 in the Chg. column
  • ICE (and only ICE) in the Products column.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.

Seat Reservations:

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey; book a 1st class ticket and your seat will be assigned, but not if you book 2nd class - or will be travelling with a rail pass.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €19.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
Save A Train from €19.90

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €19.90

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

The new ICE4 trains are now operating on most of the departures which will be travelling to Berlin

Heading to Frankfurt Airport/Flughafen:

These trains do not call at Frankfurt Flughafen/Airport.

Less frequent ICE trains from Basel, those heading towards Koln do call there, but the best option can be to take these trains and make a connection at Mannheim.

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