Frankfurt Airport to the City Centre – Transport Guide

Frankfurt Airport is Germany’s largest airport, but it lies only about 12 kilometres south-west of the centre, and getting from Frankfurt Airport to the city centre is easy. S-Bahn lines S8 and S9 run from a station beneath Terminal 1 to Hauptbahnhof in about 12 minutes and on to Hauptwache in the heart of the city in about 16 minutes. A single ticket costs €6.90 (around £6), and the S-Bahn is the best choice for most people, whether you’re staying near the main station, in the banking district or close to the Old Town.

The airport also has its own long-distance railway station, so you can take an ICE straight on to Cologne, Heidelberg and the rest of Germany without going into the city first. Here you’ll find all the options with prices, journey times and station names: S-Bahn, regional and long-distance trains, the Deutschlandticket, buses, taxis, transfers and hire cars. I also explain the difference between Terminal 1 and the new Terminal 3, and why you should steer clear of Frankfurt-Hahn if you can.

Quick overview

• S-Bahn S8 and S9: €6.90 (around £6), about 12 minutes to Hauptbahnhof and 16 minutes to Hauptwache, departing roughly every 10 minutes from Regionalbahnhof beneath Terminal 1.
• Day ticket including the airport: €13.50 (around £11), valid all day on the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses in Frankfurt, including the journey from the airport.
• Long-distance trains from Fernbahnhof: ICE to Cologne in about 50 minutes and to Heidelberg in 50 to 90 minutes, ICE to Hauptbahnhof in 10 to 15 minutes with a DB ticket.
• Bus 61: to Südbahnhof in Sachsenhausen in around half an hour with a standard RMV ticket.
• Taxi: about €35 to €45 (around £30 to £40) to the centre on the meter, 20 to 25 minutes without traffic.
• Private transfer: from about €26 (around £22) per person, must be booked at least 10 hours in advance.
• Hire car: the rental companies are in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Good for the Rhine Valley and Heidelberg, unnecessary in the city itself.

Terminal 1, Terminal 3 and the Sky Line train

The most important thing to know about Frankfurt Airport is that all rail services depart from Terminal 1. This is where Lufthansa and most of its Star Alliance partners are based, and the terminal is divided into areas A, B, C and Z. The old Terminal 2 is closed for a major redevelopment that will take many years, and the airlines that used it have moved to the new Terminal 3 in the southern part of the airport. Many other foreign airlines have also moved there, so always check your boarding pass or with your airline which terminal you’ll arrive at and fly home from.

Terminal 3 is about 5.6 kilometres from Terminal 1, so you can’t walk between them. Instead, the driverless Sky Line train runs between the terminals in about 8 minutes. The train is free and runs every 2 to 3 minutes from early morning until late evening, and at night a shuttle bus runs between the terminals instead. If you land at Terminal 3, follow the signs to the Sky Line, take the train to Terminal 1 and carry on from there to the S-Bahn or the long-distance trains. Allow an extra 15 to 20 minutes from Terminal 3 before you’re sitting on a train into the city. Everything about the new terminal and its connections is available from Frankfurt Airport.

In Terminal 1, Regionalbahnhof with the S-Bahn and regional trains is in the basement beneath the terminal, and you can reach it from areas A, B and C by following the signs with a green S and a train. The long-distance station, Fernbahnhof, lies beneath the large glass building The Squaire right next to the terminal, a 5 to 10-minute walk from Terminal 1 along a covered walkway. The taxi ranks are just outside the arrivals halls at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and buses stop in front of both terminals on the arrivals level.

1. S-Bahn S8 and S9 to Hauptbahnhof and Hauptwache

The S-Bahn is the easiest and cheapest way into Frankfurt. Lines S8 and S9 both run from the Regionalbahnhof beneath Terminal 1 towards Frankfurt and on to Offenbach and Hanau, so you can simply take the first train that comes in showing Frankfurt, Offenbach or Hanau on the display. Along the way, the train stops at Gateway Gardens, Stadion and Niederrad before reaching Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof after around 12 minutes, where the S-Bahn stops in the underground part of the station. From there, the train continues beneath the centre to Taunusanlage, Hauptwache and Konstablerwache.

Between them, the two lines run roughly every 10 minutes during the day, so you rarely have to wait long on the platform. They operate from early in the morning until late at night, though services are less frequent in the late evening and overnight, and during engineering works replacement buses may run for a while instead. If you land after midnight, check the actual departures in RMV’s RMVgo app before heading down to the platform. Watch the direction: trains towards Wiesbaden and Mainz go the opposite way, away from Frankfurt.

Fares and tickets

The airport has its own fare zone, and a single ticket between the airport and Frankfurt costs 6.90 euros (around £5.80) for adults and 4.10 euros (around £3.45) for children aged 6 to 14, while children under 6 travel free. The ticket is valid all the way to your stop in the city, even if you change to the U-Bahn or a tram along the way. Fares are listed by RMV, which runs the public transport. You buy your ticket from the machines at the entrance to the platforms, which accept cards, or in the RMVgo app. The ticket is only valid for a journey starting straight away, so you can’t buy your return trip in advance.

The biggest pitfall is buying an ordinary single ticket for the city at 3.80 euros (around £3.20). It isn’t valid to or from the airport, and there are ticket inspections on the S-Bahn. If you’ll be getting around a lot on the same day, a Frankfurt day ticket including the airport, at 13.50 euros (around £11.30) for adults and 8 euros (around £6.70) for children, is often the best deal. It’s valid on all the city’s S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses until 5am the next morning, and if you’re travelling in a group, there’s also a group day ticket for up to five people, which quickly pays for itself. The Frankfurt Card also covers the journey to and from the airport.

Is the Deutschlandticket valid from the airport?

Yes. The Deutschlandticket is valid on the S8 and S9 from the airport and on all regional trains, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses throughout Germany, but not on ICE, IC and EC trains. The ticket is a digital monthly subscription that you buy in the DB Navigator app or on the Deutsche Bahn website. It’s valid for a whole calendar month, even if you buy it mid-month, and the subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it by the 10th of the month. The price is 60 to 70 euros (around £50 to £60) a month and is usually adjusted at the turn of the year, so check the current price with Deutsche Bahn.

For a weekend in Frankfurt it isn’t worth it, as two airport tickets and a couple of day tickets cost less. But if you’re travelling around Germany for a week or more by regional train, for example to Mainz, the Rhine Valley and Heidelberg, it’s a really good deal. Remember to cancel it straight away if you only need it for one month.

Where should you get off?

Hauptbahnhof: The stop for you if you’re continuing by train or staying in the Bahnhofsviertel just east of the station. The district has plenty of reasonably priced hotels and the city’s best places to eat, but the streets north of Kaiserstraße around Taunusstraße and Niddastraße have a visible drug scene, so bear that in mind if you’ll be walking back late on your own. 25hours Hotel The Trip is a few minutes’ walk from the station, and you can see prices for 25hours Hotel The Trip here. If you’re heading to the trade fair, take the U4 one stop from Hauptbahnhof to Festhalle/Messe.

Taunusanlage: The stop in the middle of the banking district among the skyscrapers, a couple of minutes’ walk from the Alte Oper and the Main Tower. Get off here if you’re staying near Opernplatz or in the southern part of Westend.

Hauptwache: The city centre and the stop most tourists need. You come up by the Zeil shopping street, and from here it’s around a 5 to 10-minute walk to Römerberg and the Old Town. Motel One Frankfurt-Römer is close to Römerberg, and you can see prices for Motel One Frankfurt-Römer here. If you’re unsure which area suits you best, read my guide to where to stay in Frankfurt, where I go through six areas and hotels in several price ranges.

Konstablerwache: The stop at the eastern end of the Zeil, where you change to the U4 towards Bornheim and Merianplatz or to the S-Bahn lines running to Lokalbahnhof in Sachsenhausen. If you’re staying in the apple wine district south of the river, though, bus 61 from the airport may be easier, as you can read further down.

2. Regional and long-distance trains from the Fernbahnhof

Frankfurt Airport is one of the best-connected airports in Europe because it has two railway stations. Regional trains stop alongside the S-Bahn at the Regionalbahnhof beneath Terminal 1, while ICE and IC trains depart from the Fernbahnhof in The Squaire, the glass building next door. This means you can land and be sitting on a high-speed train to Cologne or Munich shortly afterwards, without having to go into Frankfurt first. You’ll find an overview of both stations on the airport’s page about trains.

Regional trains to Mainz, Wiesbaden and the Rhine Valley

From the Regionalbahnhof, the RE2 and RE3 regional trains run to Mainz and on to Koblenz and Saarbrücken, while the RE59 runs to Frankfurt Süd, Hanau and Aschaffenburg. The S8 also runs in the other direction to Mainz in about 25 minutes and on to Wiesbaden. The regional trains are a good choice if you’re heading to Mainz or the Rhine Valley with its castles and wine towns, and both RMV tickets and the Deutschlandticket are valid on them. None of the regional trains run underneath the city centre, so the S-Bahn is still the best option for getting into town.

ICE to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

Some ICE trains run from the Fernbahnhof to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof in 10 to 15 minutes, but this only saves you a few minutes compared with the S-Bahn. RMV tickets and the Deutschlandticket aren’t valid on ICE trains, so you’ll need a DB long-distance ticket. It only makes sense if you already have an onward train ticket from Hauptbahnhof, or if the S-Bahn is affected by engineering works.

Onwards to Cologne, Heidelberg and the rest of Germany

ICE trains to Cologne take the high-speed line and get there in about 50 minutes, with direct departures roughly twice an hour for most of the day. Saver fares start at under 30 euros (around £25) if you book well ahead, but the full fare is much higher. If you’re staying in the cathedral city, I’ve put together a guide to where to stay in Cologne. There are only a few direct trains to Heidelberg, so most people change in Mannheim, and the journey usually takes 50 to 90 minutes. You’ll find tickets and timetables in the DB Navigator app, and there are also direct ICE trains from the Fernbahnhof to Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Munich, among others. If you’re travelling around several cities, my guide to where to stay in Germany can help you plan your route.

If you’re flying with Lufthansa, you can often add the train to your plane ticket as Lufthansa Express Rail, so the train journey to Cologne or Stuttgart, for example, becomes part of your trip. If there are several of you heading to Heidelberg with lots of luggage, a private transfer is also an option, and you can check the price of a transfer to Heidelberg here. It costs from around 207 euros (around £175) for up to three people, so it’s only worth the money for a group.

3. Buses from Frankfurt Airport

For the city centre itself, the bus isn’t a good choice, as the S-Bahn is both faster and more frequent. There is one exception, though: bus 61 runs from Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 to Südbahnhof in Sachsenhausen, and the journey takes around half an hour. You can check departures in RMVgo. If you’re staying in Sachsenhausen, you avoid changing at Konstablerwache and get off right in the middle of the district with its apple wine taverns. From Terminal 3, the X77 express bus also runs to Südbahnhof roughly every half hour, and more often to the Gateway Gardens S-Bahn station. Both buses accept standard RMV tickets, and you can see the new bus routes at Terminal 3 on the website of Frankfurt’s transport company traffiQ.

Long-distance coaches such as FlixBus leave from the coach terminal by car park P36 at Terminal 1, about a 5-minute walk from the terminal. If you land at Terminal 3, take the Sky Line to Terminal 1 first. The coaches are cheap but take longer than the train, so they’re mainly for you if you’re on a tight budget or heading to a town without a direct train.

4. Taxis from Frankfurt Airport

The taxi ranks are just outside the arrivals halls at Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, and there are almost always cars waiting. Taxis charge the city’s fixed tariff, with a starting fare of 4 euros (around £3.35) and 2.40 euros (around £2) per kilometre. If you book in advance by phone or app, you can agree a fixed price within the limits set by the city. The rules are listed by IHK Frankfurt, and the tariff is adjusted regularly, so treat the amounts as approximate.

In practice, a trip to Hauptbahnhof or Hauptwache costs around 35 to 45 euros (around £30 to £40), and the journey takes 20 to 25 minutes without traffic. At rush hour, the motorways around the airport can be heavily congested, which makes the trip longer and more expensive. Most taxis take cards, but ask before you get in. Uber and the taxi app FreeNow also operate in Frankfurt, and prices are usually similar to a taxi.

Here’s my honest verdict: for one or two people, a taxi is expensive compared with the S-Bahn, which is faster than a car at rush hour. It makes sense if there are three or four of you with suitcases, if you’re going to an address far from an S-Bahn station, or if you land late and can’t be bothered waiting for a night train.

5. Private transfer

A private transfer is a pre-booked car with a driver who waits for you in the arrivals hall and takes you straight to your hotel. The price is fixed before you leave home, so you don’t have to keep an eye on the meter, which is handy if you’re travelling with children and car seats, have lots of luggage or land in the middle of the night. On GetYourGuide, prices start from around 26 euros (around £22) per person to the city centre.

Book a private transfer from Frankfurt Airport here.

The transfer must be booked at least 10 hours in advance. Enter your flight number when booking so the driver can keep track of any delays, and check which terminal you’re landing at, as Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 are a long way apart and the driver needs to know where to meet you.

6. Car hire from Frankfurt Airport

At Terminal 1, the Car Rental Center is in area A, one floor above the Regionalbahnhof, and at Terminal 3 the car hire desks are on the arrivals level. All the major hire companies are represented, and you can compare prices for car hire on Booking.com. The airport sits right next to the Frankfurter Kreuz motorway interchange, where the A3 and A5 meet, so you’re quickly on your way, and it’s only about 20 minutes to the city centre without traffic.

A car is excellent if you want to see the Rhine Valley with its castles and the Lorelei, the Rheingau wine region, Heidelberg or the Taunus mountains, as you can stop wherever you like. If you’d like to see what else there is to do in and around the city, I’ve put it all together in my guide to the sights in Frankfurt. Within Frankfurt itself, though, a car is more of a hindrance than a help. The city has a low emission zone where cars need the green emissions sticker, which hire cars almost always have, and parking in the centre is expensive. My recommendation is therefore to stay in the city without a car and only pick one up at the airport on the day you head out into the countryside.

Frankfurt-Hahn: the airport that isn’t in Frankfurt

If you spot a cheap ticket to “Frankfurt-Hahn”, read the small print. Hahn is a former military airfield in the Hunsrück hills, around 115 kilometres west of Frankfurt, and it has nothing to do with Frankfurt Airport. Airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air fly from there, and there is no rail connection. The flibco bus runs between Hahn and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof in about 1 hour and 45 minutes to just over 2 hours depending on traffic, and tickets cost from around 19 euros (around £16) when you buy online.

Once you add the bus journey and ticket to the cost of your flight, the saving has often disappeared, and a taxi from there costs a small fortune. Hahn makes most sense if you’re heading to the Moselle or the Hunsrück anyway, where a hire car from Hahn is handy.

Getting back to the airport

From the city centre, take the S8 or S9 towards Wiesbaden from Hauptwache, Taunusanlage or Hauptbahnhof and get off at Flughafen Regionalbahnhof. At Hauptbahnhof, S-Bahn trains to the airport leave from platforms 103 and 104 in the underground part of the station, and Deutsche Bahn’s station page shows you the way. Remember to buy the airport ticket for 6.90 euros rather than a standard city ticket. Allow 12 to 16 minutes on the train, and if you’re flying from Terminal 3, add 15 to 20 minutes for the Sky Line and the walk.

If your flight leaves before 7am, check the first departures in RMVgo the evening before, or book a taxi at a fixed price. The alternative is to spend your last night at the airport. Sheraton Frankfurt Airport is directly connected to Terminal 1, and you can see prices for Sheraton Frankfurt Airport here. A cheaper option is Hampton by Hilton Frankfurt Airport in Gateway Gardens, a single S-Bahn stop from the terminal, and you can see prices for Hampton by Hilton in Gateway Gardens here.

If you’re returning a hire car, follow the signs for the terminal you’re flying from, as Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 each have their own drop-off area, and fill up the tank beforehand. Frankfurt is a big airport with long walking distances and sometimes long queues at security, so get there at least 2 hours before departure. If you’re flying on from another German airport later in your trip, I also have guides to getting from Munich Airport to the city centre and from Berlin Airport to the city centre.

Frankfurt Airport to the city centre: which option should you choose?

Here’s my recommendation based on where you’re staying and how you’re travelling:

Old Town, Zeil and Hauptwache: Take the S8 or S9 to Hauptwache for 6.90 euros (around £6). You’ll be there in about 16 minutes and can walk to most hotels from there.

Bahnhofsviertel and the trade fair: The S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof in 12 minutes, then the U4 one stop further if you’re going to Festhalle/Messe.

Sachsenhausen: Bus 61 direct to Südbahnhof, or the S-Bahn to Konstablerwache and another S-Bahn on to Lokalbahnhof.

Travelling straight on: Head to the Fernbahnhof and take an ICE direct to Cologne, Mannheim or Munich. Book your ticket in advance, as the cheapest seats go quickly.

3 to 4 people with lots of luggage: A taxi for around 35 to 45 euros (around £30 to £40) takes you to the door and doesn’t cost much more than four airport tickets.

If you land late: The S-Bahn runs well into the night, but less frequently. Check the next departure in RMVgo, or otherwise take a taxi from the rank.

Road trip: Pick up your hire car at the airport if you’re driving straight out into the countryside, and do without it while you’re in Frankfurt.

Practical tips for getting from Frankfurt Airport

Buy the right ticket. A 3.80-euro city ticket isn’t valid for the airport. Select the airport as your start or destination in the machine or the app, and you’ll get the 6.90-euro ticket or the day ticket that includes the airport.

Check your terminal before you land and before you fly home. Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 are several kilometres apart, and all trains leave from Terminal 1. If you’re travelling to or from Terminal 3, factor in the Sky Line and extra time.

Watch the direction on the platform. The S8 and S9 towards Frankfurt, Offenbach and Hanau go into the city, while trains towards Wiesbaden and Mainz go the opposite way. On the way back, it’s the other way round.

Book long-distance trains early. ICE tickets to Cologne, Heidelberg and Munich quickly get more expensive close to departure. Leave at least an hour and a half between landing and your train, so a delay or a long walk from Terminal 3 doesn’t cost you your ticket.

Avoid Hahn unless you have a good reason. A cheap ticket to Frankfurt-Hahn soon becomes expensive once you add two hours on a bus and the bus fare, so always compare it with a ticket to the real Frankfurt Airport.

Travel ressources & websites I use all the time 👇

• Booking.com has the best offers on hotels and unique places to stay
• GetYourGuide is the best place to book tours & activities with free cancellation
• Welcome Pickups is the best & safest place to pre-book airport transfers

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