Frankfurt Main Airport

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is continental Europe's busiest hub and one of the few airports in the world with its own long-distance train station built in. It has two terminals — Terminal 1 (Lufthansa's home base, concourses A/B/C/Z) and Terminal 2 (concourses D/E, used by Star Alliance partners and many other carriers) — connected by the SkyLine automated train (about 4 minutes) or free shuttle buses, which are easier if you're hauling heavy luggage.

Immigration, customs and connections

Arriving from outside the Schengen area, expect a passport check before baggage claim; EU/EEA/Swiss e-passport holders can generally use the automated ePass gates. If you're connecting onward within Frankfurt, airport guidance suggests a minimum of 90 minutes for international-to-international transfers, and more like 90–120 minutes if you're also switching terminals or arriving from a non-Schengen country — Frankfurt is large and busy enough that cutting it closer is risky, especially through a peak morning or evening bank. Same-terminal connections can technically work with 45–60 minutes, but build in a buffer if you can.

Getting into the city

The airport's own train station sits underneath Terminal 1, with two levels: the regional station (Regionalbahnhof) for S-Bahn trains S8 and S9, which run directly to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (the main station) in about 12 minutes for around €5–6, and the long-distance station (Fernbahnhof) for ICE/IC trains that continue on to other German and European cities without needing to backtrack through the city center. A taxi into downtown Frankfurt takes roughly 20–30 minutes and costs around €35–45 depending on traffic and destination. Terminal 2 also has its own regional (RE) rail connection into the city.

Practical tips

Frankfurt's train link is genuinely faster and cheaper than a taxi for almost anyone headed to the Hauptbahnhof or connecting onward by rail, so it's worth the walk down to the station level even with luggage — there are elevators throughout. There's no need for a VPN here; the internet is open and unrestricted. If your itinerary has a tight connection, check which terminal both your arriving and departing flights use as a first step — a same-terminal connection is comfortably doable in an hour, but a cross-terminal one with a non-Schengen immigration check is not something you want to cut close.