Questions on German train (bahn.de) from BER > FRA?

Question

I'm going to be in Germany for 6 days at the end of May. I'll be going from Barcelona to Berlin. After 5 days, I am leaving out of Frankfurt back to the US. I've been told the easiest thing to do is take the train (bahn.de). I've looked up flights and there aren't many for some reason. Also, I do want to take the train in Germany at least once.

It is a 4-hour train ride:

Berlin Hbf > Frankfurt(Main)Hbf (4:09)

Question 1: Do I really need to book this ticket in advance, or is it just better to do when I'm there?

Question 2: from the website, I can't find where in Berlin (Hbf) the train is. I'll be staying in the Charlottenburg - Wilmersdorf district and I need to know how long it will take me in the morning to get to the train station

Question 2b: is it safe to assume that Frankfurt(main) means the destination is Frankfurt airport?

Many thanks.

Answer 1

Frankfurt main  is  the  airport  and  you  don't  need  to  reserve  they  have  Lot's  of  trains  going  to  Paris  bon  voyage..

Answer 2

1. You just want to buy a one way ticket. Therefore it's not necessary to buy in advance because special offers are (normally) only for return tickets. But if you travel at Friday or Sunday afternoon it could be better to reserve a seat.

2. The following link shows you the map of the Berlin S-Bahn (City Train). The Hauptbahnhof (Hbf = Central or Main Station) is in the center of the map. A Station called "Charlottenburg" in the Charlottenburg district is only five stations away (to the left side). The timetable on the website shows 11 minutes for the ride and there are trains every 3 or 4 minutes.

http://www.s-bahn-berlin.de/pdf/s_bahn_n...

I can't tell about taking a taxi because I don't know the traffic on this route.

2b. Main is the river that runs through Frankfurt. Because there are two German cities named Frankfurt, the name of the river is often attached to divide them. Frankfurt (Main) or (M) is the city with the big airport while Frankfurt (Oder) or (O) is at the border to Poland.

Frankfurt, Frankfurt (Main) or Frankfurt (Hbf) means the main or central station in Frankfurt.

The stations at the airport you will find under FRA FrankfurtAirport, Frankfurt (M) Flughafen Fernbf or Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Regionalbf.

The most connections you will find you have to change the train in Frankfurt Hbf to Frankfurt Airport.

Answer 3

Hbf stands for Hauptbahnhof (=central station).Frankfurt (Main) Hbf thus stands for Frankfurt on Main (a river) central station, Frankfurts Airport station is called "Frankfurt Airport".

You don't need to buy in advance, but it could be cheaper and you can get a reservation (although you can get until 30 mintes before the train leaves as well).

I don't know how long it will take form Charlottenburg to Hbf, maybe you could give the name of the street you'll be in so we can look up how long it takes to commute.Hbf are always very central, btw.

Answer 4

First of all there are a TON of flights from Berlin to Frankfurt every day - actually every hour or so!!!

check with Lufthansa Airlines, Air Berlin, check the Tegel Airport  website  (http://www.berlin-airport.de/DE/index.ph... , http://tegel.de/) and you could also use Tempelhof Airport.

The train ride is fast and convenient however as well.

1. It will be cheaper if you book in advance online, whether you are one way or return doesn't matter.

however it may be better to keep it flexible, depending on your preference.  you shouldn't have any problems getting a ticket the day of your travel, but look up the departure times in advance.

reserve a seat for busy travel times (can do while in Berlin) Since you're trying to catch an international flight, I would probably buy in advance, even if it's just a couple of days ahead of time while you're already in the city... but that's just me...

2.  Hbf =Hauptbahnhof (main station)is almost in the center of Berlin, slightly to the north: orange/purple/burgundy line.  check out/download a subway/s-bahn map of Berlin: http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Detai...

If you travel by subway allow at least 2 minutes per stop.  also depends on what time you travel how frequent the subway trains will come.  I would ask people where you're staying at the day before you travel at what time you should leave.

By cab it could be 1/2 hr depends where in Wilmersdorf and at what time of day... again ask people when you are actually in the city and don't worry about that part now.

2b

No that is NOT safe to assume, Frankfurt Airport is Frankfurt Airport and Frankfurt main station is in the center of Frankfurt - and yes, don't confuse with "Frankfurt an der Oder".

Answer 5

You raise a lot of interesting questions, having gone from       Berlin to Frankfurt both by plane and train, I just have the following thoughts that may be of some assistance.

1. they fairly recently finished the beautiful new Berlin Hbf (kinda north of the Reichstag) make sure your maps and info take this into account..

2. I don't see why you would have to go all the way back across Berlin when the train is coming in your direction....You should be able to pick it  up at the big station (I forgot the name) near Europa Center, maybe...The Berliners here know where to catch it...

3. I think you have to change trains in Hanover on your way to Frankfurt..

4. The train will first stop at the Frankfurt Hbf and you need to make sure that the same train goes from the Hbf to the airport...probably does but double check....

Good Luck Have Fun