GERMANY! First timer... help???

dartboardio

Ok, I seem like a bit of a dummy here but anyhow..

Will Frankfurt airport have enough English speaking help desks where we can enquire about travel tickets?

Does Frankfurt and Stuttgart have a simple enough travel system? ( the websites seem confusing with all the s bahn, u bahn, don’t buy a ticket for the wrong one by accident kinda thing)

Are they easy to get around basically.

Don’t wanna be completely overwhelmed when we reach the airport /train station.

Is there an easy way to get to the city centre from Frankfurt airport?

And finally am I reading incorrectly when I see you can buy one ticket for a few people for a certain amount of time?

And how expensive are these cities?

Thank you!


I swear I’ve been abroad many times but usually to the same place and I worry a lot in advance! =D

VG31

dartboardio wrote: »

Ok, I seem like a bit of a dummy here but anyhow..

Will Frankfurt airport have enough English speaking help desks where we can enquire about travel tickets?

Yes. Ideally work out what tickets you need in advance though.

Does Frankfurt and Stuttgart have a simple enough travel system? ( the websites seem confusing with all the s bahn, u bahn, don’t buy a ticket for the wrong one by accident kinda thing)

Are they easy to get around basically.

Yes, all major German cities have excellent transport systems. Tickets are valid on all modes of transport (U/S-Bahn, tram, bus) so you can't really buy a ticket for the wrong one.
Transport site for Frankfurt: https://www.rmv.de/
Transport site for Stuttgart: https://en.vvs.de/

If you are taking any trains outside the cities, i.e. regional or intercity trains, use the Deutsche Bahn site (and the DB site only) for journey planning and buying tickets.
https://www.bahn.com/


Don’t wanna be completely overwhelmed when we reach the airport /train station.

Is there an easy way to get to the city centre from Frankfurt airport?

Yes, it's 15 minutes on the S-Bahn.

And finally am I reading incorrectly when I see you can buy one ticket for a few people for a certain amount of time?

Yes group tickets are common.

And how expensive are these cities?

I haven't been to either (although I've been to FRA and much of Baden-Wurttemberg and the Rhineland), but Germany is generally good value.

Thank you!


I swear I’ve been abroad many times but usually to the same place and I worry a lot in advance! =D

If you need any more information let me know and I'll get back to you once I have access to my PC tomorrow evening.

coylemj

OP, German cities are very easy to navigate and there's always someone on duty at railway station information desks or tourist offices who speak English. Most large restaurants will hand you an English menu when you walk in, they can tell the Irish and Brits a mile off!

munchkin_utd

In frankfurt the public transport is easy to figure out.
The one thing to know in advance is the nearest bus or train stop, and then when at the station in Frankfurt airport (go to the regional bahnhof as it has all the local trains) you just tap in the destination and how many are travelling into the touchscreen ticket machine and it figures all the options.

Day tickets are often the best value for local transport as it'll pay for itsself often by the second journey.

In general, all cities in Germany have a common umbrella transport organisation so all busses/ trams/ local trains / underground are all ran on a common (synchronised) timetable, with unlimited free changes and common ticketing.
Its the same in Stuttgart as Frankfurt, all is under the same ticketing system.

AdrianLM

Stuttgart has a good underground, I was there a few weeks ago. I had to ask someone at the ticket machine the first time in order to figure out the zones. There is never a shortage of someone who can speak English in Germany, not in the cities anyway.

dartboardio

VG31 wrote: »

If you need any more information let me know and I'll get back to you once I have access to my PC tomorrow evening.

That’s great info thanks. Wasn’t aware the ticket would cover all transport within one city.

For example we will be catching a train/bus from Frankfurt to Stuttgart so would I be better off using the link you provided there?

We are staying in Europa life hotel in Frankfurt apparently right beside the main train station so not sure we will need an all day travel ticket for both days in Frankfurt, however for Stuttgart we will be 20 mins away from centre and need to get to airport on the last day aswell as the expo centre, and obviously going in and out of the centre so presumably a day ticket would be best for each day?

So if I buy a ticket on the Stuttgart travel website I can use the s bahn or the u bahn? And do they run late into the night??

Thanks again and to everyone else who replied.

coylemj

https://en.vvs.de/tickets/

VG31

dartboardio wrote: »

For example we will be catching a train/bus from Frankfurt to Stuttgart so would I be better off using the link you provided there?

Yes, use the DB journey planner.

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en
From: Frankfurt(Main)Hbf
To: Stuttgart Hbf

In general there's no need to buy train tickets in advance but Frankfurt to Stuttgart is an Intercity (IC) or ICE (Intercity-Express) train which should be booked a few weeks in advance for cheaper fares.

There are two primary fare types. "Sparpreis" tickets which are restricted to the selected departure and "Flexpreis" tickets which are valid on any train. Flexpreis tickets cost the same whether booked online in advance or at the station, however Sparpreis fares must be booked in advance.

dartboardio wrote: »

for Stuttgart we will be 20 mins away from centre and need to get to airport on the last day aswell as the expo centre, and obviously going in and out of the centre so presumably a day ticket would be best for each day?

So if I buy a ticket on the Stuttgart travel website I can use the s bahn or the u bahn? And do they run late into the night??

Day tickets would be best. You can use any method of transport within the tickets area of valudity: U/S-Bahn, tram, bus, regional trains (basically anything except IC/EC/ICE trains). They run until around 1 am.

I wouldn't bother buying tickets for city transport online.

VG31

As an alternative to the train, there is Flixbus which is usually cheaper.
https://global.flixbus.com/

I wouldn't recommend it in this case though as the bus takes 3 hours plus compared to 1 hour 20 minutes on the train.

xtradel

Hi OP, Dunno how long you're planning on staying in Stuttgart but whenever you arrive at the HBF (Main Station) go across the road to the tourist office on the left as you exit the station and you'll be able to purchase a 3 day tourist transport pass which will cover all city buses, trams (U-Bahn) & S-Bahn for only €19.90.

The S-bahn is great for seeing the outskirts of the city.