Buses such as the Lufthansa Express and Flixbus are the cheapest way to travel from Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg. Trains are faster but more expensive.
The Lufthansa Express Bus and Flixbus coaches are the best way to travel between Frankfurt Airport and Straßburg. Trains are a good alternative but always require at least one transfer. The fastest journeys are on German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) trains with a transfer to an IC Bus. The comfort of the Lufthansa Express Bus, previously Lufthansa Airport Bus, is hard to beat. Journey times are usually just less than 2h30. Ticket prices range from around €30 to €60 with the full-fare Lufthansa Express Bus cheaper than regular train tickets. Flixbus coaches are even cheaper if booked in advance but travel time is usually over three hours.
Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) is only around 200 km (125 miles) from Strasbourg. It is an easy and fast drive of just over two hours. A private one-way minibus transfer should be around €300 making it worth for small groups to compare prices before booking. Suntransfers gives online quotations for private airport transfers without first requiring personal details or flight numbers.
Lufthansa Express Bus to Strasbourg from Frankfurt Airport
The Lufthansa Express Bus (previously called Lufthansa Airport Bus) is the easiest way to travel between Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) and Strasbourg (Straßburg) in Alsace (Elsaß) in France. The bus is available to all travelers – no flights are required – and is usually the cheapest option too, other than the slower Flixbus.
The Lufthansa Express Bus connects Frankfurt Airport and Strasbourg generally six times per day in around 2h30. The bus stops at Terminal 1 of Frankfurt Airport while it stops in Strasbourg at both the train station and the Hilton Hotel.
The Lufthansa Express Bus uses the following stops:
- Frankfurt Airport – Terminal 1 at The Square West next to the long-distance train station (Fernbahnhof) near the exit with the REWE supermarket. This is different from other long-distance buses that usually stop at P36. (Use the free shuttle train to / from Terminal 2.)
- Strasbourg – Boulevard de Metz at the main train station (Gare SNCF) and at the Hilton Hotel at Avenue Heernschmidt / Rue Fritz Kieffer.
Tickets for the Lufthansa Express Bus must be bought in advance – tickets are not available from the bus driver. Tickets may be bought online at Lufthansa like any normal flight reservation: use FRA (Frankfurt Airport) and XER (Strasbourg Bus Station) as departure / arrival destination codes. Tickets are also available from Lufthansa and many other travel agents.
The current one-way fare is €49 (€37 for children under 12). Return is simply double the single fare.
The luggage limit is one suitcase and one hand luggage per person. Luggage must be carried between the bus and normal check-in desks at the airport or from customs to the bus – there is not check-through service to final destination.
If traveling to the airport, the check-in desks at the AirRail Terminal, or the regular check-in desk in the airport terminals.
Separate check-ins are required for the bus and flights (if applicable). Seats are only reserved until 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure time.
By Flixbus from Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg
Flixbus is the largest long-distance bus operator in Germany and also has coaches on the Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg route. In contrast to the Lufthansa bus, these buses are not specifically for air travelers and although direct, are not non-stop and thus the journey is as long as 3:10.
The upside of Flixbus is that special deals are very often available and often as cheap as €11 if booked a few days in advance.
Flixbus uses the following stops:
- Frankfurt Airport – Terminal 1 at Parking lot P36. (Use the free shuttle train to / from Terminal 2.)
- Strasbourg – Bus stop at Place de l’Etoile to the south of central Strasbourg.
Flixbus uses less convenient stops in Strasbourg and the journey time is longer than the Lufthansa Airport bus but the savings are often significant too.
By Train from Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg
Trains offer fast transportation between Frankfurt International Airport and Strasbourg but always require at least one transfer. Train connections are usually available at least once per hour with traveling time from 1:57 to around 2:15 but at certain times of the day a more leisurely 2:45 of even more than three hours.
There are two basic routings for traveling by train from Strasbourg Gare SNCF main train station to Frankfurt Airport:
- TGV train from Strasbourg and transfer to an ICE train in Karlsruhe or Mannheim.
- Local SWE train from Strasbourg (or smaller stations in the suburbs) to Offenburg in Germany for a transfer to an ICE train. Sometimes a further transfer is required in Mannheim.
Traveling time depends mostly on the time waiting for the connecting train – the two-changes option is often a few minutes faster than the solo change option.
Deutsche Bahn Timetables: Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg / Strasbourg to Frankfurt Airport – the German Railways timetables include the IC Bus option (as this bus service is run by Deutsche Bahn) but not the Lufthansa Airport Bus times.
Train fares depend on the routing: the ICE / TGV option is the most expensive while the IC Bus option is usually the cheapest. One-way second-class train fares from Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg are around €62 (full price, second class) to which all the usual German Railways savings fare options may be applied.
Train tickets must be bought before boarding trains – tickets online or at vending machines are slightly cheaper than buying from a ticket window. Seat reservations are obligatory for the TGV trains and IC Bus and included in the ticket prices.
Further Options for Travel from Frankfurt to Strasbourg
A few further options are available for travel from Frankfurt Airport to Strasbourg but comes with severe limitations but if the timing works out may give some savings:
- Blablacar often have very good deals in private cars but these are usually only advertised a few days in advance and probably more risky time wise for travel to the airport than from the airport.
- Rail&Fly deals are offered by some airline and must usually be booked at time of reserving the flight. The last 10 minutes to Strasbourg are usually not covered by this deal.
- Suntransfers gives online quotations for private airport transfers without first requiring personal details or flight numbers.
