Frankfurt to Amsterdam by train

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Routes

From Frankfurt Main Hbf to Amsterdam Centraal / Amsterdam CS

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for these direct trains.

Look for journeys that have the corresponding journey time of between 3hr 50min - and 4hrs.

However, when there are works on the line, it's not unusual for these trains to take a different route between Koln/Cologne and Amsterdam, particularly at weekends - and when they do so, the journey time will be longer.

Trains departing at different times can also be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.

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Seat reservations:

Book 1st class tickets for this train journey from Amsterdam to Frankfurt (Main) and your seat reservation should be included with your booking - it definitely will be if you book with DB.

However, if you book a 2nd class ticket, or will be travelling with a 1st class or 2nd class InterRail or Eurail pass, then a seat reservation is an optional extra.
Meaning that available seats aren't guaranteed for the entire journey.

Though this is a route on which reservations are recommended - particularly after midday on Fridays and Sundays.

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Step by Step Guides to Booking Tickets online:

How To Buy Tickets and Reservations on with DB – follow this GUIDE

How to buy tickets on NS International (desktop version)  – follow this GUIDE

There's also a guide to booking with an independent ticket agent.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €35.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.

Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

NS International from €35.90

NS International Guide

NS is the Dutch national rail operator and it operates a bespoke website for the booking of international rail journeys from and to The Netherlands.
Therefore it offers tickets for journeys by:

  • Thalys trains to Bruxelles and Paris
  • IC trains to Berlin via Hannover and Bruxelles via Antwerpen
  • Eurostar to London
  • ICE trains to Basel and Frankfurt (Main) via Koln
  • the Nightjet trains to Austria and Germany

NS International also sells tickets to a range of destinations in Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland, which involve a change of train in Germany, along with the destinations in France, which can be accessed by making a connection in Bruxelles.

Omio from €35.90

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Happyrail from €35.90

Happyrail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

SaveATrain from €35.90

SaveATrain Guide

SaveATrain from €39.90

SaveATrain Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (partial)

Good to Know

*****The usual first train of the day does not depart on weekends.

AND the usual final train of the day does not depart on Saturdays.

Final Destination: Amsterdam Centraal/CS

All trains also call at: Frankfurt Flughafen and Arnhem; and Utrecht

The journey:

There are few scenic highlights on this trip, though if you'll be reaching journey's end before dusk, on the right the railway line is beside a canal for the part of the journey between Utrecht and Amsterdam

What gives the journey the wow factor is when the train travels at more than 280 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line between Frankfurt Flughafen and Seigburg/Bonn.

The video was taking on a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives a sense of  what a thrill this train ride can be - this is a journey when it's especially obvious that you're travelling on a high speed train!

Though this high speed part of the journey only takes 40 mins, so for the majority of this trip, the train won't be travelling exceptionally fast.

There are few scenic highlights on this trip, though if you'll be reaching journey's end before dusk, on the right the railway line is beside a canal for the part of the journey between Utrecht and Amsterdam

What gives the journey the wow factor is when the train travels at more than 280 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line between Frankfurt Flughafen and Seigburg/Bonn.

The video was taking on a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives a sense of  what a thrill this train ride can be; this is a journey when it's especially obvious that you're travelling on a high speed train!

Though this high speed part of the journey only takes 40 mins, so for the majority of this trip, the train won't be travelling exceptionally fast.

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