The answer
Follow the "S-Bahn" signs down to the station under Terminal 1 and take the S8 or S9 — €6.90, 11–15 minutes to Hauptbahnhof, then straight on to Hauptwache and Konstablerwache. Buy the ticket from a green RMV machine or in the RMVgo app before you board.
One ticket covers the S-Bahn and every U-Bahn, tram and bus you touch until 05:00 the next morning. There are no barriers — but inspectors ride this line constantly and the fine is €60, so buy first.
Two of you, or moving around town? The Airport-to-City day ticket is €13.50 — two singles already cost €13.80.
Heavy bags, or landing at 3am? Frankfurt's meter has no night surcharge and luggage is free: €35–45 to the centre, the same at midnight as at noon.
⚠️ The traps (walk past these)
The €3.80 city ticket that won't get you out
Frankfurt Airport is its own fare zone (5090) and it is not covered by the €3.80 single that locals buy inside the city (zone 5000). The airport fare is €6.90. There are no ticket barriers anywhere in the RMV, so nothing stops you boarding with the wrong ticket — you find out when an inspector boards, and the penalty fare is €60.
Do this: buy the €6.90 airport single (or the €13.50 day ticket) and never the €3.80 city single
The red machines that sell you an ICE ticket
Two different machines stand in the same station hall. The red Deutsche Bahn machines default to long-distance fares and will cheerfully sell you an ICE ticket for a 12-minute ride into town. The green RMV machines sell the €6.90 local fare. Same ride, several times the price.
Do this: use the green RMV machine, the RMVgo app or DB Navigator, and pick Frankfurt Flughafen → Frankfurt Hbf
Drivers quoting a "fixed airport price" inside arrivals
Frankfurt has no airport surcharge, no night surcharge and free luggage, and the city's taxi ordinance forbids charging for the approach. So a driver who meets you inside the terminal offering a flat €70–90 for a trip that meters at €35–45 has invented a fee that does not exist.
Do this: walk past anyone who approaches you and take the rank outside Hall B (T1) or at the T3 entrance
Your booking still says Terminal 2 — it closed
Terminal 2 shut on 9 June 2026 for a rebuild that runs into the mid-2030s, and all 57 of its airlines moved to the new Terminal 3, which opened 23 April 2026. If your confirmation still says T2, you are actually flying from T1 or T3 — and T3 sits 8 minutes away on the SkyLine with its own taxi rank and its own motorway exit.
Do this: check the real terminal before booking a transfer, and add 20 minutes if you are landing at T3 and catching a train from the T1 station