Frankfurt to Stuttgart by train

Frankfurt and Stuttgart share a high-speed corridor. Deutsche Bahn's ICE links them directly in about 1 hour 18 minutes, roughly every 30 minutes.

Frankfurt to Stuttgart by train at a glance

These are the fastest published figures from the current Deutsche Bahn timetable. The gap between the quickest and slowest ICE comes down to routing: trains via Mannheim run straight through, while trains via Darmstadt and Heidelberg call at more stations and add up to 25 minutes. Check the intermediate stops on your booking if the exact time matters.

Choosing your Frankfurt station

Frankfurt has two long-distance stations that both send trains to Stuttgart, and picking the right one is about convenience, not speed.

Frankfurt (Main) Hbf, in the city centre, is the default choice for almost everyone. It has by far the most departures, including every fast ICE via Mannheim, and it connects directly to the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and tram network if your trip starts elsewhere in the city.

Choose Frankfurt Airport Fernbahnhof instead if you are flying into or out of Frankfurt. This is the airport's separate long-distance station, a short covered walkway from the terminal building. ICE trains on the same Cologne-Rhine/Main high-speed line call here before continuing to Mannheim and Stuttgart, so you can go straight from arrivals to the platform without a detour into the city centre. Some services reach Stuttgart Hbf in as little as 1 hour 11 minutes from the airport. Do not confuse it with the airport's regional station beneath Terminal 1: that is a different building, and it handles S-Bahn and regional trains, not the ICE services to Stuttgart.

Deutsche Bahn ICE or the cheaper FlixTrain

Deutsche Bahn's ICE is the fast, frequent option on this corridor, departing roughly every 30 minutes through the day. Its Sparpreis fares start from EUR 21.99 in second class, but that is Deutsche Bahn's nationwide floor price, not a Frankfurt to Stuttgart fare, and the lowest price actually available on this corridor can sit well above it. Availability at the lowest prices is limited and the fare rises as the train fills up, so book ahead if the price matters more than flexibility.

FlixTrain runs the same corridor as a genuinely cheaper alternative, with fares from EUR 6.98 and at least 8 direct departures a day. It takes longer, at least 1 hour 39 minutes, and runs far less often than the ICE. It suits travellers who can be flexible about departure time and want the lowest fare, but check your ticket before you book: FlixTrain services on this route can leave from Frankfurt (Main) Süd rather than Frankfurt Hbf, and some arrive at Stuttgart's Bad Cannstatt station rather than Stuttgart Hbf. Confirm both stations if a central arrival matters to you.

Arriving in Stuttgart during the station rebuild

Stuttgart Hbf is in the middle of a multi-year rebuild, but that does not change where your train arrives today. Every current ICE and FlixTrain service still uses the historic head station, the one under the tower with the rotating Mercedes-Benz star, and that will not change for several more years.

Deutsche Bahn had planned to open a new underground through-station in December 2026, but an internal audit published in June 2026 found serious planning and management failures across the wider Stuttgart 21 project, and it reset the whole schedule. The revised plan now opens the rebuild in stages: shorter walking routes through the historic Bonatzbau building from December 2027, a new airport long-distance station from December 2030, and the new underground Hauptbahnhof itself, taking over long-distance and most regional services, from December 2031. Part of the old head station stays in use for regional trains toward Bad Cannstatt until mid-2032.

Expect ongoing construction hoarding and shifting walkways around the station concourse for the next several years, but no change to which station you book or which platforms long-distance trains use. Allow a few extra minutes to find your platform if you are changing trains here, since signage and routes through the building can shift as work progresses.