Frankfurt

Introduction

Frankfurt am Main

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Frankfurt am Main, or commonly known as just Frankfurt, (not to be confused with smaller and less important Frankfurt an der Oder) is known as the city of bankers, but unlike the institutions it hosts, the city itself doesn't quite have a nine-to-five mentality. With various groovy clubs, excellent international cuisine and optimal accessibility, Frankfurt makes a good destination for a weekend break or a short stopover, especially for those travellers that can afford to spend some (freshly printed) Euros.

Sights and Activities

Many people come to Frankfurt am Main and (based upon the importance of the airport) they plan to stay several days and expect to see a long range of sights. Well, unfortunately for them Frankfurt am Main doesn't have those. Almost all the main sights of Frankfurt can easily covered in 6 hours if you rush around a bit, 2-3 days if you dawdle and go to one or two of the bigger museums. One day just before you fly out of Frankfurt airport or half of a jet-lagged day before you catch a train is ample time for Frankfurt am Main. Heck, you could even go and see the city if you have a longer stop-over at FRA airport. The S-Bahn train takes only 20 minutes from the airport into the city, so a 5+ hours layover is a good timeframe for catching a glimpse of Frankfurt.

Events and Festivals

• Fasching - Fasching, or Karneval is hugely celebrated across Germany. This annual event is akin to what some other countries refer to as "Mardi Gras". Visitors can expect to see colorful floats and displays, costume balls, and a variety of competitions and pageants across the city.
• Frankfurt Rheingau Wine Festival - The Rheingau Wine Festival (Rheingauer Weinmarkt) is Frankfurt’s only wine festival with vintners from the Rheingau offering over 600 types of wines.
• Spring Dippe Fair - Spring Dippe Fair is the first outdoor fair after winter, and it lasts for for three weeks. The fair includes shopping, great food and drinks, old-style carnival rides, entertainment, and fireworks. A similar event, the Autumn Dippe Fair, occurs in September.
• Night of the Museums - Frankfurt Museums Night, locally known as Nacht der Museen, is the one night a year when most of the city's museums stay open late for visitors.
• Frankfurt Cinema Week - During Cinema Week in July, Frankfurt is transformed into a big outdoor movie theatre. Films from all genres are screened in unlikely venues, such as parks and on river boats.
• Apple Wine Festival - Frankfurt's trademark wine, Apfelwein, is celebrated at this annual festival each year in August. Visitors can sample a variety of Apfelweins; they will also hear live music, poetry, and sample the best in local cuisine.
• Frankfurt Marathon - BMW Frankfurt Marathon draws over 350,000 spectators and 10,000 runners each year.

Weather

Frankfurt lies on the border of the maritime and more continental climate and therefore has somewhat colder winters and warmer summers compared to places more to the west and north of Germany.

Getting There

Frankfurt can be reached overland, by train and by air. Whatever modality you prefer, you will find that accessibility is as good as it gets.

By Plane

1. Frankfurt Airport (IATA: FRA) is found 12 kilometres from the city centre of Frankfurt and is Germany's biggest and most important airport. It receives flights from almost all national and countless international destinations, including intercontinental flights to Asia, Africa, North America and the Middle East. It's the biggest airport in the world regarding the number of international destinations served. Among others, Frankfurt is the primary hub of German national carrier Lufthansa.

To/from the airport:
Frankfurt Airport has a long-distance train station serviced by ICE to various destinations, and a local train station with plenty transport opportunities in the region and to downtown Frankfurt:

• Frankfurt Airport Regional station at Terminal 1 provides access to the S-Bahn commuter rail lines S8 and S9 which depart every 15 minutes during the day to Wiesbaden in the west via Rüsselsheim and Mainz and to Hanau in the east via Frankfurt Central Station, Frankfurt city centre and Offenbach am Main. The journey time to Frankfurt Central Station is 11 minutes, to the city centre (Hauptwache) 15 minutes. Services roughly run from 4 or 5am to around midnight or 1am. Regional-Express trains to other destinations like Saarbrücken in the west, Koblenz down the Rhine valley to the north, or Würzburg in the east also call at the Regional Railway Station, as do some long distance trains, especially at night when the Long Distance Railway Station is closed.
• Frankfurt Airport long-distance station was opened in 1999. It is the end point of the newly-built Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line, which links southern Germany to the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan area, the Netherlands and Belgium via Cologne. All ICE trains between Cologne and southern Germany stop at Frankfurt Airport, taking slightly less than an hour from Cologne. About 10 trains per hour depart in all directions.

Of course it is also possible to rent a car to explore the world-renowned German Autobahnen. Frankfurt Airport is directly connected to a Autobahn intersection called Frankfurter Kreuz where the A3 and A5 meet. It takes a 10-15- minute ride by car or taxi to get to Frankfurt Central Station or the city centre.

2. Although located 120 kilometres from Frankfurt, the Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN) can be of some significance if you want to have more choices regarding lowcostairlines. Ryanair is the main operator with flights to/from Alghero, Alicante, Bari, Berlin, Birmingham, Bologna, Bratislava, Cagliari, Carcassonne, Dublin, Edinburgh, Faro, Féz, Gdańsk, Girona, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Jerez de la Frontera, Kaunas, Kerry, Klagenfurt, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, London, Lübeck, Madrid, Málaga, Manchester, Marrakech, Milan, Montpellier, Osijek, Oslo, Palma de Mallorca, Pescara, Pisa, Porto, Prague, Barcelona-Reus, Riga, Rimini, Rome, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Stockholm, Tampere, Tenerife, Trapani, Valencia, Venice, Wroclaw and Zadar.

To/from the airport:

• Bus: The airport is served by a number of (mostly) private bus operators that run regular services to Frankfurt am Main (1 hour 45 minutes, via Frankfurt International Airport - Terminal 2), Cologne (2 hour 15 minutes), Luxembourg (1 hour 45 minutes) and a number of other cities in western Germany and the region. Frequent buses also run to the main railway station of nearby cities, the closest being Mainz (1 hour 10 minutes) and Koblenz (1 hour 5 minutes).
• Rail: The airport has no railway station and the nearest railway stations are Bullay (15 kilometres) on the Koblenz-Trier-Saarbrücken line, and Idar-Oberstein (26 kilometres), Kirn (22 kilometres) and Bad Sobernheim (30 kilometres), all on the Mainz-Bad Kreuznach-Saarbrücken line.
• Car: The airport can be reached by road, the nearest Autobahn (Highway) connections are approximately 40 kilometres to the west (A1) or east (A61). Parking(short-term and long-term) and car rental facilities are available at the airport.

By Train

Frankfurt is connected by ICE to all major German and a number of foreign cities. Notable direct connections include those to Berlin, Paris, Basel, Brussels, Stuttgart, Dresden, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Vienna and Munich.

Besides ICE, Frankfurt Hbf is a nexus of numerous local and regional train connections. For more information, consult the journey planner on the website of Deutsche Bahn.

By Car

Is there one place in Germany that you cannot reach by car? Frankfurt's no exception; in fact, the city sits at the junction of a number of Germany's main highways, two of which are A3 (connecting the Dutch and Austrian borders) and A5 that runs from central Germany south to the Swiss border. An alternative for the busy A3, when connecting to the Netherlands in the less busy A61. Except for heavy trucks, drivers don't pay tolls.

By Bus

Eurolines has direct connections to Frankfurt from Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bratislava, Prague and London, among others. Eurolines has two stops in Frankfurt. One at the Central train station (Hauptbahnhof), and one at the southern trainstation (Südbahnhof), Tickets can be bought at Deutsche Touring, Mannheimer Strasse 15 - tel: 069.252323, which is close to the central trainstation, or on the the internet. For more information, consult the schedules on their website.

Getting Around

By Public Transport

Frankfurt has an excellent public transport system. S-Bahn, Underground, Tram, Bus - they all can take you wherever you want. Frankfurt is part of an integrated public transport system, the RMV. Visitors should get the Frankfurt Card at the airport or at the Tourist Office, it allows them unlimited travel by public transport in the inner city of Frankfurt am Main and to FRA airport.

By Bike

Frankfurt Oper

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Sleep

Frankfurt is no cheap place to stay. Budget accommodation is scarce, and many hotels cater primarily for business travellers for whom money is no concern. The city is pretty busy most of the year, so booking in advance is warmly recommended.

Budget

• Haus der Jugend is Frankfurt's HI Hostel. They charge €17 per night in a 10-bed dorm, €21,50 when you're over 21 (2008 price level). The place is centrally located and clean.
• Frankfurt Hostel is located opposite the station. The hostel is clean, though it tends to be somewhat noisy. A bed in 9-person dorm is €18 a night; two-person rooms start at €50 a night.
• For other options, check TP's accommodation finder.

Learn

• University of Frankfurt

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Germany's postal system is very efficient, their logistics branch DHL is one of the best companies in this field world-wide, with domestic post or within a radius of 400 kilometres, send within a day. The website of Deutsche Post has an online calculator for postage fees as well as a post office finder. Within Germany, sending postcards costs €0.45 and standard letters €0.55, within Europe it is €0.65 for a postcard, standard letters to places in Europe cost €0.70. Outside Europe, the prices for sending a postcard or standard letter are €1 and €1.70 respectively. Although you will find the old post offices (mainly in the city centre), most of the smaller neighbourhood post offices are part of a small tobacco shop or grocery store.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website