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Getting There By Air:

Flughafen Frankfurt/Main (FRA)
Tel: (069) 6900.
Website: www.airportcity-frankfurt.de

Frankfurt Main airport is located 12km (8 miles) southwest of the city center. Terminals one (concourses A, B and C) and two (D and E) are linked by free Skyline shuttle trains. Current expansion plans include a new runway (expected to be in operation around 2010) and a third passenger terminal with further plans mooted in its battle to become Europe's premier airport.

Airport facilities: Numerous banks, bureaux de change and ATMs are available in both terminals and in the Frankfurt Airport Center (FAC1). The airport facilities include conference center, travel agencies, shops, duty-free outlets, restaurants, bars, pharmacies and post offices (mostly located in terminal one). Communications include 24-hour credit card telephones, faxes and Wi-Fi access. Car hire is available from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt.

Transport to the city: The airport has two railway stations and one bus terminal. Deutsche Bahn (tel: 11861, in Germany only or 01805 996 633; www.bahn.de), and city trains (S-Bahn) run to Frankfurt's main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) from platforms one to three of Frankfurt Airport station (journey time - 10 minutes). Tickets must be purchased beforehand at the blue RMV ticket machines. There are also local trains to Mainz, Wiesbaden and other destinations. ICE, InterCity and EuroCity trains to national and international destinations depart from platforms four to seven, at the AIRail Terminal (see Getting There By Rail).

The bus terminal is situated in front of the terminal one arrivals hall. Bus 61 for Frankfurt Südbahnhof runs daily. Hotels often arrange a free shuttle service for their guests, but taxis are readily available outside both terminals (journey time - 20 to 30 minutes).


Frankfurt Hahn (HHN)
Tel: (06543) 509 200.
Website: www.hahn-airport.de

Frankfurt Hahn airport is located 120km (75 miles) west of Frankfurt, in the Hunsrück area. The airport serves as a hub for budget airline Ryanair with daily flights to destinations throughout Europe. The airport continues to expand while a new road has improved accessibility.

Airport facilities: Facilities include a budget hotel, restaurants, bars, shops, duty-free, a pharmacy, telephones, a travel agent, newsagent, banks and ATMs. Car hire is available from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt.

Transport to the city: There is a regular direct bus service operated by Bohr Omnibusse (tel: (06543) 50190; www.bohr-omnibusse.de), which runs from Hahn airport to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (journey time - 1 hour 45 minutes), stopping at Frankfurt Main airport, and departing from outside the terminal building. Taxis also are available in front of the terminal building.

Approximate flight times to Frankfurt: From London is 1 hour 30 minutes; from New York is 7 hours 15 minutes; from Los Angeles is 14 hours 50 minutes; from Toronto is 7 hours 20 minutes and from Sydney is 25 hours.

Getting There By Road:

Germany has an excellent network of major 'B' roads (Bundesstrassen) and 'A' motorways (Autobahnen). Generally, there are no speed limits on much of the Autobahn network, but individually marked speed limits appear on a large percentage of motorway miles. A maximum of 130kph (81mph) is recommended. On normal roads, speed limits are 100kph (62mph) outside built-up areas, and 50kph (31mph) or 30kph (19mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right. The minimum age for driving is 18 years. Seat belts must be worn at all times and children under 12 years can only travel in the front seat with a child restraint. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05% (zero for under 21s). Foreign drivers require their national driving license and proof of insurance - third party insurance is mandatory, but a Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker must be displayed on the vehicle.

Mitfahrzentrale are 'car sharing' agencies that link drivers with travelers heading to the same destination. In Frankfurt, these include CityNetz Mitfahrzentrale, Am Hauptbahnhof 4 (tel: (069) 19444; www.citynetz-mitfahrzentrale.de), and the online company Mitfahrgelegenheit (www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de).

Emergency breakdown services: ADAC (tel: 01802 222 222) or ACE (tel: 01802 343 536).

Routes to the city: The Frankfurter Kreuz (near the airport, to the south of the city) is the most important junction in the German Autobahn network, where the A5 and A3 motorways connect. The A5 is the motorway to Frankfurt from the north (Hanover and Berlin) and the south (Karlsruhe and from across the border in Basel). The A3 connects Frankfurt with the east (Nürnberg) and west (Düsseldorf and Cologne).

Approximate driving times to Frankfurt: From Munich - 4 hours 15 minutes; Hanover - 3 hours 40 minutes; and Berlin - 5 hours 30 minutes.

Coach services: Deutsche Touring GmbH, Am Römerhof 17 (tel: (069) 790 3501; www.touring.de), operates international services between Frankfurt and numerous destinations, including London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Copenhagen and Budapest. It also operates regional services, including destinations on the 'Romantic Road' route from Frankfurt include Munich, Würzburg, Augsburg and Schwangau. All buses depart from the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Omnibusbahnof, at the main railway station. Tickets can be purchased at the station or on the bus.

Getting There By Rail:

Deutsche Bahn - DB (tel: 11861, in Germany only or 01805 996 633; www.bahn.de) is the national railway provider. The network is modern, extensive and highly efficient. Services include high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains (between major cities in Germany), InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains (serving German and European cities respectively), and InterRegio (IR) and InterRegio Express (IRE) trains (linking different regions of the country).

The Hauptbahnhof (main railway station), Am Hauptbahnhof Strasse (tel: (069) 2653 4581), is the busiest in Germany. Facilities include tourist information, a bank, ATMs, a chemist and many other shops and eating outlets.

Rail services: The high-speed TGV/ICE connection links Frankfurt with Paris Gare de l'Est in less than four hours, while there are other IC and EC services to destinations throughout Germany and abroad. ICE trains serve a number of cities, including Basel, Bonn, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin. The ICE Cologne-Frankfurt link is the fastest on the network, at just 70 minutes (58 minutes to Frankfurt Flughafen). There are also night trains on some routes, including the CityNightLine service (tel: 01805 141 514; www.citynightline.ch) from Vienna West, Basel and Zurich. IR, IRE, RE (Regional Express) RB (Regional Bahn) and S-Bahn trains serve regional and city destinations.

Frankfurt airport has its own long-distance train station in the AIRail Terminal, with regular direct ICE services to Basel, Hanover, Amsterdam, Stuttgart and Munich.

Getting Around:



Public Transport
Public transport within Frankfurt is run by the Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt-am-Main - VGF, Kundenzentrum, Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 10 (tel: (069) 19449; www.vgf-ffm.de). VGF is run by the larger organization, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund - RMV (tel: 01805 768 4636; www.rmv.de), which also provides excellent public transport information.

VGF consists of seven underground (U-Bahn), nine tram (Strassenbahn) and over 40 bus lines, including a weekend night bus service. These are supplemented by an extensive network of city trains (S-Bahn) operated by Deutsche Bahn (tel: 11861, in Germany only or 01805 996 633; www.bahn.de).

There is a VGF information pavilion at the Hauptbahnhof, which is open Monday to Friday 0800-1600.

The entire VGF network is divided into zones (one to seven), which determine the price of tickets. Various passes, such as the one-day pass (Tageskarte), allowing unlimited travel within zones one to three during a 24-hour period, are available. Single, short-journey, group and day tickets can all be bought from automated RMV ticket machines (card-o-maten), which have instructions in English. There are also ticket machines for weekly, monthly and yearly passes, although these can also be purchased from VGF and DB sales points. The Congress Ticket must be purchased in advance from Frankfurt Tourist+Congress Board (tel: (069) 2123 8703 or 0396) and entitles the holder to one full day's travel throughout Frankfurt, including the airport. It is only available for those attending a conference or similar event.

Taxis
Taxis are usually beige Mercedes and they can safely be hailed on the street. They can also be ordered from the central issuing agency Taxi Frankfurt (tel: (069) 230 001 or 250 001; www.taxi-frankfurt.de). A tip of 5 to10% or rounding up of the fare is normally expected. A Germany-wide taxi booking service is available on mobile phones by calling 22456.

Driving in the City
Driving in the center of Frankfurt can be stressful, as it requires a good knowledge of the one way system. It can be heavily congested, especially during rush hours (0800-0900 and 1700-1800), when it can be even more confusing. Furthermore, German drivers are not known for their patience. The Strassenverkehrsamt, Mainzer Landstrasse 323 (tel: (069) 2124 4734; www.svb.frankfurt.de), provides up-to-date information on the traffic situation in the city.

Drivers should note that trams always have priority in the city, although driving on their tracks is permissible and usually unavoidable. Buses also have priority when leaving stops.

Parking on the street is rarely available and being towed away can be very expensive. Street parking is by meter and is quite pricey, as are car parks, which also get congested very quickly. There are numerous covered car parks in Frankfurt. A number of hotels offer on-site parking, and there is a park and ride system operated by RMV, with a choice of four parking locations on the city outskirts - at Neu-Isenburg tram station, Kruppstrasse, and the U-Bahn stations of Preungesheim and Kalbach.

Car Hire
Regulations vary depending on the company but drivers generally must be at least 19 years old and have held a full driving license for at least one year (an International Driving Permit is needed if the national license is not in roman script). Providers include Avis, Schmidtstrasse 39 (tel: (069) 730 111; www.avis.de), Budget, Schmidtstrasse 12 (tel: (069) 9073 6970; www.budget.de), Hertz, Hauptbahnhof (tel: (069) 230 484; www.hertz.de) and Sixt, Hauptbahnhof (tel: 01805 252 525; www.e-sixt.de).

Bicycle Hire
Bicycles can be hired from Call A Bike (tel: 0700 0522 5522; www.callabike.de). Customers telephone, give their credit card details and receive an electronic code which unlocks a bike from one of the depots situated at major crossroads throughout the city.

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