Frankfurt Transportation

Getting There

Air

Situated eight miles southwest of downtown the Frankfurt Airport (FRA) ( +49 69 6903 0511 / http://franfurt-airport.de/) rates as the largest airport in continental Europe. Its two terminals, each filled with numerous shops and restaurants, serve 240 destinations from such major airlines as:

Air Berlin ( +45 30 41 47 75 10 / http://www.airberlin.com/ ) Air Canada ( +1 800 776 3000 / http://www.aircanada.ca/) Air France ( +1 800 871 1366 / http://www.airfrance.com/ ) American Airlines ( +1 800 433 7300 / http://www.aa.com/ ) British Airways ( +1 800 247 9297 / http://www.british-airways.com/ ) Condor ( +1 800 524 6975 / http://www7.condor.com/ ) JAL Japan Airlines ( +1 800 525 3663 / http://www.japanair.com/ ) Korean Air ( +1 800 438 5000 / http://www.koreanair.com/ ) Lufthansa ( +1 800 645 3880 / http://www.lufthansa.com/ ) Northwest ( +1 800 225 2525 / http://www.nwa.com/ ) United ( +1 800 241 6522 / http://www.ual.com/ ) US Airways ( +1 800 428 4322 / http://www.usairways.com/ )

From the Airport

S-Bahn: The S-Bahn commuter train, located in the Airport Train Station beneath Terminal 1, provides the quickest access to downtown. Trains depart every 10 minutes and rides last only 11 minutes. Buses can also be found in the Airport Train Station (look for "Busbahnhof" signs) and exit every 20-30 minutes. Rides to downtown usually take 30 minutes. Taxis are easy to spot outside the terminal doors. Rides, depending on traffic, take 20-30 minutes.

Rental car companies: Avis ( +1 800 831 2847 / http://www.avis.com/) Budget ( +1 800 527 0700 / http://www.budget.com/) Europacar ( +49 69 697 970 / http://www.europcar.com/) Hertz ( +1 800 654 3131 / http://www.hertz.com/) National ( +1 800 227 7368 / http://www.nationalcar.com/)

Train

Frankfurt's train station, the Hauptbahnhof ( +49 69 2653 4581 ), ranks as the busiest in Europe. More than 350,000 travelers pass through it daily. The Deutsche Bahn ( +11 8 61 / http://www.bahn.de/) offers passengers a variety of train options including the high-speed InterCity Express (ICE) which connects with most other German cities, the Eurocity (EC) which travels cross-continent, and the City Nightline (CNL) which chugs through Germany at night.

Bus

Eurolines (+49 69 79 03 50 / http://www.eurolines.com/) enters Frankfurt's Hauptbahnhof ( +49 69 2653 4581 ) from all points on the map, servicing over 800 cities in Europe.

Car The Autobahn provides Frankfurt with easy car accessibility: The A3 (All Autobahn routes begin with the letter "A") stretches into Frankfurt from a southeast direction and continues northwest into the Netherlands. The A5 approaches from the south, originating near the borders of France and Switzerland, before continuing north and then bending west towards Dresden and becoming A4.

Getting Around

Public Transport

Frankfurt's U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses, and streetcars are managed by Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt-Am-Main (VGF) ( +49 69 2132 2235 / http://www.vgf-ffm.de/). All run from 4a-2a. The U-Bahn (underground subway) covers all of downtown with three major routes and seven lines. The S-Bahn (suburban/overground railway) stretches throughout downtown but is better known for servicing the suburbs. There are 40 bus lines with 670 stops. Most stops are serviced every 10 minutes. There are also special weekend night buses that run from 1a-5a. Streetcars (Straßenbahn) feature 14 lines that web the downtown area.

Taxi

Taxis are difficult to hail from the street. Your best options are either to go to a taxi stand or call directly via Central Dispatch (+49 69 230 001).

Car

Driving is Frankfurt is no different than any other major city: rush hour traffic is grim and one-way streets plague visiting motorists with confusion. Your best bet is to park in one of Frankfurt's many parking garages and then use public transportation to wheel about the city.

Bike

An impressive network of bike paths and well-marked bike routes makes using pedal power a popular travel alternative. Bike rentals can be found at Rebicycle (+49 69 4080 7436 ) and Theo Intra's Shop (+49 69 342 780).

By Public Transportation

Frankfurt is linked by a network of fast, modern subways, trams, and buses, all of which are administered by the RMV (Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund), Mannheimer Strasse 15 (tel. 01805/768-4636; www.rmv.de). All methods of public transport can be used within their respective fare zones at a single price, which includes transfers between any of them. Tickets are purchased at green, coin-operated automatic machines (Fahrscheine) that are lined up adjacent to each of the points of departure. The machines accept all denominations of coins and bills up to 50€ ($80), but be aware that any change you receive will be in coins, so try to use the smallest bills possible. Zone charts and additional information in six languages are displayed on all the automatic machines. Except for bus travel (where you have the option of paying the driver directly for your passage), be sure to buy your ticket before you board any of the public transport conveyances of Frankfurt. If you're caught traveling without the proper ticket, you may be fined 40€ ($64).

If you want to simplify the ticket-buying process, both for public transport and museum admissions within Frankfurt, consider the purchase of a Frankfurter Tageskarte (Frankfurt Card) from either of the city's tourist offices. These cards allow unlimited travel anywhere within the greater Frankfurt area, plus transport on the shuttle bus going to and from the airport, plus half-price admission to any of the city's museums. The cost is 8.70€ ($14) for a 1-day card and 13€ ($20) for a 2-day card. Children age 14 and under go free when traveling with an adult. Warning: The card expires on midnight of the day of purchase (or midnight the following day, for the 2-day card). Use after that can subject you to a fine. For more information, contact the tourist office.

For more information about Frankfurt's public transportation system, call RMV, the city transport office, at tel. 01805/7684636, or visit www.rmv.de and look for the information listed in English.

By Taxi

There's no surcharge for calling for a taxi; dial tel. 069/792020, 230033, or 250001. Otherwise, you can get a cab either by standing at any of the city's hundreds of clearly designated taxi stands or by hailing one that has an illuminated dome light. Taxis charge by the trip and by the carload, without surcharge for pieces of luggage. Some are suitable for carrying up to six passengers, others for a maximum of only four. Regardless of their size, the initial fee you'll pay for a Frankfurt taxi is 2€ ($3.20) plus 1.60€ ($2.60) per kilometer for rides between 6am and 10pm; from 10pm to 6am, the basic rate is 2.50€ ($4) plus 1.70€ ($2.70) per extra kilometer.

By Rental Car

The big rental companies each maintain offices at the airport and at central locations throughout Frankfurt. The most reliable are Avis, whose downtown branch is inside the Hauptbahnhof (tel. 069/27997010), and Hertz, whose offices are in the Hauptbahnhof (tel. 069/230484) and at the airport (tel. 069/69593244). Also recommended is Europcar, which maintains offices at the Hauptbahnhof (tel. 069/2429810) and at the airport (tel. 069/697970).