Frankfurt am Main
Getting There/Around

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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 ).