CITY OF FRANKFURT

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Frankfurt Transport

Don't overestimate the scale of Frankfurt. It is entirely possible to explore the downtown area on foot. Still, if you don't feel like walking a lot, there are many alternatives to get around town.

By taxi

Frankfurt has plentiful taxi drivers to service the many business travellers. The city is not too big, so fares tend to be reasonable. Watch out for taxi drivers that take detours if they notice that you do not know the city. Still, for door-to-door transportation, taxis are a way to go. Most taxi drivers love to drive to the airport because it's longer than inner-city fares, but not all taxi drivers are actually licensed to go there. They tend to drive very fast because most German business travellers expect them to do this. If you feel uncomfortable just let the driver know and he will slow down.

By public transportation

Frankfurt is covered by a good public transportation network (run by RMV - Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund)  consisting of trams, subways, and buses. Fares tend to be average— 4.9 euros for a ticket for one day for one adult. You don't want to get caught without a ticket, as the conductors will charge you 40 Euro and you can get into considerable trouble, especially if you have no ID card or passport on you. Subway trains (U-Bahn) and trams are checked quite seldom, the S-Bahn trains quite often. It is not possible to buy tickets in a S-Bahn, tram or subway. The ticket machines can be a little confusing if you do not know how to use them. Basically, you have to look up your destination on the list provided at the machine (it's "50" for Frankfurt itself, or "5090" for the Airport), enter this number with the numeric keypad, then press the button for the type of ticket you want (Einzelfahrt - single trip; Tageskarte - day ticket). "Shortcut" buttons exist for tickets within Frankfurt. Also, every station has some stations listed as "short distance" destinations (Kurzstrecke, code "97"); tickets to those are cheaper.

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Texts partly derived from World 66