Traveling to Frankfurt for whatever reason? Here we got your covered with x Frankfurt travel tips from a local so you can make the most of it!
Frankfurt, or Mainhattan (get it? Manhattan on the river Main) is not what you would call a city of wonders, with a whole lot of history, but it’s one of the key financial cities in Europe, so a whole lot of people come in and go during the day.
You will get by fine with just English
Frankfurt is a very international city. A lot of people coming from everywhere around the worlds – which means most of everyone around you will speak English or at least another language. Not only that, but on some of the most important announcements or leaflets around – they would be in both english and german.
Avoid peak hours
Whilst this is true for most of the big cities in the world, due to it’s dispersed nature, not a whole lot of people live in the city of Frankfurt. Hessen, the state that Frankfurt is in, features a lot of satellite cities nearby each other. Most of the cities are easily reachable via train so a lot of people working in Frankfurt do not live there. They just take the train, or the car to get to the city, work and get back after hours.
Frankfurt triples in size during the day due to this situation – so peak morning hours (7-9am) and peak afternoon hours (5-7 pm) are horrible to travel. Say that you want to catch a train to the airport at 6pm – prepare to be squished.
The same thing applies for lunch. Avoid the 12-1pm times like the plague. You will end up in crazy queues and most probably will not even find a proper place to sit.
Bikes, bikes everywhere
Pedestrian crossings and bike crossings are usually part of the same road with not actual physical division. In other words, do not be scared when you have someone with a city bike goes flying past you – watch your step!
Having said all that, there is plenty of pedestrian crossing and usually bikers do not invade the pedestrian crossings – and experience has shown that they are most likely to go on the road rather than anything else.
If you are driving though, be very careful when turning!
If you plan to use the public transportation, here is a public transportation guide for frankfurt.
Book your dinners
Eating out during dinner, especially on Fridays and Saturdays at most of the well-known restaurants around here requires a definite booking in advance. Just call them up! It is a normal practice so they will pick up and most of them speak English, to begin with
Frankfurt is fairly safe
I mean, people will not attack you in the streets, but if you want to find trouble, it will find you! Check out this post where I have defined where to live in Frankfurt just so you have a good idea of where to go or even what hotel to pick. Other than that, it is a fairly quiet city!
Beware of the conventions
Due to it’s great location and especially being one of the biggest traveling hubs in Europe, most of the conventions are held here. During convention times, it is practically impossible to find a hotel or do anything here. The city is buzzing with all these people. Do this instead: Book a hotel in Mainz and travel back and forth – while enjoying also the old city of Mainz.
Sunday is quiet hours and nothing is open
It’s a german thing and it sucks, but what can you do? Restaurants and Kiosks are mainly open, but shopping and supermarkets are not! Also take into account that Sundays are 24/7 quiet hours, so if you have a small party in your Airbnb expect police at your door because your neighbours will complain.
I hope these Frankfurt travel tips help you and welcome to this wonderful city!
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