The public transportation in Frankfurt, while awesomely organized and always on time has the tendency to be inaccessible to outsiders. Here is my complete guide to handling most of the daily situations.
The local organisation that handles the public transport in the Hesse is the RMV. Disregarding all the comments that you would see all around, as a general rule, the RMV is accessible and fairly easy to navigate if you are a foreigner. Their ticket machines are in multiple languages and the key stations, at least in Frankfurt are noted in English.
Maybe I am a bit biased as Frankfurt is a fairly international city, but when I first landed in Germany, getting around was not necessarily that hard.
Public transportation in Frankfurt – Getting around
Moving around in the underground, trains, trams, and busses in Frankfurt features a barrier-free approach. You do not have to validate your ticket at any point which is awesome when the buses are overcrowded. Having said that, if you are caught without a ticket, there is a 60 EUR fine – and believe me – there are a lot of those that check tickets around so it’s cheaper for you not to play around wth this.
Google maps does not work – use these instead
You heard me – Google maps only has S-Bahn trains and not U-Bahn trains – and as you may be aware, most of the trains that move around Frankfurt are U-Bahns and trams. Instead, you should install one of these alternatives:
Main route: Frankfurt airport(Frankfurt Flughafen) to Main train station (Hauptbahnhof)
This in my opinion is the most popular route. First of all, you will need a ticket to Frankfurt city from the machines. This is 4.90 EUR and you must buy it at the airport. Once you get to the train zone, you will see the ticket machines where you can buy the tickets. The machines in the airport are custom as you will see the Frankfurt city on the first screen.
S-Bahn trains S8 and S9 are your best bet. The directions are Hanau Hbf or Frankfurt Ost. Do not take the Weisbanden direction as it would take you the other way – you should take that to get to the Frankfurt Flughafen from the Hauptbahnhof
The Quick train plan (Schnellbahnplan)
Getting around the RMV on most of the key locations around Frankfurt is fairly easy. Following you will find the plan image.
Now that you know public transportation in Frankfurt, you should read this defining where to live in frankfurt
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