Population: 643,726.

Languages: German. English is usually spoken at most tourist locations, hotels and restaurants.

Time Zone: West Europe Standard Time. When it is 12:00 noon in New York City (Eastern Standard Time), it is 6:00 PM in Frankfurt.

This is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (+1 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.

Average Temperatures:

Month

High

Low

January

38F

12F

February

43F

17F

March

51F

24F

April

60F

30F

May

69F

36F

June

80F

43F

July

83F

51F

August

82F

49F

September

75F

42F

October

64F

32F

November

53F

23F

December

39F

13F

Summer days are warm and nights are cool. The average high in July is 77 F. Spring and fall are usually crisp and cool. Winters are moderate and often drizzly, with rarely any snow. The average low in January is 29 F.

What to Wear Always be prepared for rain, especially in fall, winter and spring. Occasional summer cool spells may call for a sweater or windbreaker, even in August. Frankfurt's businessmen wear suits and ties, but they don't confine themselves to traditional dark colors and pinstripes. Ties tend to be colorful, as are women's business fashions.

Holidays

1 January: New Year's Day. Public holiday.

March/April (varies): Good Friday. Public holiday. March/April (varies): Easter Monday. Public holiday.

1 May: Labor Day. Public holiday. May: Ascension Monday. Public holiday.

May: Monday closest to the 15th: Whitmonday. Public holiday.

Mid-Late June: Corpus Christi. Public holiday. 3 October: German Unity Day. Public holiday

24 December: Christmas Eve. Shops close at about 1 pm, and few restaurants remain open. 25, 26 December: Christmas Holidays. Public holidays. 31 December: New Year's Eve. Called Silvester in German. Most businesses close around 1 pm.

Money

Currency Exchange Changing money shouldn't be a problem. ATMs (called Geldautomaten) are abundant, in the foyers of or just outside banks and post offices. They dispense euros at the going rate of exchange. ATMs clearly indicate the cards that can be used, and many offer an English-language display. Their location is usually marked with a red-and-blue "EC" sign for Eurocard, a European credit-card company with an agreement with MasterCard: MasterCard is accepted wherever Eurocard is.

Banks throughout the city charge a reasonable commission, usually 1% to exchange dollars for euros and vice versa. Both the airport and the Hauptbahnhof have banks and exchange desks.

Taxes Germany has a value-added tax on all goods and services that's included in the sticker price of everything you buy. This tax is 7% on food and books and 16% on most other purchases.

Visitors who reside in countries that are not part of the European Union may apply for tax reimbursement on all goods purchased at stores affiliated with Europe Tax-Free Shopping.

Tipping In Germany, there are no fixed rules or expectations about tipping. Although service charges are included in your restaurant bill, you may round up the bill to the nearest euro (on bills less than 5 euros) or tip as much as 10% (on larger bills). The tip should be given directly to the waiter/waitress when paying. Don't leave any money on the table. In hotels, you should tip about 1 euro per bag to bellhops. In smaller guesthouses or boutique hotels, you should leave a couple of euros per night for the cleaning staff. In a taxi, there's no need to tip beyond rounding up to the nearest euro unless extraordinary service is provided.

Voltage Requirements: 220 volts, 50 cycles. Adapter plugs and converters should be purchased prior to arrival.

Communication

Telephone Codes: 49, country code; 69, city code.

Telephone To make a local call, just dial the local number without the city code. (Some local phone numbers may have more digits than others.) To call another city within Germany, preface the number with 0 and the city code. To make a direct international call, dial 00 plus the country code (e.g., 001 for the U.S. and Canada), followed by the area code or city code and the local number. Public pay phones often require a phone card, which can be purchased at post offices or newspaper kiosks.

Internet Access Sachsenhausen has the most Internet cafes within easy reach of each other, but in general, Internet cafes can be found all over Frankfurt. Many normal cafes also provide free Internet access at stand-up terminals.

Transportation Frankfurt is a major transportation hub for Germany and Europe. Its airport is the second-largest in Europe, and its main train station is one of the largest and busiest on the Continent.

Driving in and around Frankfurt is fairly easy, but if you're going to stay exclusively in Frankfurt, public transportation will be more than adequate.

Air Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), 6 miles south of the city, is made up of two terminals connected by a Sky Line monorail. There's a wide range of services in both terminals.

Connecting Transportation

Unless you have a lot of luggage, the S-Bahn can transport you from the airport to the city center. The station is directly below Terminal 1, and the ride to the Hauptbahnhof takes about 11 minutes.

Taxis and rental cars are available at both terminals. Large hotels near the airport and others on the outskirts of Frankfurt offer courtesy shuttles to and from the airport. Downtown hotels do not have courtesy vans. Rental car companies have offices at both terminals.

Bus Most major European cities are linked to Frankfurt by bus. The station is on the south side of the Hauptbahnhof. Deutsche Touring GmbH operates long-haul bus routes under the names Eurolines and Europabus. Its sales office is also on the south side of the Hauptbahnhof, at Mannheimer Strasse 4. 069-230-735.

Car Frankfurt sits at the intersection of several major autobahns. Excellent signage makes access into and out of the city fairly simple. To get into downtown Frankfurt, follow signs to Frankfurt-Stadtmitte. (If you follow signs to the Messe from the Frankfurt-West Autobahn intersection, you'll be led to a giant parking lot served by free shuttle buses during major fairs.) Parking downtown is usually expensive and difficult, so it's best to use the public transit system. Driving in town can also be complicated by the predominance of one-way streets. The speed limit in the city is 50 kph (about 30 mph). On unmarked highways it's 100 kph (just over 60 mph), and on the autobahn there is no limit unless otherwise indicated. Keep in mind that using a hand-held phone while driving is illegal.

Public Transportation Public transportation is efficient and generally safe, and it's the best way to get around. The network extends to most points in the city and suburbs and to several outlying areas, including Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Hanau, Friedberg and the Taunus Mountains.

Tickets and Validation—You have to purchase tickets and validate them before boarding all forms of transportation. Single, one-way tickets are available, with free transfers between buses and trains. However, we recommend purchasing a special network pass: either the tageskarte, which is valid the entire day of purchase or the Frankfurt Card, which is good for one day or two days with a 50% discount at several museums and attractions. The city's Verkehrs Insel (transportation island), located at the Hauptwache across from Kaufhof department store, offers exhaustive information about public transportation in the area.

U-Bahn and S-Bahn—Large blue U signs mark the U-Bahn (subway) stations, while large green S signs mark S-Bahn (commuter rail) stations. Trains and tracks are labeled with the final destination of the train and sometimes with major transfer stations. Hours of service vary from route to route—trains stop running at about midnight or 1 am and resume around 4 am.

Buses and Streetcars—Yellow and green signs with the letter H mark bus and streetcar stops. Buses and streetcars run frequently in downtown locations, and schedules are posted at every stop. In some popular late-night districts, special bus routes run until the wee hours. These routes are noted with a dark sign with moon and stars. You can buy your ticket from the driver or from a machine at certain stops.

Taxi Two phone lines are staffed 24 hours a day for taxi pickups: 250-001 and 230-001. There are also taxi stands scattered around town.

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Train The Hauptbahnhof has frequent connections to nearly every major German city and many European cities. Trains are run by Deutsche Bahn (phone 01805-996-633). Note that both the train station at the airport, called Frankfurt (Flughafen), and the Hauptbahnhof in the city, called Frankfurt (Main), connect to the national and international rail network.

Local Tours

Ebbelwei Express

Kurt Schumacher Strasse 10, Frankfurt.

069-19-449

Departures on Saturday and Sunday are every 40 minutes, 1:54-5:54 pm This streetcar runs past many sights and fare includes a small bottle of apple wine and a pretzel. The first stop is at the Bornheim Mitte U-Bahn station, although you can start at any point on the route, including the Romer/Paulskirche streetcar stop.

Historische Eisenbahnen Frankfurt

Passengers board at the Eiserner Steg bridge near the Romer. 2-5 pm.

069-436-093 This historic steam train runs along the bank of the Main River. It operates every first Sunday of the month (except December, when it runs four times over the first two weekends).