Frankfurt airport (tel 0 69/69 00) is one of the world's busiest, and is a major point of entry into Germany from abroad. There are regular rail departures from the airport Bahnhof which will enable you to reach most of Germany's cities fairly easily. Trains leave approximately once every ten minutes for Frankfurt's Hauptbahnhof (journey time 11min) from where there are even more comprehensive services covering Germany and beyond.

 

The regional public transport company (RMV) is responsible for bus, tram S-Bahn and U-Bahn services. A curiosity of the Frankfurt system is that single tickets are more expensive from 6-9am and 4-6.30pm on Mondays to Fridays. The 24-hour rover ticket costs DM8.20/¬4.10, though it's usually better to invest in the Frankfurt Card (DM12/¬6 for one day, DM19/¬9.50 for two days), which includes half-price entry to virtually all the city's museums. (Bear in mind that these are free on Wednesdays.) An alternative to the latter is the two-day Museumsufer Ticket , which excludes public transport but covers the full costs of museum entry, and costs DM15/¬7.50 for individuals, DM30/¬15 for families.

From the Hauptbahnhof tram #11 goes right through the heart of the historic city centre; it takes about fifteen minutes to walk the same distance. One of the tourist offices is in the entrance hall of the Hauptbahnhof (Mon-Fri 8am-9pm, Sat & Sun 9am-6pm; tel 0 69/21 23 88 49, fax 21 24 85 12, www.frankfurt-tourismus.de ); the other is in the heart of the city at Römerberg 27 (Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm; tel 0 69/21 23 87 08).