/frankfurt-new-starter

Mostly created by @chrisscoular, this readme is intended to help you get by in Frankfurt

Frankfurt Information

N.B. Frankfurt has Trade Fairs, congresses and events. These takes place at the Messe. When they come to town, the hotels are booked up months in advance. This means prices are very high for some weeks, as well as the rental prices on AirBnB. Messe Calendar

Accommodation

AirBnB

Posters in Eschborn advertising Acommodation Top moblierte super Apartments, 1 bis 4 Zimmer direkt um die Ecke, Vollservice, Reinigung wochentlich, Wasche-service, etc 06196 930260

Top of furnished super apartments, 1 to 4 rooms weekly just around the corner, full service, cleaning, washing-service, etc

Eschborn Poster Eschborn Poster 2

Rooms & Flats

Agents

Nadine Hoermann

wohnraumagentur

New in the City

Rental sites

Immobilien Scout

Immowelt

City Residence

Paluch

Real estate portal

Time Home

Frankfurt Rentals

Home Company

New in the City

ImmoNet

Home for Rent

Tempo Flat

Serviced Apartments

Apartment Service

List of Serviced Apartments

ipartment

Home for Times

Ly30

ed14

swe51

Citadines

Bold

Xenios

Derag

Derag living

Smartments

Frankfurt

Biz Stay

Apartments & Lofts

Saco

Hotels

Moxy

Premier Inn

Capri by Fraser

Booking

Google

Try asking for the Deutsche Bank Rate. See if you get it cheaper.

Newcomer sites

Expat Arrivals

Newcomers network

Eschborn About

Transport

Tickets work for U-Bhan, S-Bahn, trams, buses, and possibly other public transport services. You can buy daily tickets using machines available at most S-Bhan and U-Bhan stations. And ticket machine can be changed to English, so no need to speak to ticket staff.

Single to Frankfurt from Eschborn Sud is €2.80, or €7 for an all day multiple journey ticket.

To buy a monthly ticket, you can do so at the VGF/RMV office at Hauptewache. Monthly tickets cost €87.40, or €69.90 if buying a ticket you can only use after 9am. You should receive a plastic card, which you can then top up at ticket machines.

Warning - If you do not have a valid ticket and get stopped by the ticket inspector it is an on the spot fine of 60 Euros. (You might be able to pull a fast one and say you are a tourist but you are on your own).

S-Bahn Light Rail

Station closest to the Office is Eschborn Sud, 5 minute walk away. This is the S-Bahn. It is a light rail train service. This runs frequently. S4, S3, S5 run from Frankfurt to Eschborn Sud. Sud means South. Dont confuse this with Eschborn stop as it is further north.

Buses

Bus tickets can be bought at ticket machines, so show ticket to driver and go. Check maps for routes

Driving

The Germans drive on zee right.

Walking

Frankfurt is a walking friendly city, lots of pedestrian crossing points, similar to pelican crossing in the UK. Mind the Germans drive on zee right so look both ways. And if it is traffic light for pedestrians dont walk on red and the Germans stare at you defying the process, this is known as bean bagging the process. See process.

Places to see

Start at Hauptwache and enjoy. Its one of the key Shopping areas and quite central to a lot of other interesting areas.

Sunday

Germany shuts down on a sunday. Supermarkets are closed. Only places open will be 24 hours garages, kiosks in city centre, macdonalds, burger king, starbucks, in fact any American Mega Corp will be open. Some cafes may be open. Ikea is closed. Its Germany not Sweden.

Apps

The following Apps are very useful.

Offi Germany Journey Planner for Android Only

WhatsApp - Team use this to communicate

Messenger

Viber

Google Translate

mytaxi - Book a Taxi in Frankfurt

Allo - Google

AirBnB

DB Navigator - Train and Transport App for Frankfurt

Google Maps

Duo Lingo - Learn German.

ally|City Transport App

Sims

You are likely to be using Pay as You Go sims for a while. There are data sims for tablets that you can use on the phone - Ortel is good. 5Gb per month for €20 euros pay as you go.

Ortel is best if change the provider on your hand set to use the o2 network. 4G in Eschborn and Frankfurt.

Place to buy an ortel data sim is near mainbahnhoff train station - Internet cafe

A sim for calling back home, a cheap lebara or Lyca can be picked up for €8-10 euros. Dump it when you are finished and get a new one. This has 500Mb data and 250 minutes calling.

You may end up have 3 sims and or 3 phones. Your back home sim, a German phone call sim and a German Data Sim

Laundry

Laundromat

Bank Accounts

Bank account requires a valid passport, and proof of residence. This can either be your agreement with your land lord or the local council registration documents. The bank will then post out your stuff to your address.

degussa-bank

the best banks in Germany.

Bank Details

Deutsche Bank · Types o AktivKonto (Premium account) § Fee: 4.99 EUR/Month § Advantages: Online banking, Paid Telephone Banking, Paperless Bookings, German Bank Card, o BestKonto (Basic account) § Fee: 9.99 EUR/Month § Advantages: Online banking, Free Telephone banking, 2 MasterCard’s Gold, Cash Insurance

Commerzbank · Types o Basic Account § Fee: Free of Charge if at least 1200 EUR/Month will be paid in the bank. § Notice period: 2 Months § Advantages: Online banking, 12 free withdrawals o Premium Account § Fee: 9.90 EUR/Month § Advantages: Online banking, Insurance Cover for client and family, two debit cards and two PremiumKonto cards *Application just in person possible

Postbank · Types o Giro Basis § Fee: 5.90 EUR/Month § Advantages: Online banking, visa debit card o Business Giro § Fee: At least 9.80/Month § Advantages: Online banking, business visa credit card with 40 day payment terms, travel insurance, two debit cards, interest-free credit

Hypovereinsbank · Types o HVB AktivKonto § Fee: 2.90 EUR/Month § Advantages: Bank transactions flexibly online, Free SMS services - for more security, Free Personal Finance Manager (PFM), [Brochure] (https://www.hypovereinsbank.de/content/dam/hypovereinsbank/shared/pdf/Produktprofile/PP_HVB_AktivKonto_UK.pdf)

o HVB PlusKonto § Fee: 7.90 EUR/Month § Advantages: Free standard ec card and transfers, Free SMS services - for more security, Free Personal Finance Manager (PFM) [Brochure] (https://www.hypovereinsbank.de/content/dam/hypovereinsbank/shared/pdf/Produktprofile/PP_HVB_PlusKonto_UK.pdf)

o HVB Exclusivkonto § Fee: 14.90 EUR/Month § Advantages. Free HVB ec card and transfers, Free HVB MasterCard Gold with exclusive insurance package, Worldwide free money withdraw with the HVB MasterCard credit cards, Free SMS services - for more security Brochure

Process

Germany loves its processes and is ruthlessly efficient at following them. Unfortunately this is not to be confused with ruthless process efficiency. Expect things to take a while ... like bank accounts.