Day 8: Frankfurt

Having visited Köln; the seventh stop on my virtual European tour to pass time during the Coronavirus pandemic, I've now ventured about 130 miles south to Frankfurt.

Considered as something of a financial metropolis, it's Germany's fifth largest city behind Köln, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin and the skyline is dominated by several skyscrapers and high-rise shiny buildings - often drawing comparisons with Manhattan. The headquarters of the European Central Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and many others can all be found in close proximity to one another in the 'Ostend' (East End) part of the city, close to the banks of the River Main.

If anyone is thinking of going here then I can testify it's a curious place with a bit of something on offer for everyone. My best tip is, even though it's a ridiculously busy airport, make sure you fly into Frankfurt International (as opposed to Frankfurt Hahn where many of the cheap RyanAir flights land) because Hahn is a good two hours travelling time by road even though it carries the city's name. Most visitors, nonetheless, will still end up at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof at some point or another and it's a pretty centrally-located station close to all the main attractions including the 'Old Town' and the River Main which is good if you fancy a picturesque stroll down the riverside.

If you're a budget, bargain-hunting backpack-type traveller like me, then you'll find that Frankfurt isn't a cheapest place by any means. On my first visit here in September 2017, I made the mistake of booking accommodation on the basis of cost (mainly) and proximity to amenities as opposed to ratings on websites like TripAdvisor and Hostelworld, etc. My plan all seemed well and good until I turned up and realised the said accommodation was actually, in fact, a brothel (prostitution is legal in Germany though not actively promoted like in neighbouring Netherlands) and it was the various purple neon lights and photos of 'exotic' ladies in various poses on the walls of where I'd booked to stay which quickly gave the secrets of what else was on offer.

For football followers, the Commerzbank Arena (home to Eintracht Frankfurt) is situated in remote woodlands between the International Airport and the city centre. It was used during the 2006 World Cup and it's where England beat Paraguay in red hot weather! There's a frequent service on the S-Bahn and the stop for the stadium is actually the first one after the airport, just a couple of minutes away. Coincidentally, if you travel about 20 minutes or so on the same S-Bahn route but in the other direction, then you'll reach Mainz - a much smaller city than Frankfurt, albeit one with an established top-tier Bundesliga team nowadays.

The photos below, taken mainly from a stroll along the River Main, in and around the Old Town and in the Ostend financial district which homes many of the skyscrapers, will hopefully give you a flavour of what Frankfurt has to offer: