Frankfurt

Area

249 sq km

96 sq miles

Population

650,486

Time Zone

GMT/UTC + 1 ()

Daylight Saving Start

last Sunday in March

Daylight Saving End

last Sunday in October

Religion

34% Protestant, 34% Catholic, 4% Muslim, 28% unaffiliated or other. There are about 74,000 Jews (the pre-Holocaust figure was over half a million).

Currency

Euro (€)

Electricity

230V 50HzHz

Frankfurt is often seen only as a transit hub or a business centre, but it's so much more. It boasts Germany's most spectacular skyline, mirrored in the Main River, and Europe's tallest office building. It's also the country's most international town; more than a quarter of its citizens are foreign.

Frankfurt throws more money at the arts than any other European city so you'll most likely catch a ground-breaking exhibition at one of its museums. And if you do happen to get stuck at the mega-airport there's a nightclub, art gallery and X-rated cinema to help while away those in-transit hours.

When To Go

As a convention town par excellence, Frankfurt's population swells during March-May and September-October - which just happen to be the best times to visit weatherwise. The winter months (November-February) are prone to storms and freezing temperatures, and June-August are hot, prone to rain and crowded. The solution is to book ahead or stay at places either beneath or beyond the conventioneers' budgets.

Factoid

Music of the Spheres

Frankfurt is famous for its Handkase mit Musik, a round cheese with onions marinated in oil and vinegar. As you might imagine, such a cheese makes for flatulence, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the 'Musik'.