Frankfurt am Main

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Frankfurt am Main
<map lat='50.11' lng='8.68' zoom='10' view='3' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of Hesse.png
Hesse
Population: 659,000
Licence plate: F
Major roads: A3, A5, A66, A661, A648
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Frankfurt is a major city in Hesse, Germany.

Hitchhiking in

If you are coming from the north (Netherlands; Cologne, Düsseldorf, etc.) and your ride is not going directly to Frankfurt am Main, but continuing towards the south instead, ask your driver to drop you out at the Medenbach service station at the A3. It lies some 35 km northwest of Frankfurt. This is a very busy service station and you should be able to quickly find a ride directly to central Frankfurt. If you miss that stop, there won't be any other good places to be dropped out until close to Darmstadt (unless of course, the driver is willing to make a detour to leave you at Frankfurt Airport).

Hitchhiking out

North (Kassel, Hannover), West (Wiesbaden, Mainz) and South (Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Basel) Bundesautobahn 5 number.svg

Option 1

A good spot for getting rides out of Frankfurt in every direction is on the B8, on the start of the Theodor-Heuss-Allee near the center of the city. The spot is a bus stop on Theodor-Heuss-Allee, about 40 metres after a roundabout next to Messeturm skyscraper. Take the U-Bahn line U4, or Straßenbahn line 16 or 17, to Festhalle/Messe. Or walk from the Hauptbahnhof north for approximately 15 minutes to Messeturm skyscraper.

Traffic is very busy and slow here every day from 7:00 to 20:00. The rate at which people pick up hitch hikers here is reportedly very low (twits will also make a variety of offensive gestures at you so be prepared) but with so much traffic going in every direction you can eventually get a ride.

The next good hitch hiking spot on A5/E451 in northern direction is Raststätte Wetterau and is a better spot to look for longer rides so try to get a ride to there if you are heading north.


Option 2

Take tram No. 17 from Frankfurt DB main train station until the last stop "Am Rebstockbad" (Map. This takes you about 10 minutes. From the final stop Am Rebstockbad you can already see the motorway (A648) which interchanges some 700 meter westward on the A5 (north/soutward). When you arrive at the (eastbound) Esso gas station on the side that leads into Frankfurt - walk westward along the Autobahn and cross at a road bridge 200-300 meters away. Cars that refuel at the opposite (westbound) gas station will in almost every case travel either northward Kassel, Hannover or southward Darmstadt, Basel] on the Autobahn A5.

North (Kassel, Hannover, Gießen, Marburg) Bundesautobahn 5 number.svg

Option 1

The Friedberger Landstrasse street is often used to leave the city towards the Autobahn A5 North. From theKonstablerwache city centre, walk 2 km or take the tram 18 / bus 30 till the stop Münzenberger Str. Hitchhike on this road about 150 m before the entrance of the supermarket 'Lidl' (Map). You definitely need a sign with A5 on it because many cars go to other directions. It is a perfect spot to get a ride to the the rest area Wetterau.

Option 2 Rest area Gräfenhausen in the south of Frankfurt

Take suburban train (S-Bahn) S3 indicating: Darmstadt to the stop Erzhausen, leave the station and walk through the town Erzhausen on Bahnstraße and Hauptstraße westward until you can hear the Autobahn A5. At some point, you will see a sign pointing left to a Schützenhaus, follow this direction, continue straight beyond the clubhouse and you will arrive at Rastanlage Gräfenhausen Ost (Map). It takes 50-60 minutes from the city center.. There is plenty of long distance traffic 24 hours a day at this spot, a restaurant as well as a small supermarket!

Option 3

Take the Metro to Kalbach Line U2 or U9, underpass the highway and take the second street right (treet is called Am Martinszehnten". There is a petrol station called Hessol and a McDonalds, which are close to A5. As the petrol station is cheap it is frequently used and you can easily get a ride from there to the A5 to service station Wetterau wich is a good spot to find long-distance lifts.

June 12th 2024, Comment: We only found local traffic at the Hessol gas station, maybe due to the fact that we arrived there around noon. However, following the road towards the highway ramp we found a gravel spot on the shoulder just after the last traffic light before the highway ramp. Here, cars can stop and you are visible from ~50-100m ahead. It took 30min to get a ride using a sign saying "A5, Wetterau, Gießen"

South (Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Freiburg) Bundesautobahn 5 number.svg

Option 1

Go by subway (U-Bahn) line U7 to the last stop Heerstraße, continue walking the path along the rail-track on the left side northward. Walk over the path/road between the fields until the Autobahn and cross via the underpass. You´ll see a small steep footpath on the right. Go there and you are on the rest area Taunusblick on the A5. The whole journey takes not more than 25/30 minutes from the city center, you can get on the underground at Hauptwache and Konstablerwache - two main underground stations in the city centre, in the end you have 10 minutes walking only. Attention: There is no exit or entrance for cars going north on A5/E451! You can only use the rest area Taunusblick to travel South


Option 2 Rest area Gräfenhausen in the south of Frankfurt

Take suburban train S-Bahn S3 indicating Darmstadt] to the stop 'Erzhausen, leave the station and walk through the town Erzhausen on Bahnstraße and Hauptstraße. Cross the Autobahn via the bridge, walk lefthand through the forest on Erzhäuser Weg until the Rastanlage Gräfenhausen West rest stop

East (Würzburg, Nürnberg, Czech Republic) Bundesautobahn 3 number.svg

Take subway U-Bahn line 1, 2 or 3 from the DB main train station to the final stop Südbahnhof (there are also many other ways to reach Südbahnhof = just pick one of them!) Take bus number 30 or 36 from the station to the stop Sachsenhausen - Hainer Weg. Bundesstraße 3 (Babenhäuser Landstraße) is right at the busstop, there is a restarea which you can reach by crossing the road. Attention: Think twice if someone offers you a ride to the petrol station nearby, by taking it you will lose this spot and might end up waiting for hours.

Alternative which takes you to the service area mentioned above. Take S1 train to Rodgau-Weiskirchen then walk along Bahnhofstrasse until you reach Hauptstrasse turn right and then take first left into Shillerstrass. Follow Shillerstrasse until you reach into the forest and then take first road going left. This will take you straight to the Service area. It takes approximately 40 minutes.

West (Köln, Dortmund) and East (Würzburg, Munich) Bundesautobahn 3 number.svg

Option 1

Rastanlage Weiskirchen has two sides, north and south for going east or west. A bridge over A3/E42 (east of the station) connects both sides. From Frankfurt you can reach this place in around 60 minutes. From Frankfurt DB main train station, you should take S-Bahn S1 direction: Rödermark Ober-Roden to the stop Weiskirchen. Wander through the town on Bahnhofstraße, Schillerstraße and Pommernstraße, later through the cropfields first in east- then in northward direction until you can see the Autobahn.


Option 2 Rest area Theißtal west of Frankfurt

An alternative, if you want to leave Frankfurt for Köln and further north or west, is the rest area Theißtal along the Autobahn A3. Take the S-Bahn (S2) towards Niedernhausen (final stop, about 30 minutes). You'll hear the Autobahn once you are there. Walk 1.5 km (20 min) northwestwards. There is a tiny footpath through the woods leading all the way to the motorway rest area, and if you try to stick close to the Autobahn, you shouldn't miss it. You'll walk past a shooting range, and when you reach a 100m diameter clearing in the woods, you're there. Most cars here go at least to Köln/Bonn if they don't go to Koblenz, since there isn't much else on the way. There is a fence between the woods and the rest area

Option 3 Medenbach service station probably best option to go towards Cologne

This option has a fair bit of potential walking but leaves you at a well visited service station on the A3 to the West of Frankfurt and really only ends up being one or 2 kilometers more of a walk compared to the first option. Take the S-Bahn S2 towards Niedernhausen and get off at Eppstein-Bremthal. You can save a kilometer of uphill walking by taking bus 20 (just outside the station and easy to board without a ticket because you can enter in the back doors) for 3 (possibly 4) stops to bus stop Waldallee. (The stop is immediately after the bus turns right after reach the top of the hill. You then have a 5 kilometer walk to the service station but could also hitch a ride most of the way. Going the opposite direction of the bus, walk along the L3017 passing through the town of Wildsachsen. About a kilometer past the town, turn right onto L3018. (It veers slightly away from the previous road heading up a hill. Walk 500 meters and turn left onto the path. (Or if you want to go south keep going until you pass under the autobahn.) Walk about 700 meters on the path and you will be able to turn right on a road that leads to the service station. You can then turn left and follow it until you come out near the gas station or just after the green fence you can turn right and take the elevator down to the ground level and emerge in the parking area near the restaurant. You'll have to press the door open button to get the doors to open. From here you could easily get a ride even as far as Belgium or the Netherlands.

From the airport

File:Frankfurtairportcarparkexit.jpg
Craig stood in front of that traffic sign

There are two good spots at the car park. Go to the arrival level in front of Terminal 1. You can now enter a throughway beneath the brownish Sheraton building that is opposite to Terminal 1 Part C. There is a delivery area of the Sheraton, great spot. Slow traffic and a lot of space for stopping. You should be able to spot the main car park exit. You can follow the cars further down some 100 meters to find a spot in the sunlight. Note that most traffic will go south!

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