There have been a lot of questions regarding Frankfurt recently, but I have
a few more. I have 12 hours to kill between flights on December 20, which
is the last weekend shopping day before Christmas. I have the whole day,
since we arrive at 10 am.

1. Approximately how long will it take to go through customs and into
Frankfurt's city center by train? We're both US citizens, and we'll only
have 1 carry on each.

2. I'm interested in buying Birkenstock shoes, which are very expensive in
the US. Even with the weak dollar, they should be cheaper in Germany, since
they're made there. Are they sold in most shoe stores, or is there a
special place to go?

3. I'm also interested in buying a backpack, since the high quality
european ones are also very expensive in the states. Are there any
"outdoors" related stores in Frankfurt.

Thanks for the advice.

jb

    > 3. I'm also interested in buying a backpack, since the high quality
    > european ones are also very expensive in the states. Are there any
    > "outdoors" related stores in Frankfurt.

To the outdoor shop questions, you could try
www.super-tramp.de
www.sine.de
both are reasonably central in Frankfurt. You could
also try
www.mctrek.de
www.globetrotter.de
which also have shops in Frankfurt but are less central.
All have online shops too so you can inform yourself a
bit in advance.
Then there is the Kaufhof Sportpalast - the sport section
of the largest department store in town - right at the
Hauptwache, the station in the centre of the shopping
district.

    > 1. Approximately how long will it take to go through customs and into
    > Frankfurt's city center by train? We're both US citizens, and we'll only
    > have 1 carry on each.

I can't say much about customs but the train ride is only
about 15 min to Hauptwache and there are trains at least
every 15 min. Buy yourself a 1 day ticket, Tageskarte.
Have fun!

David

David Johnstone schrieb:
    >
    > > 3. I'm also interested in buying a backpack, since the high quality
    > > european ones are also very expensive in the states. Are there any
    > > "outdoors" related stores in Frankfurt.
    >
    > To the outdoor shop questions, you could try
    > www.super-tramp.de
    > www.sine.de
    > both are reasonably central in Frankfurt. You could
    > also try
    > www.mctrek.de
    > www.globetrotter.de
    > which also have shops in Frankfurt but are less central.
    > All have online shops too so you can inform yourself a
    > bit in advance.
    > Then there is the Kaufhof Sportpalast - the sport section
    > of the largest department store in town - right at the
    > Hauptwache, the station in the centre of the shopping
    > district.
    >
    > > 1. Approximately how long will it take to go through customs and into
    > > Frankfurt's city center by train? We're both US citizens, and we'll only
    > > have 1 carry on each.
    >
    > I can't say much about customs but the train ride is only
    > about 15 min to Hauptwache and there are trains at least
    > every 15 min. Buy yourself a 1 day ticket, Tageskarte.
    > Have fun!
    >
    > David

Correct, it's just a few stops on the subway. Just make sure to get on
the right train back to the airport though!

T.

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003, JB <[email protected]> wrote:

    > 1. Approximately how long will it take to go through customs and into
    > Frankfurt's city center by train? We're both US citizens, and we'll only
    > have 1 carry on each.

You'll only spend a few seconds with the immigration officer, and
waiting in line is unlikely to be longer than a few minutes.

--
Yves Bellefeuille <[email protected]>, Ottawa, Canada
Francais / English / Esperanto
Esperanto FAQ: http://www.esperanto.net/veb/faq.html
Rec.travel.europe FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/travel/europe/faq

"David Johnstone" <[email protected]> wrote:
----
    >Then there is the Kaufhof Sportpalast - the sport section
    >of the largest department store in town - right at the
    >Hauptwache, the station in the centre of the shopping
    >district.

    >I can't say much about customs but the train ride is only
    >about 15 min to Hauptwache and there are trains at least
    >every 15 min. Buy yourself a 1 day ticket, Tageskarte.
    >Have fun!
    >David
------------
On the top floor (6th,7th?) of the Kaufhof department store , there
is a large selfservice restaurant with an outdoor terrace , from
where you can have a great view over the inner city and the Frankfurt
skyline. You don´t have dine there or buy anything, you simply walk
through the restaurant to the terrace.
The day ticket costs 7.10 euro . You can either buy it from the
automatic machines or from the ticket counter at the regional train
station.



Kristian

"JB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > There have been a lot of questions regarding Frankfurt recently, but I
have
    > a few more. I have 12 hours to kill between flights on December 20, which
    > is the last weekend shopping day before Christmas. I have the whole day,
    > since we arrive at 10 am.
    > 1. Approximately how long will it take to go through customs and into
    > Frankfurt's city center by train? We're both US citizens, and we'll only
    > have 1 carry on each.
    > 2. I'm interested in buying Birkenstock shoes, which are very expensive in
    > the US. Even with the weak dollar, they should be cheaper in Germany,
since
    > they're made there. Are they sold in most shoe stores, or is there a
    > special place to go?
    > 3. I'm also interested in buying a backpack, since the high quality
    > european ones are also very expensive in the states. Are there any
    > "outdoors" related stores in Frankfurt.

I think you are mistaken to think that Birkenstocks and backpacks are less
expensive in Germany than in the US. Sometimes that works out. But often
they don't work that way.
    > Thanks for the advice.
    > jb

JB wrote:
    > 2. I'm interested in buying Birkenstock shoes, which are very
    > expensive in the US. Even with the weak dollar, they should be
    > cheaper in Germany, since they're made there. Are they sold in most
    > shoe stores, or is there a special place to go?

I also shopped for Birkenstocks, in several stores along the big
shopping street (I think it's called "the Zeile"), in the Kaufhaus and in
several shoestores.
Most carried them, but were of the "sandal" variety (i.e. "arizona"),
while I prefer the actual Birkenstock shoes.
In any event, the prices were'nt too bad, BUT they were not greatly
discounted over here in the USA.

It's still fun to shop on that street, and maybe you will get lucky! What
I did find was that while shopping for Birkenstocks, I ran across several
other great shoe brands that are not available here in the US and
bought some of them!

It's only a 15 minute ride on the S-Bahn (from Hauptbahnhof) to the
airport, no problem!
Gute Reise!

"Javaman" <[email protected]> wrote in news:IPazb.8143
$_M.31274@attbi_s54:

    > JB wrote:
    >> 2. I'm interested in buying Birkenstock shoes, which are very
    >> expensive in the US. Even with the weak dollar, they should be
    >> cheaper in Germany, since they're made there. Are they sold in most
    >> shoe stores, or is there a special place to go?
    >
    > I also shopped for Birkenstocks, in several stores along the big
    > shopping street (I think it's called "the Zeile"), in the Kaufhaus and in
    > several shoestores.
    > Most carried them, but were of the "sandal" variety (i.e. "arizona"),
    > while I prefer the actual Birkenstock shoes.
    > In any event, the prices were'nt too bad, BUT they were not greatly
    > discounted over here in the USA.
    >
    > It's still fun to shop on that street, and maybe you will get lucky! What
    > I did find was that while shopping for Birkenstocks, I ran across several
    > other great shoe brands that are not available here in the US and
    > bought some of them!
    >
    > It's only a 15 minute ride on the S-Bahn (from Hauptbahnhof) to the
    > airport, no problem!
    > Gute Reise!

Sounds great. Just as I expected. If you want solid construction, go for
German manufacturing.

jb

"JB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Javaman" <[email protected]> wrote in news:IPazb.8143
    > $_M.31274@attbi_s54:
    > > JB wrote:
    > >> 2. I'm interested in buying Birkenstock shoes, which are very
    > >> expensive in the US. Even with the weak dollar, they should be
    > >> cheaper in Germany, since they're made there. Are they sold in most
    > >> shoe stores, or is there a special place to go?
    > >
    > > I also shopped for Birkenstocks, in several stores along the big
    > > shopping street (I think it's called "the Zeile"), in the Kaufhaus and
in
    > > several shoestores.
    > > Most carried them, but were of the "sandal" variety (i.e. "arizona"),
    > > while I prefer the actual Birkenstock shoes.
    > > In any event, the prices were'nt too bad, BUT they were not greatly
    > > discounted over here in the USA.
    > >
    > > It's still fun to shop on that street, and maybe you will get lucky!
What
    > > I did find was that while shopping for Birkenstocks, I ran across
several
    > > other great shoe brands that are not available here in the US and
    > > bought some of them!
    > >
    > > It's only a 15 minute ride on the S-Bahn (from Hauptbahnhof) to the
    > > airport, no problem!
    > > Gute Reise!
    > Sounds great. Just as I expected. If you want solid construction, go for
    > German manufacturing.

Then you'll want to make sure your Birkenstocks aren't made in Spain.
    > jb