Fulda

Fulda is a small city about an hour away from Frankfurt by train in Central Germany. It has a nice small-town feel, and manages to have good tourist resources without feeling touristy. The more laid-back feeling here is a nice change from nearby Frankfurt.

By plane
Fulda is reachable by train from Frankfurt Airport. While there are other airports in the area (particularly in Hannover and Kassel) they have rather limited connections and you are unlikely to arrive there, especially in Kassel.

By train
Fulda has an excellent (in most cases a direct) connection with many major German cities. Hamburg, Munich, and Berlin can be reached in about 3 hours. Frankfurt and Kassel in less than 1 hour. As Fulda lies on the main north-south high speed rail line of Germany that connects Hamburg and Munich, every major city in Germany can be reached in a few hours with no more than one interchange. Even international destinations are within reach, sometimes requiring an interchange in Hamburg, Frankfurt or Berlin but often direct as well. Flixtrain serves the city.

By car
Fulda is about 1 hour's drive from Frankfurt along the A66 and just off the A7 about 1 hour north of Würzburg. Keep in mind that Fulda can get very congested during weekends all through the summer holidays. As it lies in the middle of Germany and many Germans drive to Italy and the North Sea Coast destinations of Niedersachsen and Schleswig Holstein in the summer, it is prone to heavy traffic jams in both directions. If you have to drive during those weeks, bring patience and listen for the word Stau on the Radio.

Get around
You'll arrive at Fulda's central train station. If you're on foot, you'll probably want to go downstairs from the train station, as doing so will funnel you towards the major sites, hotels, the tourist office and the downtown. If you stay upstairs and cross the street you will reach the bus terminal which is very close.

Unless you have a lot of luggage or don't care for walking, you won't need any transportation as the town is fairly compact. If you do want transportation however, you can catch some city buses at the central train station, or a taxi. Both are available on the road outside the upstairs of the train station.

Fulda also has a bus station so you can go to local villages from the city of Fulda if you are only visiting the city on a day trip. You can get tickets quickly and easily from the Fahrkarten Automat (automatic ticket machines) you will also find these at Fulda's Hauptbahnhof.

See
Fulda's architecture mostly escaped the baroquization that took over much of Europe. The lack of decoration means that the buildings give the eyes a rest from the ornateness of other cities.

Events

 * City celebration (Bahnhofs Fest) - The last weekend of May is always a party right outside the train station. The surrounding blocks are filled with food and snack stands, carnival games, souvenirs, etc. Live bands start playing around 20:00.

Buy
Fulda is a great place to go to if you want to get a look of the German high street shopping scene. In Fulda you have Galleria Kaufhof, Karstadt, and Müller which are all major German retail stores.

Eat
If you head towards the tourist office, you can turn left on either of the last two streets to find several smaller restaurants at various levels of price and formality. Most have outdoor seating weather permitting. The plaza where the tourist office is located also has several restaurants.

Budget

 * Grocery store - Upstairs in the train station is a grocery store with good prices. There is no fresh fruit, or bakery style bread, but it's open till at least 23:00. Also caries basic amenities.
 * Grocery store - Upstairs in the train station is a grocery store with good prices. There is no fresh fruit, or bakery style bread, but it's open till at least 23:00. Also caries basic amenities.

Connect

 * Internet cafe - €3.00/hour, M-F 06:00-24:00, Sa Su 00:00-24:00 internet cafe/interactive games shop is on the top level of the train station.

Go next

 * Bad Hersfeld, 45 km north (30 minutes by regional train)
 * Eisenach, with the Wartburg castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German (World Heritage site), 90 km northeast (55 minutes by ICE train)
 * Giessen, 90 km west (1:40 hours by regional train)
 * Kassel, with the World Heritage Baroque water garden Wilhelmshöhe, 105 km north (30 minutes by ICE train)
 * Frankfurt, European banking capital and cultural metropolis, 105 km southwest (one hour by ICE train)
 * Würzburg, old town in a picturesque wine-growing region with World Heritage Baroque palace, 110 km south (30 minutes by ICE train)