EURO 2024
Euro 2024 city guide: Frankfurt
With Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park set to host games at UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany, get clued up on the stadium and the city in our guides.
Stadium: Deutsche Bank Park/Waldstadion
Deutsche Bank Park - as it's been known since 2020 - was built at on the site of Frankfurt's previous Waldstadion, which had stood since in 1925, at a cost of €126 million between 2002 and 2005 with a capacity of 58,000 (9,300 standing). As you might expect, no detail was too small and it is kitted out with (among others): a retractable roof, a 30-ton video cube that hangs over the centre circle, and a rain-water recycling system that covers almost 100 percent of water usage in the stadium's toilets and restrooms.
In addition to hosting football matches - including men's and women's internationals - Eintracht's home also regularly stages other major sporting and musical events. Two NFL games were played in Germany’s financial capital in November 2023, while U2, The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode and Bruce Springsteen have all performed here, and heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended there his world title in 2010. After the end of the Euros, Rammstein are performing there for three nights.
Watch: Inside the home of Eintracht Frankfurt
Matches played there:
17 June: Belgium 0-1 Slovakia (Group E)
20 June: Denmark 1-1 England (Group C)
23 June: Switzerland 1-1 Germany (Group A)
26 June: Slovakia 1-1 Romania (Group E)
1 July: Portugal 0-0 Slovakia (Portugal win 3-0 on pens., round of 16)
>>> See the full fixture list here!
How to get to Frankfurt:
Frankfurt is one of the most well-connected cities in Germany, a veritable transport hub of planes, trains, busses and trams that weave a web across every corner of the continent.
Frankfurt am Main Airport is Germany’s busiest, serving over 300 destinations across five continents, so is easy to reach from wherever you are. And remember: this is Germany, so once you arrive, there will be no shortage of reliable public transport to take you wherever you need to go, with Munich in the south and the likes of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and more all served directly within three hours on high-speed ICE train.
How to get to the Waldstadion:
If you're arriving on public transport from the city, leave Frankfurt central station (Hauptbahnhof) on the overground trains S7 (to Goddelau-Erfelden), S8 and S9 (to Flughafen/airport or Wiesbaden) and head towards to 'Stadion'/stadium. The journey takes around six minutes and then you walk a further 10-15. Alternatively, you can take tram 21 from Hauptbahnhof. On matchdays there’s the additional tram 20. Buses also go to/from the airport and Frankfurt Südbahnhof station.
Once in Frankfurt…
Things to see and do (apart from the football!):
Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany, with a population of almost 2.5 million people in its urban area. Famed as the country's beating financial heart and the seat of the German FA (DFB), there is plenty more to see and do once you've finished marvelling at the skyscrapers in the banking district.
For literary fiends, a visit to the Goethe House Museum – the former home of Frankfurt native and a heavyweight German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – is a must, while the city centre and Römberberg square, which hosts the city's annual Christmas market, are another essential stop on any tour of ‘Mainhatten’. Round your day off with a visit to the Palmengarten botanical gardens or a stroll along the banks of the River Main, taking in the historic monuments and buildings. Just across from where the Main meets the Rhine, there’s also the city of Mainz.
If you want to get out of the big city, there’s the Taunus mountains just to the north, a Roman empire army camp at Saalburg, even vineyards and the lengthy German Fairy Tale Route that focuses on the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. That would take you the 370 mile journey from Hanau up to Bremen, so don’t think it’s an afternoon stroll.
Watch: Eintracht Frankfurt stadium experience
The local cuisine:
Frankfurter sausages, believe it or not, hail from the city. Handkäs’ mit Musik is a speciality cheese marinated in vinegar, oil and spices, and served with fresh onion. A side of the herby Grüne Soße lends itself to most dishes, and you can’t go wrong with a good slug of Apfelwein (a local take on cider). Dessert options include Frankfurter Kranz (a creamy sponge cake) and Bethmännchen (festive almond cookies).
Check out the rest of our Euro 2024 city guides: