Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in Hesse quite close to Frankfurt.

Couchsurfing
Darmstadt has very active CouchSurfing Group. There a very often spontaneous meetings e.g. for picnic in the Herrngarten or for a drink at a cosy bar. For sure anyone is very welcome to join!

BeWelcome
Darmstadt's BeWelcome group is currently quite rudimentary, but it is becoming more active. We might start cross posting CouchSurfing events.

Bars, Pubs and Restaurants
You can get a good overview of bar, pubs and restaurant if you visit this map. There are plenty nice places in Darmstadt. To mention some:


 * Alte Kanzlei
 * An Sibin
 * Arabesque
 * Aussie Bar
 * Bambus
 * Bangerts Eck
 * Baobab
 * BeatCorner
 * Bedouin
 * Bembelsche
 * Braustübl
 * Braustübl City
 * Cafe Chaos
 * Cafe Goebel
 * Cafe Lokal Nachrichten
 * Café Bellevue
 * Centralstation
 * Cielo
 * Corner
 * Crossroads Bar & Grill
 * Culatello
 * Darmstädter Biergarten
 * El Shisha
 * Enchilada
 * Extrablatt
 * Ferrucci Weinbar
 * Grauer Bock
 * Green Sheep
 * Grohe
 * Guantanamera
 * Habibi
 * Havanna
 * Hemingway’s Terraza
 * Herrngarten Cafe
 * Hobbit
 * Hotzenplotz
 * Ireland Pub
 * Kaminzimmer
 * Kessel
 * Krone
 * La Bodega
 * Landgraf
 * Lianda
 * Lokales
 * Mokka Mokka
 * Nachrichtentreff
 * Neues Amtsstuebchen
 * Petri
 * Pfungstaedter/Braubstuebel
 * Piccolo
 * Pillhuhn
 * Pilsstube Herkules
 * Pinguin
 * Planet Diner
 * Pueblo
 * Ratskeller
 * Riviera
 * Riwwelmaddes
 * Rumpelstilzchen
 * San Remo
 * Sausalitos
 * Schlosskeller
 * Sitte
 * Theke
 * Trittbrett
 * Vacaciones
 * Vapiano
 * Worschtküch
 * Yedermann
 * Zweite Heimat

Do
Darmstadt offers a variety of actives and interesting places. To get some ideas check 100 things to do in Darmstadt. If you want even more fun ask in the CouchSurfing or the BeWelcome group for others to join you!

By foot
Often the easiest choice in Darmstadt, walking from one end of Darmstadt to the other can be achieved in one hour. Inner city distances are way shorter and seldom take longer then 15 minutes.

By bicycle
If the weather plays along, definitely the fastest and most convenient mode of transport in Darmstadt. As there are hardly any hills, low to average training will do. The only nuisance are sometimes interrupted cycle lanes.

If you are looking for a used bike, there are two mayor trading shops: "Fahrrad Verleih Darmstadt" right next to the main station and "Auktion & Kauf" in Pankratiusstraße 7. For bike repair there are plenty little shops all over town.

By train
The major train company in Germany is "Deutsche Bahn" servicing the main station. The main station is located about 1 1/2 kilometers west of the city center. Bus- and tramlines to the "Luisenplatz" run every few minutes till after midnight.

There's also the "Odenwaldbahn", connecting Darmstadt to Frankfurt and the Odenwald.

By car
Due to the compact size of Darmstadt, you're usually quicker by foot, bicycle or public transport. Finding a free parking spot in the inner city is quite a gamble, but there are plenty, reasonably priced car parks.

There's also a range of local taxi/cab services, some of which allow pre-booking. Taxis/cabs are generally regulated and trustworthy in Germany.

By airplaine
There are two airports in the region:
 * Frankfurt Airport (FRA/EDDF) the busiest international airport in Germany, connected to almost any place in the world. The quickest way to get to Darmstadt from the airport is the "Airliner". For train connections check Deutsche Bahn. Many local taxi/cab services provide airport flat rates around 35€ if booked in advance.
 * Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN/EDFH) is situated in a remote are nowhere near Frankfurt or Darmstadt, they try to make of for it cheap airfares, reasonably prices long-term parking and shuttle buses. There is no direct bus or train connection from Darmstadt to Frankfurt Hahn but you have to can there via Frankfurt.

Getting around
As Darmstadt is not too large most aims can be reached in an acceptable time by walking or by bike. Alternatively you can use the well developed public transport (check the website of the RMV for time tables). Darmstadt is also very well connected to Frankfurt.

Weather
In summer Darmstadt is quite warm in the comparison to German average.

You can find information about the current weather and the weather forecast here.

Ticks
If you enjoy enjoy nature as much as I do, you'll probably go for hikes in this beautiful region. One thing, that could spoil this enjoyment are ticks. In this region, ticks may spread Lyme disease and Tick-borne encephalitis. For the latter there exists a vaccination which is commonly available at local doctors. Best thing is to avoid tick bites in the first place. More information about ticks is available in German (de) or Google translated (en).

Language Tandems
If you are looking for a language tandem partner: The university can help to find you one.

Weblinks
hitch:Darmstadt
 * Official Website