We had to make a trip to Frankfurt to visit the US Consulate there. This meant flying out of Heathrow T5 on British Airways and staying two nights in a Premier Inn near Frankfurt station. I did take a camera as well as my iPhone and here are the eclectic images that I remember our time there by.
5th June 2025: To Frankfurt
Airside we bought breakfast at Starbucks waiting for our flight to be called. At the gate all passengers in Group 5 with carry-on bags were asked to check if their bag could be placed in the hold. I find it ironic that BA would have charged us extra for bringing cases to go into the hold! One carry-on was taken BUT we were moved to the front of the boarding and were the first on the full plane – result!
Our flight went off without a hitch and after a kerfuffle we managed to catch a train from the airport to the Frankfurt Main railway station. A very friendly man tried to explain to us that we were buying the wrong tickets (so we learnt later). My lack of German meant we didn’t sadly take his advice. This meant paying 3-4 times the price on the Metro!
The walk from the station to our hotel was through what could best be described as a dodgy part of the city. The folks at the hotel assured us that our rooms would be on the same floor and that they could store our luggage until the rooms were ready.
Further along the Mainzer Landstraase we were directed to a shopping mall, which we were assured would have places to eat (and we’d be comfortable to visit.), the Skyline Plaza.
In the food hall I went for a curry and it was delicious. All around us were office workers having their lunch. This outlet was behind where I was sat.
We met friends at the hotel and after a few hours (!) of catching up we walked back to the railway station.
There we were shown how to buy group tickets on the Metro that were valid for the whole day. This is when we realised our mistake back at the airport. After our ride on the Metro they took us to an Italian restaurant on Gt Friedburger Str, which is off the pedestrian precinct Zeil.
The meal was excellent especially as we shared this bottle of wine!
Back at the hotel we resumed our catching up. Outside things were kicking off with three police vans and lots of police. They had people lined up against the wall being searched. Our friends assured us that as tourists we’d be OK…
I was able to tap their local knowledge which confirmed that taking multiple Metro lines wasn’t the best option to get to the consulate. Instead we would order a taxi.
6th June 2025: Visit to the US Consulate
Rather than have breakfast in the hotel we walked along the Mainzer Landstraase to a small cafe and had coffees and pastries. Our taxi ride was perhaps more exciting than we’d have wanted. Our driver seemed to believe that getting there was urgent. I did grab this shot through the window.
Frankfurt’s US Consulate
The consulate is on Geissener Str and is apparently the largest in the world. Luckily for us it was very obvious where we had to go and wait. There were two covered walkways. One for visa applications and one for American citizens. Both had a row of benches and customer windows on the walls of the building. A German Diplomatic guard was at the top of the American citizen walkway. He wasn’t in a good mood as we soon found out – maybe it was the rain?
The visa queue was made up of students waiting to be interviewed for visas to go to school in the USA. Parents were not allowed to accompany their offspring. Quite a few were not happy at this. But if their kids were going to be going to school thousands of miles away, a solo visit to the consulate shouldn’t be too bad. Except of course everyone is now conscious of the new attitudes to overseas visitors to the USA.
When the rain eased we walked to a McDonalds that the diplomatic guard had been directing anxious parents to go to.
After coffees we made our way back to the consulate. Our concerns about our return journey were eased when we could see a row of taxis in the lay-by opposite the entrance.
While we waited a furore erupted with an American being refused entry as he didn’t have an appointment. He was very upset and he clearly had sustained injuries in his past. He stood and ranted, shouting that after multiple tours in Iraq he had moved to Mexico and now wanted to renounce his citizenship because of the way he had been forgotten and treated by the “Feds”.
Shopping along Zeil
Our taxi ride back to hotel was much less frenetic. With a free afternoon we decided to catch the Metro to Hauptwacke station and look at the shops along Zeil. Armed with our new knowledge we bought a bargain group travel ticket.
And it was still raining !
I was not tempted by these guys selling food. Instead we went to a large glass enclosed restaurant and for the first time in two days felt that we could relax.
Frankfurt City Premier Inn City
Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that the hotel staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. Rather than head back to our rooms we sat in the small lobby and had another drink and watched the world outside.
Frankfurt Police vans arrived again outside the hotel and this time took several men away. The hotel’s underground car park entrance on Ludwigstrasse had decorative plants at each side of the doors. These received a thorough search as part of the police’s sweep.
7th June 2025: Frankfurt airport
Our flight was in the afternoon and after a lazy start to the day we made our way to Frankfurt Main station. Again armed with our new knowledge we purchased group travel on the Metro to the airport. The Metro train travelled on parallel lines to the other trains to the airport.
We caught a people mover train to get to our terminal rather than the bus. This terminal at Frankfurt was not the one I had travelled through when using Lufthansa.
Once we were airside the choice of somewhere to eat was severely limited. Compared to other airports this lack of choice for an international airport was a bit surprising. Even worse we had to hunt around to find somewhere to sit after having our lunch.
At Frankfurt airport passengers are not searched when you pass airside. Instead searching takes place when passengers go to the their gates.
We noticed that security was empty and despite being quite early for our boarding time we decided to go through in the hope of finding somewhere to sit and relax.
The metal detector’s alarm sounded as I walked through. I knew that I didn’t have keys, belt or phone as these were all with my Foldie bag on the conveyor belt. Walking forward to be searched, I was confident that I would have no difficulty with the search.
Waiting for our plane
We walked to the gate for the BA plane and sat down in the large array of seats there. Within a few minutes we were on the receiving end of orders to move out.
Walking back past the other gates we past the closed duty free /cafe shop that was supposed to be available. At the end of the space we found eight seats by the toilets. This boarding area by the gates had even less available seating than the non-secure part of terminal.
Ironically when I went back to the duty free shop for some chocolate (needed for nerves!) I watched passengers coming through security. In the minutes I watched almost 100% of the bags were opened and everyone seemed to be body searched.
I noticed that the seating by the gate was now occupied by lots of passengers so we moved back from the toilets and picked up our reading. When the BA ground staff arrived everyone had to get up and move out of the area. Then form a queue to go back through the barriers and have passports and tickets checked.
This was another full flight and Group 5 passengers again lost their hard carry-on bags to the hold. This time though we didn’t get moved to the front of boarding as everyone just piled through once the boarding started.
Seeing London below was a relief at the end of our visit.