The Frankfurt Ferienkarte Starts at 10 Euros and Is Free If You Hold a Frankfurt-Pass

The Official Rule

For the price of a coffee or two, or nothing at all if your family already holds a Frankfurt-Pass, the Frankfurt Ferienkarte unlocks a genuinely useful stack of free entries and discounts across the city for the entire summer break. It’s run by the city’s Jugend- und Sozialamt (Youth and Social Office), and it’s easy to miss as a newcomer simply because nobody hands you a flyer for it at the Bürgeramt.

The card is open to any child or teenager up to age 18 living in Frankfurt am Main or simply spending the summer holidays there, not a residency-only benefit. It’s valid for the entire Hessen summer break, running 26 June through 9 August 2026. Applications are handled exclusively online, and the window typically opens roughly six weeks before the holidays start; in 2026 it ran from 18 May through 10 July. Once approved, the physical card is mailed directly to your home address, so it’s worth applying early rather than waiting until the first week of vacation.

The included benefits split into two real categories: genuinely free entries, and discounts. Free admission covers Frankfurt Zoo, the city’s Frankfurter Bäder (public swimming pools), the Senckenberg Naturmuseum, the Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, and the Palmengarten, and every municipal museum in the city is already free for anyone under 18 regardless of the card. On top of that, cardholders get reduced (not free) admission to a wider set of attractions, the Opel Zoo just outside the city, the MAIN TOWER skyscraper viewing platform, Primus-Linie river cruises on the Main, and pony rides at the Glückswiese in Sindlingen, among others that can shift somewhat from year to year.

Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels

If your family holds a Frankfurt-Pass, the city’s income-tested benefit card, you can skip the application step entirely. As of 2026, the Frankfurt-Pass functions as the Ferienkarte automatically: present it together with the child’s own ID (a school ID or health insurance card both work) wherever the Ferienkarte is checked, and that’s it, no separate sticker or extra paperwork required. You can still request the optional RMV transit ticket online at no additional cost if your family wants that benefit too. Social institutions, youth groups, and similar organizations can also request group cards, typically covering ten young people plus two accompanying staff members at no charge.

What Real People Say

The city’s own Jugend- und Sozialamt frames the program in plain terms, describing its goal as giving children “Teilhabe, Bildung und vor allem Spaß in den Ferien,” participation, education, and above all fun during the holidays, language that shows up consistently across the local family-focused press covering the card each spring. Regional family guides covering the 2026 edition point out that the free Zoo and swimming pool entries alone tend to cover a meaningful share of the purchase price before counting anything else, echoing the same “it basically pays for itself” sentiment that comes up around similar city discount cards elsewhere in Germany.

Local parent blogs specifically flag a few less-obvious perks worth knowing about, including a LEGO-building exhibit tied to the Deutsches Architekturmuseum as one of the changing seasonal offers, and note that the card’s biggest practical shift for 2026 is the automatic Frankfurt-Pass integration, removing what used to be a separate low-income application step entirely.

Step by Step

1. Apply online at frankfurt.de/ferienkarte during the application window (2026: 18 May through 10 July); the card is mailed to your home, so don’t wait until the holidays have already started.
2. If you hold a Frankfurt-Pass, skip the application. Just bring the pass plus your child’s ID (school ID or health insurance card) whenever the Ferienkarte is checked.
3. Decide whether you want the RMV transit add-on when you apply. It roughly doubles the price for the younger age band and adds a smaller amount for the older one, worth it if you’re planning a summer of day trips across the city.
4. Once the card arrives, sort out what’s genuinely free versus merely discounted (Zoo, pools, Senckenberg, Filmmuseum, and Palmengarten are free; Opel Zoo, MAIN TOWER, river cruises, and pony rides are discounted, not free).
5. Use it within the valid window, 26 June through 9 August 2026, it doesn’t extend beyond the summer break itself.
6. If you’re also looking for organized, booked activities rather than a discount card, look up the Ferienkarussell separately, it’s a related but distinct program from the same city office.

Compliance Note

This page describes the general structure, pricing, and included benefits of the Frankfurt Ferienkarte for the 2026 season. Exact pricing, validity dates, and the specific list of participating attractions can change year to year, so confirm current details directly on frankfurt.de/ferienkarte before applying.