Many Germans spend their whole summer „pool hopping „at home rather than holidaying on foreign terrain and it’s not really surprising when one realizes that almost every single town probably has an indoor AND outdoor pool! Add to this all the leisure and/or thermal baths, plus the playgrounds with water play facilities, plus the numerous lakes with their wind surfing, sailing and beach ball, plus the “Baggersee” (flooded gravel pits – sounds awful in English, doesn’t it) and you can understand why.
There are many different words in German to describe an outdoor pool and it depends on where they are located: they can be called a “Freibad” (in the open air = im Freien) which could be in the middle of town, or a “Waldschwimmbad” if located in or on the edge of the woods, and even “Parkbad” (yes, you guessed right, if they are part of a park), and most local areas will have one. For the most part they are clean and well maintained with changing rooms and snack bars or even restaurants. A couple of the newly refurbished ones are the pool at Frankfurt-Eschersheim and the new family “Parkbad” in Kriftel which cost 5.3 Million Euro to renovate; it offers water cascades, shade sails, a beach area, interactive water features, aquatic fitness and massage jets, baby-changing room, little loos for the tiny tots and much, much more!).
Here is a selection of pools for you to try. A first trip can be quite daunting, the major problem being where to find an appropriate space as most of them have signs flashing “reserved for the entire bathing season” and these cannot be seen by newcomers! It won’t be easy, but once you’re settled, it’ll be worth it. Trained swimming-pool attendants (Bademeister) are on duty at all times and are normally very approachable. Should your children wish to do their swimming badges, they will assign a quiet time for them to swim the required number of lengths and practice their object retrieval, etc. Please do remember to take water buckets with you and sun hats for the tiny tots as shade sails are virtually non-existent here (with the exception of the brand new “Parkbad” in Kriftel).
Waldschwimmbad Neu-Isenburg, Alicestraße 111, 63263 Neu-Isenburg
Grounds: 25.000 m² (loads of trees so plenty of shade) 50 meter pool with 8 lanes, 5 meter diving board, 40 meter heated shallow pool with waterplay features (mushroom, chute), heated paddling pool for tiny tots, beach volleyball, table tennis, café, playground.
Prices: children1.20 €, adults 2,50 €.
Opening hours: Mon 9-7.45pm, Tues-Sun 8-7.4pm
Freibad Stadion, Mörfelder Landstraße 362, 60528 Frankfurt
50 meter pool, diving boards from 1 to 10 meters!!, shallow pool with interactive water features, water cannons, hydropipe, waterfall, massage jets, giant waterslide (118 metres!!!), paddling pool, table tennis, playground. Get there early if you want to sit in the shade.
Prices: children 2.80 €, adults 4.50 €. Family ticket 10 €
Opening hours: daily 7am-8pm
Taunusbad Usingen, Mozartsstraße 5a, 61250 Usingen
Swimming pools, massage jets, diving boards (1 and 3 metres)
Prices: children (4-18 yrs old) 2 €, adults 2,80 €
Opening hours: May to September 9am-7pm
Waldschwimmbad Neu-Anspach, L 3041
Grounds: 18.000 m². Lots of shade due to nearby woods. 50 meter pool, diving boards (1 and 3 metres), interactive water features, water slide, free use of water floats and pull-boys, water fountain in paddling pool for tiny tots, playground, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, kiosk, al fresco eatery, 500 free parking spaces.
Prices: children (4-18 yrs) 2 €, adults 2,80 €
Opening hours: May to Sept 9am-7pm
Freibad Friedrichsdorf, Dr.-Friedrich-Neiß-Straß 1, 61381 Friedrichsdorf
50 metre pool, diving boards (1-5 metres), giant waterslide, hydropipe, paddling pool with interactive water features, steam baths, playground, table tennis, volleyball, basketball.
Prices: children (6-18 yrs) 1.50 €, adults 3 €
Opening hours: May to Sept 8am-8pm
Seedammbad Bad Homburg, Seedammweg 7, 61352 Bad Homburg
Huge grounds: 36.000 m² (!), 11 pools (!!), 70 metre long ginat flume (black hole), 2 restaurants, kiosk, 2 bowling lanes, swimwear shop, saunaworld
Prices: children (5-17) 2,50 €, adults 6 €
Opening hours: Mon 1pm-9pm, Tues-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat,-Sun 8am-8pm
Waldschwimmbad Kronberg Am Rothenhang, 61476 Kronberg
50 metre swimming pool, giant slide (60 metres!!) shallow pool, hydropipe, water cannons, interactive water features, paddling pool, mother and child shelter, playground
Prices: children (0-3) free, otherwise 2 €, adults 4€
Opening hours: May to Sept Mon-Fri 7am-8pm
Freibad Königstein, Forellenweg, 61462 Königstein
33 metre swimming pool, shallow pool, waterslide, diving boards (1-3 metres), paddling pool, playground, kiosk, large parking lot
Prices: children 1.20 €, students 2 €, adults 2.50 €
Opening hours: Mid May to beginning August: Mon-Fri 7am-8pm, Sat-Sun 8am-8pm
Freibad Glashütten-Schloßborn, Am Caromber Platz, 61479 Glashütten
Renovated 2004. Grounds: 8000 m². Stainless steel swimming pool and shallow pool for non-swimmers kept at a constant 24 degrees C, wide waterslides, massage jets, heated baby pool/paddling pool, heated changing rooms, lots of shade from trees, kiosk, table tennis, playground.
Prices: children 2 €, adults 3.50 €
Opening hours: Mid May-Sept every day 8am – 8pm
Freibad Schmitten, Wiegerstraße, 61389 Schmitten
Renovated in 1998. Major waterplay attractions – giant water cannons, bubbling mushroom and Flume!
Prices: adults (Mon-Fri) 2.50 € / (Sat-Sun) 3 €, children (6-18yrs) 2 € / 2.50 €
Opening hours: Mon/Wed 11:30am-8pm, Tue/Thu 9am-8pm
Freizeitbad Mainzer Straße, Mainzer Straße 144, 65187 Wiesbaden
50 metre swimming pool, shallow pool, 2 waterslides, diving boards (3-7,5 metres), Massage pool, paddling pool. Every Sunday is Kids’ day from 1pm-8pm. Separate sauna and wellness area.
Prices: children 2.30 €, adults 4.20 €
Opening hours: Tue-Fri 7.20am-8.45pm, Sat-Sun 8am-8pm
Opelbad, Am Neroberg, 65193 Wiesbaden
65 metre multi-purpose pool, waterslide, paddling pool, beach volleyball, table tennis, chess, playground.
Prices: children 2 €, Teenagers (14-17yrs) 3 €, adults 7€
Rhein-Main Therme, Niederhofheimer Straße 67, 65719 Hofheim
25 metre swimming pool, shallow pool, warm water pool, brine pool, massage jets, waterfalls, water cannons, diving boards, whirlpool, waterslides, paddling pool with waterplay features, sauna.
Price: children (Mon-Fri, 4-15yrs) 10 €, adults (Mon-Fri) 19 €
Opening hours: Every day 9am-11pm, every 1st and 3rd Sat of a month Midnight sauna 8pm-2am
Wiesenbad Eschborn, Hauptstraße 258-260, 65760 Eschborn
25 metre swimming pool, shallow pool and paddling pool, water spray area, fun-pipe, playground, wooden ship. Separate wellness and sauna area.
Prices: children (6-18yrs) 1.50 €, adults 3 €
Opening hours: Openpool May-Sept every day 10am-8pm, Indoorpool Tue-Thu 7am-10pm, Fri 7am-8pm, Sat-Sun 8am-6pm
Freibad Kelkheim, Lorsbacher Straße 41, 65779 Kelkheim (Taunus)
Huge swimming pool, shallow pool and paddling pool. Ample room to relax, lots of shade (trees), beach volleyball, and playground.
Prices: children (0-4yrs) free, children (4-18yrs) 1.50 €, adults 3.50 €
Opening hours: From April Tue/Thu 7am-8pm, Mon/Wed/Fri-Sun 9am-8pm
Freibad Hattersheim, Ladislaus-Winterstein-Ring 1, 65795 Hattersheim (Main)
50 metre multipurpose pool, paddling pool, giant waterslide (45 metres), diving boards (1-3 metres), beach volleyball, basketball, table tennis, football, waterfalls, massage jets, sand and mud play areas for children.
Prices: children (4-18yrs) 2 €, adults 3.50 €
Opening hours: Mid May-Mid Sept Mo 10am-8pm, Tue/Wed/Fri 6.15am-8pm, Sat-Sun 8am-8pm
Städtisches Freibad Bad Soden, Kelkheimer Straße 68-70, 65812 Bad Soden (Taunus)
50 metre swimming pool, beach volleyball, aqua aerobics, diving „taster“ courses, waterslide.
Prices: children 1.50 €, adults 3 €
Opening hours: Every day 8am-8pm till Mid/End Sept
Parkbad Kriftel, Parkstraße, 65830 Kriftel
Has just been refurbished to the tune of 5,3 million Euro! Three 25 metre swimming pools and four 50 metre pools, interactive water features, shade sails, beach area, children’s loos, 30 changing cubicles, 8000 m² of grounds in which to relax, wonderful trees for shade in the hot summer, wide waterslides, kiosk.
Prices: children (0-4 yrs free) 2 €, adults 4 €
Opening hours: 8am-8pm from mid May to mid September
Prices and opening hours correct at the time of publishing.
For more information about indoor and outdoor pools in Frankfurt check the website.
www.bbf-frankfurt.de If you have any suggestions or up-dates, please contact activities@british-club.de